Teenage Girls Live on Junk Food
February 11, 2010
Times Online
By Valerie Elliott
Teenage girls are eating a worse diet than they did ten years ago and putting their long-term health at risk, a national nutrition survey suggests.
Girls of secondary school age are not only living on junk food such as crisps, cakes, biscuits and fizzy drinks, but they are also smoking and drinking more than boys.
The pattern of consumption suggests that many girls are being influenced by fashion models. However, while girls aim to be slim, the study found that 37 per cent of teenage girls are overweight and 22 per cent are classified as obese. Among boys of the same age, 35 per cent are overweight but only 16 per cent are obese.
The preliminary findings of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey, released yesterday, have made such depressing reading for health chiefs that civil servants have turned to social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo to see if 13 to 16-year-olds can be weaned on to healthy eating by their own friends.
The tactics are radical, but officials from the Food Standards Agency and Department of Health are dismayed that, despite all the healthy eating messages, only 7 per cent of girls are eating their “five a day” portions of fruit and vegetables and the average girl’s consumption is 2.8 portions.
Almost half of all girls are also failing to eat food rich in iron, such as cereals and red meat. A deficiency can lead to anaemia, which causes fatigue and lethargy and is a factor in some women failing to become pregnant.
Eleven per cent of girls aged 13 to 15 also admitted drinking alcohol every week, compared with 1 per cent of boys the same age, while 29 per cent of the young teenage girls said that they smoked cigarettes, compared with 16 per cent of boys.Dr Alison Tedstone, head of nutrition research at the agency, said: “Broadly, teenage girls don’t eat enough. Overall, they are a stand-alone group of the population whose diets are poor.”
An analysis of eating diaries found that the average teenage girl eats 54 grams of chips or fried potatoes every day while the average woman aged 19 to 65 eats just 40g. Each day the teenager also eats 14g of crisps or other salty snacks, 22g of sweets and choocolate, and 37g of cakes and biscuits.
The average older woman, however, will eat just 6g a day of crisps, 10g of sweets and chocolate, and 27g of cake and biscuits.
Researchers also found that teenage girls and boys were eating too much sugar and saturated fat. It is recommended that only 11 per cent of energy should come from food with sugars, yet secondary school age boys are consuming 16.3 per cent sugars a day and girls 15 per cent.
High levels of saturated fat which is linked to heart disease are also being eaten. The average recommended daily intake is 11 per cent, yet girls are eating 13.1 per cent a day and boys 12.7 per cent.
Dr Tedstone said she hoped that diets would improve as manufacturers reformulated products and lowered saturated fat and sugar content.
Click here for the full report
Cancer Rates of Immigrators on the Rise
February 9, 2010
Natural News
By David Gutierrez
Cancer rates among Hispanics rise following migration to the United States, according to a study conducted by researchers from the University of Miami.
“This study is [reminiscent] of studies from the late 1960s that looked at immigrants from China and Japan to the United States,” said Otis Brawley of the American Cancer Society. “They raise risk of cancer by immigrating and raise rates for second generation Americans even more so.”
The researchers used data from the Florida cancer registry, International Agency for Research on Cancer, and 2000 U.S. census to compare the rates of various cancers among Hispanics of different national origins both in the United States and in their home countries, as well as rates among non-Hispanics in the United States, between 1999 and 2001. They found that cancer rates among Hispanics living in the United States are approximately 40 percent higher than rates in Latin America, although the specifics vary by national origin and cancer type. For example, rates of colorectal cancer practically double among Puerto Ricans moving to the mainland, while roughly tripling among Mexican and Cuban migrants.
Mexican immigrants had the lowest cancer rates overall, although rates of cancers associated with minorities, such as cervical, stomach and liver cancer, were high. “New Latinos,” which includes Hispanics from Central or South America, the Dominican Republic or Spain, also had high rates of “minority” cancers, as well as high rates of thyroid cancer and low rates of lung cancer.
The researchers attributed the rise in cancer rates among immigrants to the adoption of unhealthy lifestyle patterns prevalent in the United States, particularly dietary changes including a higher consumption of red meat. Lower levels of physical activity and higher tobacco and alcohol consumption are also likely culprits.
“For Hispanic populations, there are beneficial lifestyles associated with their origin that probably should be kept,” said lead author Paulo Pinheiro. “There are lifestyles that may be more prevalent in the United States that probably should be avoided.”
Click here for the full report.
How I Stay Warm During the Cold Season…
November 10, 2009 by KT
Filed under Kevin's Blog
If you’re wearing a hat and gloves 24/7, there are things you can do to keep warm besides blasting the heater or wearing wool from head to toe.
How to Stay Warm During the Cold Season
Poor circulation may be one reason why hands and feet get cold, however, it could also be caused by thyroid activity level, kidney and heart disease, anemia, hypertension, high cholesterol, smoking, and poor diet. See your doctor to be sure you do not have a medical condition. Then, try some of these ways to increase your circulation and to stay warm:
- Eat warming foods such as miso soup, red meat, whole grains, root vegetables, cayenne pepper and ginger; not ice cream or soft drinks.
