Food and Health News

How to Live 100 Years

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:20:54 +0000

Most people today fall prey to chronic diseases that strike in mid to late life — conditions such as cancer, heart disease, stroke and dementia — and end up nursing disabilities stemming from these illnesses for the remainder of their lives. Centenarians, on the other hand, appear to be remarkably resilient when it comes to shrugging off such ailments; they seem to draw on some reserve that allows them to bounce back from health problems and remain relatively hale until their final days.

Dozens of studies have investigated such individuals, with the goal of picking out the secrets to their salubrious seniority. Those analyses, however, have generally followed two separate if parallel tracks. The traditional approach has been to study the lifestyle and behavioral components of vigorous aging — the good habits, such as a healthy diet, regular physical activity and mental exercises that might keep the elderly vibrant through their golden years. The New England Centenarian Study, which includes 850 people entering their 100s, for example, has identified several behavioral and personality traits that seem to be critical to longevity, including not smoking, being extroverted and easygoing and staying lean.

Obesity ‘often set before age of two’

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:42:42 +0000

BBC News, February 13, 2010

The “tipping point” that sets children on the way to a lifetime of obesity often occurs before the age of two, say US researchers. A study of more than 100 obese children and teenagers found more than half were overweight by 24 months and 90% were overweight by the age of five.

A quarter were overweight before they were five months old, the researchers reported in Clinical Pediatrics. In the UK, around 27% of children are now overweight. The children in the study – who had an average age of 12 – were all overweight or obese by the age of 10.

Getting parents and children to change habits that have already taken hold is a monumental challenge fraught with road-blocks and disappointments

Although the reason for rapid weight gain in early life is not well understood, contributing factors are likely to be poor diet, early introduction of solid food, and not getting enough exercise, the researchers said.

They added that food preferences may be set by the age of two, so changing a child’s eating behaviour at a later stage may be difficult.

Study leader Dr John Harrington, an assistant professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, said the results should be a “wake-up call for doctors”. He went on: “Too often, doctors wait until medical complications arise before they begin treatment.

“Getting parents and children to change habits that have already taken hold is a monumental challenge fraught with road-blocks and disappointments. ”This study indicates that we may need to discuss inappropriate weight gain early in infancy to effect meaningful changes in the current trend of obesity.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “What happens in the first years of a baby’s life has a big effect on how healthy they are in the future. ”Despite recent encouraging statistics which show that childhood obesity may be levelling off, obesity levels are still too high and it is important we keep the momentum going.”

via BBC News – Obesity ‘often set before age of two’.

Grandparents who care for children ‘boost obesity risk’

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:41:31 +0000

BBC News, February 15, 2010

Young children who are regularly looked after by their grandparents have an increased risk of being overweight, an extensive British study has suggested.

Analysis of 12,000 three-year olds suggested the risk was 34% higher if grandparents cared for them full time. Children who went to nursery or had a childminder had no increased risk of weight problems, the International Journal of Obesity reported.

Nearly a quarter of preschool children in the UK are overweight or obese. The researchers said very little research had been done on the influence of childcare on weight. We know that obesity is a very complex issue with a wide range of factors involved

Yet childcare may have an effect on weight through diet and physical activity. The study used data from the Millennium Cohort Study, which looked at the health of children aged between nine months and three years old, who had been born in the UK between 2000 and 2001.

The results showed that those looked after by grandparents part-time had a 15% higher risk of being overweight for their age compared with those solely looked after by their parents. Those who were cared for by their grandparents full-time had a 34% increased risk of being overweight, the University College London team found.

Further analysis taking into account the child’s socio-economic background, found the increased risk was only apparent in children from the most advantaged groups – whose mothers had a managerial or professional job, had a degree, or lived with their partner.

There was also an increased risk of being overweight associated with other informal care provided by relatives or friends but only if that was full-time.

The researchers said it was well-recognised that parents value care provided by grandparents and consider it to be the best alternative to full-time parent care. They said the issue was about providing informal carers, such as grandparents, with better information and support around diet and exercise.

A recent announcement to provide grandparents with National Insurance credits for caring for grandchildren under the age of 13 years for at least 20 hours a week from 2011, “provides a potential opportunity for such health promotion”, they advised.

Study leader Professor Catherine Law said this study, which was backed by other work done in the US, did not look at why grandparent care was associated with being overweight but that indulgence of children and lack of physical exercise were two possible explanations.

