You can all see that there is no easy answer. But we do need to start somewhere. Our kids are getting fatter. We need to help them. We need to help ourselves. I have always believed in education-bring back the Home Economics courses and retool them for today’s e-generation. Teach cooking, dieting, and food safety to our kids and continue reinforcing this knowledge until they reach college. This will help. Provide alternative forms of exercise for our kids-like yoga, tai chi, dance, boxing and fencing. This will allow kids the option of individual performance sports as well as team sports. Let’s encourage our kids to exercise and find the particular sport they like.  This will help them maintain exercise and fitness as they grow into adults. Research shows us that most of our kids now drop exercise as they mature into their teen years.

My friends, obesity is a major problem and we need major solutions to fight it. Let me hear your thoughts-write to me at talk@nerdel.com.

We are all guilty of eating when we are not really hungry. Some call it stress, while others say they just need to have something to keep them busy. Others say they don’t know why they are eating-they just eat and eat and eat. Is it due to the TV commercial for that juicy burger or oven hot pizza? How about just sitting and watching television. Have you worn out the path to the kitchen?Whatever the reason is, it’s not hunger that is stimulating this “extra” eating. And this “extra” eating  piles on the calories, lots of them! In between snacks and non hunger related snacking made up of carbs and fats are responsible for a large amount of the overweight and obesity we are seeing. So how do we change this persistent habit? A new study by a group of researchers at the University of Minnesota led by Kerri Boutelle, Ph.D. and published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, demonstrates that by improving the responses to the clues of truly being hungry and decreasing the responses to non hunger related eating, children can be trained to respond better to hunger and less to other stimuli (e.g. television commercials focusing on food). Boutelle and her group were also able to train children to understand body clues better and to respond better to being satiated from a meal and not to overeat. Lesson: This study shows that hunger, satiety, overeating and non hunger related eating, are all behaviors that can be targeted for training and teaching. We can help our children to be better in touch with their feelings and to better understand when they are reacting to a non hunger stimulus. Here is an idea-shouldn’t we be able to select the commercials that will play during the programming that our children are watching ? TV commercial selection-the next frontier!

ARE YOU BEING TOLD BY YOUR DOCTOR THAT YOUR CHILD IS OVERWEIGHT? MOST STATISTICS SAY NO!

Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, led by Eliana M. Perrin, M.D., MPH, reviewed National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data, collected on almost five thousand kids ages 2 to 15, with an elevated BMI, and found that only 22 percent of parents reported that they were told that their child was “overweight.” Only 58 percent of parents of children classified as “obese” by BMI criteria, were informed by health care providers that their children were obese. Lesson: As a parent, get involved in the health check up of your child. Ask about his or her weight. Ask whether the weight is normal, over or under established guidelines. Find out what the recommendations are depending on the status. Get connected! Don’t wait for the information to get to you-or not get to you!

NUTRITION LABELING MOVING TO THE FRONT OF THE PACKAGE (FOP)!

A new front of the package (FOP) nutrition labeling system will soon start showing up on our foods. Beginning with the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990, food companies were required to disclose nutrition information (servings per container, total calories, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates, proteins, sugar, etc. ) on the back of the package. Jumping to 2011-the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), have determined that they can make a bigger impact with FOP nutrition labeling, not only to detail the elements inside the food, but also to  “increase   the proportion of consumers who readily notice, understand and use the available information to make more nutritious choices for themselves and their families, and thereby prevent or reduce obesity and other diet related chronic disease.” A sneak peak at the components to be on the FOP label include the following: calories, saturated fats, trans fats, sodium and added sugars.  In addition, a symbol system designed to help consumers “distinguish between products of greater or lesser nutritional quality” will also be present. Lesson: FOP nutrition labeling will be here soon! It will be a welcome evolution to the original nutrition labeling system and hopefully will be easier for everyone to understand. It will also be a new push by the FDA/USDA to empower all of us with the information to make healthier choices for us and our children!

