Category: Diet

Dentistry

Pediatricians Issue Warnings About Energy and Sports Drinks for Children

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Common energy drinks

The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued warnings about the appropriateness of sports and energy drinks in this paper. Here is the abstract.

Clinical Report—Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks for Children and Adolescents: Are They Appropriate?

    COMMITTEE ON NUTRITION AND THE COUNCIL ON SPORTS MEDICINE AND FITNESS

Abstract

Sports and energy drinks are being marketed to children and adolescents for a wide variety of inappropriate uses. Sports drinks and energy drinks are significantly different products, and the terms should not be used interchangeably. The primary objectives of this clinical report are to define the ingredients of sports and energy drinks, categorize the similarities and differences between the products, and discuss misuses and abuses. Secondary objectives are to encourage screening during annual physical examinations for sports and energy drink use, to understand the reasons why youth consumption is widespread, and to improve education aimed at decreasing or eliminating the inappropriate use of these beverages by children and adolescents. Rigorous review and analysis of the literature reveal that caffeine and other stimulant substances contained in energy drinks have no place in the diet of children and adolescents. Furthermore, frequent or excessive intake of caloric sports drinks can substantially increase the risk for overweight or obesity in children and adolescents. Discussion regarding the appropriate use of sports drinks in the youth athlete who participates regularly in endurance or high-intensity sports and vigorous physical activity is beyond the scope of this report.

It is important to differentiate between energy drinks which contain a goodly amount of caffeine and other stimulants and sports drinks which contain sugar and electrolytes. I guess use is a matter of moderation and if the child is an athlete for sports drinks.

Sports and energy drinks are hugely popular with kids. But the nation’s pediatricians are not such big fans. They’re now telling kids to lay off the energy drinks, and to use sports drinks only when they really need them — like when they’re playing sports.

A new clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics warns that energy drinks, or any other drink with caffeine, should be off limits to children and teenagers. That includes colas and coffee drinks.

But the doctors are particularly worried about energy drinks, particularly since they often contain high levels of caffeine and other stimulants, and that’s often not clear on the label. The pediatricians say energy drinks often get confused with sports drinks, which generally don’t have caffeine.
 
Caffeine not only interferes with sleep, it can cause anxiety, raise heartbeats, and increase the risk of dehydration. “There’s great concern about what [caffeine] does over time or in high doses to a young, growing body that’s not fully mature,” says Dr. Holly Benjamin. She is a pediatric sports medicine specialist at the University of Chicago, and coauthor of the new report, which was published in Pediatrics. “It’s almost like a stress to your body.”

Sports drinks don’t have that problem, but they do have sugar as the primary ingredient. That causes another problem. “Kids will drink a Gatorade after school,” Benjamin says. “They’ll drink a Gatorade at lunch. They’ll drink a Gatorade with dinner.”

All that sugar can contribute to obesity and tooth decay, the pediatricians say. Instead, children and teenagers should be drinking water, and lots of it. They also should be drinking two glasses of low-fat milk daily (lots of good protein, vitamin D, and calcium), and perhaps one or two glasses of juice. Benjamin says: “Other than that it’s water, water, water.”

I would always err on the side of caution – no energy drinks, soda or coffee for children. And, sports drinks in moderation, and if in doubt, then use the no sugar sports drinks.

Children have enough energy and really don’t need the sugar, citric acid and caffeine.

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Diet

American Obesity More than Doubles Between Ages 18 and 30

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According to the latest Gallup Poll.

A leading cause of certain chronic conditions — obesity — surges in Americans’ 20s, more than doubling between the ages of 18 and 30. It peaks at about age 50 and remains prevalent among Americans in their 60s and early 70s before tapering off.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index determines obesity on the basis of respondents’ self-reported height and weight, using traditional Body Mass Index (BMI) scoring. Across 2009 and 2010, an average 27% of Americans were obese, defined as having a BMI of 30 or higher.

Whether the decline in obesity later in life mostly reflects the higher mortality rate of obese people as they age or significant weight loss among seniors is not clear.

Younger Americans must make conscious lifestyle decisions to reduce their weight or they are setting themselves up or increasing rates of weight and diet-related chronic medical conditions later in their lives.

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Diet

Poll Watch: Thousand Oaks, California is One of the 10 Least Obese Metro Areas in U.S.

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Good News for Thousand Oaks and I certainly am trying to do my part but am unfortunately still obese. But, gosh I am trying to lose the extra weight, eat right and exercise regularly.

More than 20% of Americans were obese in 174 of the 188 U.S. metropolitan areas that Gallup and Healthways surveyed in 2010. In the most obese of these metro areas — Evansville, Ind.-Ky. — 37.8% of residents were obese, compared with 12.9% in the least obese place — Boulder, Colo.

