WITH EACH ISSUE OF THE WELL NEWSLETTER we'll gather together news articles we think will interest you and assist you in keeping well-informed on issues of health and wellness. Please feel free to send along any pieces you think might add to this page.

Pacific Rim Wellness
has a new partner

TO BETTER SERVE our growing list of clients, Pacific Rim Wellness (PRW) has partnered with CoreHealth Technologies to create a robust, multi-faceted step-tracking tool called CoreLite.

CoreHealth Technologies does much more than produce CoreLite. For an in depth look at all they do, go to: corehealthtech.com/ to understand CoreXL, CoreAssess and CoreCoach.

Historically, PRW has offered people who have purchased one of our H-215 series pedometers a choice of two virtual journeys: Circle Canada and (for our American friends), Route 66 as a way to track their steps.

As sales begin to become global, we will be providing 9 global virtual walks beginning with The Great Wall of China, and including Machu Piccu, above — right-click here to download our CoreLite .pdf brochure. Not only will there be an interesting variety of walks from which to choose from around the world, but also an opportunity for buddies, group challenges as well as weekly health tips.

For those not aware, we have also developed two new H-215 series pedometer models. The first is the H-215g. It is a four-function (steps, distance, calories and a clock) pedometer with a 'gravity sensor'. This allows the pedometer to be put in a pocket or bag instead of always having to wear it on one's belt (although it can be).

The second new model is the H-215d. This pedometer is the same as the 'g' model with the additional feature that it can download steps into the computer via a USB cable. It also has a 63-day memory so it is no problem when you are away on business or a holiday and have limited access to a computer.

We have more exciting things going on in our R & D department but will save some of that for Autumn WELL or perhaps even a special email.

Why Health Check's serving sizes are inexcusable

by Yoni Freedhoff, Weighty Matters

HEADLINES THIS PAST WEEKEND read that the FDA is about to crack down on food labels' unrealistic serving sizes.

Serving sizes matter so much because as far as the nutrition facts panels go, the breakdown of contents is described in terms of the reported serving sizes. Unrealistically small serving sizes lead to more favourable sounding breakdowns of calories, sodium etc.

For Big Food—it's not really their fault. They're just getting away with what labeling laws have to date allowed them to get away with. Of course the same cannot be said to be true about the Heart and Stroke Foundation's self-administered Health Check program. Simply put, Health Check's nutritional criteria certainly need not be based or built off of patently unrealistic serving sizes—yet they are.

To illustrate what I'm talking about let's take a look at two of the more popular categories—soups and canned beans.

First up is Campbell's Butternut Squash Gardennay Soup. The Heart and Stroke Foundation happily gives it a Health Check because it has 650mg of sodium per nutrition facts panel serving (close to 1/2 of the Heart and Stroke's total daily maximal sodium recommendation) and soups clearly help pay the bills at Health Check. But what's a serving? The panel says a serving is 250mL. 250mL is a cup. Ask any restaurateur and they'll tell you, cups and bowls aren't the same. Most folks sitting down for soup at home are going to eat a bowl.

The New York Times article linked up above also doesn't think a cup's a reasonable, real-life serving of soup and had this to say,

"Many of the soups are billed as "Heart Healthy" and claim to have a reasonable amount of salt per serving. But a shopper has to examine the label closely to understand that the salt claim refers to half a bowl. A full bowl may contain close to half the daily salt allowance recommended for people with high blood pressure."

That picture up top? That's one of my home bowls with a single "serving" of soup in it. Now my bowls aren't particularly large bowls and certainly that single cup in one of my bowls sure doesn't look very satisfying. No question, when we eat soup in our home (and I imagine in your homes too) it's 2 cups per bowl.

So now back to that Health Check'ed soup—my real life serving would therefore give me 1,300mg of sodium. That's 200mg shy of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's total daily maximum.

Think it's just me, that somehow I've either got gigantic bowls, a huge appetite or simply have it in for Health Check? Let's switch to beans.

