Shrinking Economy, Expanding Waistlines

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/20/earlyshow/health/main4619978.shtml

Two-Thirds of Americans are already considered to be overweight. But as the economy continues to rollercoaster, dieticians anticipate an increase in this number. The reasons? Finances and emotional eating. Prices at the grocery store have risen, and healthier foods are even more expensive. Who's gunna spend $10 on produce to make a few salads when you can buy Celeste frozen pizzas for a dollar each? What some people get for three salads, others get ten. Who cares about the nutritional benefits? "For instance, McDonald's recently reported strong third quarter sales, but nutrition experts worry more consumption of fast food in general may lead to more weight gain and resulting health problems." This is also going to be a financial burden on the economy. The increase in the need for medical attention is going to strain hospitals, medicare, medicaid, let alone the economy. Stress eating is only going to cripple our already disabled economy. Another factor: people have begun to transfer their feelings into food. The more stress, the more emotional eating. People are leaning on food for emotional comfort. Just the depressing news can trigger emotional eating. Many people can't distinguish the relationship between their friends Ben and Jerry and their increasing waistline. The saddest part: everyone blames the stress from the economy.
So what is our society to do? We have no personal responsibily and blame our issues on the government. Many of us are not self-efficient enough either to take care of our health. We'd rather deal with the consequences later. But is this obesity epidemic going to stiffle our economy for the next fifty years because of health care demands? We need to address the issue now and fix it quickly.

The Family That Eats Together is Healthier Together

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/family/11/07/cl.family.meals/index.html

Everyone uses Thanksgiving as a day to indugle ourselves on traditional foods and spend the day with family watching football. Who knew that spending the dreaded time with your family could actually benefit your health? Eating dinner with your family will not only help you eat better but it can also inprove your psychological being. "Families who eat together have healthier, more balanced diets," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., L.D.N., a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. "Making family mealtime a priority not only improves everyone's physical health, but it also contributes to their overall well-being and mental health." A study conducted at Harvard showed that by having "more meals prepared and eaten together means better nutrition, more control over what's eaten, and less weight gain for the whole family." (Unless you are Polish) I believe this is because kids have meals prepared for them, so they are opted to make healthier decisions. The average college kid lives off of Ramen and cereal not only because they are cheap but because they are also very easy to make. No college student ever wants to come back from a day of classes with research papers to do and prepare a gormet meal for one.
A study at Comlumbia University shows that family dinners are on the rise again, and not only are the number of meals eaten with other family members rising, but teenagers and adolescents are eating more and more meals with their parents. I found this interesting because most adolescents spend their teenage years avoiding their parents, let alone forced conversation over a dinner with them. I also based this opinion on personal experience. In high school, i avoided talking to my parents about life like the plague and only looked forward to Christmas, which I get to spend in the presence of my cousins who are my age. However, things have changed since I came to college. I've grown a much closer relationship with my parents and I am overzealous to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I found this excerpt to be very interesting and factual as well:
"Sitting down to a meal together provides an opportunity to connect and talk with your kids and find out what's going on in their lives," says Neumark-Sztainer. Almost half the teens participating in the Columbia study felt that dinner was the best time to talk with parents about important issues. "Because it's at the end of the day, dinner provides a special opportunity," Rockett says. "That's when we're not running off to go to school, work, or the next event, so we can really enjoy each other's company." If more childrean eat dinner with their families, are they less likely to get into trouble and avoid putting themselves in irresponsible situations? Only more research and time will be able to show the effects of eating dinner with your family. The moral of this blog? Suck it up and enjoy the time you may feel forced to spend with your families at the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Activity Level Decreases with Age :(

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/07/15/teen.fitness.ap/index.html