- Indulge in heavier foods. Use more oils when sautéing, or dribble some ghee onto your rice or vegetables. Eat cooked rather than raw vegetables and fruit.
- Drink hot teas containing spices such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper and cardamom.
- Take hot baths, which are soothing and warm the body through and through.
- Try acupuncture, which increases circulation by stimulating nerves that relay information to the brain.
- Practice your favorite stress-reduction technique – meditation, yoga, therapy, laughter, and sex….
- Keep moving; your body generates heat as a byproduct when it moves. Get your heart rate up with brisk walks, bicycling or other forms of exercise.
- Use a rebounder or inversion machine to get the blood moving throughout your body. Much of your body heat is circulated via the blood stream, so wiggle those toes and fingers.
- Open blinds on south-facing windows during the day to let in the sun. Bask in it.
- Remember the old water bottle? Pour some boiling water into it, wrap it, and sleep with it at night to stay cozy. For extra warmth, try placing the bottle under your armpits or on the inside of your upper thighs. Your arteries are close to the surface of your skin there, and your blood can gain a little extra heat to circulate.
- Surprise, surprise – drink plenty of water to keep your machine “well-oiled.” It’s important to keep hydrated, and to use good moisturizing skin products during the cold season as well as the heat of summer.
- Mix raw, organic honey with some soothing cardamom pods into a cup of hot, boiled milk; light some lovely, natural scented candles; relax and enjoy the warmth.
- Flannel sheets and a thick down comforter make night time extra warm and inviting to snuggle into on even the coldest of nights!
If your house is just too cold, there are new space heating technologies such as convection heat and radiant heat that are worth looking into. A portable radiator-type oil heater uses a lot of power, but not nearly as much as a furnace. Tightening up the house by stopping air leaks, having insulated interior coverings on all windows, putting plastic up on the outside of windows, and putting a “jacket” on the hot water heater, all help. Close the heater vents and shut the doors to unused rooms in your home. Warning: electrical emissions from electric blankets and similar warming devices may be hazardous to your health.
Have a great week,
KT
Read Those Food Labels
October 23, 2009
The New York Times
By Elizabeth Rosenthal
Shopping for oatmeal, Helena Bergstrom, 37, admitted that she was flummoxed by the label on the blue box reading, “Climate declared: .87 kg CO2 per kg of product.”
A dairy farm near Uppsala is among the Swedish companies now focusing on the carbon dioxide emitted in food production.
“Right now, I don’t know what this means,” said Ms. Bergstrom, a pharmaceutical company employee.
But if a new experiment here succeeds, she and millions of other Swedes will soon find out. New labels listing the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the production of foods, from whole wheat pasta to fast food burgers, are appearing on some grocery items and restaurant menus around the country.
People who live to eat might dismiss this as silly. But changing one’s diet can be as effective in reducing emissions of climate-changing gases as changing the car one drives or doing away with the clothes dryer, scientific experts say.
“We’re the first to do it, and it’s a new way of thinking for us,” said Ulf Bohman, head of the Nutrition Department at the Swedish National Food Administration, which was given the task last year of creating new food guidelines giving equal weight to climate and health. “We’re used to thinking about safety and nutrition as one thing and environmental as another.”
Some of the proposed new dietary guidelines, released over the summer, may seem startling to the uninitiated. They recommend that Swedes favor carrots over cucumbers and tomatoes, for example. (Unlike carrots, the latter two must be grown in heated greenhouses here, consuming energy.)
They are not counseled to eat more fish, despite the health benefits, because Europe’s stocks are depleted.
And somewhat less surprisingly, they are advised to substitute beans or chicken for red meat, in view of the heavy greenhouse gas emissions associated with raising cattle.
“For consumers, it’s hard,” Mr. Bohman acknowledged. “You are getting environmental advice that you have to coordinate with, ‘How can I eat healthier?’ ”
Many Swedish diners say it is just too much to ask. “I wish I could say that the information has made me change what I eat, but it hasn’t,” said Richard Lalander, 27, who was eating a Max hamburger (1.7 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions) in the shadow of a menu board revealing that a chicken sandwich (0.4 kilograms) would have been better for the planet.
Yet if the new food guidelines were religiously heeded, some experts say, Sweden could cut its emissions from food production by 20 to 50 percent. An estimated 25 percent of the emissions produced by people in industrialized nations can be traced to the food they eat, according to recent research here. And foods vary enormously in the emissions released in their production.
While today’s American or European shoppers may be well versed in checking for nutrients, calories or fat content, they often have little idea of whether eating tomatoes, chicken or rice is good or bad for the climate.
Hispanic Cancer Rates Change After U.S. Immigration
August 6, 2009
ABC News
Joseph Brownstein
Many Hispanic immigrants who relocate to the United States face much higher cancer rates than those in the country they left behind, new research shows.
