Tag: obesity (Page 9 of 16)

      Death By Soda?

      January 16, 2012 /

      Could more than 2,600 deaths a year be prevented by taxing soda?

      Some analysts think, yes.

      In general, they assume that if the price of soda rises, people will buy less of it. “We assume that 40 percent of the calories saved by forgoing a sugary drink are replaced with other calories,” she says, meaning either calories from drinks such as milk or fruit juice or from food. “So for every 100 calories in soda avoided, only 60 calories are actually lost in the diet.”

      This is not the first study to predict that a soda tax would be effective in reducing consumption. Yale University researchers concluded in this report that taxing sugary drinks would lead to economic benefits as well.

      Using the funds that come from taxing unhealthy foods could be the answer to a host of health cost issues.

      Nutrition, Quality Control, Resources, Wellness

      Addressing America’s Growing Waistline

      January 5, 2012 /

      Americans are fat and getting fatter.

      And the solutions to the problem are a pretty tall order.

      “Altering the way society is organized” may be effective in addressing the problem but is it a viable solution?

      Consider all the special interests benefitting from the system as it is now, from factory farms to tobacco companies, who is willing to be “re-organized”?

      First lady Michelle Obama has made healthy eating her special project and hopefully she can bring national attention to growing problem.

      The problem for the country echoes the problem for individuals: Willpower is not enough. “(It’s a) basic instinct, even stronger than the sexual instinct, to store calories to survive the next period of starvation. And we live in an environment where there’s food every half mile. It’s tasty, cheap, convenient, and you can eat it with one hand.”
      Thus says Martijn Katan of the Institute of Health Sciences at VU University in Amsterdam, author of one of the many studies on the limits of dieting, quoted in U.S. News & World Report.
      If you as an individual want to change your weight, you must change your whole life. Likewise, to reduce obesity in modern society, we will have to alter the way society is organized.

      Health Care Policy, Nutrition

      The Sweetening of America

      December 18, 2011 /

      A battle wages for your “sweet tooth“.

      Big corn manufactures are spending tens of millions of dollars to re-brand high fructose corn syrup.

      Sugar makers say the corn industry is making a desperate effort to salvage the product which consumers are increasingly avoiding.

      “The most widely used kind of HFCS may have disruptive effects on metabolism, as the body doesn’t utilize fructose well. In fact, regular consumption of HFCS may contribute to obesity.”

      The National Consumers League has sent a letter urging the FDA to reject the renaming petition and noted that the corn sweetener in question “has received much negative publicity over the last several years.”

      “Questions have been raised concerning potential links to obesity and a variety of obesity-related health conditions including diabetes and heart disease,” the letter said.

      “Some consumers are concerned about emerging science regarding nutrition and health effects of HFCS, while others simply want to avoid highly processed sweeteners in favor of more natural substances.”

      All sugars should be consumed in moderation and are best consumed in the form of whole foods such as fruits with the skin intact.

      Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

      The American Lifestyle is Making Us Sick

      December 18, 2011 /

      The American lifestyle is the biggest threat that our nation faces today.

      Better treatments are saving and preserving lives, however, lifestyle and overall health does not account for any drop in fatalities due to cardiovascular illness.

      Lives may be saved but the quality of life enjoyed on an expensive diet of pharmaceuticals comes with it’s own disadvantages.

      The authors of the report, which appears online Dec. 15 in the journal Circulation, looked at seven markers of cardiovascular health: smoking, weight, exercise, diet, cholesterol, blood pressure and fasting blood sugar levels, as well as whether or not a person had a diagnosis of heart disease.

      Using those criteria, 94 percent of U.S. adults — that’s almost everyone — have at least one risk factor for heart disease. For example, one-third of U.S. adults have high blood pressure while 15 percent have high cholesterol.

      American’s demand for fast food and sedentary entertainment is undoing the health of men, women and children nation wide.

      Quality Control, Research, Resources, Wellness

      Doctors Dodge Weight Issues

      December 14, 2011 /

      Doctors seem to have trouble discussing weight issues with their overweight patients.

      Lisa Flowers says weight is something she wishes her doctor would address more directly. At 47, Flowers stands 5 foot 7 and weighs nearly 300 pounds. She wasn’t always obese. But after she had a baby five years ago and moved from Washington, D.C., to Delaware, she says her workout and eating habits got off track.

      Flowers says she’s brought up her weight with her doctor, but the topic is “kind of avoided, almost as if he’s uncomfortable.”

      Doctors feel discouraged by the lack of commitment they perceive in their patients to losing weight.

      And as patients look to their doctors for answers their expectations may be unrealistic in that they are looking for a “magic bullet” to tackle their weight issues.

      Doctors, Quality Control, Research, Wellness

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