“One of the ways forward would be to talk to small groups of grandparents to see the challenges they face. ”Some of the things that might help would be educating the population in general about healthy lifestyles but also things like avoiding food as a reward and suggestions for building activities into daily life.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “We know that obesity is a very complex issue with a wide range of factors involved. ”The latest figures show that child obesity levels are the lowest reported since 2001. However, there’s no doubt that levels of obesity in this country, as in the rest of the developed world, are far too high.

“That’s why we’re investing time, energy and money into preventing people from becoming obese in the first place.”

via BBC News – Grandparents who care for children ‘boost obesity risk’.

When Children Are Overweight, Changes for the Whole Family

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:40:05 +0000

The New York Times, February 12, 2010 Lesley Alderman

AS Michelle Obama reminded us this week, the forces behind childhood obesity are insidious.

Parents are busy. Fast food is cheap and easy (and children love it). Technology can help keep children sedentary. Children’s TV networks advertise junk food. Two-thirds of adults are overweight. And on and on.

As a result, one of three children in this country is overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Overweight children are at risk of developing serious and costly health problems that used to be primarily the province of middle-age adults, like Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. A recent C.D.C. study found that 22 percent of overweight (and 43 percent of obese) young people had, abnormal blood lipid levels, like high triglycerides, which are risk factors for heart disease.

And how is this a “Patient Money” topic?

For starters, obesity is expensive. People who are overweight tend to have more chronic illnesses than those who are not, and those illnesses can require intense medical attention.

And while Ms. Obama’s campaign to address childhood obesity focuses on influences outside the household, parental intervention is important, too — home economics, in other words. That can include making good choices about what goes on the grocery list and on the table, as well as finding and paying for the right professional help, when necessary.

The United States Preventive Services Task Force, an independent panel of experts,reported in January that some specific obesity programs were effective. The task force recommends that children aged 6 to 18 have their body mass index — B.M.I. — measured and, if they are found to be overweight, be referred to a weight-loss program.

Comprehensive weight-loss programs for children can be scarce and expensive, though, and many insurers provide scant coverage for obesity treatment. But parents can begin their own intervention programs, making changes that do not cost a lot of money and will pay off over the long term.

“The family is the underutilized weapon in the fight against childhood obesity,” says Dr. David Ludwig, director of the obesity program at Children’s Hospital Boston.

FACE THE FACTS Parents are often lovingly blind when it comes to their children. What seems like harmless baby fat to you may be problem pounds for your child.

Anthony Brookins, a single father in Boston, saw that his son, Kris, was a little plump but figured “he’d grow out of it.”

But when Mr. Brookins noticed a dark ring around his son’s neck, he took Kris — then 11 — to the doctor and learned that his son was 30 pounds overweight. That ring was a sign he had early-stage Type 2 diabetes.

“I was shocked,” Mr. Brookins said.

Your pediatrician can tell you your child’s body mass index — a formula that considers height, weight, age and gender — at the annual checkup. Many public schools also routinely screen children and send home explanatory notes to parents. You can also plug your child’s stats into the B.M.I. calculator on the C.D.C.’s Web site.

Your child is considered overweight if he or she falls in the 85th to 94th percentiles of the B.M.I. growth charts, and obese if he is in the 95th percentile or higher. If your child is over the 85th percentile, it is important to address the problem quickly.

And for children, weight loss is not quite so daunting.

“It’s easier for kids to lose weight than for adults,” says Dr. Ludwig, who is also the author of “Ending the Food Fight” (Houghton Mifflin, 2007). “Because children are still growing, they may only have to keep their weight the same, or slow the rate of growth to reduce their B.M.I.”

GET NUTRITION ADVICE “Most families are under a high degree of stress,” said Dr. Sandra G. Hassink, director of the Pediatric Weight Management Clinic at the A. I.Dupont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del. “They rely on convenience and fast foods to help them cope with time and other constraints.”

Unfortunately, children who eat fast food tend to consume more total calories, drink less milk and eat fewer fruits and vegetables and less fiber than those who do not, according toa study published in the January 2004 issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.

To begin changing your family’s habits, consider seeing a registered dietitian who can evaluate the family’s eating patterns and give you recipes for healthy low-cost meals.

Call your insurer to find out whether it will cover dietitian visits for children. Some do.

If you pay out of pocket, it will cost from $50 for a simple consultation to as much as $250 if the dietitian is working with multiple family members and developing a month’s worth of menus, according to the American Dietetic Association.

