Striving4Zen

According to a recent study, millions of middle-age Americans find it difficult to follow the recommendations to eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise more. In fact over the last 20 years, middle-age Americans who eat the daily recommended fruits and vegetables has dropped from 42% to 25%! You won’t be surprised to hear that the obesity rate has gone up from 28% to 36%.

Eating well should be a lifelong practice, but many people find it challenging to keep up with all of the “rules” of how many fruits and vegetables to eat. It really isn’t that complicated. Telling someone who eats only processed foods might find it difficult to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables. Instead, they can start slowly. If eating an apple or broccoli is unappetizing, there are hundreds of recipes that incorporate more whole foods and might sound more appealing to the non-fruit or vegetable eater.

The important thing is that people realize that a diet high in chemicalized artificial junk foods increases one’s risk of developing heart disease or other chronic ailments. Why wait until you get sick to fix the problem? It seems that many people live by the quick fix mentality. They take a pill and eat whatever they want. Sure the pill may reduce the symptoms, but it’s not doing the other 100 things that proper eating and exercise can do for you.

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Labels: broccoli, eating healthy, healthy diet, junk food, Obesity, Western diet

Almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly one-third of them fat, a striking new study says.

Researchers said they were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age.

Overall, more than a half-million 4-year-olds are obese, the study suggests. Obesity is more common in Hispanic and black youngsters, too, but the disparity is most startling in American Indian kids, whose rate is almost double that of white children.

The study's lead author said that rate is worrisome among children so young, even in a population at higher risk for obesity because of other health problems and economic disadvantages.

"The magnitude of these differences was larger than we expected, and it is surprising to see differences by racial groups present so early in childhood," said Sarah Anderson, an Ohio State University public-health researcher.

Anderson conducted the research with Temple University's Dr. Robert Whitaker.

Dr. Glenn Flores, a pediatrics and public-health professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, said the research is an important contribution to studies documenting racial and ethnic disparities in children's weight.

"The cumulative evidence is alarming because within just a few decades, America will become a 'minority majority' nation," he said.

Without interventions, the next generation "will be at very high risk" for heart disease, high blood pressure, cancers, joint diseases and other problems connected with obesity, said Flores, who was not involved in the new research.

The results appeared in yesterday's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

Almost 13% of Asian children were obese, along with 16% of whites, almost 21% of blacks, 22% of Hispanics, and 31% of American Indians.

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Labels: children, disturbing trend, Fat, obese, Obesity, study

Researchers have recently found that the higher a person's body mass index, the more likely she is to develop breast cancer. Obese women are also more likely to live shorter lives and suffer a recurrence of their cancer, and may also get a more deadly form of breast cancer (inflammatory breast cancer).

On the flip side, a separate study has found that vigorous exercise (running, fast jogging, aerobics, bicycling on hills, etc.) can reduce the risk of breast cancer by about 30% in normal-weight women.

So the moral of the story is to exercise and try and keep your body weight down as much as possible. The ways in which exercise helps your health far exceeds the annoyance of putting on your gym shoes and pounding through an hour at the gym. It's important that we keep reminding ourselves of this from time to time.

Thanks FitSugar!

Labels: breast cancer, exercise, healthy living, Obesity, prevention

America's super-sized obsession with Big Macs, fries and stuffed-crust pizzas is beginning to affect more than just waistlines - it has doubled the rate of diabetes over the last decade.

The Centers for Disease Control warned that our buffet-bloated populace badly needs an intervention - New York state included.

"Interventions that promote weight loss and increased physical activity among persons at high risk for diabetes are needed to reduce diabetes incidence," says the report, which was released yesterday.

"Also needed are public health interventions, including environmental and policy changes (e.g., creating or enhancing parks, walking trails and access to healthier foods) that encourage healthy lifestyles."

The number of people across the country suffering from the blood-sugar disease has skyrocketed in the past 10 years. New York is among states with a higher-than-average rate.

A detailed phone survey showed that just 4.8 out of every 1,000 Americans had diabetes between 1995 and 1997.

But between of 2005 to 2007, that number rose to 9.1 per 1,000.

The worst rates are in the nation's deep-fried Southern pork-barbecue belt.

The study, put up on the center's Web site yesterday, is the first to look at the rise in diabetes rates from a state-by-state perspective.

