Saturday, February 20, 2010
Ads placement on children's favorite movies will greatly influence the selection of foods that they do. This course will be very profitable for the companies, but harmful to the child because most of the foods advertised there were low nutrition. Children are very vulnerable to the negative impact of the ads they see.
New research from the Hood Center for Children and Families at Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) for the first time sheds light on the significant potential negative impact that food product placements in the movies could be having on children. According to them most of the products advertised in the Movies consists of energy-dense products and low nutritional products.
"The current situation in the United States is very serious in terms of the health of our children, and we have to look seriously at all of the factors that may be contributing to it, including the impact of product placements in movies," says Lisa Sutherland, Ph.D. the lead author of the study. Sutherland says that the diet quality of U.S. children and adolescents has declined markedly during the past 20 years, and current estimates suggest that only one percent of children eat a diet consistent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) My-Pyramid food guidance. Additionally, fewer than one fifth of adolescents meet the dietary recommendations for fat or fruit and vegetable intakes, and during the last 20 years obesity rates have doubled for children aged 6 to 11 years and tripled for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years.
"While the issue of food advertising and its effect on children has been well documented in numerous studies, comparatively little is known about product placement in movies and how it affects the food and beverage preferences and choices of children and adolescents," Sutherland said. The study notes that while there are similarities between television advertising and movie product placement, such as the low nutritional quality of the majority of branded products, there are also interesting differences. Recent studies that examined television ads during adolescent programming found fast food and ready-to-eat cereals and cereal bars to be the most prevalent during children's programming. In contrast, the Dartmouth study found that sugar-sweetened beverages, comprised largely of soda, accounted for the largest proportion of all of the movie-based food product brand placements, accounting for one of every four brand placements overall.
Perhaps many parents who understand that the advertised product is not good for the health of their children, but many of them eventually give up and buy these products because the child's whining. The situation may become worse when the parents started giving money to their children who are teenagers, so that teenagers can buy their own needs.
Realizing this will make parents more aware and start thinking to react.
New research from the Hood Center for Children and Families at Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) for the first time sheds light on the significant potential negative impact that food product placements in the movies could be having on children. According to them most of the products advertised in the Movies consists of energy-dense products and low nutritional products.
"The current situation in the United States is very serious in terms of the health of our children, and we have to look seriously at all of the factors that may be contributing to it, including the impact of product placements in movies," says Lisa Sutherland, Ph.D. the lead author of the study. Sutherland says that the diet quality of U.S. children and adolescents has declined markedly during the past 20 years, and current estimates suggest that only one percent of children eat a diet consistent with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) My-Pyramid food guidance. Additionally, fewer than one fifth of adolescents meet the dietary recommendations for fat or fruit and vegetable intakes, and during the last 20 years obesity rates have doubled for children aged 6 to 11 years and tripled for adolescents aged 12 to 19 years.
"While the issue of food advertising and its effect on children has been well documented in numerous studies, comparatively little is known about product placement in movies and how it affects the food and beverage preferences and choices of children and adolescents," Sutherland said. The study notes that while there are similarities between television advertising and movie product placement, such as the low nutritional quality of the majority of branded products, there are also interesting differences. Recent studies that examined television ads during adolescent programming found fast food and ready-to-eat cereals and cereal bars to be the most prevalent during children's programming. In contrast, the Dartmouth study found that sugar-sweetened beverages, comprised largely of soda, accounted for the largest proportion of all of the movie-based food product brand placements, accounting for one of every four brand placements overall.
Perhaps many parents who understand that the advertised product is not good for the health of their children, but many of them eventually give up and buy these products because the child's whining. The situation may become worse when the parents started giving money to their children who are teenagers, so that teenagers can buy their own needs.
Realizing this will make parents more aware and start thinking to react.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exercise during pregnancy, while healthy for both mother and baby, has only a minor impact on an infant's birth weight, suggest findings from a large study from Norway.
On the other hand, the findings confirm a strong association between being heavy prior to becoming pregnant and having a heavier baby, Caroline Fleten of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, and colleagues report.
