Another step in Michelle Obama’s campaign to fight childhood obesity is to urge the nation’s largest food companies to make their food products healthier by reducing fat, salt and sugar in their products. She is also requesting that these same companies reconsider directing their marketing of unhealthy foods to children.

At a meeting of the Grocery Manufacturers Association last week, Michelle Obama told the food industry “to not just tweak around the edges but entirely rethink the products you are offering, the information that you provide about these products, and how you market those products to our children,” she said.

The Grocery Manufacturers Association, which counts Kraft Foods Inc., Coca Cola Co. and General Mills Inc. among its members, invited her to speak at its science forum this week.  Attendees gave her a standing ovation.

Welcoming the first lady and helping implement her campaign against childhood obesity could have its advantages. The food industry is in a situation where their profits are expected to decrease in the coming year, due to a child nutrition bill that is moving through Congress that could potentially remove all junk food in schools.

Former President Bill Clinton, who in 2005 partnered with the American Heart Association for a similar campaign against childhood obesity, said he was thrilled that Michelle Obama had joined the cause. “She’ll get visibility for it that I can’t get. She’s a lot younger than I am. She’ll relate better to a lot of the kids in the schools. They’ll relate better to her. I think it’s a really great thing for her to do this.”

Last week, Clinton announced that he has been able to reduce beverage calories shipped to schools by 88%.   His effort was aimed at replacing full calorie soft drinks with reduced calorie, smaller portion beverages in school cafeterias and vending machines.

Since the science forum last week, Kraft Foods Inc. has announced that they are going to make positive changes and reduce fat, salt and sugar in their products.  Michelle Obama expects that other companies will announce changes to their products in the coming weeks.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_michelle_obama_food_companies

According to the National Stroke Association, stroke is the number one killer of Americans.  These “brain attacks” occur when blood flow to the brain is interrupted (an ischemic stroke) or when a blood vessel in the brain leaks or bursts (a hemorrhagic stroke).  800,000 people annually are affected by stroke, and for an alarming 144,000 people, the result is death.

There are both controllable and uncontrollable factors that can lead to stroke, such as genetics, age and race.  However, research has recently discovered more of these risk factors, from your diet to where you live.

Being a Southerner

Also called the ‘Stroke Belt’, the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama show larger number of stroke incidences.  A study published in the journal Neurology in 2009 reported that among blacks, being born in the Stroke Belt increased the risk of stroke by 22 percent. For whites, the number was 30 percent. Part of the reason may be due to risk factors like poor diet, smoking and obesity, which may start earlier in southern states.

Diet High in Fat

Researchers from the University of North Carolina found that post menopausal women who consumed high fat diets had 40 percent more incidences of ischemic stroke than low fat eaters. Trans fats, found in processed foods increased risk dramatically. The group of women who consumed seven grams of trans fat each day had 30 percent more stroke incidents than those who ate one gram.

Being Single

A Tel Aviv University study of more than 10,000 Israeli men found that those who were married at midlife were 64 percent less likely to die of a stroke during the next 34 years than single men. The data was adjusted for other stroke risk factors like socioeconomic status, blood pressure and smoking.

Positive Attitude

Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston reported in 2001 that among older individuals, positive moods and attitudes protected against strokes. Even incremental increases in happiness helped: For every step up on the researchers’ happiness scale, male participants’ stroke risk dropped 41 percent. Women’s risk dropped 18 percent per happiness unit.

Obesity

According to researchers from the University of Minnesota the more you weigh, the more likely you will have a stroke.  The relationship between weight and stroke is that your health is in jeopardy.  Obesity is linked with high blood pressure and diabetes, risk factors that increase your chance of stroke.

Smoking

According to the American Heart Association, smoking doubles your risk of stroke. Fortunately, quitting can drop that risk back down, even for heavy smokers. One 1988 study found that former smokers had the same rate of stroke as nonsmokers five years after quitting.

Demographics

Blacks have twice the incidence of strokes as whites, according to the American Heart Association.  Blacks have increased rates of diabetes and high blood pressure which could be a factor.

In addition, researchers at the University of Southern California reported that women aged 35 to 64 are almost three times as likely to have a stroke as men of the same age. The reason may be that women in midlife carry more abdominal fat than men, which is another risk factor for stroke.

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100316/sc_livescience/7waystoraiseyourriskofstroke

In 1998 the government stepped in and made the tobacco industry promise that it wouldn’t direct their advertising and marketing towards underage teens.  However, recent studies have shown an increase in teen smoking and researchers found that the source is Camel cigarettes.

