♪ "teen kids news" is on now, and here's what we've got. >> it's been called the spice of life. but adding too much to our food may be hazardous to our health. believe it or not, this guy is a driving instructor. find out why he's trying to distract me. > and much more next on "teen kids news." ♪

welcome to "teen kids news." i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. >> reporter: it's the building block of life itself, but too much of it can be very bad for your health. now there's a nationwide effort to protect us from something we love to add to our food. cheryl has the story. >> reporter: salt is everywhere. it's about 3% of the oceans. our bodies need it to survive. and we love its taste. >> my favorite salty foods are probably chips. potato chips. >> onion rings and french fries. >> french fries are my favorites. >> i really like pretzels and chips. >> ooh. i'd have to say potato chips and french fries. >> my favorite salty foods, probably salt and vinegar chips and also crunchy seaweed.

>> reporter: the problem is too much salt is unhealthy. >> too much salt overwhelms your body. you eliminate salt with your kidneys. however, there's only so much your kidneys can do. all the extra salt stays in your bloodstream. you end up retaining water, gaining more water weight, and your heart has to pump harder in order to circulate all this extra volume around. and that over the course of a long period of time leads to elevated blood pressure and strokes. >> reporter: unfortunately, the average american takes in twice as much salt as he or she should. and that's where new york city's health department comes into the picture. it's leading a campaign to help us all cut back on salt. >> the salt initiative is really a national initiative. it's led by new york city, but it's really over 40 health organizations. other cities and other states that are working together. we think it has the opportunity for tremendous impact and the ability to save lives. >> reporter: of course, we can

all make healthier food choices without the government's help. it's simple to choose a fruit instead of fries. but the salt initiative is taking aim at the salts we don't see. >> almost 80% of the salt that we take in each day comes from packaged and restaurant food. still, most consumers don't really have any control over the salt that they take in. it's already in the food when we buy it. it's not always actually the salt that you taste. a muffin can have a lot of salt. >> reporter: when you're shopping for packaged food, check the label. salt is listed as sodium. it's measured in milligrams. and you don't need more than 2,300 milligrams a day. they add up fast. even a can of vegetable soup can be loaded with sodium. >> you can have as much salt as you're supposed to eat in a whole day in one chicken sandwich at a chain restaurant. >> reporter: so the government is working with restaurants and food companies to cut back on the salt they put in their food.

>> we've gotten a great response so far, and the overall goal with the initiative is to reduce population sodium intake by 20% over the next five years. >> reporter: but don't wait for that. make an effort now to start reducing the amount of salt you eat. and read those labels. >> stay with us. there's lots more still to come on "teen kids news." >> we'll be right back. and now our "fox in the classroom" update.

>> nato air strikes destroyed several buildings inside libyan president moammar gadhafi's tripoli compound. gadhafi's whereabouts at the time of the attack are unclear but four people were injured. the strike, coming after gadhafi's forces unleashed a massive attack on the besieged rebel city of misurata that killed at least 32 and wounded dozens. a nato spokesman says the alliance is increasingly targeting facilities linked to gadhafi's regime with government advances stalled on the battle field. in st. louis, missouri residents are surveying the damage after the area's most powerful tornado in 44 years swept through the city. the tornado, packing winds up to 200 miles an hour, tore through lambert st. louis international airport shattering glass at the main terminal and even blowing off part of a concourse roof. the twister also destroying homes in nearby towns. miraculously, no one was killed

or seriously hurt. but flooding continued to threaten the region. the president and first lady host the white house's 133rd easter egg roll. >> i hope all of you had a wonderful easter. i hope everybody is having a great time. welcome to the white house. opening the south lawn to children and their families in a tradition that dates back to 1878. it's the largest annual public event at the white house. this year's theme is "get up and go" promoting health and wellness. the president even taking time out of his busy schedule to play referee. for teen kids news, fox news channel, in the classroom.

i'm on my way to go get a haircut. but not just any ordinary haircut. i'm donating some of my hair to charity. come with me. well, here we are. okay. i can do this. hello. >> how are you? >> i'm great. how are you? >> great to see you. >> reporter: fabio has been donating the services of his studio to locks of love for years. >> locks of love is a non-profit organization that provides hairpieces for children that suffer hair loss. >> reporter: there are all sorts of medical reasons why kids lose their hair. some may have a disorder called alopecia. others may be undergoing cancer treatment. >> so why diyou decide to donate your hair? >> well, i thought it was a really great cause and just a really easy way to help other people. >> are you nervous? >> a little bit. >> are you ready? >> i'm ready. >> reporter: every year thousands of kids and adults donate their hair to locks of

love. whether you're a girl or a guy, 7 or 70, your hair is needed. and it doesn't matter what color it is. to be able to donate your hair must be at least 10 inches long. >> oh, my gosh. i love it. oh, my gosh. wow. it's really short, but i love it so much. thank you so, so much. >> thank you. >> reporter: locks of love says 80% of all donations come from us kids. you know, i haven't had my hair this short since i was real little. brings back memories of nursery school. nap time. for "teen kids news" i'm nicole. there season we were invited to do behind the scenes reporting on the new york yankees.

