Having more than a couple of drinks a day can double the risk of developing involuntary tremor, a neurological disorder that affects about 5 million people over the age of 60 in the United States. Researchers compared lifetime alcohol consumption and neurological symptoms in almost 3,300 people, aged 65 and older, in three areas of central Spain.
Several multivitamins tested by ConsumerLab.com including three for children, exceeded tolerable upper limits established by the Institute of Medicine for ingredients such as vitamin A, folic acid, niacin and zinc, according toa new report
The Mediterranean Diet Pyramid was resently updated by our friends at Oldways in Boston.
Kelly Brownell of the Yale Rudd Center and Tom Friedan of the New York City Health Department wrote this paper about taxes on sodas – a sensible a way to get people to consume less of them in the April 30 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
On May 20th The Times ran a great article to followup on Kelly and Toms article. Please notice the graphs which will be useful in any presentation on public health nutrition. Enjoy!
This new paper describe and discuss several well-developed approaches for categorising foods using nutrient profiling, primarily in the area of food labelling and also with respect to advertising controls. The best approach should be able to summarise and synthesise key nutritional dimensions (such as sugar, fat and salt content, energy density and portion size) in a manner that is easily applied across a variety of products, is understandable to users and can be strictly defined for regulatory purposes.
Young children who do not display an ability to regulate their behavior or to delay gratification in exchange for a larger reward appear predisposed to gain extra weight by their pre-teen years, according to two new reports.
From 2001 to 2006 the incidence of bicycle-related Emergency Department presentations in Sydney, Australia, rose by 42%, hospital admissions by 16%, and treatment for major trauma by 76%. A Danish study recorded a 39 % reduction in all-cause mortality over a 15 year period for people who cycled to work. So sespite the perceived risks, the benefits are overwhelmingly positive. The authors agree that the increase in injury in the Victorian study does not take account of the increase in the actual number of people riding bikes.
College students were given one of two menus. One menu featured French fries, chicken nuggets and a baked potato; the other included those same items as well as a salad. 10% af the students exposed to the short menu ordered fries. While 33% of the students exposed to the longer menue (including salads) chose fries. Wow! The research suggests that the presence of healthy options on a menu can induce some diners to eat less healthily than they otherwise would. See also http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/599219
Desk jobs are increasing obesity, with many employees and employers ignorant of the risks of sitting down all day, researchers said on Wednesday.
Morbidly obese adults are sedentary for more than 99 percent of the day, getting only a fraction of the amount of walking that experts recommend for staying healthy, a small study suggests.