Ask your pediatrician if there are programs at local hospitals or schools. Comprehensive weight-loss programs can be scarce and expensive, and there is no central clearinghouse for them. (If you want to consider that path, call the large hospitals in your area and ask if they have such a program or can refer you to one.) But local hospitals sometimes offer effective ones on a smaller scale.

New York Hospital Queens, for instance, offers Fit Kids, which counsels families on nutrition and offers exercise classes for children three days a week — all at no cost.

When Kris Brookins was found to have insulin resistance, his pediatrician referred him to the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children’s Hospital Boston. The program, which helps families find coverage through their insurers or by other means, says it doesn’t turn anyone away.

In the Children’s Hospital program, Kris and his dad learned about nutrition and portion sizes. Kris gave up pizza and fried-chicken meals and began eating more steamed vegetables and fish. The changes helped Kris reduce his B.M.I. by 20 percent over the course of a year, while also helping the family reduce its food budget.

ENCOURAGE ACTIVITY Children are less active than they used to be. They now spend, on average, 7 hours and 38 minutes each day using computers, iPods and cellphones and watching television, according to a January report from the Kaiser Family Foundation.

To help reverse the trend, parents can set a limit on how much time children spend sitting in front of the television or using their computers for entertainment. The Kaiser report found that when parents set limits, “children consumed nearly three hours less media per day than those with no rules.”

As an alternative, make sure your children have something fun and active to do with their free time. Families can consider joining the local YMCA, which is typically more affordable than a gym and offers more programs for children. And it helps to be in the habit of taking your children outside to play more often. “When I ask parents at my clinic, ‘Does your child ever go outside?’ I get ‘no’ a lot,” Dr. Hassink said.

When outdoors is not an option, become inventive. Buy a fold-up Ping-Pong table. Or maybe dance or exercise to your children’s favorite music for half an hour before dinner.

A FAMILY AFFAIR It is nearly impossible for your child to change habits if the rest of the family does not. You cannot reasonably tell a child he is allowed only one soda a week if you keep two-liter bottles of Coke and Sprite in the refrigerator.

“Without the help of parents, we are setting a child up for failure,” says Dr. Anthony Porto, a pediatric gastroenterologist at New York Hospital Queens and the director of the Fit Kids program.

Most children react well to change, Dr. Porto says, as long as they do not see it as apunishment. If you explain to your children that by eating better and exercising more, they will have more stamina to play sports and will take fewer trips to the doctor, your children may actually embrace your healthy lifestyle plan.

Patient Money – When Children Are Overweight, Changes for the Whole Family – NYTimes.com.

Falsely sweet pledges from trash food companies

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:38:38 +0000

The Boston Globe, February 13, 2010

WHEN SODA companies applaud the latest campaign to fight obesity, you know there is much more to the story.

In launching a new White House initiative against obesity called “Let’s Move,’’ First Lady Michelle Obama this week said, “Our kids didn’t do this to themselves. Our kids don’t decide what’s served to them at school or whether there’s time for gym or recess. Our kids don’t choose to make food products with tons of sugar and sodium in super-sized portions, and then to have those products marketed to them everywhere they turn.’’ Instead of taking these comments as fighting words, the obesity industry feigned being an amen choir.

PepsiCo and the American Beverage Association both applauded Obama. The Association promised more clear calorie information on bottles and cans. Coca-Cola CEO Muhtar Kent said, “We are honored to play a role in this important action. We are going to be seen as part of the solution.’’

A key source of the obesity problem now claims to be part of the solution, in the spirit of beer companies and cigarette companies claiming marquee roles in solving underage drinking and smoking.

But the laudable intentions of one of the fittest First Families in the nation’s history are in danger of being drowned out by the laughter of trash food companies. The reason they can applaud the Obamas is because they have purchased so much silence everywhere else.

The American Beverage Association and Coke entities spent $31 million in lobbying last year, much of it to shoot down taxes on sugary beverages at federal and state levels. The association had a $2 million ad campaign against taxes, which public health experts calculate would cut consumption and contribute revenues to public health programs to repair the damage done to the nation’s health by soda.

A UCLA study last year found that 43 percent of the additional calories Americans have been consuming since the 1970s come from soda, making it the top source of added sugar in the national diet. Whereas the recommended amount of sugar per person is 5-to-9 teaspoons a day, one 20-ounce soda contains 17 teaspoons. Last fall, President Obama said soda taxes are “an idea we should be exploring. There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda.’’