here is this week's segment. >> hi. my name is erica. this is a field report. come on. hi. i'm erica. >> hi, erica. i'm joe gilligan. how are you? >> reporter: good. >> i'm going to show you around today, show you how to make a baseball bat. >> reporter: let's get started. >> i'm going to come over here and kind of show you some different pieces of wood. we actually use the two most popular, maple and ash. >> where do the trees come from? >> maple is grown primarily in vermont and massachusetts, and the grains are typically very hard to pick up. they're very light. and the ash primarily comes from the northern part of pennsylvania and the southern part of new york. the ash is a little different in the way you can really see -- you see the lines here? >> yeah, these lines are more defined.

which one is more popular, the ash or maple? >> well, right now it's probably maple. the last ten years a lot of players have attributed better bats to maple bats. it's all about bat speed these days, and the faster you can whip the bat through the zone the better off they feel like they're going to be. >> so what kind of bat did babe ruth use, maple or ash? >> well, he used an ash. and he hit all those home runs with an ash bat. >> joe, this doesn't quite feel like a bat yet. how do you make this a bat? >> okay. so we've got a six-pound billet right here. now we're going to shave about four pounds off of it. for this we're going to need our master craftsman, greg. >> nice to meet you. >> nice to meet you as well. >> let's do this. >> the first thing we have to do is mark the center of this billet. this is the center finder. this one makes two distinct lines. and where they intersect is the center. >> x marks the spot. >> here we stamp the dry center in the center of the billet. >> what's the drive center?

>> this is the piece that actually holds the billet in place and causes it to turn. there you go. >> all right. >> we're going to load up the machine. >> what is this machine called? >> this is a computerized lathe machine. >> this is where the bats are made? >> this is where it is. >> how many bats do you make in a day? >> i usually average between 50 and 60 bats a day. >> wow. >> we have it all loaded up. and we come over here, we program the machine. now it's all set to go. >> safety first. ooh. it's the cast of "glee." man. all right. >> how long does it take to make one bat? >> usually, one bat it takes about three minutes to cut, and

then another about four minutes to paste. about seven to ten minutes for the entire process. >> now it's looking more like a bat. >> definitely. now the bat's all cut. all we have to do is smooth it out. for our last and final finishing touch, i like to polish it with a little saw dust. and you can see how it makes the bat nice and shiny. >> looks more like a classic baseball bat. >> would you like to see how we finish these? >> yeah, let's see it. >> step on into the paint room. here is our paint room. >> so do you have any pink paint? >> of course we have pink paint. >> are professional baseball players allowed to use pink bats? >> yes, they are. one day of the year. can you guess what it is? >> mother's day? >> you got it. so let's get this bat pink.

there you go. perfect. i'll grab it. >> ooh, that's pink. >> let me show you the last step in our process, which is putting on the decals. and you will know how to make a bat from start to finish. and i hope you were paying attention because you start on monday. >> uh-oh. >> oh, cool. just like the big leaguers. from the forest to the field ready for the big leagues. see you next time on "field report." this book report is brought to you by worthman publishing. you may have seen reports about kids building a better world. building houses for the homeless. training guide dogs. sending mosquito nets to africa. or helping patients in a hospital. and maybe you wonder if you can do something to make the world a

better place. nancy lublin, the head of dosomething.org, and author of this book says you can. even if you're not in high school yet. >> you can be young and do great stuff. in fact, some of the most creative things we've seen have come from younger people. because no one has told them they can't do it yet. >> reporter: the book highlights middle schoolers who saw a need and did something. from collecting puzzles for the elderly to knitting scarves for disaster victims. the book also features young celebrities who are making a positive difference. but first and foremost, do something is an action plan. it's designed to help kids identify causes they care about. >> every cause you could think of is in here. animals, the environment, homelessness. peace. everything is in here. and it's possible to have an effect on these issues quickly. you don't have to have money, a car, or an adult to do something