This past weekend I read an article in the Ottawa Citizen. It was entitled, "Decoding a can of beans" and it looked at the food label of the Health Check'ed Heinz Chili Style Pinto & Red Kidney Beans. The published serving size on the beans is 1/2 a cup. According to the Citizen,

"The sodium content is very high: if you ate a full cup of these beans, a reasonable quantity, you would consume 840 milligrams of sodium",

leading dietitian Rachelle Charlebois to comment,

"If it wasn't for the sodium, canned beans would be such a healthy alternative to lunch meats"

And these are the beans with the Health Check and that photo up above includes what 1/2 a cup of 'em look like.

Health Check'ed soup and beans for dinner? Even if you eat Heart and Stroke sized portions you'd get 1,070mg of sodium (a huge and shameful to be approved by the Heart and Stroke Foundation amount in and of itself). If you eat real life portions because you a) Want a substantial meal and b) Trust the Heart and Stroke Foundation enough not to weigh and measure your food, they'll hand you a heart stopping 2,140mg of sodium. 30% more sodium than the Heart and Stroke Foundation's own total daily recommended maximum!

Now toss in a glass of tomato juice (480mg sodium per glass of the stuff is ok by Health Check) and you're at 2,620mg of sodium in a single Health Check'ed meal and rapidly closing in on two days worth of maximal Heart and Stroke Foundation sodium.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation has no excuses. Remember with Health Check there's an independent body in charge of setting up shop. Unlike nutrition facts panels which are are mandated from on high, Health Check can set any old levels they want and yet they've chosen to set levels that in the majority of Health Check'ed cases are downright bad for you.

So unbelievably sad, pathetic and shameful to abuse the public's trust that way.

(And don't try to talk to me about Health Check's new so-called stricter criteria—the soup'll drop to 960mg per real life serving, the beans to 720mg while the tomato juice is already "stricter" at 480mg per glass)

N E W S  N U G G E T S  1

Bad news for Wii Fit curing childhood obesity — Scott Owens, a researcher out in Mississippi decided to see what Wii Fit would do to family fitness so he loaned out 8 Wii Fits to 8 different families and was looking to see if it would help those families get more fit.

The study had two parts. 3 months where he studied the families' fitness levels before the introduction of the Wii Fit and 3 months post introduction. In so doing he used accelerometers, body composition analyses, aerobic capacity, and balance.

What did he find?

In kids, while aerobic fitness did increase during the 3 months of Wii Fit, there were no changes to any other parameter. More importantly, while initially a big hit in the homes, by the end of the 3 months the average family was only spending 4 minutes a day on the Wii Fit.

4 minutes a day sure ain't going to do much. My advice? Buy a Wii for fun, go outside for fitness. [Thanks to Yoni Freedhoff for this.]

Soda Tax Saga: Will California Pave the Way to Legislation? — If you have not been following the soda tax controversy lately, here's a quick update. In the past year, Capitol Hill and even the President have said that taxing sugary soft drinks may be a good way to reduce consumption and create a $50B revenue stream for the federal government over the next decade.

The American Beverage Association spun into action in order to kill any such legislative ideas, using TV commercials, direct lobbying efforts, and through persuading additional organizations representing Hispanics to join the fight. Why Hispanics? Because the numbers show that they are more apt to consume soft drinks on one hand, but have less to spend on the other. The soft drink industry repeatedly stated it is “protecting working families.”

All told, the ABA spent $18 million. The efforts succeeded, and just a few weeks ago it seemed as if all the congressmen who supported the tax suddenly had a change of heart. In launching her new campaign against childhood obesity, the First Lady also steered clear of the soda tax issue. In return, Coca Cola and Pepsi pledged to prominently display beverage calorie counts on their products.

Now for the news. Not content with the federal response, California is considering a state tax on soda, according to the Los Angeles Times:

Legislators last week pledged to pass such a tax in light of new studies linking soft drink consumption to obesity in children and adults. One study suggests that obesity and related problems cost California alone $41 billion a year in medical expenses and reduced productivity.

... When California Senate Majority Leader Dean Florez (D-Shafter) introduced his soda tax bill, he said one penny of tax per teaspoon of added sugar in any sweetened beverage would generate as much as $1.5 billion each year. That money would pay for parks, recreation and school health programs, Florez said. “The Legislature is primed for this bill,” Florez said, adding that he expects bipartisan support. read more ...

