Coca Cola and Pepsi Co joined former president Bill Clinton in announcing the results of an initiative they said had reduced the number of soft drink calories in American schools by 88%.

The announcement comes after Michelle Obama increased pressure on the companies by targeting them as one of the many causes of obesity in children.

One in five US children aged six to 19 are estimated to be obese, a condition that frequently leads to related health problems such as heart disease and diabetes.  Conditions that can follow obese children through adulthood.

Since soft drink companies are the biggest targets to preventing obesity in our children, their proactive approach by partnering with Bill Clinton may protect their future earnings as they are expecting a slide in profits as people continue to lead healthier lifestyles.

“It’s a brand new day in America’s schools when it comes to beverages,” said Susan Neely, the head of the American Beverage Association. “Our beverage companies have slashed calories in schools as full calorie soft drinks have been removed. The beverages available to students are now lower-calorie and are served in smaller portions.”

Under the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the Clinton Foundation, full calorie drinks were removed from shipments to school cafeterias and vending machines.  Low-fat milk, diet soft drinks, flavored waters and teas replaced the sugary drinks.

Coca Cola and Pepsi Co also spent millions of dollars in retrofitting vending machines and repackaging products.

“School is a unique environment where students make food and beverage choices with limited supervision,” said Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association.

In addition to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, there is an increasing urgency to impose a “fat tax” on soft drinks.  New York is in the forefront of the campaign, which the American Beverage Association vigorously opposes.

New York State Health Commissioner Richard Daines considers the “fat tax” as an opportunity to help our children. “The dramatic under pricing of sugar sweetened beverages, their widespread availability, and the ceaseless marketing of these products constitute a stumbling block to good health and are a clear and present danger to the future of our children,” Daines said.

SOURCE: http://health.yahoo.com/news/afp/ushealthobesitychildrendrinkschooltax_20100308220858.html

Recent government data found that twenty percent of black and hispanic children ages 2 to 19 are obese, while only fifteen percent of white children in that same age category struggle with obesity. 

These findings have led to numerous additional studies aimed towards finding out why obesity tends to affect minorities more than their Caucasian counterparts.

A new study published in the medical journal ‘Pediatrics’ helps explain the excessively high obesity rates in minority children.

The study questioned approximately 2,000 Boston area mothers and examined over a dozen factors that can increase a child’s chances of becoming obese.  Almost every factor was more common in black and Hispanic children than in white children.

The risk factors examined included: mothers smoking during pregnancy, unusually rapid weight gain in young infants, starting solid food before 4 months, mothers’ routinely pressuring young kids to eat more, children sleeping less than 12 hours daily between 6 months and 2 years, and allowing very young kids to have sugary drinks, fast food, and allowing children to have televisions in their rooms.  Family income is often a factor, but so are cultural customs and beliefs, the study authors said.

Again, minorities were at higher risk than whites for nearly every factor.

In addition, the study found that many of the factors related to obesity were more common in low income, less educated families, including whites.

There is good news.  Almost every risk factor for childhood obesity can be changed, but ongoing educational programs must be developed to spread the word.  In most cases, a child’s health lies in the hands of mothers who need to be informed and educated about living healthy lifestyles and passing that information to their children.

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100301/ap_on_bi_ge/us_med_kids_and_obesity

In the state of the union address a few weeks ago, President Barack Obama announced that his wife, Michelle, has been laying the groundwork for over a year, developing a plan to fight childhood obesity.   To achieve this goal, Michelle Obama has requested the help of parents, schools, health professionals, sports and entertainment role models, business leaders and governments.

Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic that causes numerous health problems that can affect children now and as they grow into adults.  Currently 1 out of every 3 children is considered overweight.

There are several factors contributing to this epidemic including the following:

Busy parents opt for fast food rather than healthy family dinners at home.

Vending machines stocked with soda and candy bars.

Availability of high fat, high calorie snacks marketed towards children.

High cost of healthy options (there may be a link between obesity and low income).

Children rather watch TV or play games than play outside and exercise.

Clyde Yancy, president of the American Heart Association, said Obama’s focus will help generate the motivation needed to change attitudes.  Michelle Obama, known as a mother, motivator and role model is the perfect fit to get this job done.  Yancy admits Michelle has a tough job ahead of her, but he thinks that her goals can be achieved only with the help of several of organizations that can make substantive changes such as reducing fatty snacks and sodas in schools, providing better nutrition labeling of processed foods.