good. >> reporter: what you do need is some help getting going. and that's what do something is all about. with step by step instructions on putting a good deed in motion. >> tweens have been underestimated for a long time. so they kind of feel helpless and frustrated and yet passionate and enthusiastic to do something. so we made a handbook for young activists. and helping them have power, creativity, to do something important. and impactful. >> reporter: so next time you see a headline that makes you sad, remember, there could be something you can do about it. it's in the book. i'm laura reporting. >> the headline is tragically common. teens killed in a car accident. but with better skills, thousands of lives might be saved. with the help of ford we've been reporting on a nationwide effort to give teens the driving smarts they desperately need. here's tyler with another crash course on how not to crash. >> reporter: hey, i'm tyler. >> hey, tyler, i'm dana. nice to meet you. >> you too. >> reporter: dana is an instruct

skills for life program. the concept is to show kids how to anticipate and react to a dangerous situation. today's driving hazard is actually inside the car. >> it's in the news a lot. texting, talking on cell phones. a lot of those things. distractions is huge. >> there's just so much to do in the car that it's unbelievable, the distractions now. and that's the big concern we have. >> reporter: how bad can it be? i'm about to find out. >> you ready to go? >> we're ready to go. >> you're on your own, my friend. >> let's listen to my music. hey, i'm really thirsty. i think i've got a bottle of water over there. if you wouldn't mind getting it for me. thanks a lot, man. appreciate that. you're the best. what's that over there? you're from here. go ahead. unlock my window. my window won't unlock. can you unlock it for me? now, a little distracting? >> yes. >> annoying? >> really. >> so what happens to your emotions when you get annoyed like that?

>> you just -- you go crazy. >> you go crazy. you get angry. >> yeah. >> you become an angry driver. what should you have done immediately as soon as i turned the radio up? >> turned it off. >> who is the boss? who's in control? >> i am. supposed to be. >> supposed to be. why didn't you just reach over? i wouldn't have done anything. i would have given you an a-plus for that had you turned the radio off and said hey, that newspaper, i can't see where i'm going to the right, it's really annoying to me. i asked you to get the bottle of water you that had to take your eyes off the road to do that at that moment. >> right. >> you're the boss. you're in charge. you have your life you're responsible for, my life, or anybody else that's in the vehicle. so bear that in mind when you get behind the wheel of a car. you don't like what's going on, you take control. >> reporter: but some teens lose control because of other dangerous choices they make. we'll put on the fatal vision goggles when we come back.

♪ this is my fourth course and i'm having a great time. it's been really awesome. so what are we going to be doing in here? >> we're going to be putting special goggles on you that change your vision. you'll still have normal reaction time like a normal driver would and good judgment where if i told you to stop you'd be able to stop quickly. where if a person's actually intoxicated or drunk if they went to slam on the brake they would be real slow or sluggish reacting and if they needed to turn real quick the body just doesn't react that quick because it's impaired by alcohol. i'm going to put these goggles on you and go to the course. >> put your foot on the brakes, please. you want to begin. >> this is crazy. >> and are you seeing the cones very well? >> not very well. it's hard to see where the cones are coming up on you too. they just kind of sneak up. did i just hit a cone? i did. >> and that was a person or a

kitten you just ran over. and in real life that could hurt somebody or kill them. as a police officer i'd be following your car. i'm looking at you swerving real wide when you've actually got plenty of room to get around these cones. and you've actually doubled the speed. you were going to stay at 5 miles an hour. another thing we're looking for is speeding. >> what do these goggles show? >> a possible impairment of .17 to .20 of alcohol, which is double the legal limit in illinois. this is just showing the vision part of it, though. imagine driving on the highway at highway speed with your eyes being affected like that. >> reporter: and that's why they call them fatal vision goggles. i was glad to take them off. to learn more about ford's driving skills for life, visit our website at teenkidsnews.com. i'm tyler, and i'm on the road to becoming a better and safer driver. schools are facing tough budget cuts across the country. some of them have been forced to eliminate so-called

non-essential programs like music and art. but as hanna reports, there's an organization that wants to pick up where the schools have left off. ♪ >> rosie's broadway kids was started by tv star rosie o'donnell. she saw a need in her community for more theater and music education. >> not like when i was a kid in fifth grade and we did "the king and i," and i had drum lessons. the arts programs have been gutted. >> reporter: so rosie's organization started sending actors and musicians to new york city schools to replace the missing program. >> we are currently in the public schools in our program that's called ps broadway. and it serves over 1,500 kids. >> reporter: for 15 weeks the students learn about music and dance. the students who excel in class receive a special invitation. >> we take those kids who are super interested, super motivated, and we invite them to audition for our full

scholarship program. and that's the act two program. >> reporter: the act two students meet after school during the week. they take classes in acting, dancing, and singing. ♪ >> i think it's like a really amazing opportunity because like i get to act, dance, and sing about three days a week and i don't always -- it's like fun. and i love coming here. >> it's a wonderful program. i love it. i love being here every day. >> reporter: what's the best part about working at rosie's broadway kids? >> that the kids here aren't afraid to try anything. >> reporter: i wanted to prove i wasn't afraid to try anything either. so i figured i'd try my hand -- my foot at tap dancing. >> kick your heel like you're kicking a can. good. kick one. kick right and toe and toe heel. kick right and toe and toe heel.

