Listing calories on fast-food menus cuts kids’ intake
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When nutritional information is available on fast-food restaurant menus, parents are more apt to pick lower-calorie foods for their kids, new research finds.
Often spurred on by legislation, many U.S. restaurant chains are now posting nutrition information about their menu items. But whether this information would translate to healthier eating was unclear.
The new study, conducted with McDonald’s menus, suggests that it does.
Child obesity warning for parents
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Most parents do not realise their four or five year olds are overweight or obese, a survey has revealed.
Half of the mothers who took part in a study thought that their obese four or five year old was normal weight, while 39% of fathers were no better in recognising obesity.
When it came to overweight children, 75% of mothers and 77% of fathers thought that their child was normal weight, according to the February issue of Acta Paediatrica.
Childhood Obesity a Growing Problem
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Mrs. Obama has chosen childhood obesity as the focus of her first major project as the First Lady along with continuing her work to expand programs for military families. Healthy eating and healthy families is an extension of Mrs. Obama’s efforts to show Americans how grow fruits and vegetables and use them in a nutritious diet. Mrs. Obama began this effort with her much publicized White House garden.
Program to Educate Parents and Children
In early 2010, Mrs. Obama will announce a comprehensive initiative which will involve many departments and agencies in the federal government to help educate children and parents about ending this epidemic and encourage a change in behavior and habits. The Mayo Clinic advises that one of the best strategies is to improve the nutrition and exercise status of the entire family.
Obesity in general, has become an epidemic in the western world. Among children, obesity is a growing issue and a huge medical concern. This is a serious problem which affects children and adolescents and puts them at risk for diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and eating disorders. These diseases can cause severe disabilities and lead to early mortality.
Childhood obesity increases heart disease risk later in life
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Obesity alone can increase the risk of future heart disease and stroke in kids, as young as seven years of age, according to a new study.
The study said that the danger persists even in the absence of other cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure.
“This new study demonstrates that the unhealthy consequences of excess body fat start very early. Our study shows that obesity alone is linked to certain abnormalities in the blood that can predispose individuals to developing cardiovascular disease early in adulthood,” said Dr. Nelly Mauras, of Nemours Children’’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and senior author of the study.
Extreme Obesity Can Be Treated in Primary Care
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Non-surgical weight-loss programs delivered in a primary care setting can yield results with extremely obese patients, according to a study in the Jan. 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Donna H. Ryan, M.D., of Louisiana State University System in Baton Rouge, La., and colleagues conducted a study of 390 participants, of whom 200 were randomized to receive an intense medical intervention, including a recommended 900-calorie liquid diet for up to 12 weeks, along with pharmacotherapy and group behavioral counseling, while 190 received usual care.
The study lasted for two years, by which time, 51 percent of the intervention group and 46 percent of the usual-care group had completed the program, the researchers note.
First lady backs childhood obesity screening
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New Hampshire’s first lady, a pediatrician, is backing legislation that would require the state’s schools to record children’s body mass index, an indicator of obesity.
Dr. Susan Lynch said she believes the measurement is more helpful than simply looking at a child’s weight to determine health risks of being under- or overweight. Lynch is a strong advocate for preventing and addressing childhood obesity.
“BMI is a poor man’s tool to give us an estimate of body fat content,” Dr. Lynch said Monday.
Childhood Obesity Raises Risk Of Future Heart Disease
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Jacksonville, FL, United States (AHN) - Being overweight as a child may be associated with a future of heart disease and stroke as an adult, according to a new study.
Researchers with the Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. said in a statement that by early as 7 years old, being obese may raise a child’s risk of heart health problems further down the road.
The researchers say the results show a need for more aggressive interventions for weight control in obese children, even before the onset of what they call “metabolic syndrome.”
Masks, hand sanitizer help halt flu spread
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Want to be prepared for a flu pandemic? You may want to stock up on face masks and hand sanitizer, according to a new study.
College students living in residency halls who wore the masks for a few hours a day and regularly used alcohol-based hand sanitizer cut their risk of coming down with flu-like illness by up to half, Dr. Allison E. Aiello of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and her colleagues found.
“We do think it probably would generalize to other settings in which you have people living in close quarters and eating in shared facilities”—for example military barracks or nursing homes, Aiello told Reuters Health in an interview. “We can probably even bring this to the household setting.”
