Odds and Ends

Smile Plate Lunch - A research study in Texas will involve  a computerized food analysis of what children eat at school.  A special camera will take a photo when the child leaves the receiving line and again when the child returns the tray.  The data analysis will give information on calories, fat, sugar and such that children (conceivably) consume.  I think that is a good idea, but there is one thing that concerns me significantly.  The school is going to send the reports of what a child is eating (individual reports) to the child's parents.  I think that an Institutional Review Board should have flagged that as an unacceptable risk.  Some parents just might not respond well to this information.  I think that there must be a better way to inform parents about consumption habits.   Or here is an idea - IF the food being served is NOT something that is considered health promoting, stop serving it!

Social Cues -  When reading about the causes of obesity or over consumption, it is often noted that people respond to social or environmental cues to eat and not to their body's physiological triggers.  Because we have been responding to outside cues and sometimes pressure, our internal regulation is impaired.  Eating then, does at times require mind over matter, strong will and what feels like rudeness.  I am one of the few people I know that pretty much eats on schedule, when I am ready to eat and not when someone else decides it is time to eat. (Of course, if I know someone is planning a special meal for me, I do try to work around that - what do I mean?  Well, I eat a little less  or a little more earlier so that my body will be ready to eat when it is socially time for me to eat)

the Doritos Index - Do you remember several months ago when I told the story about the school cafeteria manager who said that the honey buns were whole grain?  This goes in the same - huh- category.  I was eating my lunch the other day and someone at the same conference mentioned how she wished she had had time to pack her lunch the night before as the sandwiches and chips that were served didn't really suit her "diet."  She said she was avoiding white flour foods and starchy foods.  They had potato chips and she wanted Doritos, for example.  I kind of wrinkled my brow and asked, sincerely," why are the Doritos okay? " I asked if she had some allergy or if this were some specific diet plan she was following.  She said that she was trying to eat foods that had a low glycemic index - still my brow was furled?  "UM, so - the Doritos are okay because they are orange and not white?"  I think I embarrassed her but I was truly just trying to follow her thought process because this stuff is important to me.  She actually believed that the yellow chips would be better than the white.  Of course I had to look it up, and no, there is no difference.  Chips in general are starchy foods that spike blood sugar - which is what we try to avoid by eating low GI foods. (I have blogged about this in the past.) Oh yes, I forgot this part I actually looked up the ingredients for Doritos before I looked for the GI- the first ingredient on the Doritos bag is whole corn flour.  According to this index from Harvard, corn chips are WORSE than potato chips.

Imbalance - I mentioned a few research articles a day or two ago but had not fully explored the one by Cox, et al.  In reviewing it later, I was just STUNNED that the group of participants that were said to be the Gainers, were eating 1989 calories a day - plus/minus 617 and only half of them were engaging in 1 - 30 minutes of moderate activity a day.  The average BMI in that groups was 40 - which is considered morbidly obese.  You see, they are eating around 2000 calories a day - that is what those labels on our foods all reference- but you do not need 2000 calories a day if you are not doing anything!

Dogs Bite - Because this story involves bicycling, I am going to work it into the blog.  My sister told me a story today.  She lives in a rural area in NC - there are no bike lanes or sidewalks on the roads near her house.  She left out in her car one day and heard a girl screaming for help.  She stopped and found two girls in the woods.  One of them was lying on the ground crying and screaming as a dog had chased she and her friend as they rode their bicycles.  She had been bitten in the leg and was bleeding.  My sister helped her and called 911.  So - bicycle safety is more than wearing a helmet, traveling with traffic and using hand signals.  It also involves being aware of threats from canines.