>> i have two left feet. i'm trying, i'm trying. >> reporter: even though i was tapped out, i had to admit dancing was fun. >> what do you like about dance? >> i like it that it's a way of telling a story. it's a way where you can let go of your problems and you embrace something and in so many different type of varieties you never get bored. >> reporter: it's hard to imagine anyone getting bored here. >> what are you interested in? dancing? acting? singing? all of it? >> right now i would have to say probably all three. >> reporter: even if you don't live in new york city, how can you become one of rosie's broadway kids? >> we have a program called spotlight on broadway which offers tuition-based classes for students outside the city. >> reporter: anyone can sign up for the spotlight on broadway summer program. if you think performing arts might be something for you, here's some advice from the

students and teachers at rosie's broadway kids. >> that you just give 100%, 100% of the time. and the only competition you have is yourself. soou just jump in and do your very best, and things will fall into place. >> it's a really like fun thing to do because you get exercise and you also get like a lot of like friends. >> you can be as talented as who knows what? but if you don't work hard, come on, repetition's the key to mastery. >> don't let anyone ever tell you no because really, it's not their dream, it's yours. don't let anyone get in the way. >> reporter: if you'd like to learn more about rosie's broadway kids and how you can get involved, visit our website. for "teen kids news" i'm hannah. >> that wraps up our show. but we'll be back with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week. ♪ ♪

>> write to us at ♪ >> write to us at info@teenkidsnews.com. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

[uplifting music] strieker: rupal pujaara's daughter only drinks out of baby bottles free of the chemical bisphenol "a." also known as bpa.

- when i heard about the endocrine system and the nervous system and the brain development, that was--that was really concerning to me. strieker: the same goes for the sippy cups heidi parsont buys. - they're about $9 or $10 a bottle, which seems like an exorbitant sum. on the other hand, it's not an exorbitant sum if they're not ingesting any more chemicals. strieker: the centers for disease control says 93% have bpa in our bodies. from the linings of food and soda cans to eyeglasses, water bottles, and dental sealants, billions of pounds of this petroleum-based chemical are used to strengthen plastics. bpa mimics and can interfere with the hormone estrogen. studies show even small amounts can alter reproductive, neurological, and immune systems. - bisphenol "a," that research was showing more and more could lead to diabetes, obesity,

early puberty, cancer, a whole range of problems. strieker: erika schreder of the washington toxics coalition says bpa is also in our wallets. - what we found is that money is indeed contaminated with bpa, likely because of the presence of bpa in receipts. half of the thermal papers do contain bpa, and what's really concerning is that it's in very large concentrations. strieker: canada now lists bpa as a toxic substance. the european union and at least seven states have restricted its use. but the federal government has not taken any regulatory action. the environmental protection agency has listed bpa as a chemical of concern, and the food and drug administration says there's, "some concern about the potential effects of bpa "on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children." - the public basically wants safer materials.

they don't like that someone isn't minding the store. strieker: andy igrejas is director of safer chemicals, healthy families. - if we can't get washington to address this problem in some way that really benefits public health and also benefits the business environment, we'll see more private efforts, efforts in the marketplace. i think we'll see more companies start to adopt their own chemical policies, trying to weed out the known bad chemicals, and trying to find out whatever they can find out about the other chemicals that are out there. strieker: industry groups like the american chemistry council say, "bpa has been safely used for decades," and, "can liners and food storage containers made with bpa "are essential components to helping protect the safety "of packaged foods and preserving products from spoilage and contamination." but heidi parsont doesn't want to take any chances. - i think that consumer awareness, though, as i said, has picked up, and i hope that, you know, as a country

we move in the right direction towards, you know, fewer chemicals. strieker: concerned families, some retailers, and interest groups are working to overhaul outdated u.s. chemicals policy so that health and safety information is publicly available. federal regulation of about 80,000 chemicals has not been updated in nearly 35 years. for this american land, i'm gary strieker.