AROUND THE WEB
Top 10 Yoga Poses that Increase Metabolism (Shape)
How Repetitive Foods Can Mean Weightloss (Time)
12 Myths and Facts About Vaccines (Health)
Tips for Running a Half Marathon (Runner’s World)
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA ANNOUNCES INITIATIVE TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTHY, AFFORDABLE FOOD
A First Lady is nothing without an initiative, so I appreciate Shelly O for choosing food and fitness as hers. When I was a kid we were inundated with Drug Abuse Residence Education aka DARE. The only thing I got out of that was a t-shirt. DARE wasn’t really fun. You signed a pledge, committed to never join a gang, do drugs, or abuse alcohol. I still frequent happy hour.
(DARE lost its federal grant funding in 1998, after failing to meet federal guidelines that the organization be both research based and effective.)
Kids today see their First Lady exercising; she extols the virtues of better health, fitness, and has some fabulous arms to boot! These kids get to dance—with Beyoncé(!!) no less, and they’re learning how to make better nutritional decisions.
With the Let’s Move! campaign, the FLOTUS is determined to make sure every household has access fresh fruits, vegetables and other high quality food products at affordable prices.
Here’s the entire speech:
SHOULD PARENTS LOSE CUSTODY OF THEIR OBESE CHILDREN?
Whenever I watch those episodes of Maury where these morbidly obese children are rolling around the stage chewing on Fruit Loops and furniture, I wonder where these parents lost their power. Since when can two and three-year-olds tell you what they are and aren’t going to eat? As a parent, it’s your responsibility to introduce the appropriate foods to your children.
Is having an obese kid child abuse though? Should these children be taken away from their parents? It’s a slippery slope. Removing them from their homes and forcing them to eat better foods could also lead them to associate healthy eating with separation from their families.
The only reasonable solution in my opinion would be to educate the parents of the obese about the benefits of a healthy diet, and how to prepare tasty, yet nutritious meals. Snatching those big ol’ kids out of their custody and stuffing carrots in their mouths, though? I don’t think so.
Should parents of extremely obese children lose custody for not controlling their kids’ weight? A provocative commentary in one of the nation’s most distinguished medical journals argues yes, and its authors are joining a quiet chorus of advocates who say the government should be allowed to intervene in extreme cases.
It has happened a few times in the U.S., and the opinion piece in Wednesday’s Journal of the American Medical Association says putting children temporarily in foster care is in some cases more ethical than obesity surgery.
Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at Harvard-affiliated Children’s Hospital Boston, said the point isn’t to blame parents, but rather to act in children’s best interest and get them help that for whatever reason their parents can’t provide.
State intervention “ideally will support not just the child but the whole family, with the goal of reuniting child and family as soon as possible. That may require instruction on parenting,” said Ludwig, who wrote the article with Lindsey Murtagh, a lawyer and a researcher at Harvard’s School of Public Health.
“Despite the discomfort posed by state intervention, it may sometimes be necessary to protect a child,” Murtagh said.
But University of Pennsylvania bioethicist Art Caplan said he worries that the debate risks putting too much blame on parents. Obese children are victims of advertising, marketing, peer pressure and bullying — things a parent can’t control, he said.
“If you’re going to change a child’s weight, you’re going to have to change all of them,” Caplan said.
Roughly 2 million U.S. children are extremely obese. Most are not in imminent danger, Ludwig said. But some have obesity-related conditions such as Type 2 diabetes, breathing difficulties and liver problems that could kill them by age 30. It is these kids for whom state intervention, including education, parent training, and temporary protective custody in the most extreme cases, should be considered, Ludwig said.
While some doctors promote weight-loss surgery for severely obese teens, Ludwig said it hasn’t been used for very long in adolescents and can have serious, sometimes life-threatening complications.
“We don’t know the long-term safety and effectiveness of these procedures done at an early age,” he said.