But the soda companies’ cash and clout ended the talk about federal taxes. The Los Angeles Times reported last week on how pressure and cash from the nation’s trash food and fast food giants and subsidiary companies have influenced Latino groups, including doctors, and African American politicians – including Representative John Lewis, who represents the Atlanta district where Coke is headquartered – to question food taxes as a burden on the poor (as if dying from diabetes and heart disease isn’t worse). Coke itself likens the taxes to a Communist control of grocery carts.

Another reason the soda companies cynically applaud Michelle Obama is because they are replacing any calorie conscious Americans with unsuspecting consumers in developing countries. Coke has a stated goal of doubling its servings to 3 billion a day by 2020. Coke’s unit case volume in the last quarter was up 29 percent in China and 20 percent in India, the latter of which is experiencing one of the biggest explosions of diabetes in the world. Pepsi claimed 32 percent beverage growth in India in 2009 and double-digit gains in snack volume in India, Pakistan, Egypt and Thailand.

This of course should not stop Michelle Obama from trying to raise some awareness about obesity and get whatever voluntary industry pledges she can to better label soda and increase school-lunch nutrition. But under current politics, those efforts pale against the profits that are turning America’s obesity crisis into a global public health disaster.

The “Let’s Move’’ campaign has the potential to become a movement, but only when the trash food and sugar sugar lobby can no longer throw its weight around Capitol Hill, applauding Michelle Obama’s efforts while weighing down our children with more pounds today and more disease tomorrow.

Falsely sweet pledges from trash food companies – The Boston Globe.

Health experts urge Americans to hold the salt

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:36:10 +0000

San Francisco Chronicle, February 15, 2010

Before surging obesity rates made villains of trans fats and sugars, salt was the big nutritional bad guy in the American diet, linked to hypertension, heart disease and stroke
.

Then waistlines expanded and expanded some more, and the focus shifted.

Now, aware that Americans’ salt consumption has risen by 50 percent over the past 40 years largely because of an increased reliance on a diet of processed and restaurant foods, public health experts and politicians are attempting to put the spotlight back on salt and its harmful health effects.

Last month, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg asked restaurants and foodmakers to consider voluntarily reducing the salt content in their foods by 25 percent over five years. A few days later, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who suggested last fall that the city find a way to scale back sugar consumption, said he was looking into Bloomberg’s proposal, too.

Meanwhile, a UCSF doctor released a study suggesting that regulating the salt content in foods could save up to $24 billion a year in health care costs.

“We’re living in such a high-salt environment now. It requires a public health approach to reducing salt rather than an individual approach,” said Dr. Kirsten Bibbins- Domingo, co-director of UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations at San Francisco General Hospital and lead author of the salt study.

“Salt was one of those things we put on the back burner and ignored for a while,” she said. “But we’re recognizing that reducing salt by even a small amount will have a widespread beneficial effect.”

Good and bad of salt

Salt is a dietary mineral made up mostly of sodium, which the body needs in small amounts. It maintains the proper balance of fluids in the body, for one thing. But it’s easy to get too much sodium, especially for people who already have high blood pressure.

Black people and people older than 50 tend to be particularly sensitive to too much sodium. Public health experts say 50 to 70 percent of Americans should be controlling their sodium intake and keeping it below 2,300 milligrams, or about a teaspoon of salt, a day.

Doctors have known about the relationship between sodium and high blood pressure for more than 100 years, which is why salt was one of the first major targets in campaigns to prevent heart disease. But more recent research has shown that other factors – especially obesity – play a larger role in causing high blood pressure and, in turn, heart disease and stroke.

Losing 20 pounds, for example, can lower systolic blood pressure by 15 to 20 points, research has shown. Americans consume an average of about 3,400 milligrams – or roughly a teaspoon and a half – of salt a day, but cutting sodium to the recommended maximum of 2,300 milligrams can shave two to eight points off the systolic blood pressure.

With that in mind, it makes some sense to focus on helping people lose weight – by cutting out trans fats and scaling back carbohydrates – rather than reducing their salt intake, said Eric Hernandez, a registered dietitian with the Community Health Resource Center, a nonprofit affiliate of California Pacific Medical Center.

“In the hierarchy of nutrition and risky foods, there are others ahead of salt,” Hernandez said.