And in an interesting turn of events, one of the Hispanic organizations that initially aligned itself with Coke decided to break away, and 2 Californian chapters of other organizations split from the still-in-bed-with-Coke national organizations. Bravo!

Our take on this issue is a bit different. While we certainly applaud any and all actions meant to decrease sugar consumption on a massive scale, the tax should be levied directly on manufacturers. Read more about “calorie offsets” that will squeeze the cash from rich corporation instead of “working families”.

What to do at the supermarket:

Whether you're a working family or not, the easiest way to save $500 a year is to quit soft drinks and switch to tap water (for a family of four). You'll save not just 5 Benjamins, but also several pounds of body weight, along with a decrease in tooth decay, and a general contribution to a greener earth. [Thanks to Fooducate for this.]

10 potentially fatal, yet still approved by Health Canada “natural” weight loss products — And the saddest part of this story? Health Canada knows they're potentially fatal yet instead of pulling them off the market, they've issued a warning that states,

The risk to Canadians includes choking and/or blockage of the throat, esophagus or intestine

So what are the products? They're the ones that contain glucomannan, a pectin like fibre that when mixed with water (or bodily fluids) forms a gel that according to one product's website, “multiplies in volume by 17 times” leading you to feel fuller (and apparently potentially cause you to choke to death or suffer a bowel obstruction). Currently according to the Natural Food Directorate's search by ingredient feature, there are 10 such products officially licensed in Canada.

So is glucommanan so wonderful it's worth risking choking to death or a bowel obstruction? Some small scale studies do suggest that glucommanan might lead a person to lose 3-5lbs more than not taking glucomannan.

Sounds like a great plan. So how many of our tax dollars go to fund the Natural Health Products Directorate? They're doing a bang up job. [Thanks to Yoni Freedhoff for this.]

Breaking News: Official Health Check endorsement of Pizza Hut! — 'Cause nothing's healthier than taking your family to Pizza Hut for supper. Here's the quote from the press release,

“We know that many people want healthy choices when they dine out and having Health Check on the Pizza Hut menu helps them easily identify those healthy options,” says Julie Lau, Heart and Stroke Foundation registered dietitian for BC.

What a sad, sad state of affairs. Have they no shame?

While the options may be “less bad” than other options on Pizza Hut's menu, that doesn't make them “healthy”, nor does it preclude other members of your family (or you) from ordering non-Check'ed items while they're there.

Reading the small print on Pizza Hut's website one finds that a Health Check'ed serving of pizza is 2 slices and a Health Check'ed serving of pasta is 1/3 of a tray. (Straw poll—you've gone out to eat pizza in a restaurant, are you done after 2 slices?)

A commenter the other day said that it's meant to help folks who've already made the decision to eat out, eat healthier and I suggested that'd be like the Canadian Lung Association endorsing ‘light’ cigarettes to folks who've already made the decision to smoke.

How do they sleep at night? [Thanks to Yoni Freedhoff for this.]

Sharpen That Seniors Mind!

TTHE Centre for Hip Health and Mobility at Vancouver Coastal Health and the University of British Columbia recently conducted a study showing that weight training can keep senior minds sharp. Progressive weight training, one or two times a week, was found to boost memory among women age 65 to 75.

“We were able to demonstrate that simple training with weights that seniors can easily handle improved ability to make accurate decisions quickly,” says Liu-Ambrose, who is also a researcher at the Brain Research Centre at UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health. “Additionally, we found that the exercises led to increased walking speed, a predictor of considerable reduction in mortality.” Remaining strong and active is vital for independent living. Weight training can help seniors live independently.

Past studies show that active seniors who are able to engage in aerobic exercise experience less memory decline. The current study is the first to show that older individuals with limited mobility can benefit from weight training as an alternative exercise to reduce fall risk and improve memory.

“At the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility we focus on research that will have a positive impact on the health of people in B.C. and Canada,” says Heather McKay, centre director and professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. “Dr. Liu-Ambrose's research provides a clear illustration of relatively simple interventions with a profound and immediate impact on the mobility and quality of life of older adults.”