"These findings affirm previous projections that diabetes will continue to be a major public health problem," the CDC said.

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Labels: diabetes, Obesity, study, unhealthy

Tangerine Wellness is the leading corporate weight management program that helps companies lower healthcare costs by rewarding employees that achieve and maintain a healthy weight.

According to the Department of Health & Human Services, the majority of Americans are overweight or obese, and obesity is America's #1 health problem.

Obese individuals have 30 to 50% more chronic medical problems than those who smoke or drink heavily. They have increased risks for type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several types of cancer, gallbladder disease, and other ailments. The effects of obesity are similar to 20 years of aging!

Tangerine has successfully completed dozens of implementations in over 25 states for manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, education, and government organizations. Tangerine has consistently produced over 2% of weight loss per program period with 60 to 80% employee participation. Additionally, Tangerine has generated significant body mass index (BMI) classification improvement, which translates into direct healthcare savings. Clients have seen as much as a 10% reduction in healthcare costs and a 5x return on investment annually.

Tangerine

Labels: health care, health trend, healthy living, innovative, Obesity, progressive companies, Tangerine, Tangerine Wellness

Schools in Wisconsin are showing kids the dangers of genetically engineered (GE) junk food with some unique science class experiments. Sister Luigi Frigo repeats the experiment every year in her second grade class in Cudahy.
Students feed one group of mice unprocessed whole foods. A second group of mice are given the same junk foods served at most schools. Within a couple of days, the behavior of the second group of mice develop erratic sleeping schedules and become lazy, nervous and even violent. It takes the mice about three weeks on unprocessed foods to return to normal. According to Frigo, the second graders tried to do the experiment again a few months later with the same mice, but the animals have already learned their lesson and refuse to eat the GE food.
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Labels: eating healthy, Obesity, processed foods, study, Whole Foods

Any of Alabama's more than 35,000 state employees will be charged $25 per month for insurance that's usually free if they're too fat and don't work on losing the extra weight by January 2010, the Associated Press reported Monday.

While other states reward workers who meet criteria for what's considered healthy, Alabama would be the first state to penalize those who qualify as obese. The monthly charge would apply to any state employee with a body mass index (BMI) of 35 or greater who "doesn't make progress" in slimming down, the wire service said. The state has yet to determine how much progress an employee would have to demonstrate.

A BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese. A person who is 5-feet, 6-inches tall and weighs 220 pounds would have a BMI of 35.5, the AP said.

The wire service cited statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that Alabama ranks second in the nation behind Mississippi as the state with the biggest weight problem. Nearly one-third of Alabamians are obese.

The director of Alabama's State Employees' Insurance Board said that a person with a BMI of 35 to 39 faces about $1,750 more in medical expenses each year than a person with a BMI of less than 25.

Alabama already charges a premium to state workers who smoke.

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Labels: great idea, health trend, innovative, Obesity, study

Last month, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health came out with another report, in what has been a parade of dire warnings about obesity in the US. In a study in the July issue of Obesity, they concluded that unless our eating habits or exercise habits change, 86% of the American population will be overweight or obese by 2030. The obese are more susceptible to an array of health problems, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Widespread obesity also means that today's children may even have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

But poor health isn't the only way Americans pay for all that extra weight, there's also a hefty financial price attached. Here are the top five costs associated with obesity:

1. Lower wages: Stanford University researchers found that obese men and women earn, on average, $3.41 per hour less than their peers. Employers tend to pay obese workers less when they're footing the bill for their insurance, researchers said, speculating that it could be an unconscious reaction on the part of the employer to having to pay higher premiums for a more obese workforce.

2. Fewer work hours: On average, obese workers tend to lose a week of work a year due to ailments related to their weight, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

3. Higher medical costs: Overweight males incur medical costs that are $170 more annually than their leaner co-workers, while overweight females incur costs $495 higher than their counterparts, Finkelstein and Zuckerman write.

4. Extra air travel costs: Budget airlines such as Southwest require obese people or people who may take up more than one seat to buy an adequate number of seats on the flight. And heavier passengers burn more fuel.

5. More gasoline: Obviously, more weight burns more gasoline in cars, too.

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Labels: Obesity, study

A glass of fruit juice is a lot of calories and sugar, for very little satisfaction (it won’t make you feel full or satisfied).