We all know as you get older, our lives become busier and busier and we have less time in our days to do extra things. But a recent study shows that not only do adults exercise less as they get older, but kids are exercising less and less as they prgoress through their teenage years. At age nine, about 90 percent of kids get about two hours of exercise everyday, whether it's from sports or simply playing tag with other children from their neighborhood. However, fewer than three percent of fifteen year-olds get such a level of activity. The saddest statistic: fewer than one third of teens actaully get the minimum recommended amount of exercise by the government. Boys were found to be more active than girls, and more physical activity was done on the weekends.
"People don't recognize this as the crisis that it is," said lead author Dr. Philip Nader, a pediatrician and professor emeritus at the University of California at San Diego. Inactivity is linked with greater risks for many health problems, including heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes," according to the arcticle. If exercise becomes less and less of a priority, many people are going to rely more on medical procedures or sources to help them out of this inactivity epidemic. Not only doesn't it strain one's health, but it also puts a hold on our economy.
This was a very shocking article to me. I knew kids were exercising less, but I had no idea how little they're exercising. I understand that a social life is important, but so is exercise. Middle school appears to be the age range where exercise takes the greatest drop, and so many changes in life factor in. But we need to encourage kids to stay active, whether it's from sports or walking with friends. Otherwise, this obesity and inactivity epidemic is going to consume more innocent children and we're going to be seeing a more useless America.

"Switch Witch"

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/06/halloween.candy.fat.ap/index.html

As Halloween quickly approaches, we put together the last few things that make-up this popular holiday. Last minute fixes to our costumes, definate plans with friends, and of course: candy. It seems as if this holiday has become "National Sugar-Overload Day." With the more awarness about sugar and the constant health concerns about our overweight society, how do parents and children battle the epidemic? One mother in New York has created a new concept: the "Switch Witch"
Mother Lisa Bruno was inspired to create a way to counter the effects of candy on her 3 and 5 year-old children when she noticed the pudge underneath other kids' costumes. "The kids were just so huge," she said. "I felt a responsibility to my community to take care of the kids around me." Thirty percent of kids between two and nineteen are overweight or obese. To make sure her kids don't become part of that statistic, Bruno came up with the concept of the "Switch Witch." On Halloween, her children get to eat whatever candy they want. They then get to leave the remaining candy for the Switch Witch, whose job is very similar to that of the tooth fairy's. She takes the kids' candy, leaving toys in her wake. "The more candy they put out, the bigger the toy." Some kids have even put all their candy in for toys.

Bruno is one of many mothers catching on to the this sneaky candy-taking trend. The mothers then bring the remaining candy to work, or even throw it out. I think this is a great way to help promote health without taking the fun out of Halloween. Kids still get their candy and the joy of trick-or-treating without the gut to show it.

DD Smart Menu is for Suckers

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,394288,00.html?sPage=fnc/health/nutrition

Nowadays, it seems as if every fast-food resturant has a "healthy" menu to help encourage smarter options and weight-management. Recently, Dunkin Donuts has added to the list of these chains. The menu started out feauting two flatbread sandwiches made with egg-whites: the vegetable egg-white flatbread and the turkey-sausage egg-white flatbread. These sandwiches are supposed to be 300 calories or less. President of Dunkin Donuts Will Kussell said, "We just felt it was important to provide some choice in our menu." Other foods on this DD Smart Menu were chosen for features such as 25 percent few calories, sugar, fat or sodium than comparable products or contain ingredients that are "nutritionally beneficial." Such foods include a multigrain bagel and a reduced-fat blueberry muffin, as well as beverages in smaller sizes.

Just out of curiosity, I visited the official Dunkin Donuts Nutritional Information website (which I listed below if you're curious)to see how "healthy" these items really are and compare them to other options. The multigrain bagel (which is 6 servings of bread by the way) has 380 calories, 50 from fat, as well as 6 grams of fat, 1 gram from saturated fat, 68 grams of carbohydrates, 7 grams sugar and 14 grams of protein. A regular glazed donut has 230 calories, 90 from fat. The glazed donut also has 10 grams of fat, 4.5 from saturated fat, 12 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. In comparison, the multigrain bagel is better, but not by a landslide. I also looked at other items on the menu, and they include items such as several varieties of reduced fat cream cheese and beverages made with skim milk. I also looked up the reduced-calorie berry smoothie. A large (which is 32 oz.) has 490 calories, 4 grams of fat, 97 grams of carbohydrates, 83 grams of sugar, and 12 grams of protein. And that's on the Smart menu? A small reduced calorie berry smoothie (16 oz.) has 250 calories, 2 grams of fat, 49 grams of carbohydrates, 41 grams of sugar, and 6 grams of protein. This is a more resonable item to put on the menu. Having a healthy menu is all well and good, but practicing portion control is also crucial to maintain a healthy status. Don't let the Smart Menus fool you! Please visit the site below to look at the nutritional information on your favorite bagels, donuts, and lattes.


https://www.dunkindonuts.com/aboutus/nutrition/

High Fructose Corn Syrup: What's the Hype?

