December 16, 2009

Fast food fresh and green

Will America support a fast-food restaurant using local fresh ingredients, and a place designed to be green?

We hope so:

Amanda’s Feel Good Fresh (Fast) Food

Posted using ShareThis.

December 15, 2009

Unhealthy baseball habits strike out

First the designated batter. Then inter-league play. But now. Baseball players eating healthy. Where have you gone, Babe Ruth?

From the Wall Street Journal:

The doughnuts, fried chicken and candy bars that have long populated baseball's clubhouses—where players eat the majority of their meals—are being banished. Read more..

December 14, 2009

For Ohio schools ignorance is bliss

In Ohio the law mandates education down to the smallest detail. But when it comes to health education, especially good food choices, Ohio schools remain silent. Some think it's because you say the word "health" education and you are thinking about sex. And of course in Ohio, it's forbidden to talk about sex in schools. Who would have thought it's illegal to talk about obesity in Ohio's schools?

From Krista Ramsey in Cincinnati.com:

With health such a hot-potato topic, schools focused their attention elsewhere. The solar system is safe; so is tornadic activity, igneous rock and probably even greenhouse gases.

But the care and construction of the human body doesn't come up much. In fact, educators say words such as body and lifestyle choices are buzzwords that set off alarms. Start talking about this body business, and sooner or later somebody's going to mention s-e-x.

So to spare adults that controversy, Ohio schoolchildren have been shortchanged on information about nutrition, contagious disease, basic anatomy, mental health and responsible habits.

And we wonder why they can't see that Blazing Hot Cheetos and a Mountain Dew are not a reasonable lunch.


December 13, 2009

Fat chance: obesity will cost you $1,400 every year


Today, it is estimated that $79,438 million dollars is spent due to obesity in the United States. With the projected increase in obesity levels, this will increase to $343,866 million dollars in 2018 or about ($1,425 dollars per adult in the United States.

Find out how your state ranks according to UnitedHealth Foundation: Obesity by State.

December 12, 2009

No need for abortions in Oklahoma


I'm always amazed by the ironic.

Isn't ironic that the Republicans opposing health care represent the least healthy state?

Isn't ironic that the states opposing abortions the most have the highest infant mortality rate?

In Oklahoma it's OK to be Republican and unhealthy:

Oklahoma ranks 49th in the nation in the health outcomes of its citizens — ahead of only Mississippi — and 5,320 lives are lost each year because the state does not meet the national average in health outcomes, officials said as they unveiled the Oklahoma Health Improvement Plan.

"We find that unacceptable," said Barry L. Smith, president of the Oklahoma State Board of Health.


And it's not just fat Republicans dying early, it's innocent Independents:

Nationally, 6.6 out of every 1,000 newborns die before they reach their first birthday, but in Oklahoma the ratio is 8.8 per 1,000 newborns, Crain said.


The cynic in me would say let the Republicans have their way. In the end there will be a lot less of them.

December 11, 2009

Are Americans food illiterate?

I recognize there are several paths to tackling a complex problem of American obesity. Here are several interesting points of view.

The Economist magazine recently debated whether governments should take a stronger role in guiding food and nutrition choices.

Kelly Brownell, Professor of Psychology at Yale University argues, three major food issues face the world. Local, national, and global governing authorities must take bold and innovative action to avoid catastrophic health consequences, political upheaval, and political and financial instability around the globe. Read more...


Of course on the opposition is Melanie Leech Director General of the Food and Drink Federation.
She counters that the food and drink industry shares society's concerns about the health of the nation, particularly rising obesity levels, and it is committed to playing a positive role in responding to this vital debate.

...the government is often not best placed to deliver such strategies. Its priority should be to develop a stable long-term policy and regulatory framework which harnesses rather than impedes both the wealth of knowledge the industry has about consumer needs and behaviour, and the power of industry and other players to invest and innovate to deliver the strategic objectives. Read more...

The cynical public -- especially the British public -- has a different view of American obesity: Let them eat cake. Here's a recent post.

Dear Sir,

"46% of the U.S. population are functionally illiterate"

If people are realy [sic] so dumb, shouldn't we let natural selection deal with them, for improvement of the future of the species? Eating himself to death is much more pleasant than being eaten by sabre-toothed tiger.

December 3, 2009

No calories for this pizza

Just hard to believe.

Customers are complaining to California Pizza about putting calorie information on the menus. So immediately California Pizza is taking that information off the menu.


California Pizza Kitchen, a Los Angeles based pizza and pasta chain, has been voluntarily listing their calorie counts since July 1, but recently dropped the extra information after customers complained. The information is available on the website, so technically they are still in compliance–for now.

In an article for the LA Times, Larry Flax, co-chief executive at CPK said, “You have to look at the restaurant business as entertainment. Why make the customer feel guilty?” He then went on to say that “people kept getting mad” because they didn’t understand that a state law mandates that chain restaurants provide this type of information to customers.

December 1, 2009

Healthy enough to graduate from college?

Should you have to be healthy to graduate from college? Lincoln University says, yes!

From CNN.com:

Students at Lincoln University with a body mass index of 30 or above, reflective of obesity, must take a fitness course that meets three hours per week. Those who are assigned to the class but do not complete it cannot graduate.

Now that the first class to have this requirement imposed is nearing graduation day -- students who entered in the fall of 2006 -- the school faces criticism from both students and outsiders about the fitness class policy.

One of those students is Tiana Lawson, 21, whose recent editorial in the student paper has drawn national attention to the issue. Lawson wrote in The Lincolnian that she would be more understanding if the requirement applied to everyone. She thinks all students, not just those with a high BMI, should have to take the class. Read more...