As a kid, I loved licorice. The red swirly sticks were always a big hit in my group of friends. And once in a while we would eat the black licorice and even the chocolate ones. But ever since finding out that black licorice has a chemical that can cause high blood pressure, I have been advising my friends and family to stay away. Yes, the chemical is called “glycyrrhizin” and according to the FDA, if it is consumed in a large enough quantity-more than 2 ounces a day for two weeks, or more, glycyrrhizin has the potential to cause high blood pressure and irregular heartbeats. How does it do this? Well, first of all it can cause your kidneys to lose more potassium than usual and as a result, this imbalance (when the potassium is lower than it should be) may make the conditions in your heart vulnerable to set up an irregular heart rhythm.  Secondly, the glycyrrhizin may cause your body to retain more salt and water-which can result in the body having a higher blood pressure and even a set up for heart failure (too much salt and water for the heart to handle). Thirdly, eating black licorice can interfere with other medicine that you may be taking including digoxin (a medicine used to control heart rhythms), laxatives and diuretics (a medicine that causes the body to excrete more water and electrolytes like sodium and potassium). And finally, black licorice may interfere with your cortisol metabolism-which can make you feel weak and have loss of muscle strength. What do you do? My opinion is to stay away from black licorice. There are many other varieties that do not have this dangerous chemical-so why chance it? For more information, please visit the FDA  at  FDA.gov/ForConsumersUpdates.

PUBLIC BATHROOMS ARE OVERLOADED WITH BACTERIA

University of Florida epidemiologist and researcher Dr. Lennox Archibald, presented a study recently indicating that public bathrooms are overloaded with bacteria. Testing indicated that bacteria cover all surfaces including faucet handles, paper dispensers and door knobs. And washing your hands after using the bathroom may not be good enough to eliminate your risk of infection as you touch various surfaces leaving the area. Archibald and his team tested bathrooms in public areas including aircraft, malls, restaurants and supermarkets and found multiple bacteria responsible for infections. So what do you do? Use a paper towel or your elbow to touch any surface in the bathroom, and avoid touching any surface on your way in and especially on your way out of the bathroom. And don’t forget your shoes-wash the bottoms of your shoes before entering your home-you can imagine what those surfaces have touched!!!

WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY FOR 12 YEAR OLDS?

Yes my friends, we have an epidemic of childhoods obesity. The statistics are grim: as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 17% of children ages 2-19 are obese. Lifestyle interventions, diets, exercise programs and a change in the school lunch programs are just some of the methods that are being used to combat this growing epidemic.  Many secondary medical issues in obese children are becoming more prevalent as a result of the excess weight, including diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, arthritis, cyst filled ovaries in girls and depression.  As a result, many pediatric physicians are now turning to a procedure once reserved for adults: weight loss surgery. The goal is to reduce the size of the stomach-either by placing a band around the top of the stomach, cutting the actual stomach to decrease the size and rerouting the intestines, all can have a positive benefit: by decreasing mortality, improvement and recovery from diabetes and improving heart status. So what’s the problem? Well, there are also risks of surgery: bleeding, blood clots, infection and death are just a few of the potential hazards. But the gain: bariatric surgery in a morbidly obese pre teen or teen can improve the child’s health-in many aspects from psychological to physical. What do you do? Well, of course lifestyle interventions should be number one on everyone’s list. Parental involvement is mandatory. However there still remains the children that are unsuccessful with every attempt. Shouldn’t we address these kids? We can’t keep saying to them, stop eating, and start exercising. That won’t help. I have never been one to casually suggest elective surgery, but in this situation, it has to be given a very hard and close look. The many benefits of giving a child back a productive life, a positive outlook and the ability to improve his survival chances may be rewarding enough to balance the risks. What do you think?

F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future*, reveals that the obesity rates across America are increasing. That’s right, there are more obese individuals in 16 states than in 2010. And there was no state in the United States, that reported a decline in obesity rates. Yes, we are all getting fatting-well most of us!

Here are the percentage of obese adults in all 50 states-see it for yourself**: 

 Okay, look at the state that you live in and compare it to the other states. My friends, we have a big problem. It seems that all of the interventions, all of the diets and diet books, all of the infomercials, all of the diet aids, all of the exercise programs and exercise equipment are not yet making a considerable dent in the epidemic.

What can we do? Well, my first suggestion continues to be education of our youth in nutrition and exercise. You have heard me say this before- well here I go again-bring back the Home Economics courses and retool them for the current generation. Let’s teach our kids about eating healthy, about cooking and about getting exercise. We have to start at a young age and continue this education pathway until these kids reach adult hood. What else can be done? Oh no-are you thinking “fat” penalties?  Well my friends, we are certainly heading in that direction if we are unable to discipline ourselves.  Paying an extra tax for those extra pounds you are carrying! Are you all ready for the supermarket to tell you what items you can buy and what items are off limits? Are you ready for the restaurant to  pleasantly decline to serve you all of the items that you would like? Are you ready for your doctor to report your waist size, weight and BMI to a government registry?