Nationwide, 26.6% of American adults were obese in 2010, unchanged from 2009, but higher than 25.5% in 2008. The average obesity rate in the 10 most obese metro areas surveyed in 2010 was 34.1%, compared with 17.4% in the 10 least obese metro areas.

Gallup tracks U.S. obesity levels as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, using Americans’ self-reported height and weight to calculate Body Mass Index (BMI) scores. BMI scores of 30 or higher are considered obese.

The 2010 metro area findings are extracted from Gallup’s 2010 Daily tracking data set of more than 200,000 U.S. adults, aged 18 and older. Gallup categorizes U.S. metro areas according to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget’s definitions for Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and reports on all MSAs for which there are a minimum of 300 interviews available.

There is quite a bit of good information at the Gallup site, including Gallup’s U.S. City Wellbeing Tracking interactive. Check it out.

But, what is the bottom line of this information?

Good health habits have a clear connection to low disease rates and to higher wellbeing in general. Boulder, the least obese metro area of those surveyed in 2010, also has the highest overall wellbeing score in the United States. In Boulder, 65.2% of residents say they exercise for at least 30 minutes three or more days per week, more than in any other metro area. Exercise and healthy eating, in addition to helping maintain a healthy weight and prevent certain chronic diseases, have important emotional benefits.

The consequences of high obesity rates for cities come in many forms: higher healthcare costs, lower workplace productivity, and unhappier residents. For cities where more than 3 in 10 residents are obese, these problems are even more pronounced and are even more likely to continue from one generation to the next.

Government and business leaders at the city level are in a unique position to tackle the obesity problem. They are the most familiar with their community’s strengths and weaknesses and can use their knowledge to create policies and programs to target efforts to help reduce obesity in their area.

And, indeed if we all wish to lead happier, more productive and healthier lives, we must all do our part.

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Diet

Poll Watch: Obesity Levels Lowest in Colorado, Highest in West Virginia

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The 2010 Gallup Well-Being Index

According to the latest Gallup Poll.

Colorado, Hawaii, and Utah had the lowest obesity levels in the United States in 2010, although at least 2 in 10 adults were obese in each of these states. West Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky had the highest obesity rates, with more than 3 in 10 obese residents living in these states. The prevalence of obesity is nearly eight percentage points higher, on average, in the 11 states with the highest obesity levels compared with the 10 states with the lowest obesity levels — 30.5% vs. 22.6%, respectively.

A very interesting regionalization of obesity levels. I cannot help but think that this is based on culturally-based eating and food choice habits.

Here is the table:

So, what does this mean?

The implications of increasing obesity rates and the associated health outcomes of being obese are extensive for national, state, and local leaders. A recent Gallup study analyzed obesity data from 187 U.S. metro areas and found that if all of them reduced their obesity rates to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national goal of 15%, the U.S. could save $32.6 billion in healthcare costs annually.

The 2010 state-level findings underscore the connection between high obesity levels and diabetes diagnosis and highlight how widespread this problem is across the country. Obesity and diabetes rates in the U.S. have only worsened since Gallup and Healthways started tracking these conditions daily in January 2008. Strong leadership at the governmental, organizational, and individual level focused on changing health habits, including encouraging more frequent exercise and healthy eating, is needed to begin to reduce these costly and potentially deadly health issues.

There is much work to do to promote healthy diets and more frequent exercise for better health and longevity.

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Dentistry

Believe it or Not: Underweight Children Have Higher Tooth Decay Risk?

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Yes, it is true.

The study made at Malmö University examined the dental health of more than 900 five-year olds in central Skåne through records from child health and public dental clinics.

One reason cited by the researchers as to why underweight children are at a high risk for tooth decay can be due to parental concerns about their child’s weight development. As a consequence, they allow their children to eat what they want at irregular hours, resulting in the diet that contains more sugar.

Previous studies have shown that overweight children have an increased risk of tooth decay, but in the current study, the scientists did not see the link.

According to Lars Matsson, professor of paedodontics at the Faculty of Odontology at the university, the research results were surprising. The study was initially undertaken to examine overweight children, but it was the underweight children who turned out to have the most tooth decay.

“We have found a risk group that we did not recognise before,” said Matsson. “In dental care, we must be more attentive to these children, examine them carefully and inform parents so they can give them a good and healthy diet. Child care centres must also pay attention and help these children.”

Kind of counter-intuitive but when you think about it, poor nutrition with high sugar content happens with underweight children as well as the obese.

Just remember. children should have a balanced diet, regular dental care and cut back on the sugars and refined carbohydrates for better dental health.

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