Mar
24
2010
Congratulation Mr. President on this historic moment-signing a new health care mandate into law-The New National Health Plan. I guess we would consider this on par with the enactment of Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. Millions of uninsured Americans will now be able to get health coverage. Pre-existing health issues will not prevent Insurers from providing affordable coverage. Small businesses will get tax credits to supply employees with health coverage. There may be a penalty for not carrying health coverage. And taxes will go up on the wealthier Americans. And like every bill signed into law, there are pro’s and con’s. Will we all be pushed into some sort of HMO? Will doctors fee’s be cut so much that we will be seeing an exodus of physicians from the health care program? How high will my taxes go? Will V.I.P./Concierge practices start springing up? Will there be more seats available in Medical Schools as enrollment drops? Will medical school applicants be forced into a Primary Care track? So many unanswered questions?
And what about the rifts in Congress? After all, this plan was passed only by Democrats and signed into law. There were no Republicans in support. Well I guess the majority rules, but you would think that maybe, just maybe, something so important would have some bipartisan support? Not here. What does that say ...
Posted in: Editor's Page
Mar
18
2010
So let’s start with this one: they are calling her a wannabe “biggest woman in the world.” Donna Simpson, a young woman of only 42, and already the “World’s Fattest Mother” according to the Guinness Book of World Records , has been gracing the pages and television screens of virtually every news organization in the USA this week, claiming that she weighs 600 pounds and wants to go to 1000 pounds. What! That’s right-she is currently at 600 pounds-and by every measure and medical account-she is in the obese-morbidly obese category. According to many published reports (MSNBC, FOX News, Post Chronicle, etc.) she wants to be “World’s Fattest Woman.” And how will she get there-the answer-by eating over 12,000 calories a day. Many world class athletes and body builders will consume between 10 to 20,000 calories a day of course burning up between 3-5000 calories in their exercise regimen. Donna Simpson will only be burning up calories by breathing, eating or walking to the bathroom or bed room. What will this be costing her to get to this outrageous weight-well some estimates say between $500-1000 dollars a day in food costs. Now here is a major ridiculous part of this story-Donna has a web site where people can pay money to see her eat. OMG!!! Yes, by going to Supersizebombshells.com, you can see Donna and other ...
Posted in: Editor's Page
Mar
10
2010
Okay, stay with me on this one. School budgets are being cut. The economy stinks-let’s face it. Recovery? Where Mr. President? Maybe on Wall Street-yep the stock market seems to have rebounded. Banks are paying back our stimulus money. Great! Wall Street executives are getting fat bonuses, again. Also great! General Motors is re-upping about 600 dealers. Life is super great! What! Give me a break. Housing foreclosures are still among the highest levels in years. More single family homes and apartments are for sale. Prices are dropping. More people are giving up their homes, cars and possessions. The jobs wanted market is flooded with people looking. And now the latest misery, School Boards across the country, stretched to the max with money problems are cutting PE (Physical Education), Music and Art classes. Who needs more artists and musicians anyway? Culture-blah humbug-don’t need it. And as for PE-well that’s a no brainer-let’s have our kids keep eating and eating, consuming more and more calories and not burning anything off. What does that equal? Say it with me-More Obesity in our children! Now wait a minute! You read in The Nerdel News that First Lady Michelle Obama is targeting Childhood Obesity with her “Let’s Move” campaign. It’s a fantastic effort-getting our kids to move and exercise. And we already know that our kids are not physically active enough. But-Ahm-hello-now the ...
Posted in: Editor's Page, Home
Mar
04
2010
I was eating at a favorite restaurant with my family and another family and I started a discussion about the proposed regulations requiring restaurants to show all of the nutritional information on their menus. I asked the kids (girls ages 11-13) first what that would mean for them. Initially I thought that I would hear that they really wouldn’t look at that information. I was surprised at the answers. I listened as they told me very matter of fact, that they would read it and in fact would change their choices if they saw too much fat, sugar or salt. However I am not so sure when it comes to desserts if the nutrition facts would play any part in their decision making. Then I moved on to the adults. So I asked-would it matter to you? The answer I heard was-I would definitely read the information and tell my kids to choose something healthy. So I said-what about your choice. The responses were polarized-the moms said they would definitely choose a healthy item. The dad said-he would try to pick a healthier item but if not he would try to exercise more the next day if he didn’t. An interesting social experiment.
