November 21, 2011., Los Angeles Times, Karen Ravn
Americans tend to like their fats saturated, their grains processed, their protein grown on legs and their sugar added anywhere their sweet tooth decides it would like some. As for fiber, they’re all for it — in, say, their French fries or the pickles on their burger.
In a related development, nutrition experts tend to be bummed out by the typical American diet. In fact, many wish we’d trade it in for a diet that’s pretty much the opposite, namely, the Mediterranean diet, which favors …

Subway posters map how far you’d have to walk to burn off the calories from just one sugary drink
Oct. 24, 2011 – New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley today unveiled a new Health Department education campaign that describes how drinking just one 20 ounce soda a day translates to eating 50 pounds of sugar a year. The 30-second TV spot will air on major broadcast and cable TV stations over the next two months as a stark reminder to New Yorkers about how sugary drinks can lead to …

18 October, 2011, Huffinton Post, Abdulrahman El-Sayed
Its well known that Americans pay more for less when it comes to healthcare than just about any other country in the world. In 2009, we spent nearly $8,000 per person to provide medical care to just over 80% of our population — that compares, for example, to just under $3,500 spent per person in the UK to provide care for the entire population. To add injury to insult: our counterparts across the pond get an extra year of life for their $3,500 than we …

September 24, 2011, New York Times, Mark Bittman
To make changes like this more widespread we need action both cultural and political. The cultural lies in celebrating real food; raising our children in homes that don’t program them for fast-produced, eaten-on-the-run, high-calorie, low-nutrition junk; giving them the gift of appreciating the pleasures of nourishing one another and enjoying that nourishment together.
Political action would mean agitating to limit the marketing of junk; forcing its makers to pay the true costs of production; recognizing that advertising for fast food is not the exercise …

September 24, 2011, Voice of America
Heads of state and government representatives assembled at the United Nations this week to address the emerging threat of non-communicable diseases worldwide. One of those so-called “NCDs” is cancer.  For those whose lives have already been affected somehow by this deadly disease, the attention was long overdue.
The United Nations says this is a critical moment – and a lack of action on non communicable diseases, or “NCDs,” could pose a threat to global development
“You have the power to make sure that your development is moving …

September 29, 2011, Yahoo News
Despite some evidence that taking fish oil pills during pregnancy can help children’s brain development, a new study suggests that the supplements make no difference in measures of intellect when the kids are six years old.
The findings support the results of an earlier Norwegian study that also found no differences in IQ among seven-year-olds whose mothers did or did not take fish oil supplements while pregnant and breastfeeding.
Fatty acids, such as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), that are found in fish and other foods are considered to be …

September 11, 2011 Pitssburgh Post-Gazette
For decades Americans have heard the media splash about milk building strong bodies and bones.
Since 1993, ads featuring famous people sporting milk mustaches have bolstered that message, with school programs required to serve milk.
But has that message gone sour?
Mounting research and several anti-milk documentaries and books, including a best-seller for six years, blame milk for chronic ailments plaguing America, while criticizing the American Dairy Association and U.S. Department of Agriculture for hyping milk without addressing its detriments.
“Dairy is one of the most unhealthy foods,” said T. …

September 10, 2011, The Independent, Clare Dwyer Hogg
The trans fats in junk food are responsible for the deaths of around 7,000 people a year in the UK – and teenagers are most at risk. Elsewhere, these toxic substances are banned. So why are they still legal in this country?
When the comedian Micky Flanagan reels out his gag about craving chicken from a local takeaway, he always gets a laugh. Desperate for food, he has to run the gauntlet of teenagers outside. “Teenagers love chicken,” he says, imitating the hunched-up shoulders, …

ABC News, September 15, 2011
Although the United States Department of Agriculture unveiled MyPlate, the replacement for the food pyramid, just a few months ago, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say MyPlate doesn’t offer enough about good nutrition, and they’ve offered their own version.
Harvard unveiled its modified version of the USDA plate, called the Healthy Eating Plate. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard, says it addresses the shortcomings of MyPlate.
“The main thing is that MyPlate isn’t specific enough to really give enough guidance,” Willett said.
MyPlate …

September 6, 2011, Boston Globe, Kay Lazar
Hoping to blunt the pervasive reach of sugary drinks, Boston officials today unveiled a public awareness campaign that urges residents to reduce their consumption of the beverages , which public health specialists link to rising obesity rates and higher health care costs.
The campaign, which will include a media blitz of the city, comes a month before an executive order by Mayor Thomas M. Menino takes effect, phasing out the sale, advertising, and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages in all municipal buildings.
“We are in the midst …