Half the Calories Consumed By Kids In the US Come From Junk Foods

December 30th, 2010

Natural News

By: David Gutierrez

Nearly half of the calories consumed by the average US child are empty junk food calories, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute and published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Researchers evaluated the diets of children aged two to 18 using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. They found that the average child consumes 2,200 calories per day, more than that recommended for an adult woman. An astonishing 40 percent of these calories come from added sugars (365 calories) or solid fats (433 calories).

The top sources of overall calories were grain deserts, providing 138 calories per day; pizza, providing 136; and soda, providing 118 calories per day. Fruit juices supplied another 56 calories from sugar each day.

Beyond contributing to obesity and all its related health problems, high consumption of empty calories can also produce another serious health problem: malnutrition in the form of nutrient deficiency.

“Some people ask, ‘How can we be malnourished if we’re eating so much that we’re all overweight?’ ” writes Mike Adams in his book The Seven Laws of Nutrition.

“The answer is simple. We’re eating empty calories,” Adams writes. “We’re eating plenty of food if you just count the calories, but not nearly enough of the right kinds of foods that provide nutrition in the form of phytonutrients, minerals, enzymes, healthy oils, vitamins, and other important nutrients. ”

Mary Story of the University of Minnesota, who was not involved in the study, said the results were “alarming” but not surprising.

“If you go to convenience stores or corner stores that are close to schools, [these foods] are really cheap and plentiful,” she said. “We should not be surprised by this — we should be outraged.”

Click here for the full report from Natural News

Fast-Food Chains Increase Targeting Our Kids

November 9th, 2010

AOL News

By: Andrew Schneider

You might have thought that with all the finger-pointing and concerns over childhood plumpness, America’s fast- food industry would be trying to reduce the gut-busting, calorie-loaded, fat-filled offerings on their menus and the kid-targeted advertising.

Not so, say researchers from Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity who released today what they say is the “most comprehensive study of fast-food nutrition and marketing ever conducted.”

The researchers studied marketing efforts of 12 of the nation’s largest fast-food chains, and examined the calories, fat, sugar and sodium in more than 3,000 kids’ meal combinations and 2,781 menu items.

“Despite pledges to improve their marketing practices, fast-food companies seem to be stepping up their efforts to target kids,” said Jennifer L. Harris, the report’s lead researcher. “Today, preschoolers see 21 percent more fast-food ads on TV than they saw in 2003, and somewhat older children see 34 percent more.”

The report also found:

• Out of 3,039 possible kids’ meal combinations, only 12 meet the researchers’ nutrition criteria for preschoolers. Only 15 meet nutrition criteria for older children.
• Teens ages 13-17 purchase 800-1,100 calories in an average fast-food meal, roughly half of their recommended total daily calories.
• At most fast-food restaurants, a single meal contains at least half of young people’s daily recommended sodium.
• A detailed analysis of the study’s methodology is available on the Rudd Center’s website.

McDonald’s spokesperson Neil Golden said this morning that the company “remains committed to responsible marketing practices … and … to offering our customers a wide variety of quality food and beverage choices that meet their dietary needs and tastes — including fruit, juice and dairy options in our Happy Meals.”

A spokesperson for the National Restaurant Association echoed Golden’s defense, without directly addressing the results of the study. Sue Hensley also noted that the industry supported the law that will “soon require calories on the menu in 200,000 restaurant locations nationwide.”

Beyond the Yale report, AOL News researched the breakdown of calories in the kids meals and found these totals at the websites of the largest fast food chains:

McDonald’s — Happy Meal cheeseburger, low-fat chocolate milk and small fries, 650 calories.

Wendy’s — Cheeseburger, Kids’ Meal fries and a low-fat chocolate milk, 650 calories.

Jack in the Box — Kids Meals cheeseburger, small fries and low fat chocolate milk, 800 calories.

Burger King — Kids Meal small cheeseburger, small fries and a low-fat chocolate milk, 820 calories.

KFC — Kid-size popcorn chicken, potato wedges and lemonade, 750 calories.

The number of calories are often doubled or tripled by substituting other menu selections, AOL News was told when it checked with managers and counter people at the five chains in Seattle. The consensus among those interviewed was that kids 8 and older rarely go for these smaller portions, with large fries, sodas and bigger hamburgers more the norm, especially if their parents were not doing the ordering.

What is the federal government doing to thwart spreading juvenile waistlines? Its schizophrenic approach confounds many nutritionists and public health experts.

