Wellness Weekly

The news I reviewed, read, was sent or heard about this week mostly related to the country’s problem with overweight and obesity. Happily, I also registered to attend the 9th annual conference on obesity in Orlando, Fl but that is in September. The problem of being overweight begins early in life now days as never before and has an impact on ones quality and length of life.

Children: Two articles addressed children. One reporter (L. Tanner AP) noted the American Academy of Pediatricians new recommendations on treating high cholesterol in children, especially in the presence of low HDL cholesterol, the kind most associated with sufficient amounts of exercise. The advisory suggests medicating children at the early age of 8. In this same report came a suggestion that children, especially overweight ones, be started on low fat milk at age one instead of the current standard of age 2. Some people are concerned about a lack of saturated fat in the diets of the young whose brains are still developing. However, the children must be getting enough of that fat from other food sources to warrant both of the aforementioned strategies. I find it far more discomfiting to put elementary school kids on medications for chronic illness then to take toddlers off full fat milk.

AHA: the American Heart Association has also come out with a statement this month. Its concern on the consequences of obesity was part of Medscape’s recent bulletin and CME activity. In essence, the AHA is urging its cardiologists to become proactive, well active even, in advising patients to eat well and exercise and to do so by advocating for policy changes. It is like the tobacco movement and I expect it will be met with some of the same resistance. Doctors seem “in general” to be quite reluctant to tell people that their weight is putting them at risk for serious medical complications, even more so than they are uncomfortable telling them the same thing about cigarette smoking. I love the recommendations none the less. I especially like the idea of making poor food choices a non issue by not making unhealthy foods so readily available (i.e. school and work, snack machines and by limiting the portion size at restaurants)

Prevention: In a joint statement the AHA, American Cancer Society and the American Diabetic Societies advise us all to change our lifestyles in order to add about 14 years to our lives. Actually people who are fat, sedentary and smoke lose about 14 years. If we adopt several healthy habits we could gain 1 plus years. Now hold on a minute… Drug companies, especially those who work on terminal illnesses such as many cancers, sell drugs for over 10,000 a dose to give a person three months more to live and at not so high a quality existence. You could have another healthy active year pretty much for free. Do me a favor; humor me, if you will. Go and get a pen and paper. Now think back to July 2007 and write down things you have seen, done, experienced, accomplished, things and people gained and lost, smiles and tears, love and heartache, etc. One YEAR< can be a lifetime.

Odds and Ends: A friend (Ellen) was on vacation when she called me. Ellen is a fellow runner and a health conscious person. She told me on the phone that her host for the weekend was following Weight Watchers so at least she was able to eat healthy while away from home. This is important to note. Sometimes people do not want you to serve them food that is high in fat and calories but instead appreciate a healthy meal. Also this week, the ever entertaining and educational Jim Cramer (CNBC) was discussing stock to buy in the health care field and noted a company that made artificial hips and knees. He suggested that the stocks would be good, that the company was poised to do well because we were a “weight gaining, aging population.” Lastly, the number one killer of Americans is heart disease. There are several risk factors for this disease and they include being overweight, sedentary, genetics, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and what one eats. Heart attacks, at least in the past, were more often seen in the fifty something overweight white male. So last Saturday at around 1pm, in high sun at Siesta Key Florida I was aghast to see this. A white man of about 40 to 50 years old, overweight by at least 30 pounds was JOGGING down the road in the 90 degree heat. He did not have on a visor and was not carrying any hydration. His grey sweat shirt was plastered to his protruding stomach. I thought, there you go, the next heart attack victim who will give running another black mark. Running is NOT just for thin people, but ALL people must be mindful of the heat and it might be better to lose some weight before starting such a strenuous program for both the heart and the joints. That sounds rather cruel and I don’t mean it to, but I really thought the man did not look well. So in closing, one more story, according to an article that ran in the Winston Salem Journal this week, there may be a problem with tilapia, a popular low mercury fish, which though low in Omega 3 may be high in Omega 6 in a not so good way. I am hoping that this is just a headline based on one small research study that has yet to be replicated, so hold tight on that one.

Wishing you Wellness