Consumption of F&Vs is low among residents of socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Researchers therefore investigated and compared retail F&V availability in urban and rural underserved communities in New York State. The urban minority neighborhood had the most barriers to fresh F&Vs in retail outlets, even when compared with the rural community. Public health intervention strategies to increase retail F&V availability in urban minority neighborhoods may aid in mitigating health disparities.
U.S. and British researchers said on Thursday based on their their review of published studies that tans and skin cancer both begin with DNA damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet light. Many young people ignore this danger in a quest for a bronzed body.
78% of consumers say they’re trying to eat more whole grains – and 61% of them say they’re trying to consume fewer refined carbohydrates. International Food Information Council recently published its 2008 Food & Health Survey: Consumer Attitudes toward Food, Nutrition & Health, including this fact about the widespread yearning for whole grains. Last year 71% were looking for more whole grains.
Intestinal liner leads to significant drops in blood sugar levels
A study of sedentary and overweight older people showed that when older people diet without exercising, they lose more lean muscle compared to those who exercise. When they combined weight loss with exercise, it nearly completely prevented the loss of lean muscle mass.
Major food companies are competing for health-conscious consumers by plugging one food into another and claiming the health benefits of both.
Byens Grønne Puls
Sep 17
I Københavns Kommune har Sundheds- og Omsorgsforvaltningen og Teknik- og Miljøforvaltningen med støtte fra Lokal- og Anlægsfonden etableret træningspavilloner ved Fredens Park og i Utterslev Mose. Og anlagt nye motionsruter med smarte Grøn Puls-skilte på Nørrebro, i Nordvest og i Brønshøj. Det har kostet omkring 2,2 mio. kr.
An interesting new Danish study looks at associations between a simple diet quality index based on saturated fat and fibre and the dietary advices: ‘Eat a varied diet’, ‘Engage in regular physical activity’ and ‘Maintain a healthy body weight’. It is based on data from 3151 Danish adults aged 18–75 years. Greater food variety for women, high leisuretime physical activity, frequent intentions to eat healthily and low energy intake were significantly associated with high diet quality. The study did not demonstrate any association between BMI and diet quality. Conclusion: The health behaviours ‘Eat a varied diet’ and ‘Engage in regular physical activity’ were positively associated with healthy eating. The dietary habits reported were strongly influenced by personal intentions. Thus, the biggest challenge for public health nutritionists will be to reach non-compliers who seldom have intentions to eat healthily.
Self-reporting sucks V
Sep 17
Gender, elapsed time and BMI contributed to self-report bias when 6101 individuals were asked to recal their body weight years back. Effects of gender and elapsed time were small relative to the effects of BMI, with women tending to underestimate weight by 0.82 kg, men overestimating by 2.27 kg and bias increasing by 0.09 kg for each year of retrospection. Every increase of one unit in BMI was associated with an additional 0.91 kg underestimate in self-reported weight. Conclusion: Accuracy of adult self-reported weight profiles will be greatly underestimated if samples have individuals of current or past high relative weight. Adjusting for underestimation based on the respondent’s weight status alone will considerably improve the validity of weight information.
The average cost to prepare a school lunch has increased 10% since the 2007-2008 school year. The average cost rose from $2.63 to $2.90 for schools to prepare a nutritionally balanced school lunch that meets federal nutrition standards. Over the same timeframe, schools received only a 4.3% increase in the federal reimbursement for each free lunch provided to low income students. More money or lower quality? What would you prefer?