Sunday’s New York Times detailed a bizarre operation where a U.S. Department of Agriculture dairy promotion group funded a $12 million campaign to develop and market a new Domino’s pizza pie that has six cheeses on top and two more in the crust where “one slice contains as much as two-thirds of a day’s maximum recommended amount of saturated fat.”

Yet another arm of the USDA, its Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, is urging consumers to reduce the consumption of these calories-filled, high fat cheeses.

On a local level, however, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors last week did attempt to take the happy out of happy meals when it approved an ordinance that would prevent fast-food chains from giving away toys with children’s meals that are overloaded with calories, salt and fat. It also decreed that any meals accompanied by promotional toys has to be served with fruits or vegetables.

If San Francisco’s mayor doesn’t veto the slimming legislation, it would become law in December.

Just after the vote, a McDonald’s spokeswoman told reporters that the company was extremely disappointed with the decision. “It’s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for,” she said.

Today’s Yale report makes it clear that the fast-food industry shouldn’t protest too much about the criticism.

Click here for the full report from AOL

San Francisco Bans Happy Meals

November 3rd, 2010

LA Times

By: Sharon Bernstein

San Francisco’s board of supervisors has voted, by a veto-proof margin, to ban most of McDonald’s Happy Meals as they are now served in the restaurants.

The measure will make San Francisco the first major city in the country to forbid restaurants from offering a free toy with meals that contain more than set levels of calories, sugar and fat.

The ordinance would also require restaurants to provide fruits and vegetables with all meals for children that come with toys.

“We’re part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice,” said Supervisor Eric Mar, who sponsored the measure. “From San Francisco to New York City, the epidemic of childhood obesity in this country is making our kids sick, particularly kids from low income neighborhoods, at an alarming rate. It’s a survival issue and a day-to-day issue.”

Just after the vote, McDonald’s spokeswoman Danya Proud said, “We are extremely disappointed with today’s decision. It’s not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for.”

The ban, already enacted in a similar measure by Santa Clara County, was opposed by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who was vying to be lieutenant governor in Tuesday’s election. But because the measure was passed by eight votes — one more than needed to override a veto — his opposition doesn’t matter unless one of the supervisors changes his or her mind after the promised veto.

Under the ordinance, scheduled to take effect in December 2011, restaurants may include a toy with a meal if the food and drink combined contain fewer than 600 calories, and if less than 35% of the calories come from fat.

Over the last few weeks, the proposed ban caused a stir online and on cable television, with supporters arguing that it would help protect children from obesity, and opponents seeing it as the latest example of the nanny state gone wild.

Supervisor Bevan Dufty, whose swing vote provided the veto-proof majority, said critics should not dismiss the legislation as a nutty effort by San Franciscans. “I do believe the industry is going to take note of this. I don’t care how much they say, ‘It’s San Francisco, they’re wacked out there.’ ”

Proud, the McDonald’s spokeswoman, said the city was out of step with the mainstream on the issue.

“Public opinion continues to be overwhelmingly against this misguided legislation,” she said. “Parents tell us it’s their right and responsibility — not the government’s — to make their own decisions and to choose what’s right for their children.”

McDonald’s is not the only fast-food chain to offer toys with children’s meals, but because it is so prominent the company has become a key face of opposition to the ban.

Daniel Conway, spokesman for the California Restaurant Assn., bemoaned the ordinance’s passage and contrasted it with San Franciscans’ exuberant feelings after the Giants won the world series on Monday night.

“One day you’re world champions, and the next day, no toys for you,” Conway said.

He said the industry could respond in a number of ways to the ordinance. Some might continue to include toys but charge separately for them. Others might reformulate their meals so that they comply with the law. Restaurants might also simply stop offering children’s meals altogether, he said.

Proud said the company does offer more healthful menu options, including apple slices that can be ordered with kids’ meals instead of French fries.

The vote was held the same day that McDonald’s reintroduced nationwide its McRib sandwich, a pressed pork patty that gets half its calories from fat and has a cult-like legion of fans.

Mar said it would lead the fast-food giant and other restaurants to provide more healthful food for kids. The ban, he said, was crucial to the fight against childhood obesity and the illnesses that go along with it, including diabetes and the risk of heart problems and stroke. The cost of fighting those diseases, he said, will be in the billions.

“It’s astronomical how much it’s going to cost if we don’t address it,” Mar said. “It’s incredible the crisis that’s going to hit us.”

