Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts

Tuesday, 9 June 2015

Overprotective parents harming kids' long-term health: report

Overprotective parents harming kids' long-term health: report
       This is a report card on  Physical Activity .   I wonder how  the food environment would  measure up  in a report card .  Let's expand our thinking to explore the food environment at hospitals, drugstores, child cenetered  community buildings  just to name a few . Tobacco  machines were removed  when legisaltion began to percalate in Canada.   Who are the forces  hinged onto Physical Activity ?   We can do better  and everyday we  sit and  simply blame  the obesity crisis onto the individual is a missed  opportunity to create  real change .    Paul Murphy 
      Health Canada just dolled out 4.5 Million Dollars on Weight Loss Research.  How bout some dollars on Prevention  ala  Tobacco Legislation in Canada.


     





http://www.participaction.com/report-card-2015/report-card/







Monday, 1 June 2015

Health Digest - May 2015- UCONN Rudd Center For Food Policy and Obesity

Health Digest - May 2015

Rudd Center Recent Publications

Views on Classifying Obesity as a Disease

In the first assessment of public opinion in the United States since the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease in 2013, a study by the Rudd Center published May 13 in the journal Obesity found that a majority of Americans support the designation. "For decades, the message to the individual has been to eat less and exercise more, and for a number of reasons that has not been effective," said author Rebecca Puhl, Deputy Director of the Rudd Center. "Obesity is a much more complex issue, and the disease classification formally acknowledges this."

 
Rudd Center in the News
 
As food companies and restaurants increasingly remove artificial ingredients and GMOs from their offerings, "It's important that people still pay attention to things like portion size and calories even though the restaurant may have actually made some important changes," Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz said in a May 29 NBC News piece. 
 
The Rudd Center's March study on the increasing health hazard that energy drinks pose to young people was cited in a May 19 article in Digital Trends on how players of video games are being targeted for marketing by energy drink makers.

Rudd Center Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl's study assessing public opinion about the classification of obesity as a disease was highlighted in the May 13 edition of UConn Today. A May 14 commentary piece in Medscape by Dr. Puhl, "Obesity as a 'Disease' - What Americans Think, and Why That's Important," included a section on how her findings may inform relationships between healthcare providers and patients. She noted that many patients may not be aware that obesity is now considered a disease. "Healthcare providers may want to inform patients of the disease classification and discuss the implications that this has as a paradigm for diagnosis and treatment," Puhl wrote.

The May 11 edition of The New York Times quoted Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz about making sure you get enough volume of food when you eat at a restaurant to feel satisfied when you leave. The tip appeared in an article by writer Josh Barro called "How to Eat Healthy Meals at Restaurants."

Reuters ran a hard-hitting piece May 8 on a study showing that the vast majority of TV commercials during shows aimed at kids under age 12 are for unhealthy foods with too much added sugar, saturated fat or sodium. The ads don't meet proposed federal voluntary guidelines for the nutritional quality of foods advertised to children. Jennifer Harris, Rudd Center Director of Marketing Initiatives (who was not part of the study), told Reuters: "This paper is interesting because it shows that the industry's definition of what is healthy and should be marketed to kids is completely out of whack with the opinions of government experts."

New York Magazine published a provocative piece on May 4 called "Willpower (or Lack of It) Is the Wrong Way to Think About Weight." Writer Melissa Dahl quoted Rudd Center Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl and cited her recent multi-national findings that, when people believe the cause of obesity is lack of willpower, they express stronger weight bias, on average, than those who believe biological or environmental factors play major roles. "...I think the way to think about this is that obesity is a very complex puzzle and personal behavior is just one of those pieces," Puhl said in the article.
 
The Rudd Center was featured in UConn Magazine's Spring 2015 edition in an article on our work to reverse the obesity epidemic. The piece, "National Disaster," quotes Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz on putting research into action. "If all I'm doing is publishing in a journal, that's not helping anybody else." Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl talks about  challenging the assumption that obesity is a matter of personal choice. "That's a false assumption," she says, pointing out that the American Medical Association now classifies obesity as a disease.
 
Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz appeared May 4 on WNPR's radio program "Where We Live" to discuss "Is Fast Food Going Out of Style?" The wide-ranging interview touched on topics including why McDonald's is struggling, how Americans are eating out more often, and policy options like taxing unhealthy foods while providing incentives for healthy foods.
 
 

News to Chew On

 
What's Simmering with Our Friends
 
  • Voices for Healthy Kids and others shared information in a May 19 #SaludTues tweetchat about "How to get more healthy drinks in Latino communities." The weekly social media chats focus on a variety of Latino health topics. These chats are co-hosted by @SaludToday, the Latino health social media campaign and Twitter handle for the Institute for Health Promotion at the University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio, which directs Salud America! Salud America! is The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children.
 