Fleten and colleagues evaluated associations between exercise during pregnancy, prepregnancy weight and the baby's weight at birth for 43,705 women aged 15 to 49 years old and pregnant with a single fetus.
They determined body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of how fat or thin a person is. On average, prepregnancy BMI of the women in the study was 24. For reference, a BMI of 25 or higher is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.
Fleten's team found that each single unit increase in mothers' prepregnancy BMI was associated with about 20 grams (0.70 ounces) heavier weight at birth. As an example, an increase in BMI of 5 units -- 29 versus 24 for example -- would result in a birth weight increase of 103 grams (3.63 ounces).
The women reported brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, aerobics, fitness or weight training, or other physical activities an average of 6 times a month during the first 17 weeks of pregnancy and then 4 times a month until week 30.
The average weight of infants at birth was 3,677 grams (about 8 pounds) and, according to the investigators, exercise during pregnancy had no significant effect on birth weight.
"Exercise during pregnancy cannot be used as a means of 'normalizing' birth weight," Fleten commented in an email to Reuters Health.
She and her colleagues suggest that health care professionals focus on preventing or treating overweight and obesity in women of childbearing age, which would reduce the risk of giving birth to a baby weighing too much.
SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, February 2010
On the other hand, the findings confirm a strong association between being heavy prior to becoming pregnant and having a heavier baby, Caroline Fleten of the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo, and colleagues report.
Fleten and colleagues evaluated associations between exercise during pregnancy, prepregnancy weight and the baby's weight at birth for 43,705 women aged 15 to 49 years old and pregnant with a single fetus.
They determined body mass index (BMI), a standard measure of how fat or thin a person is. On average, prepregnancy BMI of the women in the study was 24. For reference, a BMI of 25 or higher is considered overweight, while a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese.
Fleten's team found that each single unit increase in mothers' prepregnancy BMI was associated with about 20 grams (0.70 ounces) heavier weight at birth. As an example, an increase in BMI of 5 units -- 29 versus 24 for example -- would result in a birth weight increase of 103 grams (3.63 ounces).
The women reported brisk walking, jogging, bicycling, aerobics, fitness or weight training, or other physical activities an average of 6 times a month during the first 17 weeks of pregnancy and then 4 times a month until week 30.
The average weight of infants at birth was 3,677 grams (about 8 pounds) and, according to the investigators, exercise during pregnancy had no significant effect on birth weight.
"Exercise during pregnancy cannot be used as a means of 'normalizing' birth weight," Fleten commented in an email to Reuters Health.
She and her colleagues suggest that health care professionals focus on preventing or treating overweight and obesity in women of childbearing age, which would reduce the risk of giving birth to a baby weighing too much.
SOURCE: Obstetrics and Gynecology, February 2010
Monday, February 08, 2010
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of VitaDigest. All opinions are 100% mine.
Live in environments with high pollution levels requires extra attention in terms of vitamins and nutrients. Moreover, the foods we eat are often not given many nutrients needed by our bodies to stay healthy. The habit of consuming junk food is an example that we often encounter in everyday life. Indeed this kind of food that can be obtained in a short time and can satisfy hunger because usually high in calories, but also contain very few vitamins and other important nutrients. Many factors cause we often lack a variety of vitamins, whether we realize it or not.That's why my family and I consume Royal Jelly that can help the body rebuild damaged cells and improve the body’s immune system. I usually use Lyophilized Royal Jelly from the CNI, but then I found another interesting option.
When I surf the online retailer of nutritional supplements, I found Bee Pollen, Royal Jelly and Propolis in a bottle that contains 90 Capsules. I found this product at VitaDigest. VitaDigest offers more than 13.000 types of health products including vitamins and supplements. Its looks like they have all the health products in the world. They also offer free shipping if I buy over $100 and discount 10% off Coupon through end of February 2010 with coupon code "izb10jan". Makes me smile. I LOVE the discount.