Ironically, Hernandez pointed out, the relatively recent focus on weight loss has probably contributed to people increasing the amount of salt they eat, especially in the form of premade meals designed to be low-fat and low-calorie. When food manufacturers take out the fat, they often add salt to make them taste better.

That leads to the main problem when it comes to reducing sodium: Americans don’t have a lot of control over how much salt they eat. As much as 80 percent of the salt in a typical American diet comes from processed or restaurant foods; only about 10 percent of salt intake comes from food people prepare and season themselves, and the remaining 10 percent comes from the sodium found naturally in foods.

Cooking at home helps

Simply cooking more often at home would help most people reduce their salt intake, said Dr. T. James Lawrence, a hypertension expert at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. But sodium is prevalent in food products most people would never think of – cereal and bread, for example. And two products that look and taste very similar can have very different sodium levels.

It’s impractical to ask most people to keep count of their sodium intake throughout the day, Lawrence said. It’s almost impossible to get the sodium level of prepared restaurant foods. He tends to tell patients to read labels when they shop and compare the sodium content of similar foods, just to make sure they’re buying the product with the lowest level.

It won’t take long for most people to adjust to diets of lower salt.

“Many people are used to a high-sodium diet, so things lower in sodium taste a little bland to them at first,” Lawrence said. “But our taste buds get used to the change over a period of a few weeks. If you have a potato chip covered in salt, and then you reduce the salt by one-third, it’s still pretty salty.”

Tips for cutting sodium in diet

Taste first: Limit the amount of salt you use at home. Taste foods before adding salt at the table.

Cook from scratch: Prepare more of what you eat in your own kitchen. Processed and premade foods, such as restaurant meals, are usually much higher in salt than what people make themselves.

Watch the snacking: Avoid salty snacks and fast food meals, which are especially high in sodium.

Read labels: Often, products that look exactly the same – cereals or tomato sauces, for example – will have very different sodium levels. A “low-salt” option doesn’t always have the least sodium.

Start with a salad: When eating in a restaurant, order a salad first to fill up on low-sodium vegetables. Avoid soups, which are often heavy in salt.

Health experts urge Americans to hold the salt.

Eight in 10 men will be overweight or obese by 2020

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:33:39 +0000

Telegraph, February 17, 2010

Cases of devastating health conditions like heart disease, diabetes and stroke will increase with the nation’s waistlines, it warns.

The latest study is an update of the Government-commissioned Foresight report, released in 2007, and reveals no basis for hope that the obesity crisis is easing.

Although recent figures have suggested that childhood obesity may be levelling off, for adults the picture is “less optimistic”, the report’s authors warn.

Within 10 years, 81 per cent of men aged between 20 and 65, will be either overweight or obese, and 41 per cent of them will be obese.

For women, 68 per cent are predicted to be either overweight or obese, with 32 per cent obese.

The estimated obesity rates are only “marginally less” than those in the Foresight calculations, the report, by the National Heart Forum, which compiled both reports, warns.

“Unlike the recent report on child obesity, which showed some indications of a plateauing or at least a significant reduction in the rate of obesity, the future projections for adults are less optimistic,” it says.

The study also predicts that cases of diabetes related to obesity will rise by 98 per cent by 2050.

Related strokes are also forecast to rise by 23 per cent and obesity-related heart disease by 44 per cent.

The Foresight study was based on trends between 1993 and 2004, while the update has included data from 2004 to 2007.

Tim Marsh, associate director of the National Heart Forum, said: “Although these figures are broadly similar to those in the Foresight report what they show is that there will be disastrous consequences for our nation’s health and that there are no grounds for complacency.”

Official figures show that in 2008 almost one in four adults aged over 16, 24.5 per cent, was obese, while more than three in five, 61.4 per cent, were classed as either overweight or obese.

Prof Klim McPherson from Oxford University, the chair of the National Heart Forum, who led the latest study, said: “These trends demonstrate that the cautiously optimistic picture we presented in November 2009 for a levelling off of future obesity rates among children is not mirrored in adults.

“There are already more men who are obese than who are of a healthy weight and by the end of the decade obese men and women could outnumber those who are overweight.

“The serious health problems associated with obesity mean that these continuing rising trends will impose a substantially increased burden on the NHS.”

He called on ministers to “redouble” their efforts to tackle the problem.

Cathy Moulton, from Diabetes UK, said: “This new report paints a gloomy picture of the future state of the UK’s health. If left undiagnosed or not controlled well, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness and amputation.”