Yes, this could be a doom and gloom scenario. Can we all cut down on the excess calories we are consuming voluntarily? I am not sure! Many studies are pointing to the excess in calories consumed more than the types of calories as the true cause of weight gain. We all know that some people eat too many carbs and switching them to a lower carbohydrate and higher fat/protein regimen will help them lose weight. We also know that some people will lose weight on a lower fat diet or a rice diet or even a cabbage diet. You can lose weight on all of them.

So what will it take? What will it take to make the general public think about the cutting down? Medical warnings about the risks of carrying extra weight don’t seem to be helping. And we are getting mixed messages from the medical community-some reports actually show no increase in mortality statistics with obesity; while other reports describe an increase in heart disease, arthritis and diabetes with extra weight. So what is someone to believe? With extra weight , I may get some health issues, but I will live as long as my thin neighbor!

My friends, we need to empower our children with nutrition and physical fitness education. Start early and they will grow up with the information and knowledge to make healthy choices. As for us adults, we either help ourselves, help the helpless, or we will face more and more penalties and restrictions on our freedoms. Maybe that’s the way our founding fathers wanted us to interpret the freedoms they inscribed. Freedoms at a cost!

Stay fit and healthy, The Nerdel Way.

Links:

1. *Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director, Trust for America’s Health; David L. Katz, M.D., M.P.H., director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; Samantha Heller, M.S., R.D., dietitian, nutritionist, exercise physiologist, Fairfield, Conn.; July 7, 2011, Trust for America’s Health report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future

2. **Supplement to F as in Fat: http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2011/FasinFat2011LegislativeSupplement.pdf

Computer: Hello Graehm. I see that your BMI has increased since your last visit.

Graehm: well, maybe I haven’t been exercising as much.

Computer-Graehm, it’s very important to exercise each and every day.

Graehm-well I have been so busy with work.

Computer-Graehm-this is important for your life. Graehm have you been eating more food lately?

Graehm- well maybe I have been snacking more.

Computer-Graehm- your BMI has increased. You will need to need to cut your calories and exercise more.

Graehm-OK-I will.

Computer-Graehm-I will monitor your product selection today.

Graehm-OK.

Computer-Graehm-please upload your shopping list.

Graehm-ok-uploaded.

Computer-Graehm-this list is unacceptable. I will adjust it for the appropriate food choices and amounts.

Graehm-but I am so hungry and I will definitely exercise more.

Computer-Graehm-yes-you will need to exercise more and eat less. Until we have new measurement data-you will have to comply.

Graehm-I’m afraid.

What? Yes, is this the future? It could be one posible future, if we continue to have more and more restrictions placed on our freedoms. Can we as a society rely on self discipline? Can you cut your portion sizes on your honor? Can you exercise daily on your honor? Or will you let this scenario become reality. And not only will there be BMI counters in food stores, but what about restaurants, clothing stores, malls? If we let this go that far-will we have a George Orwell futuristic 1984 type society?

 My friends start now. Cut down on the calories. Cut down on the salt. Cut down on the sugar and refined products. Eat more whole grains, lean meats, fish, low fat dairy and load up on the fruits and veggies. My friends begin an exercise program today. Start with ten minutes and increase your fitness time as you can. Start today! You can do it!

 Stay fit and healthy The Nerdel Way!

As reported in the current meetings of The American Heart Association (AHA)*(2), salt (sodium chloride) may be harming the health of teens now and will affect them in the future. The recommendation: cut down on your salt consumption. What’s the problem associated with eating too much salt? Well for one thing, too much salt can raise your blood pressure (called high blood pressure or hypertension). By raising your blood pressure, you are putting more stress on the heart muscle. This then may cause heart problems like a heart attack or stroke. A big problem is that most high blood pressure is silent-you just don’t feel it. That’s right, you can have a silent killer on your hands and not even know it! So be careful with your salt load. Watch out for processed foods, soups and sports drinks. And if you are overweight, have a family history of high blood pressure or heart problems, get your blood pressure checked immediately! Don’t wait!*(4),*(5)