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1841910,00.html

High-fructose corn syrup has become one of those noted ingredients that has raised many people's awareness to it in foods. Many people know that's it's "bad for you," but when asked no one can ever point out specifically why. New commercials have come out saying that high-fructose corn syrup isn't so bad for you, but rather alright in moderation. So what exactly can we believe as a brain-washed society?
The new 18-month campaign for high-fructose corn syrup is paid for by the Corn Refiners Association. Since it is portrayed in such a negative manner, sales in the corn industry have become severely hurt. So is informing the public about the "truth" about high-fructose corn syrup really the motivation, or does money and sales play an even bigger factor? In both the commercials already on air, "Both are confronted about the health effects of high-fructose corn syrup, but each has this ready response: High-fructose corn syrup is made from corn, has no artificial ingredients, has the same calories as sugar and is okay to eat in moderation." Is this really true? In Time's post–"Fast Food Nation world, high-fructose corn syrup is reviled for contributing to everything from the obesity epidemic to rising rates of childhood diabetes. So, which side is correct: Is it the devil's candy or a perfectly natural wonder?"
There really is no definate side to be on. The American Medical Association states that high-fructose corn syrup doesn't contribute more to obesity than sugar or caloric sweetners. However, it isn't "all-natural" like the CRA would want you to believe. "High-fructose corn syrup starts out as cornstarch, which is chemically or enzymatically degraded to glucose and some short polymers of glucose. Another enzyme is then used to convert varying fractions of glucose into fructose. High-fructose corn syrup just doesn't exist in nature." High-fructose corn syrup is biochemically the same as regular table sugar. However, high-fructose corn syrup is a key ingredient in many things, and the average American consumes about 60 pounds of it every year. Yikes! It's even an ingredient in vitamins. Because it's such a common ingredient, it makes it very hard keep tabs on "moderation" It doesn't seem so bad, but because it's the equivlent to sugar, it scares me. Imagine sugar replacing high-fructose corn syrup on all food labels. That definately wants me to check the labels twice!

Common Running Injuries

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/runninginjuries/a/runninginjury.htm

Although running is one of the best ways to become or stay fit, it is unfortunately one of the easiest ways to obtain an injury. Running has a heavy impact on the knee joints, as well as areas like your hips, ankles, and feet. Even your back can be affected if you don't maintain proper form. Running can be stressful on the muscles and joints, so it's important not to ignore the pain or discomfort of a small injury because it can snowball quickly into an even worse injury.
Some common injuries among runners include blisters, pulled muscles (most commonly the groin, hamstring, calves, and/or quadricep), muscle cramps, and shin splints. More severe forms of injury can include stress fracture, ankle sprains, tendonitis and pulled tendons, heel spurs, and Archilles Tendonitis. Some injuries can be heeled with a couple day's rest, while others may need correctional surgery. In the end, it may be better to take a couple days off instead of facilitating a long-term injury. Here are some ways to avoid running injuries:
-Wear proper footwear and replace running shows when needed
-Warm-up/ stretch
-Cross Train
-Avoid Overtraining
-Follow the "Ten Percent" rule (pushing yourself ten percent harder and longer than the week before)

Diet Soda: Diet Friend or Foe?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159579,00.html

Diet Soda. Diet Friend or Foe?