The figures were released as the Government launched a new advertising campaign designed to encourage baby boomers to lose their so-called “spare tyres”.

The adverts, which will advocate “Swap it, Don’t Stop it”, and that simple lifestyle changes can lead to weight loss, form the latest part of minister’s Change4Life campaign.

To coincide with the launch the Department of Health released a survey which suggested that around one million mothers across Britain had made changes to their or their child’s diet or lifestyle because of the obesity drive.

Another new study suggests that babies given solid foods before they are four months old are more likely to be overweight at the age of three than other infants.

The research, by experts from University College London, found that 26 per cent of babies given solids before four months were overweight aged three compared with 22 per cent of those fed solids later.

Obesity is calculated using the Body Mass Index (BMI), a ration of weight to height.

A BMI score is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres squared.

A score of between 18 and 25 is considered normal, while 25 to 30 is overweight, 30 to 40 obese and over 40 morbidly obese

Eight in 10 men will be overweight or obese by 2020 – Telegraph.

Many Overweight Teens Don’t Think They Are

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:13:03 +0000

CBS February 8, 2010

Many overweight teens don’t think they are, according to an article in The Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics.

Referring to the February article, “Where Perception Meets Reality: Self-Perception of Weight in Overweight Adolescents,” CBS News Medical Correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said one in three children surveyed don’t consider themselves overweight or obese.

Ashton said this altered perception becomes a problem because you can’t begin to treat issues unless one identifies that there is a problem in the first place.

If you are a parent of an overweight or obese child, Ashton suggested these tips to help children strive for good health:

• Don’t ignore weight problems – Don’t focus on the weight. Don’t focus on the number on the scale.

• Focus on good health – Tell them you want to be as healthy on the inside as on the outside.

• Talk to a health professional – A nutritionist, a pediatrician, a doctor, who knows about metabolic issues, weight and the social issues of teens.

Ashton said you can’t wait on this issue, referring to a another study in the February issue of Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics.

“It will become a problem as they get to be adults,” she said. “…As parents, when you talk about how to steer your child into good health habits, another study showed 40 percent of teenagers who had good habits as children were less likely to be obese as teenagers and then as adults.”

Ashton said some of the habits mentioned in the study, such as eating dinner together as a family, getting regular sleep and spending less time in front of screens, should be part of regular household routines.

Ashton said, “(These habits) should start as early as possible, and adults should follow the same guidelines.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 18 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 19 are obese.

via Many Overweight Teens Don’t Think They Are – The Early Show – CBS News.

Obamas take on problem of obese children

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 07:08:02 +0000

Reuters, February 9, 2010

Alarmed that nearly a third of U.S. children are obese or overweight — and likely to stay that way all their lives — President Barack Obama launched an initiative on Tuesday to roll back the numbers and put his wife in charge of promoting it.

“I have set a goal to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation so that children born today will reach adulthood at a healthy weight,” Obama said in signing the order at the White House.

He assigned his cabinet officers to meet within three months and come up with “a comprehensive interagency plan” and asked the first lady to head up a national public awareness effort.

Two industry groups, the American Beverage Association and the Grocery Manufacturers of America, both pledged to work with Michelle Obama to fight childhood obesity.

The ABA, which represents nonalcoholic beverage makers, said its members would voluntarily put clear, consumer-friendly nutritional information on the front of all their packages, vending machines and fountain machines by 2012.

“The companies will coordinate with the Food and Drug Administration to implement the calorie initiative, which will go above and beyond what is required by the federal agency’s food labeling regulations,” the ABA said in a statement.

The first lady said the administration had proposed an additional $10 billion over 10 years to update and strengthen the Child Nutrition Act.

“We can’t wait 90 days to get going here. So let’s move right now, starting today, on a series of initiatives to help achieve our goal,” she said, referring to the task force.

SECOND TRY

It is the second year in a row that the White House has proposed a $1 billion a year increase for child nutrition. Congress delayed the overhaul until this year because lawmakers could not find a way to pay for the increase last year.

Senate Health committee chairman Tom Harkin has sponsored legislation for government regulation of drinks and snacks sold in school vending machines, stores and similar outlets.

“The increasing urgency of this situation calls for an integrated strategy that employs real solutions to curb obesity and improve the health of our children,” Harkin said in a statement.

The independent Institute of Medicine has found in several studies that Americans will have to exercise more, eat less fatty and sugary food and eat more fruits and vegetables to overcome obesity and the heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other health problems it brings.