I saved the best for last. Finally someone challenged the current nutrition trends with a diet composed of junk foods. Yes, you are reading this correctly-its not your eyes. Nutrition Professor Mark Haub, from Kansas State University*(3) , using a thesis that basically is defined by calories in and calories out, embarked on a diet full of all the delicious junk that would make Willy Wonka jealous. Hold on to your hats my friends, this diet included Doritos, sugary cereals, Oreo cookies and Twinkies. Yes, two thirds of his diet was comprised of these usually forbidden foods on a diet. The other third of his calories was made up of a protein shake, a multivitamin tab and vegetables-either green beans or celery. Professor Haub believes in the principle that weight loss can occur if you consume less calories than you burn-no matter what those calories are! As you all know, I have always been a proponent of the energy in energy out theory-so what happened to Professor Haubs body during this diet? His body mass index-BMI went from 28.8 (overweight category) to 24.9-NORMAL!! That’s not all! Professor Haubs’ bad cholesterol-(LDL)-dropped 20% and his good cholesterol (HDL) increased by 20%. His triglycerides, another form of internal fat,  decreased by 39%.

Bottom Line: Congratulations to Professor Mark Haub for confirming the theory that consuming less calories than are being burned daily will result in weight loss. However, this junk food diet will not have the same effect on everybody! Yes, losing weight and having lowered internal fat levels (i.e. cholesterol, LDL, triglycerides) are beneficial to good health. But there are no health benefits from eating a diet composed of processed sugars, increased salt and bad fats. Most of us need to balance our eating and exercise, and consume more fruits and veggies.  There are numerous healthy benefits for eating fruits and veggies and physical activity; none for the other “dark” side. So you can accomplish the same type of diet by cutting down on the amount of food you are eating-PORTION CONTROL! And getting some wholesome exercise and fitness into your life!!

My friends, stay fit and health THE NERDEL WAY!

Links and sources used for this article:

1. British Journal of Sports Medicine:
   Nieman D, et al “Upper respiratory tract infection is reduced in physically fit and active adults” Br J Sports Med 2010; DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2010.077875.
2. American Heart Association
   Bibbins-Domingo K, et al “Cardiovascular benefits of dietary salt reduction in US adolescents” AHA 2010, Abstract 18899.
3. CNN Health: http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html
4. Nerdel News Blog: The New Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 Part 2
5. Nerdel News Blog: Don’t Touch My Salt

What about in the United States? According to the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)*, one in three adults will have diabetes by the year 2050 and the rates of diabetes will double and even triple in that time period. Over 24 million Americans (adults and kids) have diabetes and 25 % of them don’t even know it! Over 60 million more adults and kids are at risk for the development of Type 2 diabetes.

So what do we do? We all recognize the problem-more calories are consumed, less calories are burned off and this results in weight gain. It happens everyday-face it! Over the course of a year, our children are gaining extra weight at an alarming rate. Exercise-yea, it’s part of the solution. But with cutbacks in financial budgets all over this country, physical fitness programs along with arts programs are being slashed!

We as parents and educators, as concerned citizens and residents of the planet Earth, need to look at this epidemic with the most serious focus. If we don’t deal with our overweight and obese children now-we are dooming them to be un-healthy, obese citizens for centuries to come.

So here are my suggestions:

1. Make exercise and physical fitness a daily requirement for school days-and make both resistant to budgetary cutbacks.
2. Encourage weekend exercise and physical fitness. Make this an extra credit activity that will count positively toward their school work and stimulate kids to actually do it.
3. Cut down on total calorie intake. Restrict “empty calories”-those foods that are composed of solid fats and added sugar (SoFAS): soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, and whole milk. Is pizza bad for you? Made with whole milk and processed flour-answer: this is not the best choice. Made with whole grain flour and low fat (or zero fat) cheese-a better choice!! Remember portion control!
4. Start nutritional and fitness counseling in schools-starting in lower school and continuing through high school. This would include weights, BMI measurements, blood sugar analysis and fitness levels. This will help the school personnel to help the student design a healthier individual menu and fitness program.
5. Bring back Home Economics classes and retool them to educate kids about foods, teach healthy cooking methods and eating healthy.
6. Increase physical fitness options in schools to include both group and individual sports. We need our schools to come “Back To The Future” and into the 21^st century-Yoga, Tai Chi and dance are mainstream-why not incorporate them into our PE programs? Many kids may prefer the individual activity programs and become enthusiastic about exercise. Research shows that physical fitness drops off in the teen years-which may also impact on the rates of obesity.
7. Require any company that advertises food related products (in any form of the media) to only advertise the healthier options of its product line.
8. Add positive reinforcements for kids that are able to reduce weights, increase (improve) their physical fitness and or maintain a non overweight/non obese status. This should also be extended to parents on their tax returns-rewards for preventive care.
9. Penalties for not following preventive care guidelines and maybe even a tax on services needed for extra-weight (e.g. health care, transportation, clothing, etc.)
10. Post nutritional information on all packaging, menus and in all food related venues (supermarkets, restaurants-regular and fast food, stadiums, etc.).

