223 WIC participants throughout Maryland were interviewed about resent changed in the WIC program. All participants (100%) consumed fruits and vegetables. They preferred fresh for taste, but many endorsed canned and frozen for convenience and cost. Participants endorsed whole-wheat bread as more healthful and reported that they (59%) and their children (51%) would increase consumption if provided by WIC.
379 middle-school children participating in a randomized controlled trial of a school-based F&V intervention were observed during school lunch one day and asked to recall intake the following day. Each food items were coded as: match, omission or intrusion. Matched foods’ portions were compared for accuracy. Fruit and vegetable count were accuracy in most cases.
UK children as young as five are being taught in school that cheese is a ‘nutritional goldmine’, that crisps are healthier than apples and that refilling empty drinks bottles with tap water is unsafe, according to a new report by Richard Watts and Lianna Hulbert from the Children’s Food Campaign. Enjoy.
Download the report: Through the back door – An exposé of educational material produced by the food industry or read Sustains press release: Food industry are misleading children and advertising in the classroom.
Diabetes patients had normal reaction times and normal perceptual speed. But they were slower on tasks requiring rapid and precise processing of new verbal information. The defects involved speed and not verbal fluency. These findings are from a a study of 570 adults aged 53 to 90, including 41 patients with “relatively mild” type 2 diabetes, who undergo mental function exams every three years. Will apprear in the January issue of Neuropsychology.
While some emerging technologies can create environments that require very little physical effort, one Kansas State University researcher thinks games like Nintendo’s Wii Fit can help promote physical rather than sedentary activities for people of all ages. “I think there is a great potential to develop ways to promote physical activity through technology,” said David Dzewaltowski. “Kids innately like to move, so I believe that there is a big future in games that use emerging technologies and require movement because the games will be enjoyed by children and also be more healthy than existing games. Future technologies should continue to promote physical activity if they make exercise enjoyable, especially for adults.
Adults with diabetes experience a slowdown in several types of mental processing, which appears early in the disease and persists into old age. Given the sharp rise in new cases of diabetes, this finding means that more adults may soon be living with mild but lasting deficits in their thought processes. A full analysis appears in the January issue of Neuropsychology.
Females of all ages are less active than their male peers. Two studies, presented January 6 at a conference in the UK reveal the gender difference in activity levels among school children and the over 70s. Both studies show males to be more physically active than females.
The author of “Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating” and “How to Cook Everything”, Mark Bittman makes a compelling argument for cutting back on animal products including red meat, dairy, eggs, poultry and fish as a reaction against factory farming. Lose weight while saving the planet?
According to Barry Sears obesity has an exceptionally strong genetic component. Couple that genetic predisposition with the wrong hormonal mix in the womb, and the child is destined to a life-long struggle against obesity and its health consequences. One solution to this problem is to make sure that the mother is controlling the dietary environment of the child. But unfortunately, this is easier said than done, as it is likely that the mother has the same genetic predisposition as the child in the womb and more than likely is eating the types of junk food that ensures an obese child.
Public health surveillance of physical activity in children in the UK depends on a parent-reported physical activity questionnaire which has not been validated. Now a validation has been made. And the Researchers conclude that the existing questionnaire shouldnot be used. Levels of habitual physical activity in children are likely to be substantially lower than those reported in the UK health surveys.