The controversial advertisements are for R.J. Reynold’s Camel No. 9 cigarettes and that were featured in popular women’s magazines like Vogue, Glamour and Lucky in 2007.  The ads were made to blend in with the pages of a fashion magazine. The cigarettes are featured with dresses, shoes, jewelry and purses.  Basically the cigarettes were mixed with fashion items that teen girls would find appealing.

“The ads had a lot imagery that is girl-like,” says Cheryl Healton with the American Legacy Foundation, an anti-tobacco advocacy group. “The cigarettes were described as light and luscious and featured pink packaging. Making them almost like candy.”

Over the course of several years, the girls were asked, “What is the name of the cigarette brand of your favorite cigarette advertisement?”  In 2004, 10 percent of girls chose Camel as their favorite brand.  In 2008, a year after R.J. Reynolds launched its new female friendly campaign, 22 percent of girls chose Camel as their favorite brand.

“The majority of these kids had not reported a favorite ad before,” says the study’s author, John Pierce with the University of Southern California-San Diego’s Moores Cancer Center.

This increase has public health officials concerned.  Studies have found that teens who can tell you the name of the brand of their favorite cigarette ad are 50 percent more likely to take up smoking in the next three years.

When asked their thoughts the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company said that it “adheres to numerous restrictions on how it markets its tobacco products and does not take any action to target youth.” The company’s statement goes on to say, “Camel No. 9 was developed in response to female adult smokers…who were asking for a product that better reflected their taste preferences and style.”

Pierce estimates Camel’s 2007 marketing campaign may have influenced 174,000 underage girls to start smoking.

SOURCE: http://pagingdrgupta.blogs.cnn.com/2010/03/15/was-it-a-cigarette-ad-campaign-that-worked-on-teenagers/

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

Adding urgency to Michelle Obama’s initiative to tackle childhood obesity is the release of two new studies published in the medical journal Health Affairs.  The studies indicate that American children are eating three snacks each day on top of three regular meals, a finding that could explain why the childhood obesity rate has risen to more than 16 percent since 2003.

Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina reported that children are snacking so often that they are “moving toward constant eating,” a habit that is putting our children’s health at risk for obesity related diseases.

Piernas and Popkin looked at 31,337 children aged 2 to 18 from four different federal surveys on food and eating.  ”Childhood snacking trends are moving toward three snacks per day, and more than 27 percent of children’s daily calories are coming from snacks. The largest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain the major sources of calories from snacks,” they wrote.

“Children have increased their caloric intake by 113 calories per day from 1977 to 2006,” they added. “This raises the question of whether the physiological basis for eating is becoming deregulated, as our children are moving toward constant eating.”

In a second study in the journal, Christina Bethell of the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland analyzed data from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health to find the rate of obesity for children 10 to 17 rose from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007.

Other studies have shown that obese children are more likely to stay obese as adults, and they develop chronic conditions at younger ages, burdening the healthcare system.

Michelle Obama told the School Nutrition Association that “Parents, educators and policymakers all hold responsibility for this childhood obesity epidemic.  Our kids didn’t do this to themselves.  From fast food, to vending machines packed with chips and candy, to a la carte lines, we tempt our kids with all kinds of unhealthy choices every day.  You see kids who are at higher risk of conditions like diabetes, and cancer, and heart disease, conditions that cost billions of dollars a year to treat.”

SOURCE:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100302/hl_nm/us_obesity_children_usa

President Obama recently announced another overhaul to the health care proposal that incorporates previously rejected Republican ideas.  Does this mean that we could be one step closer to an approved health care reform?  Here are the GOP ideas, recently added to the proposal.

Fight fraud and abuse. Republicans have been pushing for background checks on billing agencies, insurance companies and individuals to help prevent fraud and abuse in the health care industry. Obama now proposes that random undercover investigations of health care providers take place on a regular basis.   It has been documented that fraud and abuse wastes billions of tax payer dollars each year.

Control malpractice lawsuits. Republicans wanted a push to end ‘junk lawsuits’.  Obama is now a supporter of this idea and will is appropriate $50 million to help states find alternate resolutions to costly medical malpractice disputes.  Part of the money would develop and manage a health court system.

Increase Medicaid.  Obama plans to increase Medicaid reimbursements to doctors, an idea originally supported by Republicans. Obama’s plan eliminates the controversial Nebraska proposal which exempts that state from paying increased Medicaid expenses. It also provides additional federal financing to all 50 states for the Medicaid expansion.