The study authors recommend weight training as an immediate intervention for seniors that can help meet the recommended guidelines for daily physical activity. The study is the first to measure the benefits of weight training for boosting memory among senior citizens.

N E W S  N U G G E T S  2

Shifting the kids: Play, then eat — 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. The switch appears to have led to some surprising changes in both cafeteria and classroom.

Schools that have tried it report that when children play before lunch, there is less food waste and higher consumption of milk, fruit and vegetables. And some teachers say there are fewer behavior problems.

“Kids are calmer after they've had recess first,” said Janet Sinkewicz, principal of Sharon Elementary School in Robbinsville, N.J., which made the change last fall. “They feel like they have more time to eat and they don't have to rush.”

One recent weekday at Sharon, I watched as gaggles of second graders chased one another around the playground and climbed on monkey bars. When the whistle blew, the bustling playground emptied almost instantly, and the children lined up to drop off their coats and mittens and file quietly into the cafeteria for lunch.

“All the wiggles are out,” Ms. Sinkewicz said.


Heart Disease Risk Increases for Obese Toddlers — Results of a new study show that obese children as young as three can show early signs of heart disease. Being overweight or obese as a child can pose numerous health problems, but never before has a study been able to identify these problems in children so young.

Researchers analyzed health data on more than 16000 children and teens to reach their study finding, and identified a biological marker known as C-reactive protein that plays a contributing role. Three to five year olds who were obese had increased levels of this biomarker in their blood, at much higher levels than those children of a healthy bodyweight.

CRP is found in our blood, and high levels indicate inflammation in the body. When talking heart disease, the cause of this condition is linked to inflammation of the walls of the arteries which in turn puts more strain on the heart to pump blood throughout the body.

Study author, Dr Eliana Perrin says: “This study tells us that very young, obese children already have more inflammation than children who are not obese, and that's very concerning.”

'Sleep lessons' aim to sharpen up grumpy teenagers — Pupils at schools in Glasgow are being given lessons in how to sleep.

The sessions, run by the charity Sleep Scotland, aim to teach pupils tips such as the importance of a bed-time routine and avoiding late-night television.

Experts say teenagers who seem grumpy and uncommunicative could actually be sleep deprived because they go to bed after midnight — even on week nights. The advice for pupils is that they should be sleeping for more than nine hours a night. Researchers found that after going to bed at 2300 or midnight, teenagers were staying awake for hours watching television, playing on games consoles, or browsing the internet.

Some pupils were getting as little as four or five hours sleep a night.

Shocking

One of the schools taking part in the project is Bellahouston Academy in south-west Glasgow.


Fiona Patterson, head of health and wellbeing, said the survey results were “absolutely shocking”.

“It doesn't surprise. They can't function on so little sleep,” she said.

Sleep Scotland says getting enough sleep boosts academic performance and sporting prowess. However going without can be linked to obesity and a greater risk of depression.

Jane Ansell, director of Sleep Scotland, said: “You wouldn't send somebody to school without having the right amount of food, so why would you send them without enough sleep?”

The charity hopes to use the pilot project to develop a pack which could then be offered to schools across Scotland.

Scotland's largest teaching union, the EIS, have welcomed the study but say teachers already watch out for all aspects of their pupils’ welfare.

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “We are committed to providing guidance to young people so they can get the right amount of sleep and maximise their learning potential.”

One 15-year-old who has attended the first of a series of sessions said he had tried going to bed early as a result of what he had been taught.

“I went to my bed at 10-ish rather than 11, and I do feel a little bit more awake,” he said. “I wasn't sleeping in French, as I usually do,” he added, “so my French teacher is pleased anyway.”

Subway's Dubious Nutrition Claims

reprinted from

THINK OF A HEALTHY fast food chain. Which one comes to mind?

If you chose Subway, you're not alone. According to a recent survey by market research firm Decision Analyst, Subway is the fast food franchise consumers trust the most for nutrition information.

Subway is the leader in consumer trust with almost one-quarter (24.2%) of consumers saying they completely trust its nutritional claimsŠ42% of Subway customers choose this restaurant because it “has a good selection of healthy items,” compared with only 3% of Taco Bell consumers who select this restaurant for its healthy menu.