Click here for the full report from LA Times

Sleep Away Fat

November 3rd, 2010

Medical News Today

According to a new study being published in Annals of Internal Medicine, the flagship journal of the American College of Physicians, lack of sleep may hinder a dieter’s ability to shed excess body fat.

Ten overweight but otherwise healthy adults on a moderate calorie-restricted diet were randomly assigned to sleep either 5.5 hours or 8.5 hours each night in a closed clinical research environment. After two weeks, researchers measured loss of fat and lean body mass. Compared to participants who slept 5.5 hours a night, the dieters that slept for 8.5 hours lost 56 percent more body fat. The dieters in the sleep restricted group had lost less fat and more lean body mass.

“These results highlight the importance of adequate sleep for maintenance of fat-free body mass when dieting to lose weight,” said Plamen Penev, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Section of Endocrinology, at the University of Chicago and lead author of the study.

While measuring fat loss was the primary objective of the study, researchers also assessed other factors including levels of hormones that affect the appetite and weight. In addition, participants in both groups were asked to report how much hunger they experienced during the study.

“Among other hormonal effects, we found that sleep restriction caused an increase in ghrelin levels in the blood,” said Dr. Penev. “Ghrelin is a hormone that has been shown to reduce energy expenditure, stimulate hunger and food intake, promote retention of fat, and increase glucose production in the body. This could explain why sleep-deprived participants also reported feeling hungrier during the study.”

The researchers conclude that even short periods of sleep deprivation can undermine efforts to lose weight. When restricting calories, dieters should consider obtaining adequate amounts of sleep to ensure that they retain lean body mass and lose fat.

Click here for the full report from Medical News Today

The Kevin Trudeau Show: 10-5-10

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Real Nutrition
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Natural Aromas
Get Rid of Fat
Truth About Gardasil

Health:
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US Children Get 40% of Their Calories From Junk Food
Medicine Can Make You Fat
Teflon Toxic To Even The Unborn
Restaurant Salads Worse Than Big Mac
Teens Storm Store Over Toxic Perfume
Truth About Gardasil Revealed

Government:
FDA Ignored Evidence That CT Scans Are Killing People

NWO:
Pre-Crime Technology To Be Used In Washington
DC Uses GPS to Monitor Young Criminals

Deception:
Bono’s Charity Scam
Rick Sanchez Fired For Blowing The Whistle

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US Children Get 40% of Their Calories From Junk Food

October 1st, 2010

ABC News

By: Kim Carollo

If there were ever a reason to cut back on kids’ consumption of cake, cookies, pizza and soda, nutrition experts say a new study highlights just how unhealthy young people’s diets really are.

Researchers from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md. analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that nearly 40 percent of calories consumed by children ages 2 to 18 were empty calories, the unhealthiest kind of calories.

Half of these calories came from just six foods:

• Soda
• Sugary fruit drinks
• Grain desserts, such as cake, cookies and donuts
• Dairy desserts such as ice cream
• Pizza
• Whole milk, which is far fattier than skim.

“Consumption of empty calories far exceeded the corresponding discretionary calorie allowance for all sexage groups,” wrote the researchers, led by nutritionist Jill Reedy.

“This number is staggering and depressing,” said Kelly Brownell, professor of psychology, epidemiology and public health at Yale University.

While the findings don’t surprise many nutrition experts, they say the reasons kids consume so many empty calories are complex. The push for healthier foods over the past few years has helped a little, but they say there are still many obstacles to changing eating habits for the better — including a lack of physical activity, parental and peer influences, and marketing by the food industry.

Blaming Manufacturers

“Empty-calorie foods are manufactured by the food industry to be maximally palatable,” said Dr. David L. Katz, director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center in Derby, Conn.

“I don’t see a solution unless we have serious limits on advertising of foods that damage the health and reduce the longevity of today’s children,” said Dr. Walter Willett, chair of the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

But the picture is complex, said Connie Diekman, director of university nutrition at Washington University in St. Louis. Many kids — and their parents — simply do not know what they ought to be eating.

“Nutrition education needs to start in prenatal classes and move through the entire education system,” said Diekman. “As I work with college students it amazes me, the number who don’t know the nutritional value of many foods or even how much of each food group they need.”

Empty Calories: Children and Junk Food

“The school curriculum must include thorough teaching of the value of real food and what food to avoid,” said Dr. Jana Klauer, a New York-based physician and nutrition expert. “It is crucial that nutrition be addressed thoroughly throughout the elementary school years; high school is too late because the damage has been done by then.”