Ideally, switch your fruit juice to whole fruit. When the fruit is intact and whole, its fiber will moderate the release of fructose into your bloodstream and temper your insulin release. The fruit pulp and skin are actually two of the healthiest parts of most fruits, which you miss entirely if you only drink the juice.

Fruit juice, especially freshly squeezed and organic, is far better than any soda, I strongly believe that most people are better off avoiding fruit juice. If you don’t want to give up fruit juice entirely, cut back on it by mixing in some sparkling water.

And always keep these tips in mind IF you choose to drink fruit juice:

1. Only buy 100% fruit juice (“fruit drinks,” “fruit beverages,” and “fruit cocktails” usually have added sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, coloring or artificial flavors)

2. Choose juices that are darkly colored (pomegranate or blueberry instead of apple or orange)

3. Opt for juices that are packaged in glass and have sediment on the bottom (this indicates the nutritious skins are included)

When you help yourself to a glass of fruit juice, it’s true that you get some antioxidants. But you also get a hefty serving of sugar -- even if the label says “no sugar added.” An eight-ounce glass of freshly squeezed fruit juice has about eight full teaspoons of sugar!

This sugar is typically a fruit sugar called fructose, which is every bit as dangerous as regular table sugar since it will also cause a major increase in your insulin levels. But even beyond that, fructose is not metabolized the same as other sugars. Instead of being converted to glucose, which your body uses, it is removed by your liver.

Because fructose is metabolized by your liver, it does not cause your pancreas to release insulin the way it normally does. Fructose converts to fat more than any other sugar. This may be one of the reasons Americans continue to get fatter.

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Labels: fruit juice, high fructose corn syrup, Obesity, Whole Foods

It's no mystery why Americans are getting fatter. We're expending less energy to work, play, travel and acquire food. And we're taking more calories in.

And how!

New York City's recent law requiring chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus has revealed some intriguing -- and appalling -- information.

Some observations:

Studies have shown that even dietitians often underestimate how many calories dishes contain, and no wonder. Applebee's Fiesta Lime Chicken packs 1,290 calories. Pizzeria Uno's Individual Chicago Classic (serves one) has 2,310. Who could eat another bite after an appetizer like T.G.I. Friday's Jack Daniel's Sampler at 2,330?

But It Sounds So Healthy …

Salads come so embellished these days they may as well be dessert. The Pecan-Coated Chicken Salad at T.G.I. Friday's (garnished with mandarin oranges, dried cranberries, glazed pecans, celery and blue cheese) is 1,360 calories. California Pizza Kitchen's Grilled Vegetable Salad is 1,020, or 1,490 with sautéed salmon.

Sandwiches can be a caloric bargain in comparison. At Shea Stadium's Metropolitan Club, the Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad is 807 calories; the Grilled Chicken Sandwich is 340. As veteran dieters know, dressing sends salads to the moon, calorically.

Lightening Up

Some restaurants have had their own sticker shock and started offering lighter options. Così had a nutritionist look for ways to save on every item. S witching to low-fat mayo brought the Così Club from nearly 800 calories to 447. Così's popular Signature Salad (with gorgonzola, grapes, pears, pistachios, dried cranberries and roasted sherry shallot vinaigrette) goes from 611 calories to 371 with reduced-fat dressing and half the cheese." Having to post this information in New York really focused us on paying attention as well," says Chris Carroll, the chain's chief marketing officer.

"A lot of restaurants use a lot of butter or oil in the preparation. Cutting that by half usually doesn't change the taste or the consistency but it dramatically changes the calories and fat," says Healthy Dining Program's president Anita Jones-Mueller. "Some restaurants are really embracing this and creating exciting new items," she adds. "And others are kind of waiting to see if it goes away."

Will posting calories prominently really make Americans think twice and order more healthy items? "Anecdotally, you hear constantly about people who've changed their choices," say Commissioner Frieden. "You go into fast-food places and you hear a lot of buzz online."

Elisabetta Politi, director of nutrition at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center, isn't so sure. "Some of our clients know so much about nutrition they could teach the classes, but does that help them control their weight? Absolutely not," she says.

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Labels: eating out, epidemic, Fat, Obesity, restaurants

Labels: exercise, health care, Lawrence Gostin, Obesity, Oxford Health Alliance, terrorism