  • Following public pressure from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, MomsRising.org, and other advocacy groups, Dairy Queen became the latest major fast-food chain to remove soda and other sugary drinks from children's menus. McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's had already made this change in response to pressure campaigns. The change at Dairy Queen franchises will take effect Sept. 1. "We hope chains like Applebee's and Chili's will choose to exercise the same kind of corporate responsibility that DQ has," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan.
 
  • PreventObesity.net, a project of the American Heart Association dedicated to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic, highlighted a study published in JAMA Pediatrics that found that children have a tough time recognizing healthy foods in fast food television advertising. "Although leading fast food restaurants agreed to include healthy foods in their marketing targeted to kids back in 2009, marketers are often misleading in how they present those foods, researchers say." Only 10 percent of kids surveyed could positively identify apples in a Burger King ad - likely because the apples were sliced like french fries and placed in a french fries container, the PreventObesity.net piece noted.
 
 
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Monday, 25 May 2015

What's a Food Industry to Do? Dr Yoni Freedhoff



Published on Dec 10, 2012
I'd been asked by the food industry to give this talk at an industry breakfast, but 3 days prior to the event they got cold feet and dis-invited me. The good news is, the internet's a much larger audience than a room full of food industry folks who likely wouldn't have cared much about what I had to say in the first place. So here's my take on what the food industry can do, why they're not going to do it, and what we can do about it.

Monday, 18 May 2015

Target is making a big shift away from sugary cereals, canned foods and mac and cheese - The Washington Post

Target is making a big shift away from sugary cereals, canned foods and mac and cheese - The Washington Post

Target is making a big shift away from sugary cereals, canned foods and mac and cheese





"This is a dramatic move for Target," said Koo. "And I think that all
retailers will soon be asking similar questions of these companies."

   

      This may turn out to be a monumental shift in the food environment. Paul Murphy

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Fat Hatred and Bashing the Obese by Paul Murphy




Fat Hatred and Bashing the Obese

Minimize

THUINDER BAY, ON --- November 10, 2010 ---- Our health care agencies in Thunder Bay, are under attack, due to this impending obesity crisis.
The issue could not be simpler, and yet we are losing the battle.
Perhaps we are misguided by special interest groups. Many heavily
funded programs continue to focus solely on physical activity, and very
little else. The root cause of obesity may be misinformation, and our
stats that continue to grow and grow are due to our misguided work
plan. How does addressing physical activity, successfully, address the
issue? Bashing the obese and spreading fat hatred is a regular
occurrence within the media. Programs such as The Biggest Loser, only
add to the already complex situation. The goal is to raise the level of
awareness, and try to promote the conversation about this practice.
Why are the obese the targets, and how can we begin to address this
issue?
The couch potato myth continues to be promoted by the media, food industry and weight loss industry. This myth continues to shift and scheme to
avoid accountability. All three have a major interest in suppressing
the environmental action plan necessary. The lifestyle tool has been
brilliant, because it shifts any notion of accountability away from the
food giants. Lifestyle is blame and blame restricts the conversation.
How can we sit by and allow a child be victimized for obesity? Some
of our children may never recover from the brutality supported by the
media. They have simply stopped trying, and this is a tragedy. The try
harder message heavily supported by the weight loss industry continues
to play loudly. Why is there so much pressure to avoid discussing the
food environment? The weight loss industry has continued to flourish,
and many programs are owned by the food giants, and they continue to
have a failing rate of ninety-five percent. But it is you that are the
one left with feeling like a failure. If only you had more will power
and a desire for a lifestyle change.
There are many gifted and talented people working on the childhood obesity issue. However, a single pair of eyeglasses does effectively correct
the vision of all who need them. Each person has their own food
experience and relationship, and for some this has been a long standing
struggle. For many, obesity could not be simpler; spouting calories in
and calories out. No one can argue with this theory, unless your food
relationship is saturated with rage and self hatred. Add to the
experience of a drug like addiction to sugar or overeating we suddenly
obtain a better vision of the complex issue. Many can barely stomach a
thought of food intake in the morning, and for those who suffer with
body image distortion, the issue is even more complex. What if we are
framing the issue all wrong? How about an environmental approach on the
issue of childhood obesity? Let’s build a community driven action plan,
and open the lines of communication.
A little ‘fat talk’ is a tool that is free, and it might create the impact needed to address childhood obesity. The concept of real health
promotion must include all aspects of the issue. Why not move past the
established media and host town hall meetings on the childhood obesity
issue? The antidote, or solution might be too close for us to actually
see, and lifestyle may be acting as a blind spot. Perhaps one day we
can examine the issue in an open free thinking forum, and as we conduct
a full and open investigation on the obesity crisis, solutions will
emerge. We can add integrity and dignity to the obesity action plan,
and those with a restricted ability will be flushed out, for their
activity, turn off the screen action plans. Children are the future and
if this food environment is hampering their health, it needs to be
changed. After all, obesity is the by product.
Attacking the obese and labelling people of size as lazy, unhealthy, unmotivated and have no willpower, is unacceptable. While the statistics continue
to grow, they reflect some real truth, and that truth might indicate
that we are missing the target. The media and food environment continue
to distort any real, measurable targets that may create an impact on
obesity. The time for games is over, and we need to witness some real
action that addresses the issue of obesity. Our media needs to act like
reporters, and start investigating the obesity crisis. How can the
media distance themselves from the giants of the food industry, who
have always skilfully skirted any notion of accountability? Our
governments have created alliances with the giants of the food
industry, and because of these alliances, the physical activity crisis
has been born. Blaming the issue of obesity onto one single individual
is just fine, but how can you explain the recent Ontario statistics
that identify 70 per cent of the population to be obese? Many have
compared the food industry to the tobacco giants that had to face
legislation in order to inspire a little accountability. With all the
facts and information out there, here us a thought: Is food our next
tobacco?

