Welcome to “FitnessMantra Weekend”, your once-a-week health news update. As always you can also stay updated with the latest in fitness news by subscribing separately to the Fitness Mantra del.icio.us feed.
An acute problem these days is the number of commercials shown during children’s shows that feature sugar and fat-loaded products (usually promoted by some of the characters from the very show the kids were watching thus blurring the lines between the show and the commercial.
Children’s TV ads loaded with junk food proclaims the MSNBC news article about this topic:
“The vast majority of the foods that kids see advertised on television today are for products that nutritionists would tell us they need to be eating less of, not more of, if we’re going to get a handle on childhood obesity,†said Vicki Rideout of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducts health research.
The researchers monitored 13 television networks and found that children between teh ages of 8 and 12 saw almost 21 food-related commercials a day. And just what kinds of foods were these?
Of food ads that targeted children, 34 percent were for candy and snacks, 29 percent for cereal, 10 percent for beverages, 10 percent for fast food, 4 percent for dairy products, 4 percent for prepared food and the rest for breads and pastries and dine-in restaurants.
Yes you read that right: number of messages about fresh fruits and vegetables: zero. Read the full article to learn a few more shocking statistics. How do you solve this problem in your home? How do you respond when kids come up to you asking for a particular cereal or candy believing that the food has to be good because their favorite cartoon character is endorsing it? Do share your thoughts in the comments area.
The week’s top health and fitness stories follow:
- Beyond Snack Packs: 22 Healthy Munchies: How Healthy Are 100-Calorie Snack Packs? And what alternatives could one turn to?
- Diabetes Linked to Parkinson’s Disease: Having diabetes may increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.
- Exercise prevents repetitive strain injury: An active lifestyle outside of work may help protect against work-related repetitive strain injury, a Canadian study found.
- Got a Fat Tooth?: Make way, sweet tooth; scientists believe we reach for the greasy french fries, creamy premium ice creams, butter, and other fatty foods because of a different culprit — the “fat tooth.”
- High BMI has pros, cons in prostate cancer: A high body mass index (BMI) does not increase the risk of developing prostate cancer, but once the disease occurs, a high BMI is associated with a greater risk of dying from the cancer, researchers report.
- Sedentary behavior linked to high blood sugar: People who tend to be sedentary — as indicated by the amount of time they spend watching television — are likely to have high levels of glucose in their blood, even though they may not be diabetic.
- Children’s TV ads loaded with junk food: In a child’s buffet of food commercials, more than 40 percent of the dishes are candy, snacks and fast food. Nowhere to be found: fresh fruit, vegetables, poultry or seafood.
- Portion control ‘the way to healthier eating’: SMALLER size packs of chocolate, crisps and other foods should be encouraged to help people eat more healthily, the official food watchdog said yesterday.
- Dodge Type 2 Diabetes With Extra Dairy and Activity!: Key lifestyle components to reduce the risk of diabetes include a moderate-calorie, lower-fat diet that supports weight loss coupled with increased physical activity. Beyond that, recent research indicates that dairy products may offer additional diabetes
- Obesity shortens kids’ life spans: The childhood obesity “epidemic” is so disturbing that today’s children will become the first generation in some time to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents, a new report says.
- High Trans Fat Intake Triples Heart Disease Risk: Women who eat diets rich in unhealthy trans fats have three times the risk of heart disease as those with the lowest intake, a new study finds.
- Healthy pizza not a half-baked idea: It’s the junk food junkie’s wildest dream come true - pizza as health food.
- Sally Squires - Can a Healthy Snack Be Tasty?: Question is: How do the fairly-good-for-you [snack] items taste?
- Longer journeys to school drive obesity: According to the research from Loughborough’s School of Sport and Exercise Science - which didn’t look at diet - one of the biggest causes of young people’s sedentary lifestyles was the growth in the amount of time they spent in the car.
- ‘Good fat’ diet OK for heart attack: A Mediterranean-style diet high in olive oil and other healthy fats is just as good as the classic American Heart Association low-fat diet for the 8 million Americans who have suffered a heart attack and want to prevent a repeat, new research sugges
- Blueberries tackle bowel cancer: A compound in blueberries may be good for preventing bowel cancer, US scientists believe.
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Have a great weekend!
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