“Subway owns the nutritional claim relative to its competition, as there is a significant gap between Subway and these other popular fast food/quick-service restaurants.” read more ...

Sorry to rain on this parade folks. Subway has taken pains to portray itself as a healthy fast food, and if you look at the nutrition information on their menus and website, it is quite impressive.

Until you read the fine print.

What you need to know

At the bottom of the nutrition facts webpage — requires lots of scrolling — you'll see the following ‘disclaimers’ in small print:

Subs with 6 grams of fat or less include 9-Grain Wheat bread, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and green peppers. All other sandwich values include cheese unless otherwise noted. Salads contain meat/poultry, standard vegetables and do not include salad-dressing or croutons.

Addition of other condiments and fixings will alter nutrition values.

Any restaurant that presents their nutrition data this way will look better than those that don't. But who has a sub without a schmear of mayo or other condiment? Or a salad without any dressing? You actually need a bit of oil, not just to make the salad go down easier, but to increase absorption of some of the vitamins and minerals in the veggies.

There are eight “6 grams of fat or less” sandwich options, and you can't have a slice of cheese with them, nor condiment. Yes, they are under 300 calories (for a six inch sub), but who eats such an unflavored option.

And even if you swallowed down the sub without adding cheese or a spread, the sodium levels are atrocious! four of the eight choices mentioned above provide over 1000 milligrams of sodium. That's almost half a day's worth for healthy adults.

In California, the nutrition info provided by restaurants must be for all menu items AS SERVED, not a stripped down version of just the healthiest options. So how does Subway get away with it? Who knows ...

In conclusion: At best, Subway is the least un-healthy option out there. But let's not let their marketing hype confuse us to into thinking that a Subway sandwich is a healthy meal choice.

N E W S  N U G G E T S  3

Seaweed fights obesity — Seaweed could hold the answer to tackling obesity, according to Newcastle University researchers. The team found alginate — a fibre found in sea kelp — reduces the body's fat uptake by more than 75%. That is better than most anti-obesity treatments. Now the fibre is being added to bread in an effort to develop foods that help lose weight.

Clinical trials are now intended to find out how effective it would be in a normal diet. Dr Iain Brownlee, who co-led the Tyneside team, said: “This research suggests that if we can add the natural fibre to products commonly eaten daily, such as bread, biscuits and yoghurts, up to three quarters of the fat contained in that meal could simply pass through the body. We have already added the alginate to bread and initial taste tests have been extremely encouraging.”

The scientists used an ‘artificial gut’ to test the effectiveness of 60 different natural fibres by measuring the extent to which they affected the digestion of fat.

“There are countless claims about miracle cures for weight loss but only a few cases offer any sound scientific evidence to back up these claims,” said Dr Brownlee. “Obesity is an ever-growing problem and many people find it difficult to stick to diet and exercise plans in order to lose weight. These initial findings suggest alginates could offer a very real solution in the battle against obesity.”

Gatorade Gimmicks Galore — Earlier this week, at a press event in Yankee Stadium, PepsiCo announced its new strategy for the Gatorade brand. The beverage that sparked the energy drink market over 30 years ago has been sagging a bit in sales as of late.

So what are the changes?

• Instead of Gatorade, we're going to be seeing much more of the single letter “G”, to appeal to 13- to 17-year-old athletes
• Choosing your drink is going to be more complicated now ­ there's a pre workout “G Prime”, during “G Perform”, and after “G Recover”
• No more High Fructose Corn Syrup, it's back to sugar.

What you need to know: Folks, it's all smoke and mirrors. At the end of the day the company is still selling water, sugar and flavorings. The added vitamins are better when obtained from real food.

Here are the suggested changes we propose:

• Instead of Gatorade, switch to W (that's water if you don't know)
• It's very simple to choose your pre/during/post workout drink ­ water, water, and water.
• No sugar, no HFCS, no artificial sweeteners, no worries.

You're wondering about the electrolytes? Unless you're running a marathon or playing pro ball, a banana before your workout will tide you over just fine.