Ludwig said he starting thinking about the issue after a 90-pound 3-year-old girl came to his obesity clinic several years ago. Her parents had physical disabilities, little money and difficulty controlling her weight. Last year, at age 12, she weighed 400 pounds and had developed diabetes, cholesterol problems, high blood pressure and sleep apnea.
“Out of medical concern, the state placed this girl in foster care, where she simply received three balanced meals a day and a snack or two and moderate physical activity,” he said. After a year, she lost 130 pounds. Though she is still obese, her diabetes and apnea disappeared; she remains in foster care, he said.
In a commentary in the medical journal BMJ last year, London pediatrician Dr. Russell Viner and colleagues said obesity was a factor in several child protection cases in Britain. They argued that child protection services should be considered if parents are neglectful or actively reject efforts to control an extremely obese child’s weight. [SOURCE]
TWO STUDIES SHOW PROMISE IN PREVENTING AIDS
Would you take one or two pills daily for the rest of your life to ensure you’d never catch HIV? Seems like a development to make sex workers rejoice, but is this even reasonable for the rest of us? According to a 2009 UNAIDS published report, there are approximately 33.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS. One million of those people live in the United States.
When you consider that major cities have higher population concentrations—depending on 
where you live, it’s likely you interact with people living with HIV/AIDS on a daily basis. What those interactions become depend entirely on your lifestyle, so—are you gonna take those pills?
Two studies released yesterday add to the growing body of evidence that taking a daily pill containing one or two AIDS drugs can keep an uninfected person from catching HIV.
The studies were the first to show protection in heterosexuals; the only earlier one with similarly encouraging results involved gay men.
As it becomes clearer that antiretroviral drugs can not only treat the disease but prevent it, pressure is likely to increase on donors to find more money to supply the drugs in African nations ravaged by HIV and on pharmaceutical manufacturers to either sell them cheaply worldwide or release their patents to companies that can.
“This is an extremely exciting day for HIV prevention,’’ said Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of AIDS prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
One study released yesterday, known as Partners PrEP and conducted in Kenya and Uganda by researchers from the University of Washington, showed that participants who took a daily Truvada pill – a mix of tenofovir and emtricitabine – had a 73 percent lower chance of getting infected. The study was done in 4,758 “discordant couples,’’ those in which one partner was infected and the other was not. Partners who took a Viread pill – which contains only tenofovir – had a 62 percent lower chance.
The second study, called TDF2 and done in Botswana by the CDC, found that those taking Truvada had a 63 percent lower chance of infection. The subjects were 1,200 young adults. [SOURCE]
SECOND HAND SMOKE MAY INCREASE ADHD AND LEARNING DISABILITY RISKS IN CHILDREN
While I don’t go snatching cigarettes out of people’s mouths, or stuffing pamphlets in their lockers, I just don’t understand why anyone in this day and age could take up—or continue smoking at all. There’s no value to the activity. It’s addictive, expensive, and on average will take at least a decade off of your life. Smoking will kill you.
If you’re a smoker and never cared about the effects of smoking on your own health, perhaps a new study concerning secondhand smoke, and the increased risks of ADHD and learning disabilities in children will convince you otherwise.
Two new studies from the American Academy of Pediatrics look at how exposure to secondhand smoke affects American youths’ learning behaviors and their attitudes toward smoking.
The first found that children exposed to secondhand smoke in the home had a 50% increased risk of developing two or more childhood neurobehavioral disorders compared with children who were not exposed at home.
The study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics, estimates that nearly 5 million children younger than 12 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home and up to 8% of them – or more than 274,000 children – suffer from learning disabilities, ADHD and other behavioral disorders.
“[The findings] underscore the health burden of childhood neurobehavioral disorders that may be attributable to secondhand smoke exposure in homes in the States,” the study authors concluded. “This is particularly significant with regard to the potential burden of pediatric mental health care on an overextended health care system, a problem that could be dramatically reduced if voluntary smoke-free home policies were widely adopted,” they added.
