Obesity Epidemic Grows: [CNN.com] "Two-thirds of all adults and about a third of all children and teenagers in the United States are overweight or obese according to a report release Thursday by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).
According to
"F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011,"[PDF] adult obesity increased in 16 states during the past year and rates soared to 30% or more in these 12 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. Four years ago, only one state - Mississippi - had an adult obesity rate of more than 30%. No state showed a decrease in it obesity rate in Thursday's report."
posted by Fizz
on Jul 7, 2011 -
231 comments
Why Wal-Mart Is Making Our Health Its Problem - "So what's behind
the [healthier-eating] initiative? In a word: scale. In
a recent article in HBR, Chris Meyer and I argued that we'll see companies taking more and more ownership of externalities they could ignore because of changing sensibilities and better sensors (meaning detection and reporting of impacts by third parties). But we also identified a third driver: the scale of modern business. Whereas in the past, a single grocer could not have much impact on society, in today's highly consolidated market, Wal-Mart touches a significant percentage of the nation's food intake. Once you reach a scale where your decisions have ramifications for millions, it is hard to pretend that the impacts, even as distant ripples, are not your problem."
posted by kliuless
on Jan 24, 2011 -
75 comments
Eating local, organic foods
may not be the best option. The
vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions stem from food production, not transportation, and production inputs for organic food are typically higher. Third world countries that have a food system that is organic and local by default are suffering from lack of infrastructure and investment in basic production technologies that could improve nutrition for millions of people.
[more inside]
posted by stinker
on Apr 28, 2010 -
153 comments
Sweet, sour, bitter, salty, umami, and.... fat? Dr.
Russell Keast, an Austrailian scientist who
studies "perceived flavour, consumer acceptance and preference of foods and nutrition," has conducted research exploring humans' apparent sixth taste perception: fat. The kicker? Sensitivity to the taste of fat was negatively correlated with fat intake and BMI. Dr. Keast discussed the results of his
latest research with
Slashfood, and
The Sydney Morning Herald.
(via) [more inside]
posted by sentient
on Mar 11, 2010 -
31 comments
Teff, a native Ethiopian grain, has been cultivated there for at least 4,000 years. Its
seeds are smaller than pinheads, and can be easily scattered. Many Ethiopians eat it two to three times a day in
injera bread,
porridge or, of course,
alcohol (pages 3-4). The grain is gluten-free and is full of essential amino acids, calcium, and other vitamins and minerals. It has a
short growing season and tolerance for marginal soils and drought or flood conditions, but its
low comparative yield optimal sunlight conditions, and
labor intensive harvest may limit the spread of the grain.
posted by Pants!
on Jan 6, 2008 -
28 comments
Death by Veganism. "I was once a vegan. But well before I became pregnant, I concluded that a vegan pregnancy was
irresponsible. You cannot create and nourish a robust baby merely on foods from plants.
Indigenous cuisines offer clues about what humans, naturally omnivorous, need to survive, reproduce and grow: traditional vegetarian diets, as in India, invariably include dairy and eggs for complete protein, essential fats and vitamins. There are no vegan societies for a simple reason: a
vegan diet is not adequate in the long run."
posted by four panels
on May 21, 2007 -
312 comments
No running in PE. I was talking to my kids about school the other day. We were discussing what they do in their different classes and the conversation came around to physical education (PE). I was shocked when they told me that their gym teacher forbids running in PE class. What?! No running in PE? It’s true.
posted by John of Michigan
on Oct 7, 2006 -
92 comments
Rice cakes are one of the most fattening foods known to man, while ice cream is one of the least fattening. Though this appears illogical, it makes perfect Anthropological sense. Education is the key to controlling body fat. If we know which foods store in the fat cells and which ones do not, we can make educated food choices.