While the U.S. might provide more cancer screening and often better health care overall, said Paulo Pinheiro, an epidemiologist with the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, “For Hispanic populations, there are beneficial lifestyles associated with their origin that probably should be kept. There are lifestyles that may be more prevalent in the U.S. that probably should be avoided.”
Cancer can be 40 percent more common for Hispanics after they immigrate, the study showed — though it warned doctors not to rely on that figure alone.
Pinheiro and his colleagues found that cancer rates in these groups tend to rise or fall with expected rates among their American counterparts, but that rates for immigrants from Cuba, Mexico or Puerto Rico can be very different.
“Hispanic populations shouldn’t all be considered together. There are specificities to each one of them,” he said.
The University of Miami study looked at cancer rates among Florida residents and found that rates among Cuban immigrants closely followed those seen in white residents of the state, while Puerto Ricans “consistently showed the highest cancer rates of all Hispanic subpopulations.” Mexicans had the lowest cancer rates but had high rates of cancers typically associated with minority populations, such as stomach, cervix and liver cancer.
The study also looked at “New Latinos,” a varied group that included Hispanics who came from Spain, the Dominican Republic and South and Central American countries. These groups had low rates of lung cancer, high rates of thyroid cancer and high rates of cancer that would be expected in a minority population.
To conduct the study, researchers used numbers from the Florida cancer registry from 1999 through 2001, and used data from the 2000 census to generate estimates of cancer rates in the United States. They compared this to data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a division of the World Health Organization.
Researchers looked at rates of cancer incidence among Hispanics who had immigrated to the United States from Puerto Rico, Cuba and Mexico and compared them to the rates seen in their home countries. They also compared these rates to those seen in non-Hispanic whites and blacks in the U.S.
Experts not involved with the study noted that a pattern of typically increased cancer rates is not uncommon when a group immigrates to the U.S.
“This study is [reminiscent] of studies from the late 1960s that looked at immigrants from China and Japan to the U.S.,” said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer and executive vice president of the American Cancer Society. “They raise risk of cancer by immigrating and raise rates for second generation Americans even more so.”
Reasons for Trend Remain Unclear
While the study indicated a strong change in cancer rates among Hispanic immigrants to the U.S., it could not explain exactly why this occurred.
However, the researchers say the data provide some clues.
Pinheiro said that among the changes in cancer rates, one of the most striking is the rise in colorectal cancer rates, which nearly doubled among Puerto Ricans, nearly tripled among Mexicans and more than tripled among Cubans.
He said the changes can likely be attributed to diet — red meat, in particular, is far more popular in the U.S. than elsewhere.
Brawley agreed, noting that the trend has been observed in the past, as when Chinese immigrants came to the U.S.
“[The] major reason is diet changes,” he said. “Increased dietary fat and dietary obesity causes this. Rates were higher in the acculturated than those moving to U.S. Chinatowns.”
Pinheiro said that changes in patterns of tobacco and alcohol use and lack of physical exercise might also explain changes in cancer rates.
He acknowledged that higher rates of screening in the United States might account for some of the differences in cancer rates, but said that likely did not account for the significant changes in cancer rates.
“We look more for cancer in this country, for instance,” said Pinheiro.
Prostate cancer, which is heavily screened for in the U.S., provides one example. In the study, Puerto Rican immigrants, coming from a U.S. territory, had almost the same rates of prostate cancer, while the rates almost doubled in Mexican immigrants and nearly quadrupled among Cuban immigrants.
However, Pinheiro noted, the rates of cancers more commonly found in less developed countries dropped.
“Here we observe the decrease,” he said, noting that this would not be accounted for by reporting errors.
Brawley agreed. He said that more common screening in the U.S. likely had some effect on the numbers but said that “[I] doubt reporting changes anything and doubt this influences treatment.”
Further Categorization Necessary?
Pinheiro said one important thing to draw from the study was that Hispanics could not be lumped together as a single group in studies about ethnic groups and cancer.
At present, he said, he would like some separation among “Hispanic” by country of origin.
It would be especially useful, he said, in his own state. “Florida is so diverse, that of course we want that.”
However, he said, it may be hard to do because cancer registries are national, and most other states have a more homogenous Hispanic population, and, therefore, no use for a more specific registry.
“Because these standards are national, it’s so different,” said Pinheiro.
Dr. Jay Brooks, chairman of hematology/oncology at Ochsner Health System, agreed that better studies can’t be “lumping all people together.”
But more categorization presents a paradox.
As Pinheiro said, increased immigration will require more specific categorization for research. But as immigration increases, so will intermarriage between different Hispanic groups, making the U.S. Hispanic population (as well as the U.S. population in general) more homogenous.
Missing an Opportunity for Advancement?
While Pinheiro said greater categorization might ultimately lose its utility, he said that the time before that happens presents a unique opportunity to determine behaviors that may help prevent cancer.
He believes that in order to determine which behaviors influence cancer, researchers will need to do studies quickly among older Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S.
“We’re missing an opportunity here,” said Pinheiro. “There’s surprisingly [little] research thus far.”
