Task Force Releases Report on Childhood Obesity

To rollback childhood obesity in one generation.

Ambitious goal - to get the prevalence of childhood obesity down to 5% by 2030. No society has ever succeeded in undertaking such an enormous task - one that is complicated by deeply ingrained norms around diet and exercise, a well-financed commercial industry (not only fast/junk food, but also when it comes to diet and weight loss), and a general distrust of government-led initiatives.

The White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity released its report (commissioned by President Obama on February 9, 2010) and it combines the best evidence for tackling weight gain among our nation's kids.

It quickly lays out the facts: our children are fatter than ever and it is impacting their health.

Updating Nutrition Labels

It was only 20 years ago that we began seeing uniform nutrition labels on processed food products telling us how many calories, how much fat and sugar, and what nutrients are in the food we eat.

But many health groups believe it's time to update nutrition labels. I agree that it's time to give consumers information in a way that is useful and helps people make healthy choices. In this week's Time, the Center for Science in the Public Interest suggested a few updates for the Nutrition Facts label.

One suggestion was to make "unhealthy" content like sugar and fat stand out using different colored text. I think that this could be misleading, given that not all fat is bad for you and it could lead to making less healthy choices. However, I love the idea of having the calorie count (per serving and per package) displayed clearly on the packaging. This is particularly important for beverages and "snack" foods -- like those $.99 chips or peanuts that are usually 2.5-3 servings and many more calories that people probably realize!

I would make it easier to read nutrition labels by changing words such as "sodium" to "salt". Hopefully innovators will see this as an opportunity to create a change in a space that will affect millions of peoples' food choices over the next few decades and will get involved.

How would you change the nutrition label?

Remember the Food Pyramid?

Every five years the US federal government reviews the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Remember the days of the "Food Pyramid" and then the recent 2005 edition of the "My Pyramid"? Well, if you missed my past post on the topic you should see the Harvard School of Public Health rendition - the Healthy Eating Pyramid - which has a much simpler and scientific food guide for health!

Marion Nestle noted author and public health professor said in a blog post in the Daily Green today that the new recommendations acknowledge

"The need to change the food environment to help individuals meet the Dietary Guidelines."

This is a huge step in the right direction. No longer are our food addictions being looked at simply from the perspective on the individual, but as rooted firmly in the policies and norms of the communities we live in. Our environment impacts our choices, and our food choices affect our health.

There will be an opportunity for public comment on the new guidelines early this summer.

Allentown High School Student Wins Top Public Health Honors!

Two girls from *near* my hometown in Pennsylvania won top honors from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in the YES Competition for high school students.

According to the news release,

"Shoshanna Goldin, a 17-year-old student at Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, won for her research project entitled, Energy Epidemic: Teen Perception and Consumption of Energy Drinks."

Not only is she interested in public health, but also the epidemic of obesity. Overconsumption of energy (i.e. calories) is what leads to obesity, right?!

Way to go Shoshanna!

Caution: Camel Orbs are NOT Kid Friendly

Photo from the HSPH website

Candy or tobacco? Do you think your child could tell the difference?

Harvard School of Public Health professor, Gregory Connolly, recently published an article in Pediatrics on the dangers of this Camel Orbs, a dissolvable nicotine tablet, widely available in the US.

(Click here for the news release)

Note: I looked up the Colbert Report segment that references Camel Orbs and embedded it below. I think Stephen Colbert is hilarious. Thanks, Kelsey for your comments!

 

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cheating Death - Tobacco Mints, Breast Milk & Hallucinogens
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Fox News

Breastfeeding Saves Money, Saves Lives

Most parents enter labor expecting to breastfeed. Many are confronted with numerous challenges (some from the start, others as they go back to work) to continue breastfeeding throughout infancy.

A CNN news report highlights the challenges and public health importance of promoting and supporting new mothers in breastfeeding their baby throughout the first 6 months of their child's life.

This challenge makes me wonder how much of the problem is one of

• Biology - Moms physically aren't able to breastfeed their kids.
• Education - Moms don't know to breastfeed - exclusively - until their child reaches 6 months.
• Awareness - Moms don't know about the benefits/risk of breastfeeding - or not - on their child's health.
• Social - Relationships (partners, family members) and social norms interfere with moms' decision or ability to breastfeed.
• Structural/Political - Policies and structural factors like break time at work inhibit moms from being able to breastfeed or pump throughout the day.

As a quick aside: the new health care reform law makes it mandatory for employers to provide breaks to female workers who are lactating (i.e. breastfeeding). I expect that will begin to address some of the structural barriers mentioned above!

World Health Day 2010

Today, April 7, 2010 marks World Health Day.

I've been thinking a lot about my own health habits. It's easy to get complacent when it comes to our health. We expect that our bodies will just keep on functioning like they always have. Usually reality hits us when it's too late.