This summer, the Senate passed a bill that would provide $4.5 billion to help improve the nutrtional quality of school lunches and the food in vending machines. The bill has yet to pass the House of Representatives.

Another nutritionist blames teen culture for the over-consumption of junk food.

“Fast food is very inexpensive, filling, and tasty,” said Joanne Ikeda, nutritionist emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. “Teens view it as a bargain. They don’t want to spend a lot of money on food. They want to spend it on clothes, shoes, iPhones, etc.,” she added.

Parents Also Play a Role

Experts also believe children’s poor diets are a result of their home environment.

“Eating is learned behavior. Kids eat what their parents eat,” said Dr. Charles Clark, professor of medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine. If busy parents throw a frozen pizza in the microwave, he said, that’s a bad meal that sends a bad message.

“[We need] better food labeling, including fruits and vegetables, clarification of serving sizes … [and] food labeling with caloric content,” said Dr. Robert Eckel, a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Hospital.

One nutritionist said that while the food industry does serve up a less-than-healthy dose of junk food, restaurants are improving their choices, and it’s up to consumers to make the right choices.

“[W]e need for customers to continue to ask for healthier options. Change won’t happen in these environments unless customers financially support the changes,” said Diekman.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, an organization that represents 300 food, beverage and consumer product companies, said that between 2002 and 2009, food and beverage companies have introduced thousands of healthier alternatives.

“Food and beverage companies are responding to consumer needs by providing thousands of healthier product choices that make it easier for shoppers to build a healthy diet for them and their families,” the association said in a press release.

The association also said more than 90 percent of its companies actively promote healthy lifestyles.

Despite the National Cancer Institute study’s findings, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called the obesity epidemic a “winnable battle.”

“CDC is committed to addressing the epidemic of obesity and overweight in the U.S.,” says the agency’s website, “and improving the public’s health through the promotion of good nutrition, physical activity, and a safe food supply.”

Childhood Obesity May Be Linked to Cold Virus

September 20, 2010

ABC News

By: Nancy Walsh

Researchers have found a possible link between infection with a strain of cold virus and the development of childhood obesity.

Among a group of 124 children, antibodies to adenovirus 36 were detected in 22 percent of those who were obese, compared with only 7 percent of those whose weight was in the normal range, according to Dr. Charles Gabbert of the University of California San Diego and colleagues.

Mean weight in those who carried antibodies to the virus was 92.9 kg, compared with 69.1 kg in those who were antibody-negative, the researchers reported in the October issue of Pediatrics.

During the past three decades, the prevalence of obesity among young people has tripled, reaching 17 percent, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Although consumption of excess calories and inadequate exercise are associated with obesity, other etiologic factors also may contribute.

While adenoviruses are most commonly associated with infections of the upper respiratory tract and the intestines, adenovirus 36 has been found in fat tissue in animal models.

In addition, an association between obesity and antibody positivity has been seen in adults.

To see if this virus also might influence body weight in children, Gabbert and colleagues studied 70 boys and 54 girls ages 8 to 18 years.

More than half of the patients were classified as obese, with a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile for age.

Using a serum neutralization assay, the researchers detected neutralizing antibodies to adenovirus 36 in 15 percent of the entire cohort.

Antibody positivity was associated with older age (15.4 years versus 13.1 years), but not with sex, race or ethnicity.

Median BMI was higher in children who carried the antibodies (33.7 kg/m2 versus 25.4 kg/m2), and obese children who were antibody-positive weighed on average 16.1 kg more than the obese children who were antibody-negative.

Other possible explanations for the association of obesity with antibodies to adenovirus 36 could be obesity-related immune dysfunction, making the children more susceptible to infection and to persistence of the infection, the researchers suggested.

Obese children can be severely ostracized and stigmatized. “The possibility that excess weight gain in some children may be attributable to a viral infection could alter the public debate and perceptions regarding childhood obesity,” the researchers wrote.

The possibility also exists that obese children who carry these antibodies may respond differently to weight-loss treatments and could require more intensive interventions.

Strengths of this study include the large and diverse sample size and the rigorous method of performing the antibody assay, the authors noted. Weaknesses include the cross-sectional design, which does not allow for conclusions about causality, and the lack of information about the timing of infection.