The glycemic index (GI) is a ranking of carbohydrates on a scale from 0 to 100 according to the extent to which they raise blood sugar levels after eating. Foods with a high GI are those which are rapidly digested and absorbed and result in marked fluctuations in blood sugar levels. Low-GI foods, by virtue of their slow digestion and absorption, produce gradual rises in blood sugar and insulin levels, and have proven benefits for health. There has been an
explosion of books and diet plans based on the glycemic index,
But while many popular diet books make it sound as if the glycemic index is an accepted theory, in truth, there are very real problems with this system. Some dieticians believe that a
Satiety Index may be a better approach to reducing caloric intake whilst minimising cravings.
posted by talitha_kumi
on May 25, 2006 -
59 comments
Ascaris lumbricoides. According to estimates, about 1.5 billion people--about a quarter of the earth's population--are hosts to the
Ascaris lumbricoides parasitic worm. Ascaris worms can grow to be 18 inches in length, and use their host's windpipe and esophagus to migrate between the small intestine and the lungs. A single human host may support dozen of large worms, which can be contracted by contact with fecal matter, animals, or undercooked pork. Under some circumstances (the worms dislike anesthesia, for example) one or more worms may exit from the mouth (
a horrifying image), or the anus (
one of the most disgusting images I have ever seen, and not safe for work, obviously). Here,
the removal of a worm is caught on video (Realplayer).
Too disgusting to post? Almost. But 1.5 billion people have got these in their bodies right now. That's what's grosser than gross.
posted by washburn
on Mar 4, 2006 -
96 comments
USDA releases new food pyramid(s). Instead of one cogent nutritional guideline for all Americans, the USDA has
released a dozen because "one size doesn't fit all." Dietitians have advocated
revision for a while now but change has been slow. According to author
Marion Nestle, the nutritional guidelines have become
highly politized by industry lobbyists: "My first day on the job, I was given the rules: No matter what the research indicated, the report could not recommend 'eat less meat' as a way to reduce intake of saturated fat." Newspeak for sweets appears to be
discretionary calories; are we doing any better?
posted by fatllama
on Apr 19, 2005 -
29 comments
Supersized in the NFL Analyzing data from the 2003-2004 season, researchers say "more than a quarter of NFL players had a body mass index that qualified them as
class 2 obesity" -- equivalent to a 6-foot man weighing between 260 and 300 pounds.
Even those players weren't the biggest ones:
the study counted more than 60 players -- 3 percent -- with body mass indexes placing them into
class 3 obesity, with individual weights approaching 400 pounds.
"I don't know what's going on in the minds of coaches", said lead researcher Dr.
Joyce Harp, an assistant professor of nutrition and medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Players' growing girth "is a major concern," said
Dr. Arthur Roberts, a former NFL quarterback and retired
heart surgeon (.pdf file) whose
Living Heart Foundation works with the players' union to evaluate heart-related health risks faced by current and retired players. More inside.
posted by matteo
on Mar 1, 2005 -
42 comments
There are numerous reasons proffered to drink juice. It's easier to drink a small serving of juice than to eat a large serving of fruits
and vegetables; that much is intuitive.
An
oft-plagiarized article claims that juicing
frees nutrients that
otherwise could not be absorbed, cites 1940s research that chlorophyll can aid in hemoglobin synthesis, and claims that 1 cup of carrot
juice has the nutritional content of 4 cups of chopped carrots (although
cranking the numbers [pdf] gives an answer closer to 2 cups.) Skeptics argue that
much of this talk is hype, correctly noting that juice is not a miracle disease cure as some hucksters claim, and that by juicing
you are discarding beneficial fiber. But
absurd juicing claims aside, is there any reason needed beyond the great taste? [more inside]
posted by quarantine
on Apr 19, 2004 -
18 comments
Interesting info for even the ardent
salad dodgers
(via bifurcated rivets)
posted by johnny7
on Feb 23, 2004 -
9 comments
What's on the menu? Perhaps fat and calories.
"Five states have taken up similar bills this year, with none being passed so far." Will bills like these ever get passed? Will we ever see nutrition facts on fast food wrappers? Will consumers ever bother to read them?
posted by sharksandwich
on Jul 15, 2003 -
35 comments