After conducting an eight-year study at the University of Texas Health Science Center, researchers discovered that not only is there a definite link between drinking soda and obesity, but that diet soda drinkers were more likely to be obese. For every can or bottle of diet soda consumed, the risk of being overweight was forty one percent higher.
“For regular soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
— 26 percent for up to 1/2 can each day
— 30.4 percent for 1/2 to one can each day
— 32.8 percent for 1 to 2 cans each day
— 47.2 percent for more than 2 cans each day.
For diet soft-drink drinkers, the risk of becoming overweight or obese was:
— 36.5 percent for up to 1/2 can each day
— 37.5 percent for 1/2 to one can each day
— 54.5 percent for 1 to 2 cans each day
— 57.1 percent for more than 2 cans each day.
For each can of diet soft drink consumed each day, a person's risk of obesity went up 41 percent. There was no direct link between the composition of diet soda and weight gain. However, researchers believe it’s a person’s mentality that makes them more susceptible to weight gain. "You have to look at what's on your plate, not just what's in your glass," says nutritionist Leslie Bonci.
This article was shocking to me! Everyone assumes that because diet soda has no calories that it’s “better for you.” I have been a firm diet soda drinker for three years now, and it never occurred to me that what I was drinking may be worse for me than the sugar-loaded regular soda. When put into food terms, it can compare to the regular food versus the fat-free foods. People tend to overload on the fat-free foods because the foods are supposed to be more nutritious. However, in moderation, the regular foods may be better in the end because they have a more natural make-up. Most fat-free foods have natural ingredients stripped and replaced with chemicals. So in the end, in may be equal to drinking and enjoying that one glass of regular soda.

Disease-Control Workouts

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/09/29/targetted.health.club.program.ap/index.html

Nowadays, maintaining good health has become a recently popular and growing trend. I've noticed more and more people exercising and even taking the responsibility to sign up with a trainer or for a fitness class if they know they lack the motivation to do it themselves. Many people assume (myself included) that such sessions with a trainer or fitness classes are for people who want to lose weight and get into better shape. Recently this has become an outgoing trend. Illness and health-issues are the new reasons why more and more people are signing up for fitness memberships that cater to these problems.

"More and more clubs are offereing exercise programs fine-tuned for people coping with a variety of ailments," states the artcile. As the number of studies of the benefits of exercise has grown, so has the number of participants. 61 year-old Patti Kiernan signed up for a four-week Female Focus program at her gym after being diagnosed with osteoporosis. She's still in the program after two years. Along with the assistance of medication, exercise helped improve her bone density greatly. "Medical and fitness experts say that exercise not only elevates the mood and energy levels, but helps control weight -- a contributing factor for many diseases." Being overweight is a huge factor in the reoccurance of breast cancer. Keeping a balanced diet and exercising regularly helps maintain a healthy weight, which will lower the risk for relapse.

Unfortunately this article proves that some people don't adapt a healthy lifestyle until their present one forces them to change. It takes fraile bones or even cancer for people to change and start leading a healthy life. What can we do to get people to want to live healthier? I think it is good however that these classes are offered. It helps encourage people to make the change they need to become as healthy as they can be. I also like the fact the exercise is now becoming a form of treatment, and people are stepping away from our dependency on prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Exercise has little to no cost and you can reap the best benefits from it.

Food For Thought

Article Link: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,364448,00.html



In late May and early June, a salmonella outbreak linked to thousands of pounds of raw plum tomatoes ravaged across the country, effecting 30 states in the United States. Not only were tomatoes recalled at supermarkets, but even fast food chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell, and Burger King stopped serving tomatoes as a result of this outbreak. The source of the outbreak was unknown, and was also rumored to have possibly infected other vegetables. The first indication of the salmonella outbreak were from multiple reports in mid-April. Salmonella is, "bacteria that lives in the intestinal tracts of humans and other animals," according to Fox's article. Salmonella can cause diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps in as little as 12 hours after consuming contaminated food. This outbreak not only opened America's eyes to what they were eating but even more where our food is coming from.

For the past 19 years of my life I have spent my summers working on my grandfather's farm, and was shocked this summer to discover how clueless we are as a culture when it comes to our food. We grow our own tomatoes in Feeding Hills, MA, about one hundred feet from our food stand. About 95% of people who purchased our tomatoes asked where they had come from, and were more than willing to pay $2.00 a pound to keep their intestines clear of bacteria. I think what bothered me most was that people actually thought tomato plants produced salmonella. Plants don't produce the bacteria; Salmonella contamination is mostly caused by human or animal feces on the food product. Many of the new reports claimed that the source of the contamination wasn't known, but I believe the The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug administration simply didn't want to admit the workers were going to the bathroom in the fields where the food was grown. Needless to say it was disappointing to see that it took a bacterial scare to encourage people to buy local produce.

This outbreak has brought about important questions that we should have been asking ourselves all along. Where exactly does our food come from? Who's handeling it? Is it being handled properly? What chemical or genetic alterations have been done to our food? Is this system we have really the best way to maintain our food, or is it just another American way that's all about convience?