“Longitudinal data are needed to elucidate more thoroughly the role of [adenovirus] 36 exposure in human obesity,” the researchers concluded.

Click here for the full report

McDonald’s Threatened With Lawsuit Over Happy Meal Toys

June 29, 2010

Natural News

By: Ethan A. Huff

The Los Angeles Times recently reported that the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) is planning to sue fast-food giant McDonald’s if the company does not comply with its demands to remove toys from “Happy Meals”. CSPI claims that marketing unhealthy food with toys is contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic and should be stopped immediately.

The announcement by CSPI comes just weeks after a California county banned not only toys but all other promotions aimed at children that involve McDonald’s Happy Meals. By doing this, the county believes that children will be less attracted to fatty foods that are high in salt and calories.

According to the same article, back in April, Santa Clara County, California, also banned toy promotions from fast food meals sold in unincorporated parts of the county.

Spokesmen from McDonald’s denied that Happy Meals are inherently unhealthy, citing the fact that the meals are of an appropriate size and that children have the option to swap out the fries and soda for apples and juice. They also explained that giving away toys with children’s meals is part of the fun of a family dining experience.

Since 2008 when apples were first introduced as an option in Happy Meals, customers have ordered them more than 100 million times, illustrating that when given healthier options, customers often choose them for their children instead.

But those opposed to the toys insist that including them in Happy Meals is contributing directly to the obesity epidemic because it makes the generally unhealthy meals highly attractive to children who do not know any better.

And while acknowledging that parents ultimately bear the responsibility of controlling their children’s food choices, CSPI believes that using toys to lure kids into McDonald’s is so powerful and “predatory” as a form of marketing that parents often have a difficult time resisting their children’s nagging

Still others say that placing heavy restrictions on what McDonald’s can include in Happy Meals may be a bit severe and overbearing, and that it will do little to effectively reverse the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Some are even suggesting a compromise in which McDonald’s limit its new toy offerings to once a month rather than once a week, in order to reduce the number of times children want to go to McDonald’s to get a new toy.

Click here to read full report

Michelle Obama Applauds Corrupt Food Industry

May 18, 2010

The Washington Post

By Jane Black

In a direct response to Michelle Obama’s declared war on childhood obesity, an alliance of major food manufacturers on Monday pledged to introduce new, more healthful options, cut portion sizes and trim calories in existing products.

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation, a coalition including Campbell Soup, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg, Kraft Foods and PepsiCo, will slash 1 trillion calories by the end of 2012 and 1.5 trillion calories by the end of 2015. The 16 members make 20-25 percent of food consumed in the United States.

“This is precisely the kind of real private-sector commitment that we need. And I hope that more will follow the example that they’ve set,” Obama said at a news conference at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.

The announcement is one of the first substantial results of the first lady’s “Let’s Move!” campaign, which aims to end childhood obesity within a generation. The industry’s pledge comes two months after Obama urged food corporations “to move farther, faster” and less than a week after the White House announced the findings of its Childhood Obesity Task Force.

Click here for the full report.

Peppers May Ignite Weight Loss

April 28, 2010

Telegraph.co.uk

by Richard Alleyne

Researchers have found that the heat generated by peppers can actually increase your consumption of calories and “oxidise” layers of fat.

And for those that don’t like the “burn”, they have discovered that an equivalent of the main ingredient “capsaicin” occurs in some non-hot varieties of the fruit.

The heat of pepper evolved to put animals off eating them, but humans have come to like them and they have been a staple of many diets around the world for thousands of years.

Scientists – intrigued by the ability of the fruit to make you sweat – now believe they can help as part of a diet.

There are plants that make a non-burning version of capsaicin called dihydrocapsiate (DCT) that could have the benefits of peppers without the pungency, it has been discovered.

Researchers at the University of California recruited 34 men and women who were willing to consume a very low-calorie liquid meal replacement product for 28 days.

The researchers, led by Dr David Heber, then randomly chose the subjects to take either placebo pills or supplements containing the non-burning DCT pepper.

Their data provided convincing evidence that, at least for several hours after the test meal was consumed, energy expenditure was significantly increased in the group consuming the highest amount of DCT.

In fact, it was almost double that of the placebo group.

They were also able to show that DCT significantly increased fat oxidation, pushing the body to use more fat as fuel. This may help people lose weight when they consume a low-calorie diet by increasing metabolism.

Dr Heber and his research team will present their results at the Experimental Biology annual conference.

Click here to read the full report

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