Posts Tagged: nutrition

UC scientist OK with overweight surgeon general-designate

Retired UC Berkeley nutrition specialist Joanne Ikeda didn't mince words when she commented about the woman President Obama has nominated to be the nation's surgeon general. The nominee, Dr. Regina Benjamin, is a McArthur genius grant recipient, holds advanced degrees in medicine and business administration, and runs her own family practice medical clinic in rural Alabama that treats predominantly low income patients.

But by all accounts, she is overweight.

"I thank God that Dr. Regina Benjamin is a fat woman," Ikeda was quoted in The Daily Voice, Black America's daily news source. "Maybe now we will stop making the assumption that all fat people are unhealthy particularly in light of new data coming from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey."

The comment was picked up by Huffington Post columnist Linda Bergthold.

According to media reports, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey has data that show more than half of people labeled overweight are metabolically healthy, compared to about a quarter who are what the survey calls “metabolically abnormal.”

The study points out that examination of metabolic health — blood pressure, cholesterol, sugar levels — are better predictors for future health problems.

A White House photo of Dr. Regina Benjamin.

'Prevention' magazine features ANR expert

An article in the July 2009 issue of Prevention magazine is based on information from UC Davis Cooperative Extension post harvest specialist Marita Cantwell. The magazine, with a national circulation of 3.2 million, doesn't appear to put all its articles in the online version; I couldn't find this one.

The two-page feature, titled "Keep Produce Fresh Longer" and written by Stephanie Breakstone, gives up-to-date advice on preventing fruit and vegetable spoilage with specific information about watermelon, grapes, fresh herbs, tomatoes, berries and leafy greens. Cantwell suggests grapes, fresh herbs and leafy greens be wrapped in paper towels to absorb moisture. Grapes and berries should be washed just before eating.

The article referred readers to a page on its Web site for more information: http://prevention.com/storage, but I couldn't find any information there about fresh fruits and vegetables.

UC ANR nutrition professor still eats the other white meat

Elena Conis of the Los Angeles Times "Nutrition Lab" was puzzled when pork, billed for years as "the other white meat," was lumped in with beef for a study that linked their high consumption to heart disease and death.

According to Conis' story, the pork industry adopted the white meat slogan after breeding leaner pigs in the 1970s. Scientists, however, generally consider "white" meat to be poultry and "red" meat to come from mammals because saturated fat is generally higher in mammal meat than in fowl.

"If this sounds really confusing, that's because it is," Conis quoted UC Davis nutrition professor Judy Stern. "Heck, I'm confused."

Authors of the new study, which was published in the March Archives of Internal Medicine, haven't nailed down the reason why a diet high in red and processed meats (including pork) was linked to a higher death risk, particularly from heart disease and cancer. They speculated that the association was due to high levels of saturated fat in meat generally, presence of cancer-causing compounds formed in meats cooked at high temperatures, or the fact that people who eat more meat may eat fewer fruits and vegetables, the article said.

Stern told the reporter that she'll still eat pork, but not every day. "Will this study change the way I eat pork? No," she was quoted.

The story also appeared on Newsday.com.

Swine.

Easy access to fast foods makes kids fat

A new UC Berkeley study that is getting lots of media attention notes that the incidence of obesity in high school students is greater when there is a fast food restaurant within 530 feet of the campus. Nearby fast food resulted in a 5.2 percent increase in the incidence of student obesity compared with the average for California youths, according to coverage in the Los Angeles Times. Scientists said the correlation is "sizable."

Reporter Jerry Hirsch sought comment from the nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for UC Cooperative Extension in Los Angeles County, Brenda Roche. She said she wasn't surprised by the findings.

"If you put a McDonald's in front of a school, kids will eat there," she said. "Obesity is as much a factor of environment as it is a matter of choice."

Other media outlets that covered the story included:

• ABC Channel 7 news
• Reuters
• Gulf Times

In the Reuters story, a spokeswomen for the National Retail Federation, Ellen Davis, rejected the idea that schools be surrounded by a fast food-free zone.

"I think it would be a dangerous precedent to limit the types of legitimate, important businesses and where they're located in a city. Doesn't it make more sense for parents to limit a child's allowance or let them know when and where they can't eat certain things?" she was quoted.

Perhaps parents, schools, government and food purveyors should all be part of the effort to curb obesity.

EFNEP celebrates 40th anniversary

The federal Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, known as EFNEP, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, notes a news release distributed yesterday by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service. The release said a 40th anniversary celebration was held at the University of California Washington Center in Washington, DC, however, I couldn't find mention of the anniversary or the celebration in any online media outlets.

Each year, EFNEP helps more than 500,000 limited-resource family members make sound nutrition and health choices. County extension family and consumer science professionals provide training and supervise peer educators and volunteers who teach EFNEP in their local communities. There are EFNEP programs offered in 16 California counties, which serve 12,000 low-income residents each year.

California families have shared  in their evaluations that EFNEP has transformed their lives for the better. Some said they have changed what their family eats on a regular basis, switched to low-fat milk instead of whole milk and have fruit for snacks. Some report eating more vegetables and fruit and thawing meat and poultry in the refrigerator. Some walk daily, others play games with their children. Almost all use store ads and unit pricing to get the best shopping deals.

Read more