But the institute has also recommended policy changes to help people accomplish this — changes in zoning to encourage exercise, changes in school lunch programs, policies to encourage grocery stores to open in areas where healthy food is hard to come by and better public transport to get people out of their cars.

“Without effective intervention, many more children will endure serious illnesses that will put a strain on our healthcare system. We must act now to improve the health of our nation’s children and avoid spending billions of dollars treating preventable disease,” Obama said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 68 percent of U.S. adults are overweight and half of these are obese, with a body mass index of 30 or higher.

Obesity rates were relatively stable between 1960 and 1980 but have risen rapidly since 1980.

via UPDATE1-Obamas take on problem of obese children | Reuters .

Beverage industry douses tax on soft drinks

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 06:59:54 +0000

Los Angeles Times, Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger, February 7, 2010

Employing a broad-based lobbying effort, the soft drink industry has smothered a plan to tax sugared beverages — a plan advocates said would have reduced obesity and helped finance healthcare reform.

Only months ago, public health advocates thought the tax would be a natural for congressional Democrats looking for revenue to fund expanded health insurance coverage. The soaring costs of treating ailments related to excess weight — including diabetes and heart disease — added urgency to the issue.

But the White House staff reviewing funding options never embraced the idea even after President Obama expressed interest last summer. A key congressional committee, after initially seeming receptive, ended up refusing to consider it. Several minority advocacy groups, including some committed to fighting obesity, lined up against the tax after years of receiving financial support from the industry.

There is no sign that First Lady Michelle Obama will mention taxes Tuesday when she unveils her new healthy-eating initiative, which had input from fast food and soft drink representatives.

Meanwhile, beverage lobbyists attacked some of the country’s most distinguished nutrition scientists, accusing them of bias and distorting available evidence. The beverage industry also financed research that reached conclusions favorable to its position.

No one underestimated the difficulty of getting new taxes approved, but Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (D-Lakewood), a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said, “We thought we had a chance to punch through.”

That was before the industry unlimbered its guns.

Target lawmakers

From the beginning, fast food and beverage company executives were uneasy about President Obama. He and his wife were known advocates of healthy eating. The executives were also concerned that the promised Obama healthcare initiative might include taxes or other incentives to reduce consumption of fast food and high-calorie beverages.

Coupled with similar initiatives in such states as California, the industry faced the possibility of a full-scale national debate on sweetened soft drinks and their effect on health — and the nation’s ever-higher medical bill.

Another alarm sounded last May, when the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony from public health advocates who proposed using a soda tax to help finance healthcare legislation.

Analysts at Yale University have calculated that a penny-an-ounce tax would induce a 23% drop in consumption, and the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that a smaller tax could raise $50 billion over 10 years. Although the extent to which such a tax might drive down obesity rates is scientifically unclear, nutrition experts argue that it would, at the least, improve health by discouraging consumption of sodas, which have no nutritional value but are packed with calories.

A few weeks later, soda tax advocates in the House Ways and Means Committee reported initially favorable responses from colleagues during closed-door meetings. And in July, President Obama told a Men’s Health magazine reporter that such a tax was an “idea that we should be exploring.”

Sanchez, who was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, was one of the committee members who pushed for consideration of the idea. She told a closed-door meeting of committee Democrats that it would be a political winner: “We are on the moral high ground here,” she said. “We can improve health outcomes and get more revenue.”

At the beginning, several other Democrats expressed support, including six-term Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. of New Jersey and freshman Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz of Pennsylvania, the daughter of a dentist.

Beverage lobbyists immediately went to work, enlisting other industries to help pressure members of Ways and Means.

“The industries in our coalition realized that this is a slippery slope, that once government reaches into the grocery cart, your business could be next,” said Kevin Keane, senior vice president, public affairs, for the American Beverage Assn.

The coalition, operating under the name Americans Against Food Taxes, included the soft drink makers, their suppliers, and such mass-marketers as McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza.

Using the argument that higher food and drink taxes would unfairly burden the poor, the coalition recruited a bevy of Latino groups, among them the Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute, the National Hispana Leadership Institute and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Public health analysts were surprised to find that the list included the National Hispanic Medical Assn., which represents 36,000 Latino doctors and focuses on health issues, such as obesity-related diabetes, that hit Latino youth especially hard.

via Beverage industry douses tax on soft drinks – latimes.com.