The annual medical cost associated with treating a child with a neurobehavioral disorder is about $14,576 per individual, or a national total of about $9.2 billion each year, the report found.
On a more positive note, a second study looked at children 8 to 13 who lived in households with at least one adult smoker, and found that those who described the smell of cigarette smoke as “unpleasant” or “gross” were 78% less likely to start the habit than 8- to 13-year-olds who had a more passive reaction to the smell.
“Experiencing secondhand smoke as ‘unpleasant or gross’ is protective against smoking susceptibility, suggesting that it may reflect a mechanism for targeted prevention efforts,” the authors say.
Still, a recent report from the National Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse found that nine out of 10 people who meet the clinical criteria for substance abuse began smoking, drinking or using other drugs before they turned 18, and that this is a big concern in teens as they are more likely to try risky things while their brains are still developing.
Experts say setting a good example by not smoking and getting more involved in your child’s activities are among the many things parents can do to help prevent children from smoking.
Teenagers also tend to be vain, and parents are encouraged to highlight some of the negative effects of smoking, like bad breath and bad skin.
The American Lung Association also provides a list of tips for parents on how to talk to children about smoking and to help them quit if they have already started. [SOURCE]
SHAPE UP NYC OFFERS FREE FITNESS CLASSES IN ALL FIVE BOROUGHS
The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation offers free fitness classes in all five boroughs through their Shape Up NYC program. You can search classes by borough, zip code, and even skill level. Popular classes like yoga and zumba are available.
There are classes offered everyday of the week, and no registration or membership is required. Just show up to shape up!
HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT LOSS
So you’ve finally hit your goal weight, and you look amazing! What now?
While you’re well aware of what type of commitment it takes to reach your goal, it also takes a huge commitment to stay there.
A new study shows that using “rewards” and “reminders” can help you maintain your weight loss.
The researchers found two techniques that helped with weight maintenance (but not necessarily weight loss): reminding yourself why you need to control your weight, and rewarding yourself for sticking to a diet and exercise plan. [SOURCE]
Here are some excellent tips via FitSugar:
Reward yourself. Scheduling rewards when you are maintaining weight loss is different than when you are losing weight. Going shopping for a cute outfit once you’ve reached a weight-loss milestone, for example, is easy to justify, but how do you reward yourself for just following your normal lifestyle routine? Don’t forget that regularly rewarding yourself for maintaining your fitness regimen is important. Find a way to reward yourself if you hit your target number of workouts for the week or tie in something you love with your exercise plan. Try only allowing yourself to watch mindless TV during or after a workout, for example, or scheduling a fun weekend activity after a long week of gym sessions to help keep you motivated.
Remind yourself. Once you hit your goal weight, it can be easy to think that a splurge is in order. But the study found that those who reminded themselves about why they needed to control their weight were more successful in keeping it off. While you shouldn’t have to forgo all indulgences in order to stay at your goal weight, try reminding yourself of the consequences of straying off track before ordering the most unhealthy thing on the menu or skipping a run in favor of couch time.
4 HANGOVER REMEDIES TO GET YOU THROUGH THE WORKDAY
I hope everybody had a fun 4th of July; I know I did!! I ate, I drank, I ate, I drank, I drank, I drank, I drank. Yep, it happens to the best of us. I almost expected to have a pounding headache today, but last night I took some smart precautions to get me through the morning, and to work on time!
1. Drink plenty of water.
Always alternate your drinks with water. Alcohol is dehydrating, and the lack of water is what causes that pounding headache in the morning. By drinking plenty of water, you also reduce your overall alcohol consumption, and you won’t get nearly as wasted!
2. Eat something!
This is for the night of drinking and the morning after. Never drink on an empty stomach. You’ll absorb the alcohol much faster if you do, and it’s a sure-fire way to be miserable the next morning. You’ll also need to eat breakfast in the morning to get your energy levels back to normal.