Paul Murphy
Obesity Thunder Bay


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Thursday, 30 April 2015

Health Digest - April 2015 Rudd Center

Health Digest - April 2015

Rudd Center Recent Publications

Weight Bias
A new multinational study by the Rudd Center published online April 28 in the International Journal of Obesity found similar levels of weight bias across four Western countries, including the United States. Despite high rates of obesity in each of the countries - Australia, Canada, Iceland and the U.S. - negative biases against individuals with obesity are clearly present, and more often expressed by those who believe obesity reflects poor willpower or lack of personal responsibility, according to the study. "We hope this research can stimulate broader discussions about weight bias and ways to reduce unfair treatment based on body size," said lead author Rebecca Puhl, Deputy Director of the Rudd Center.
 
TV Food Advertising to Children
The Rudd Center has updated its previous reports on food-related TV ads viewed by children and adolescents to include 2014 data. Trends in Television Food Advertising to Young People: 2014 Update shows that categories with more advertising to youth in 2014, compared to 2007, included candy, carbonated beverages, fast-food and other restaurants, and crackers and savory snacks, as well as yogurt and other dairy. Ads for bottled water and fruits and vegetables also increased, but these categories each represented less than two percent of food ads seen by youth.
Rudd Center in the News
  • A Huffpost Parents piece posted April 16 on The Blog by a dietitian and mother of two included five lessons she vowed to teach her children about weight and body shape - to help "inch away from weight stigma, weight bullying, disordered eating, eating disorders and body dissatisfaction, all of which compromise the mental and physical health of people everywhere." The piece cites Rudd's report, "Weight Bias: A Social Justice Issue."
  • The Plate, a National Geographic feature on food, published an article April 15 on the topic of taxing sugary drinks and junk food, citing the Rudd Center's report finding that sugar-sweetened beverages are a major source of daily calories, especially for kids ages 2-18.
  • If other jurisdictions want to follow the Navajo Nation's success in enacting a "junk food tax," they will need to tap into grassroots power and tout similar taxes as positive, not punitive, measures, according to experts including Renee Gross, coordinator of legal initiatives for the UConn Rudd Center. Gross noted in an April 7 article in Law360 that the Navajo Nation couched its tax within a human rights framework, which gave it a loftier purpose and set it apart from similar initiatives floated by other communities.
  • The Hill carried a piece by a University of Pennsylvania researcher about a study that reinforced our findings that parents can be misled about the healthfulness of beverages they provide to their children. "And with $784 million spent on advertising to promote sugary drinks," the April 6 article noted, "it is no wonder parents are confused."
  • UConn Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz was interviewed at length about her study showing that students can eat healthier and waste less with the updated federal school lunch standards. Her interview was the focus of an April 6 Inside School Food radio program, "Reading plate waste."
 
 

News to Chew On

 
What's Simmering with Our Friends
 
  • Prominent child and consumer advocacy groups have urged the FTC to investigate Google, citing deceptive advertising targeting children. The complaint letter from groups including Center for Science in the Public Interest and Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood alleges that at least three examples of unfair marketing have been found in the YouTube Kids app. Common Dreams reported on the complaint.
 
  • Salud Today featured an article and petition urging Taco Bell to stop selling sugary drinks to its customers. Taco Bell recently added six new sugary drinks to their menu including Manzanita Sol which has 56 grams of sugar in a 16-ounce drink – well over the daily limit recommended for children. 
 
  • Voices for Healthy Kids publicized an American Heart Association news article on a congressional hearing in which advocates who support healthier school meals urged lawmakers not to retreat from the USDA's new standards.
 
  • Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution launched a petition drive to gain support for compulsory practical food education across the world, and obtained more than 600,000 signatures the first week.
 
  • Leading public health researchers and scientists announced their support for proposed legislation in New York and California to require warning labels on sugary drinks to alert consumers to health risks related to excessive consumption. The group was organized by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. CSPI featured an article on the announcement.
 
 
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