Close the donut hole.  Obama’s newest proposal closes the Medicare prescription drug ‘donut hole’.  Under current Medicare limits, seniors are covered until they reach the $2,830 limit.  At that time, they must pay all additional costs out of pocket until they reach $4,550, at which point Medicare coverage kicks back in.  Obama’s proposal provides a $250 rebate to Medicare beneficiaries who reach the $2,830 limit in 2010. The plan slowly closes the donut hole over the next 10 years.

Health care exchange plans.  Republicans were concerned about ensuring that Health Savings Accounts are included in the health care exchange program.  Obama is now considering including language that guarantees that high deductible health plans are offered in the health exchange. “The GOP plan creates new incentives to save for current and future health care needs by allowing qualified participants to use HSA funds to pay premiums for high deductible health insurance,” according to official GOP website, gop.gov.

SOURCE:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/03/health.care.gop.ideas/index.html

SOURCE: http://www.gop.gov/

We know that sex sells, we see it everywhere, everyday.  It’s on television and it’s in our homes.  In light of Tiger Woods’  indiscretions, we ask, how do you know when someone’s behavior has crossed the line from healthy sexual interest into addiction?

According to the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health, an estimated 3 to 5 percent of Americans fall in the category of having an addiction to sex.

The Sexual Recovery Institute and the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health has developed a checklist to help determine whether you have a sexual addiction.

If you answer yes to any of the questions on this checklist, you may have a problem.

Lying.  This is the number one way you know you’ve crossed the line.  If you have to make up stories to get sex or lie to your sexual partners,  you may be a sex addict.  This includes lying to your spouse or significant other about having sex with other people.

Sex Consumes Your Life.  If your interest in sex runs your life, you have a problem, says Robert Weiss, a social worker and founder of the Sexual Recovery Institute. He says that addicts “are always preoccupied with hitting on someone, picking someone up, planning or thinking about their next orgasm, or getting home to look at porn before their spouse comes home.”

You are Divorced, Dead, Fired or Arrested.  If you continue your sexual activities even under threat of being “divorced, dead, fired or arrested,” and ignore the consequences you may have an addiction to sex.

Interest in Pornography.  If you have an intense interest in pornography, you may have a sex addiction.  Planning your day around porn, or watching porn 2-3 times a day constitutes as an ‘intense interest’.

You Can’t Stop.  Sexual addiction is defined by a loss of control, Weiss says.  You want to stop, but you can’t and its controlling your life.

For the 3 to 5 percent of Americans that may suffer from an addiction to sex, there is help.  Please visit www.sexualrecovery.com for more information on sexual addiction and how to get help.

SOURCE:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/25/ep.sex.addiction.woods/index.html

SOURCE: http://www.sexualrecovery.com/services/

After 7 1/2 hours of debate and disagreement, President Obama concluded that an agreement between Democrats and Republicans may not be possible.

“We cannot have another year long debate about this,”  Obama said at the end of the full day marathon policy session.

Neither party gave any ground, sticking to arguing useless points and making egotistical comments.  The conversation veered between irrelevant details and bad tempers.  Disagreements were not expressed diplomatically, cheap shots and negative remarks continued throughout the day, and irritation was clearly visible on the faces of both parties.

Polls are showing that Americans want solutions to the biggest problems of high medical costs, decreasing access to coverage and inconsistent quality. However, many Americans are split over the Democrats’ sweeping legislation, with its 1 trillion dollar price tag pver 10 years and many complex provisions, including some changes that wouldn’t even take effect for eight years.

Obama and his Democratic party clashed with congressional Republicans over the right prescription for the nation’s broken health care system.  Republicans oppose this dramatically sweeping health care plan and favor small changes over a period of years.

The Democratic bills would require most Americans to get health insurance, while providing subsidies for others in the form of a tax credit. They would set up a competitive insurance market for small businesses and people buying coverage on their own. Democrats also would make numerous other changes, which include addressing a coverage gap in the Medicare prescription benefit and setting up a new long term care insurance program. Their plan would be paid for through a mix of Medicare cuts and tax increases.

“Not only are lawmakers polarized, the parties’ constituencies are far apart,” said Robert Blendon, a Harvard University professor who follows public opinion trends on health care. “The president is going to use it as a launching pad for what will be the last effort to get a big bill passed. He will say that he tried to get a bipartisan compromise and it wasn’t possible.”

SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

According to experts at the Institute of Medicine, high blood pressure is a neglected disease that needs significantly more attention from both doctors and patients.  David Fleming, an expert at the Institute of Medicine says that “Although hypertension is relatively easy to prevent, simple to diagnose and relatively inexpensive to treat, it remains the second leading cause of death among Americans.”

Experts say that in general, the higher the blood pressure, the greater the health risk.  Uncontrolled hypertension can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, angina and dementia.

The shocking facts:

1 in 3 American adults suffer from hypertension

1 in 6 will eventually die from its consequences, which include heart disease and stroke

73 million Americans are affected by high blood pressure

65 percent of Americans with hypertension are NOT effectively managing the condition

The Institute of Medicine works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the topic of hypertension is at the top of their priority list.  Last year, the CDC spent $50 million on hypertension-related outreach.

The Institute of Medicine wants the CDC to go for widespread policy changes rather than more small-scale education efforts. That means increased involvement with government agencies and private institutions. 

Together they want to highlight three specific recommendations that not only could save Americans over $18 million dollars in health costs annually, but save lives too.

1.       A simple reduction in salt intake could cut hypertension rates by 22 percent.

2.       If overweight Americans each lost 10 pounds, the panel predicts a 7 to 8 percent reduction in hypertension.

3.       Work with insurance companies to cut back on co-payments and deductibles for hypertension treatments, which can make medication prohibitively expensive.

Look for upcoming announcements sponsored by the CDC encouraging lifestyle changes, like weight loss and a better diet, which can greatly improve blood pressure.

SOURCE:  http://www.aolnews.com/health/article/americans-ignoring-serious-hypertension-problem-expertswarn/19370053?icid=main|main|dl4|link5|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fhealth%2Farticle%2Famericans-ignoring-serious-hypertension-problem-experts-warn%2F19370053

Earlier this week, President Obama released a modified health care plan – three days before a bipartisan summit on health care.

The modified plan, in general, contains the same fundamentals included in the House and Senate bills that have already passed, but with adjustments and provisions.  President Obama is hoping that by laying out a health care plan that largely resembles the House and Senate bills that everyone could reach a compromise. By releasing his new plan earlier this week, days before the health care summit, the White House is trying to frame the debate until then.

Some highlights from the new White House health care plan:

New federal insurance regulation The plan includes a new federal health insurance regulatory board that will review rate increases and block those it deems unjustified.  State insurance commissioners have the power to do this in most places, but a new federal authority could strengthen rate regulation.

Medicaid help for states The plan would eliminate the notorious and despised Cornhusker Kickback, a special Medicaid deal awarded to Nebraska under the original Senate bill. Instead, the Obama Administration’s health care plan would increase Medicaid funding for all states. The plan would also give extra funding to states that have already expanded their Medicaid programs, even without federal prompting. This could do a lot to appease governors who have been loudly protesting the Medicaid expansion called for under Democratic reform, saying the state-federal program will eventually break their budgets.

Weakens the cadillac tax The plan delays the implementation of the excise tax on “Cadillac” health plans until 2018 and raises the threshold for which plans would get taxed. Beginning in 2018, individual plans with premiums above $10,200 and families plans above $27,500 would be subject to the tax. There are adjustments made for companies where costs are higher because of age and gender of workers and there is an adjustment made for workers in high-risk occupations.

Closes the doughnut hole The plan would close the Medicare drug benefit “doughnut hole” completely by 2020. This would be paid for by an additional $10 billion in fees from drug companies.

Increases affordability The plan increases subsidies for middle income Americans buying their own health insurance on the open market beyond what the Senate bill called for.

Imposes higher fees on individuals and employers who go without insurance The plan would strengthen the individual mandate by adopting the House’s higher penalties for those who opt not to buy insurance. There are still hardship exemptions and exemptions for those with income below the tax filing threshold. The fee on employers who don’t offer coverage would be $2,000 per worker, with firms with 50 or fewer employees exempted from this requirement. There is also a $40 billion infusion of tax credits available to small businesses to help them offer coverage beginning in 2010.

National exchange, no public option and Senate abortion language The Obama plan does not mention any of these sticking points, meaning it favors the Senate exchange design (state based exchanges rather than the House’s national exchange), the Senate’s abortion language (not the House’s Stupak language) and the Senate’s lack of a public option.

The Obama plan would cost $950 billion over ten years and provide new insurance coverage for 31 million Americans.

SOURCE: http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/02/22/details-of-obamas-health-care-plan/#respond