But as I mentioned in earlier post, be careful in shopping online. Many fraud committed by some bad company. Not wanting to be a victim of fraud, so I tried to find out and found that VitaDigest.com was awarded INC5000 for 2009 as the top 5000 Fastest Growing Company and you can view their company profile on Inc.com with no. 4.015. I think a company with 50.4% growth rate will not destroy their own reputation by doing fraud.
Our world is a super busy making us less attention to food, the main source of nutrients for the body. Consuming supplements are sometimes needed to maintain our health. Consider it carefully and select the one that fits your needs and conditions.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Weight does matter, if you are trying to conceive. You don’t have to be super thin to become pregnant, but your chances of conceiving and continuing a healthy pregnancy are higher if your body mass index (BMI) is in a normal range. Weight and nutritional experts would define ‘normal’ BMI anything between 18 and 25; and if your BMI is higher than 25 and bellow 30, experts would say person is overweight. On the other hand, if your BMI is above 30, a person would be considered obese. If your BMI is below 18 a person would fall in the group of underweight, which also significantly compromises woman’s fertility.(If you would like to calculate your body mass index, take your weight in pounds and divide it by your height in inches, squared. Multiply that result by the number 703.)
Harvard Medical School published a study where scientists suggested weight and infertility are linked in a U-shape curve. The study further explains that women who are either very lean or even slightly overweight are at higher risk of having problems when trying to conceive. Scientists claim that there are approximately 25% of ovulation-related infertility cases that could be attributed to women being overweight.
Another study from Europe’s leading reproductive medicine journal “Human Reproduction” suggests that if both partners are overweight or obese, a couple is very likely to have problems when trying to get pregnant. This study suggests that weight can affect fertility in both sexes: in males too much body fat is linked to increased production of woman’s hormone estrogen, and lower production of male sex hormone testosterone. As a consequence sperm count is lower which of course affects fertility. In women situation is a bit more complicated: woman’s primary sex hormone estrogen is produced and stored in fat. Problem lies in a fact that fat cells produce a weak form of estrogen and this might fool the brain to think that the hormones are doing their job well, while they actually aren’t. This causes delay in ovulation and also contribute to the fact that it is harder for a woman to get pregnant.
There are of course other dangers that are in connection with woman being overweight: it increases the risk of gestational diabetes and chronic hypertension; in is post-term pregnancy the baby is at risk for stillbirth and difficulties in labor.
If you have problem with being overweight, and if you are trying to get pregnant, you should try to lose weight. There is no need for drastic changes, but do take one step at a time and do make that small improvements in your life. I am sure you’ve heard it million times: the best way to lose weight is with the help of a balanced diet and moderate exercise.
Monday, February 01, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - New research from Spain confirms the benefit of a Mediterranean diet to a healthy heart.
In an analysis of more than 40,000 Spanish adults followed for an average of 10 years, researchers found that sticking to a Mediterranean diet significantly reduced the risk of a first heart attack or other heart disease-related event.
Specific components of a Mediterranean diet differ from region to region but, generally, the key features include high consumption of olive oil, plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole-grain cereals, nuts and seeds. Fish is favored over other meat sources with relatively low consumption of red meat. Alcohol, especially red wine, and dairy products are used in moderation.
For years, evidence has been accumulating regarding the protective effects of a Mediterranean diet against heart disease, Genevieve Buckland and associates at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Studies of varying sizes and designs have shown that a Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of death in people who've had a heart attack, curb the risk of stroke, and boost survival in people living with heart disease, they note.
However, Buckland and associates were concerned that weaknesses in previous research limited the strength of conclusions. To investigate further, they used data collected between 1992 and 2004 from 41,078 healthy men and women from five Spanish centers involved in the 10-country European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, or EPIC, study.
The participants, whose average age was 49 at enrollment, provided information on what and how much they ate. The researchers also took body measurements, asked about behaviors such as smoking and physical activity, and medical history.
Each participant was given a score on an 18-point scale based on how closely their diet adhered to the Mediterranean ideal; the higher the score, the higher the adherence.