What to do at the supermarket: Say no to fancy packaging and professional sports figures telling you what you should drink. Water is the #1 drink for everyday champions like us. [reprint from Fooducate]

Some of the leading cereals contain more sugar than cakes, doughnuts and ice cream — Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cornflakes and Coco Pops as well as Weetabix Minis Chocolate Crisp were among those that had the highest sugar content. While others, including Shreddies and Special K, still had more than some cakes, mySupermarket.co.uk found in recent research. But cereal manufacturers said the products still only accounted for a fraction of average sugar intake.

The food and grocery comparison website gathered data on the sugar content of leading cereal brands and compared them to some of the nation's favourite snacks and deserts. They found a jam doughnut had 8.6g of sugar, while a scoop of vanilla ice cream had 10g and Vienetta ice cream cake 11g per slice.

Not all cereals had more sugar per serving than those products, but most had more than a slice of McVities chocolate cake, which contains 5.4g.

Jonny Steel, a spokesman for mySupermarket.co.uk said: “Consumers can end up thinking they are choosing a healthy cereal, often because some sound healthy or simply look healthy because of how they are marketed. Yet, as with any product bought, shoppers need to make sure they read the nutritional information on the packet to understand the content.”

He also warned salt levels were also higher than expected. But the Association of Cereal Food Manufacturers said: “Breakfast cereals contribute less than 5% salt and sugar to an average day's diet and are packed full of vitamins, minerals and fibre. British breakfast cereals are also the best food category in Europe for providing nutrition information on pack, so people can make educated choices about what they want to buy and eat.”

A spokeswoman for Kellogg's said: “Breakfast cereals are low in fat, low calorie and are a good source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. They are also the primary source of some nutrients such as iron for children in the UK.”

Hotel offers “cycle for your supper” deal — A Danish hotel is pioneering a pedal-power electricity generation scheme it hopes will catch on in other countries. The Crowne Plaza Copenhagen Towers, 15 minutes from the center of the Danish capital and five minutes from Scandinavia's main airport, is installing two exercise bicycles hooked up to generators.

Guests will be invited to jump on and start pedaling — and if they produce enough electricity they will be given a free meal. From June, they will be able to race against the 366-room hotel's solar panel system in a bid to produce the most electricity.

“Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given a locally produced complimentary meal encouraging guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money,” the hotel said in a statement.

Hotel spokeswoman Frederikke Tommergaard said the free meal offer applied only to paying guests, not passers-by. The value of the meal — any one of the main courses on the hotel restaurant or lobby bar's menu — is about 240 Danish crowns ($44), she told Reuters. The electric bikes will be up and running from April 19 and the plan is to test the idea for a year with a view to expanding it to more Crowne Plaza hotels, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group.

Eight Interesting Facts from World Water Day

reprinted from

1. Over 1 Billion people don't have access to clean, safe drinking water.
2. Almost none of them reside in the US.
3. World Water Day is intended to raise awareness to this seemingly trivial problem, that kills 4500 children daily.
4. Meanwhile, here in the America, tap water in over 90% of faucets can be safely enjoyed.
5. And yet, the bottled water industry is set to sell over 40 Billion gallons of bottled water this year.
6. More than 25% of bottled water is just tap water that was, well ... bottled. In some cases it was treated further, but not always.
7. U.S. consumers pay between 240 and 10,000 times more per unit volume for bottled water than for tap water.
8. Plastic bottles and caps contain chemicals called phthalates, which are known to disrupt testosterone and other hormones, and can leach into bottled water over time. Although there are regulatory standards limiting phthalates in tap water, there are no legal limits for phthalates in bottled water — the bottled water industry waged a successful campaign opposing the FDA proposal to set a legal limit for these chemicals.

What to do at the supermarket If you're drinking bottled water instead of soda pop, you're already doing your body a favor — saving 10 pounds of body weight per year, letting your taste buds enjoy sweet flavors from real food, not liquid candy.

So why not take the next step and move on up to tap? Before rushing off to buy expensive bottled water, check your community's tap water safety status. Get some glass carafes, fill with tap water and cool them in the fridge to serve with meals and snacks.

