Is nothing sacred. Recess before lunch now? Tara Parker-Pope again with a fascinating article in the NY Times. . All you teachers out there, comment to let me know what you think.
January 25, 2010, 4:14 pm
Play, Then Eat: Shift May Bring Gains at School
Can something as simple as the timing of recess make a difference in a child’s health and behavior?
Some experts think it can, and now some schools are rescheduling recess — sending students out to play before they sit down for lunch.
Most people can guess smoking is #1.
But can you guess #2
Think a minute and look at the rest of this post. Comment if you are surprised.
The latest edition of the British Medical Journal reports a study showing a very statistically significant (p<0.001 for you statisticians) inverse correlation between levels of vitamin D and the risk of developing colorectal cancer. People were looked at in 5 subsets, highest to lowest vitamin D levels. Those in the highest 1/5 of vitamin D levels had a 40% lower chance of developing colorectal cancer than those in the lowest 1/5 group. No proof yet that increasing vitamin D levels can prevent colorectal cancer, but one more positive thing about having good high levels of Vitamin D. See my prior post on vitamin D. This was also reported in MedPage Today for a more detailed explanation, or the original report in BMJ.
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By many estimates as many as 40 million Americans, or one in 5 of us has pre-diabetes. Many of these people will develop diabetes. The obvious question is how can we delay or prevent the development of diabetes in this vast group. The good news is we know how to accomplish this.
Now evidence shows that modest salt intake reduction may lead to huge public health benefits and healthcare cost savings. Strokes and kidney failure, common complications of high blood pressure, are both devastating to individuals and their families, as well as tremendously expensive. Since most of the salt in our diet is in prepared or packaged food we eat, to make salt reduction happen I think one or more major food manufacturers will need to market a brand of food that is universally low in sodium. Imagine how nice it would be to shop and just buy most of your canned, frozen and prepared foods at a competitive price an know that they were lower in salt without having to put your reading glasses on to read the fine print in the ingredients label. The Wall Street Journal yesterday had an excellent article discussing the research results. Read on if you’d like to check it out.
A national program to reduce dietary salt could prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks, strokes and deaths and trim as much as $24 billion from the U.S. health-care tab, according to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
This is really preliminary stuff, but interesting none-the-less. It seems fish oil is promoted for everything from improving triglyceride levels and preventing heart arrhythmias to joint health. Now check out this suggestion that it may slow genetic aging. Read this article in MedPage Today.
Fish Oils May Slow Genetic Aging |
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In the 1950’s vitamin D was added to most milk products and many bread products to address a nationwide concern of vitamin D associated rickets. At the time this seemed to prevent rickets, the concern at that time. Now we are seeing vitamin D deficiency problems again. This is a problem with multiple causes:
-Less skin exposure, more time indoors, more use of sun screen. (The natural precursor of the active form of vitamin D requires sunlight exposure in the skin to change into its active form)
-Concern that many more medical problems may possibly related to low levels of Vitamin D. (Multiple sclerosis, depression, fatigue, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, … there is much debate about most of these concerns)
-The optimal level of vitamin D is being questioned, is 20mcg/dl OK, should it be 40, 50. or even higher for optimal levels?
Many of us can relate to the old comedian’s line, “I’ve lost a hundred pounds in the last five years…. I lot ten, gained twenty, lost twenty, gained thirty…” For many of us losing weight is difficult, and keeping weight off is very difficult. There is good data to suggest that diets work to lost weight, but that nearly all fail in the long run. Given this I think your focus should be on how you are going to achieve and sustain a healthy weight. It is likely to take some combination of eating less and exercising more. Why not start with an exercise program that you can do nearly daily. That way if you miss a day or two a week, you still get plenty of exercise. Then look at your weakness when it comes to eating. Most of us have one or more times when we consume what I call empty calories, i.e. food that is not nutritious and is high calorie content. That time may be cheese and crackers before dinner, or non-diet soft drinks in the day, or continuing to eat after dinner (the bowl of ice cream or cookies in the evening) or eating “free” food at work. Take an honest look at your eating pattern and see if there is one or more of these weak spots you can avoid. Now try to take the mind set that this is a lifetime process, not a 2 or 3 month diet.
One issue many of us face is the question, what is a health weight for me? The in 1998 the NIH recommended using BMI as a measure to set goal weights for individuals. This is just a mathematical calculator that uses only height and weight. This is a good screening tool, but does not take into account muscle mass, basic body shape, etc. None-the less, if your BMI is between 18 and 25 you are likely at a pretty health weight. If your BMI is over 30 there is a good chance you should lose some weight. Between 25-30 you should look in the mirror and decide if your weight is OK For most people a goal under BMI 28 is reasonable. You may need to set interim goals if you are far above that weight at this time. See this WebMD article on the issues surrounding using BMI as a tool for weight goal setting.
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Osteoporosis is a common problem in women and sometimes in men as we get older. Normally after menopause there is a gradual loss of calcium from the bones in women. There are a number of things you can do to reduce your risk of osteoporosis, and the fractures of the spine, hip and wrist that can happen in people with osteoporosis. Most important are getting good calcium intake as a young person to build strong bones up front by getting regular exercise, enough calcium in your diet, and not smoking. Dr. Oligario in Health Today outlines this pretty well. One thing some people don’t think of is that prolonged use of the injected contraceptive Depo-provera can lead to osteoporosis in young women, so that just when they should be adding bone mineral they are losing it. Any kind of long term corticosteroid use (prednisone or similar medications used for serious health problems like arthritis, lupus, and auto-immune disorders) is another common cause of bone mineral loss and osteoporosis. This is one of the well known prednisone side effects. If you think you are at risk for osteoporosis discuss this with your physician and consider a DEXA scan to test your bone density.
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“Don’t worry, be happy.” I am probably aging myself by remembering this 1980’s hit by Bobby McFerran. Maybe a better title for this article might be Don’t’ worry, just do your best and be as happy as you can. Anyway, I just read a very nice article by Tara Parker-Pope in the NY Times and pretty much agree with her that many of us feel like healthy living is a competitive sport. It’s not; just being pretty good is not bad. Her article ends with the quote from a book by Drs. Love and Domar called “Live a Little! Breaking the Rules Won’t Break Your Health” (Crown) “The point of this is to use your common sense, and if you feel good, then you’re fine,” she said. “The goal is not to get to heaven and say, ‘I’m perfect.’ It’s to use your body, have some fun and to live a little.” She also talks about the slippery slope that this creates, don’t let this be a license to just make no effort, and get fat and lazy. Rather relax, enjoy life, and do the best you can while living a life worth living.” So do the best you can to manage your lipid type, prevent diabetes, and lose weight, but don’t worry yourself to death.
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