This article compares child reports of their physical and sedentary activities with those of their parents. Agreement between the 3958 pairs of parent and child reports was low to fair. Relative to normal weight children, those who were overweight or obese reported more participation in organized and leisure sports and less time watching television than what their parents perceived. Based on these findings, parent reports seem to provide a more accurate assessment of activity levels of children younger than 12.
This study aimed to examine children’s access to places in their neighborhood for active free play and how these vary by age, sex and socioeconomic status (SES). One-third (32%) of children reported an independent mobility range of <100 m from home. In conclusion, for some children opportunities to engage in active free play in the local neighborhood may be limited due to lack of parks in close proximity to home and restricted independent mobility. It is important to collaborate with local governments, urban planners and community groups to improve access to neighborhood parks and to promote a sense of neighborhood safety. Read more
Care must be taken not to increase stigmatization of obese people, particularly of children. There are only few guidelines for public health managers and practitioners who are attempting to design and implement obesity prevention programs that minimize stigma. Researchers give suggestions for designing non-stigmatizing obesity prevention public health programs.
Mothers of 174 children aged 2 to 12, completed a questionnaire and more. A greater percentage of parents with younger children rated their child as ‘œjust as’ or ‘œa little more’ active than their peers as compared to the percentage of parents with older children. Additionally, parents reported that the older children watched significantly more hours of TV on weekend days than the younger children. Taken together, these findings suggest that parent reporting of behaviors commonly believed to promote childhood obesity increases with older children.
Airline can’t charge disabled or obese people for an extra ticket when they need an additional seat or an attendant to accompany them. The Supreme Court of Canada in November 2008 refused to hear an appeal from the airline, upholding a Canadian Transportation Agency ruling ordering carriers to charge all passengers the same fare and not make people pay extra when they need an additional seat for medical reasons.
Children who watched more television and ate fewer family meals were more likely to be overweight for the first time at spring semester of third grade. Children who watched more television, ate fewer family meals, and lived in neighborhoods perceived by parents as less safe for outdoor play were more likely to be persistently overweight.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania studied how cash incentives influenced weight loss among 57 people who were obese but otherwise healthy. One group of dieters was given $3 a day plus additional matching funds for meeting weight loss goals, meaning they could earn up to an extra $168 during a four-week period. A second group was eligible to compete in a cash lottery for $10 to $100 a day during the study period if they achieved weight loss goals. A third control group simply attended monthly weigh-in sessions. At the end of 16 weeks, the dieters in the lottery group had lost an average of 13.1 pounds each, while those in the matching-funds group had lost an average of 14 pounds each, compared to just 3.9 pounds in the control group.
Researchers at Princeton University claim that they have laid down the final pieces of evidence necessary to prove the existence of sugar addiction in animal studies.
Oxford Health Alliance organized this workshop. Watch the 10 minute video from the event. Derek Yach from Pepsico gave a presentation.
Kulturel lørdag
Jan 25
Vi havde en børnefri og kulturel lørdag i København i går.
Efter den sædvanlige og ugentlige shoppetur gik turen først til Koloristernes 2009 udstilling på den Frie (Oslo plads i København). Det er ikke en særlig fantastisk udstilling. Jeg tog nogle billeder, som nu er samlet i en lille film. Hvis du gider bruge 2 minutter og 42 sekunder på at se min film, slipper du for selv at transportere dig, bruge tid og betale entre !!
Se filmen her:
Der er også en rundtur om en af de flottere skulpturer på udstillingen her:
Dernæst gik turen til Statens Museum for kunst hvor VinterJazz festivalen er i gang. Der var koncert med Mette Halle, som ses herunder.
Den slags Jazz musik er nok lidt for blød, flødeskumsagtigt og lang trukken til min smag. Hør smagsprøver på Mette Halle’s Myspace side.
Men vi blev dog siddende den time koncerten varede. Det er forunderligt hvordan folk som går tur i parken bag SMK går tværs over scene bag de store glasvinduer midt i koncerten. Det må udnyttes til noget sjovt en dag.
Vi så også lige udstillingen af Kirsten Ortwed. Gevaldige skulpturer, hvor hverdagsting blandes med mere traditionel billedehuggeri. Her er en 14 sekunders film af et af hendes fascinerende værker:
Så var der en forrygende middag på Spiseloppen på Christiania. Vegetarmenuen var en kæmpe fornøjelse og inspiration.
Dagen sluttede i den nye opera, som Anne ikke havde set endnu. Studerende sang opera. Vi måtte give op i pausen. Opera er for mig alt for fremmed og for skrålende til at det er nemt at nyde. Men det kæmpe store klassiske orkester er i sig selv en fantastisk oplevelse. Her er lige et billede af Anne i forhallen og et kig op i en af de tre imposante lamper i forhallen.
Tak til Olivia for lån af kamera.