N E W S  N U G G E T S  4

Study shows obesity in infants can be diagnosed at 6 months — Obesity can be detected in infants as young as 6 months, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. By analyzing the electronic medical records of babies seen for routine “well-child” visits to the UTMB pediatric clinic, the investigators found that about 16 percent of 6-month-olds fit the study's criterion for obesity — a weight-for-length ratio that put them in the top 5 percent of all babies in their age group. (Weight for length was used instead of the conventional body mass index because BMI is based on weight and height as measured while standing, which neither 6-month-olds nor 24-month-olds can do well enough to measure.) Further analysis of the records indicated that obese 2-year-olds were much more likely to have been obese at 6 months than 2-year-olds who were not obese.

The obese babies’ medical records rarely showed that clinicians had addressed the issue at either 6-month or 24-month visits, despite a well-established connection between obesity at a young age and obesity later in life, which is linked to such serious health problems as diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure.

“Studies have shown that exclusive breastfeeding — breastfeeding alone, not breastfeeding combined with bottle-feeding —prevents obesity,” McCormick said. “Getting enough fiber — eating apples instead of drinking apple juice, for example — also helps keep babies on track to a healthy weight. By contrast, improper early introduction of cereal by adding it to an infant's bottle promotes obesity.”

McCormick observed that maternal data collected in his group's investigation matched well with other studies of children and adolescents that showed higher odds of obesity among boys and girls whose mothers were already obese before becoming pregnant or who gained an excessive amount of weight during pregnancy. Such results, he said, added even more urgency to the need to deal with childhood weight issues effectively and address what could be a multigenerational cycle of obesity.

“We need to do a lot better as clinicians and educators at getting our community educated and working through the entire age spectrum, because babies who are overweight are more likely to be overweight children and adolescents, and then later, when obese women are ready to have a family, their babies are more likely to become obese,” McCormick said. “We need to deal with this through all ages and through pregnancy, because if a woman is already overweight when she becomes pregnant, it's extremely difficult for her to do anything about her weight at that point.”

Calorie-heavy snacks help push childhood obesity rate up — Lately, my 4-year-old's favorite refrain is, “Mom, I need a snack!” with an extreme emphasis on the need, occasionally accompanied by a funny little dance meant to express the true urgency of the situation. And regardless of how I feel about his constant nibbling, it seems that society is only too happy to oblige: He has snack breaks during school, soccer class, birthday parties and play dates, while special events such as the movies or a baseball game are associated with popcorn and ‘treats,’ too.

Eli isn't the only kid after more cookies, chips, cheese sticks and granola bars. According to a study published in last month's Health Affairs, American children are consuming nearly three snacks a day, on average, in addition to three regular meals. The research, which looked at data on more than 31,000 young people between the ages of 2 and 18 from four federal diet surveys done between 1977 and 2006, also found that up to 27 percent of children's daily calories today come from snacks.

“We are at the point where every age group in America is moving towards constant eating,” says one the study's co-authors, Barry Popkin, professor of nutrition and director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Obesity at the University of North Carolina, citing the study's finding that a quarter of children actually eat something every hour. “The increases [in snacking] that we found between the 1980s and '90s have, if anything, accelerated towards eating more times a day, and we see no evidence that's going to slow down.”

Read full article

Pacific Rim Wellness has obtained permission from the following blogs to reproduce some of their material in our WELL Newsletter. Please visit their sites.

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff Obesity expert and medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa, Dr. Freedhoff is one of Canada's most outspoken nutrition watchdogs and appears regularly in national media to advocate for healthier living. bmimedical.blogspot.com.

Dr. Arya M. Sharma Widely recognized as one of Canada's leading obesity experts, Dr. Sharma was recently appointed Professor of Medicine & Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. Dr. Sharma passionately believes in educating the public on this chronic disease. drsharma.ca

Peter Janiszewski Peter has a PhD in Kinesiology and Health Studies. He does research on obesity, exercise, and metabolic health and blogs about all related matters. Travis Saunders Travis is a PhD student in Exercise Physiology in Ottawa, Canada. For more health and fitness news, visit their website at www.obesitypanacea.com.

Fooducate Providing practical advice for buying healthy food at the supermarket. NOT selling pills, supplements, or diets. NO industry affiliations, visit the website at www.fooducate.com/blog/.