3. Get plenty of rest.
Sleep the day away if you have to. Call in to work if you need to (but not if you’re on probation). A hangover isn’t a legitimate excuse for missing work, so you’ll have to turn up the theatrics to convince your boss that you’re really sick. Good luck with this tactic after a holiday though.
4. Don’t drink alcohol.
The best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink alcohol at all. There’s no hangover to be had when you’re sober!
HEART DISEASE IS THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF DEATH IN U.S. WOMEN
The federal government has launched the Make the Call, Don’t Miss a Beat campaign to increase awareness about heart attacks, the number one cause of death in U.S. women.
Remember when Fred Sanford would clutch his chest and call out to Elizabeth? Heart attack symptoms can actually be much more subtle, and often involve pain or discomfort in other parts of the body.
Here’s a list of seven actual symptoms you should be aware of courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health. If you suffer from any of the below symptoms listed, and the pain or discomfort lasts more than five minutes, call 911:
1. Unusually heavy pressure on the chest, like there’s a ton of weight on you
Most heart attacks involve chest pain or discomfort in the center or left side of the chest. It usually lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It may even feel like heartburn or indigestion.
2. Sharp upper body pain in the neck, back, and jaw
This symptom can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of stomach (not below the belly button). Pain in the back, neck, or jaw is a more common heart attack symptom for women than it is for men.
3. Severe shortness of breath
This symptom can come on suddenly. It may occur while you are at rest or with minimal physical activity. You may struggle to breathe or try taking deep breaths. Shortness of breath may start before or at the same time as chest pain or discomfort, and can even be your only symptom.
4. Cold sweats, and you know it’s not menopause
Unexplained or excessive sweating, or breaking out into a “cold sweat,” can be a sign of heart attack.
5. Unusual or unexplained fatigue (tiredness)
Sudden and unusual tiredness or lack of energy is one of the most common symptoms of heart attack in women, and one of the easiest to ignore. It can come on suddenly or be present for days. More than half of women having a heart attack experience muscle tiredness or weakness that is not related to exercise.
6. Unfamiliar dizziness or light-headedness
Unlike in the movies, most heart attacks do not make you pass out right away. Instead, you may suddenly feel dizzy or light-headed.
7. Unexplained nausea (feeling sick to the stomach) or vomiting
Women are twice as likely as men to experience nausea, vomiting, or indigestion during their heart attack. These feelings are often written off as having a less serious cause. Remember, nausea and vomiting may be signs that something is seriously wrong, especially if you have other symptoms.
DIET SODAS LINKED TO WEIGHT GAIN
In a previous post, my heart sunk mighty low as it’d been brought to my attention that diet soda has been linked to heart attack and stroke. Since then, I’ve curbed my consumption, and now “only” drink one diet soda a day. I’ve managed to stop drinking caffeinated sodas completely, but if heart attacks and strokes couldn’t stop me, this latest news will!!
More bad news, diet soda drinkers: data presented recently at the American Diabetes Association’s (ADA) Scientific Sessions suggest that diet drinks may actually contribute to weight gain and that the artificial sweeteners in them could potentially contribute Type 2 diabetes.
In one study, researchers from the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, looked at aggregate data from 474 older adults in the San Antonio Longitudinal Study of Aging, or SALSA. At the time of enrollment and at three follow-up exams thereafter, all participants reported their diet soda intake and were measured for height, weight and waist circumference. The researchers wanted to track any association between diet soda drinking and body fat over time.
What they found was that all participants saw their waistlines expand, but those who reported drinking diet soda had 70% greater increases in waistline growth than non-drinkers 9.5 years later. Among frequent drinkers — those who consumed two or more diet sodas a day — waistline growth was 500% greater than among non-drinkers. Researchers said their results were adjusted for other contributing factors like diabetes status, leisure-time physical activity level and age. [SOURCE]