Michelle Obama’s plan to end childhood obesity includes the following:

Increase federal money to make cafeteria options healthier

Get the junk food out of school vending machines.

Expand time for school recess and physical education.

Offer federal incentives to low income families so that they can purchase healthier foods.

Stop companies from marketing junk food to children.

Pass laws to make restaurants to print nutrition information on menus.

Encourage health practitioners to do more medical screening for obesity in children.

Work with FDA to improve food labeling.

Provide behavior counseling to overweight kids.

Included in this list is the ‘School Lunch Program’ which is up for review by Congress this year.  Parents can control their child’s diet most of the time, but a huge weakness in her fight against obesity is the options available to kids when their parents aren’t around – at school.  To help with the School Lunch Program, President Barack Obama’s proposed budget calls for an additional 1 billion dollars each year for child nutrition programs.

Dora Rivas, president of the School Nutrition Association and director of food services for the Dallas public schools, said schools need more federal dollars to be able to use fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grains into lunches, and to keep up with the growing numbers of children who qualify for free or reduced-cost meals.

Michelle Obama has a tough road ahead of her, but she said last month that she won’t be satisfied unless she knows she’s made a difference. “That is the legacy I want,” she said. “I want to leave something behind that we can say, because of this time that this person spent here, this thing has changed.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_first_lady_s_cause

SOURCE:  http://www.schoolnutrition.org/Blog.aspx?id=13585&blogid=564

A new study revealed hope for families with children that are autistic. For the first time, researchers have discovered that if a child is diagnosed with autism as early as 18 months of age, they can raise IQ levels and improve language skills through age-appropriate therapy.  “Early intervention can be very effective for toddlers with autism,” says Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, and one of the two lead authors of the study.

Children with autism can have one of several complex neurological disorders, which lead to social impairments, communication difficulties and restrictive and repetitive behaviors. While the cause of autism in not known , the benefits of early intervention have been shown to reduce disruptive behaviors and teach the child skills that will lead to greater independence as he or she gets older.

There is no known cure for autism. The researchers in this study are quick to point out that they were not able to cure children with autism, the subjects of the study still have autism, but in a milder form.

In 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that all children be screened for autism at the ages of 18 months and 24 months.  What was always unclear was once a child was diagnosed as autistic, no one knew the next steps for therapy.

Geraldine Dawson and Sally Rogers from the University of California-Davis M.I.N.D. Institute devised the trial involving 48 children with autism.  All the children in the trial were between 18 months and 2 1/2 years old at the beginning of the study. Half of the children were given community-based interventions or therapies and the other half were enrolled in a 20-hour per week intervention program called “Early Start Denver Model” (ESDM), developed by Rogers. The goal of this research was to determine how they can reduce the debilitating effects of autism.

The Early Start Denver Model was designed to address the needs of toddlers with autism as young as 12 months old.  ESDM is delivered by trained therapists and their parents in a very natural setting, usually the child’s own home. Children are sitting on the floor and playing, rather than having adult-directed therapy. “It’s a very pleasing kind of therapy, kids are happy. It is play, and it can happen everywhere,” Rogers explains. Dawson adds that this type of intervention builds on a fun, positive relationship with the therapist. This is a contrast to traditional Applied Behavioral Analysis, which is delivered at a desk, with the child sitting next to the teacher or therapist, who breaks down complex tasks into small components and then gives tangible reinforcements.

At the end of the two year study, all children showed improvement.  However, the children in the ESDM group had increased their IQ by nearly 18 points.  This was 10 points higher than the children getting the standard autism therapy offered in the community. Scores for listening and understanding were higher in the ESDM group as well as self-care skills. 

The study’s authors also noted that the children in the ESDM group required only 15 hours of weekly intervention with a therapist, compared with the usual 40 recommended hours. This can have a significant economic impact on families. In 2006, a Harvard study estimated the lifelong cost of care for person with autism is more than $3 million. Rogers says parents can pick up the ESDM therapy methods quite easily. “They can learn this within six hours of working with therapists,” she says. Then parents can use the skills in everyday settings, not just during specific therapy sessions.

“This is a good-news story” says Dr. Fred Volkmar, an autism expert and director of Yale University’s Child Study Center.  He says it shows that by effectively intervening at this young age, it is possible to prevent some of the early problems autism causes.

For more information on how to recognize autism, EDMS and other possible therapies, go to http://www.autismspeaks.org/ and http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/mindinstitute/.

SOURCE:  http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/conditions/11/30/autism.study/index.html