You see my friends, it is inevitable that we will be getting barraged with more nutritional information-at the stores, on television, on the web and at now at ...
Posted in: Editor's Page
Mar
02
2010
I am sure that by now most of you have seen the recent articles implicating soft drinks and juice and pancreatic cancer. We already know that our children are drinking more sodas and the rates of childhood obesity are sky rocketing-relationship-I think so!! Now, researchers are confirming prior studies demonstrating a relationship with soda and cancer. Actually, the most recent study was just published in the February 2010 issue of Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention: “Soft Drink and Juice Consumption and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: The Singapore Chinese Health Study” with lead author Noel T. Mueller (Cancer Control Program, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia). 60,524 people in the Singapore Chinese Health Study were enrolled and followed for 14 years. Those participants that drank 2 or more drinks (sweetened soda) per week had a statistically significant greater risk of developing pancreatic cancer compared with those people in the study that did not drink the sodas. There was no association with those people in the study that drank juice. The conclusion by the authors was: “Regular consumption of soft drinks may play an independent role in the development of pancreatic cancer.”
SIDE BAR:
What is the pancreas: it is an organ in the body that hangs out behind the stomach and its job is to produce hormones (think of them as tiny messengers) like INSULIN that are released in response ...
Posted in: Editor's Page
Mar
01
2010
By John E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Today, children face more challenges than ever in trying to achieve and maintain their health. The prevalence of the internet and video games negatively affects kids' desire to play outside and participate in physical activities, and the preponderance of fast food restaurants and processed foods at our grocery stores, along with their appealing advertising campaigns, results in an over-reliance of poor dietary choices that are too high in calories and too low in nutrition. Childhood obesity is dramatically rising and is now the most significant health crisis affecting children today. Physical inactivity and poor nutrition are the principle causes of obesity, according to the US Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA). In addition, children are now dealing with rates of Type II Diabetes and cardiovascular disease previously only seen in adults.
So what can we do to help our children?
In addition to proper rest and sleep, stress reduction, avoidance of toxins, such as second-hand cigarette smoke, and drinking plenty of water, health begins and ends with
proper nutrition and exercise. Eating properly should consist of a reliance on a plant-based, whole food diet. Eating plants in their most natural state, looking as much
like when they came out of the ground or off the tree, should be the goal. Eating a plant-based, whole food diet will give us the vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, flavonoids,
and the thousands of other ...
Posted in: Home, Profesor's Point of View
Mar
01
2010
By John E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Childhood obesity is dramatically rising and is now the most significant health crisis affecting children today. Physical inactivity and poor nutrition are the principle
causes of obesity, according to the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA). Thus, children should be made aware of the severity
of the problem that their generation faces, and they also need to understand that being active, which was taken for granted by so many prior generations, is one of the
principal keys to being in good health. As the electronics age has consumed so many aspects of daily life in the last couple of decades, children of today are indoctrinated
into the technological craze at a very early age. Popular electronics are readily affordable by most families, so children grow up learning how to operate everything from
televisions to computers to video games to PDAs and cell phones. While the use of technology provides our society with enormous advantages in access to information and
convenience, with such freedom at least partially comes the price of good health due to the sedentary lifestyle that such electronic equipment promotes.
In considering how electronic equipment can help to promote a more active lifestyle in children, one of the obvious appliances is the pedometer. Pedometers, like most
electronics, come in a wide variety of models, styles, features, and options, but a simple pedometer that accurately measures steps ...
Posted in: Home, Profesor's Point of View