What Are Some Breast Cancer Early Symptoms?
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When you think you may have breast cancer you may experience problems that will let you know. Here are some of the breast cancer early symptoms that may come up to watch for. If you have any of them please set up that appointment with your doctor and get in.
It’s always a better idea to go in and find out that your okay than to let it go. Self examinations are a big part of what you need to do to make sure that you don’t find any lumps. These breast lumps if you do find them could be a sign of breast cancer.
So as soon as you find that lump you should be calling and setting up an appointment. You may experience some nipple retraction too. This is when you will need to also call and set up an appointment to see the doctor.
Looking at Some Breast Cancer Protection Tips to Use
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Looking at some breast cancer protection tips that everyone out there should use. These are ways that you can catch the problem of breast cancer early and fight it. A way that you may find that lump in time and not have to get surgery.
One of the best ways to combat the problem of breast cancer is through the self exam. It is something that you should ask the doctor about and begin in your life all the time. As you age you should do the self exam more often, and combine it with these other tips to follow.
Mammograms are needed after you get to a certain age. Around the age of 40 they say that you should begin getting these each year. But if you have a history of breast cancer in your family begin it before that time.
Some Tips to Quit Smoking
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It is such a foul habit. It smells, burns holes in your clothes and furniture. Today’s cigarettes are stronger and more dangerous than the fifty’s and sixties. There are more chemicals in them than ever before. How can you stop? I know people who have smoked all their lives from their teens up to their sixties. How did they stop?
Smoking used to be “cool.” Especially for women. They had long beautiful cigarette holders they would put the cigarette in and there you go. They would hold out their arm and put up the little finger and they were considered lovely. Not so today. I haven’t seen a holder around in years.
Let’s stop smoking now you say. How easy it is for someone who has never smoked or who has quit smoking. Get real. It’s just not that easy. Once you start it’s extremely hard to stop. The longer you have smoked the harder it is to quit. Stop pouring money into these manufactures of cigarettes. Stop believing their ads. Enough is enough.
Three Tips to Quit Smoking For Good
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Many people take the new year as a chance to quit smoking for good. Here are three ways and tips to help you quit smoking for good so that you never have to think about spending an exorbitant amount of money each year ruin your health again.
Quit With a Friend - Quitting with a friend is a good way to quit smoking for good because you have a mutual support system and someone you can lean on whenever one of you slips. Quitting with a friend simultaneously drastically increases your chances of quitting for good for the both of you because of the cooperative motivational factors.
Make it Official - Telling your friends and loved ones that you want to quit smoking for good earns you their support, but just as importantly holds you accountable for actually quitting. Tell them the specific date that you would like to quit and cut back as you approach that day until you smoke your last one. Your loved ones will certainly be very supportive and thank you for what you’re doing.
8 Natural Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer
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To prevent breast cancer you need to take action. Otherwise, your odds of getting breast cancer, the disease women fear the most, are 1 in 8.
In spite of the millions of dollars spent on research and new drugs, the overall odds have stayed the same. But the following 8 natural ways to prevent breast cancer can greatly improve your own odds.
Ways to Prevent Breast Cancer
Natural breast cancer prevention requires making some lifestyle changes. Here are the eight most important steps to prevent breast cancer.
Peruvian doctors amputate wrong leg, then right one
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LIMA (Reuters) – Peruvian doctors amputated the healthy leg of an 86-year-old man, then amputated the other leg when they realized their mistake.
“I was shocked when I lifted the sheets and saw they had taken his left leg,” the man’s daughter, Carmen Villanueva, told Peruvian radio station RPP.
“The ulcer was on his right leg and they had to amputate that one too to keep the infection from spreading,” she said.
Calories Listed On Menus Can Help Curb Childhood Obesity
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In another attempt to get control of the staggering obesity rates among today’s youth, restaurants are now offering calorie counts on menu items designed for children. This discovery is based on research done by Dr. Pooja Tandon of the University of Washington in Seattle.
His team interviewed 99 parents of children aged 3 to 6 years old. The parents were given McDonald’s restaurant menus and were asked to pick out meals for themselves and their children. Half of the menus contained specific calorie information while the other half listed pictures only.
Parents consistently chose items that had approximately 100 fewer calories when they were able to see the calorie content.