During an average follow-up of 10.4 years, 609 of the study participants suffered a heart attack or severe chest pain called unstable angina requiring intervention. Nine of them died.
When the researchers compared these heart events with Mediterranean diet scores and adjusted for confounding factors, they found that the higher the score (and adherence to the Mediterranean diet) the lower the risk of heart disease.
Specifically, high adherence, compared with low adherence, to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk of a first heart disease-related event, they report.
Heart disease is a top killer worldwide, accounting for roughly 30 percent of all deaths, equal to approximately 17 million deaths annually, the investigators note. Nearly half of these deaths are due to heart disease.
It's thought that 80 percent of heart attacks and related events could be prevented by modifying behaviors -- like adopting a healthy diet. And the current study suggests that drastic diet changes may not be necessary.
Each 1-unit increase in the Mediterranean diet score was associated with a 6 percent reduced risk of heart disease, Buckland and colleagues report. Even a 2-unit increase in Mediterranean score, "which required less drastic and more feasible dietary changes, has a protective effect," they report.
The researchers say more study is needed to pinpoint key protective components of the Mediterranean diet and how these components confer their protective effects.
In the meantime, however, their results add to a growing body of evidence pointing to the heart health benefits of a diet rich in olive oil, plant-based foods, and fresh fish and low in red meats.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, December 15, 2009.
In an analysis of more than 40,000 Spanish adults followed for an average of 10 years, researchers found that sticking to a Mediterranean diet significantly reduced the risk of a first heart attack or other heart disease-related event.
Specific components of a Mediterranean diet differ from region to region but, generally, the key features include high consumption of olive oil, plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole-grain cereals, nuts and seeds. Fish is favored over other meat sources with relatively low consumption of red meat. Alcohol, especially red wine, and dairy products are used in moderation.
For years, evidence has been accumulating regarding the protective effects of a Mediterranean diet against heart disease, Genevieve Buckland and associates at the Catalan Institute of Oncology in Barcelona note in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Studies of varying sizes and designs have shown that a Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of death in people who've had a heart attack, curb the risk of stroke, and boost survival in people living with heart disease, they note.
However, Buckland and associates were concerned that weaknesses in previous research limited the strength of conclusions. To investigate further, they used data collected between 1992 and 2004 from 41,078 healthy men and women from five Spanish centers involved in the 10-country European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition, or EPIC, study.
The participants, whose average age was 49 at enrollment, provided information on what and how much they ate. The researchers also took body measurements, asked about behaviors such as smoking and physical activity, and medical history.
Each participant was given a score on an 18-point scale based on how closely their diet adhered to the Mediterranean ideal; the higher the score, the higher the adherence.
During an average follow-up of 10.4 years, 609 of the study participants suffered a heart attack or severe chest pain called unstable angina requiring intervention. Nine of them died.
When the researchers compared these heart events with Mediterranean diet scores and adjusted for confounding factors, they found that the higher the score (and adherence to the Mediterranean diet) the lower the risk of heart disease.
Specifically, high adherence, compared with low adherence, to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 40 percent reduced risk of a first heart disease-related event, they report.
Heart disease is a top killer worldwide, accounting for roughly 30 percent of all deaths, equal to approximately 17 million deaths annually, the investigators note. Nearly half of these deaths are due to heart disease.
It's thought that 80 percent of heart attacks and related events could be prevented by modifying behaviors -- like adopting a healthy diet. And the current study suggests that drastic diet changes may not be necessary.
Each 1-unit increase in the Mediterranean diet score was associated with a 6 percent reduced risk of heart disease, Buckland and colleagues report. Even a 2-unit increase in Mediterranean score, "which required less drastic and more feasible dietary changes, has a protective effect," they report.
The researchers say more study is needed to pinpoint key protective components of the Mediterranean diet and how these components confer their protective effects.
In the meantime, however, their results add to a growing body of evidence pointing to the heart health benefits of a diet rich in olive oil, plant-based foods, and fresh fish and low in red meats.
SOURCE: American Journal of Epidemiology, December 15, 2009.