The above represents some currently used guidelines and some in consideration.

Here are some possible future guidelines which for some of you may be a bit radical and a departure from our “free” way of living-but may cause you to think a bit. Let me point out-some of these suggestions are already being considered in countries outside the United States. The technology mentioned to implement some of the strategies also exists.

1. Require all food delivery personnel-anyone that sells food either in a restaurant or market setting (e.g. supermarket clerks, waiters, fast food employees, pizza intake and delivery employees) to tell the customer about the nutritional information of the items they are purchasing and suggest a healthier option if they are choosing something that doesn’t have obvious health benefits.
2. Perform body analysis (including weight, height, medical conditions, BMI, etc.) at food establishments serving and or selling food to determine appropriateness of food items that are ordered or to be purchased. Maybe the shopping cart will be automated to say “allow,” or “no way baby” or “you can’t be serious” or “not the best choice” or “acceptable.” Does this conjure up the computer with artificial intelligence-HAL 9000 in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey or the computer in the movie WARGAMES or even the recent Eagle Eye ? Maybe!
3. Financial penalties for noncompliance with established acceptable BMI criteria. Subsequent penalties for noncompliance may include some form of institutionalization. The “Fat and Food Police”-are coming: multijurisdictional force!!!Wouldn’t that make a great Law and Order!
4. Biometric scanners in all mobile devices that can detect calorie counts and nutritional content of all foods.

Big Brother-maybe. Scary and intrusive-absolutely! The question is whether we want more government intrusion in our lives-if you feel like I do-the answer is no! And maybe-we are not quite ready for these potential future alternative options. But if we are not able to voluntarily find adequate solutions to these known problems, we will leave ourselves open to more governing by our elected officials. At present, there is a developing bias toward people that don’t fit the “norm.” Is there a bias against overweight and obese individuals-I think there is! We have many legitimate solutions-let’s implement them! What are we waiting for? The statistics are accumulating against our children. This is not the time to sit on the sidelines or in the press box. It’s time to send the plays into the game!

My friends, stay fit and healthy The Nerdel Way!

Sources and Links for this article:

A. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center: www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research

B.World health Organization (WHO): www.who.int

C. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): www.cdc.gov: Number of Americans with Diabetes Projected to Double or Triple by 2050; 10/22/10 CDC Press Release

How many of my friends can say that they have run marathons or achieved a Black-belt? How many of you can say that you have changed for the better? How many of you still remain stuck with that childhood imprint, and have not lost the weight, have not started to eat healthy and have not made physical fitness an important part of your life?
I am here to tell you that you can change. You can take hold of your life and lose the weight. You can decide to eat healthy. You can decide to purge your kitchen shelves of all of the junk food and replace it with healthier options. You can go into a gym and walk on a treadmill for ten minutes. You can go into the pool and move around for ten minutes. You can pick up those five pound weights and start training your biceps and triceps. You can do it!

Is it easy? No. Will it take work? Yes! Is it worth the work? Absolutely! How do you start? First you must start by convincing yourself that transforming your body is a goal that is as important as your job. As important as your life is. And it is achievable. Second, the transformation does not have a time limit-it is not a race-it’s a life long adventure. There are no awards for first place, second place or third place. There is a winner-and that is the person who is able to change him or herself from the un healthy dark side to the bright side of healthy.

Look in to the mirror right now. Are you happy with what you see? Is there room for improvement? Even the most fit and trim among us will have room for improvement. Our bodies are a like a piece of art that needs a daily touch up. Its never a finished project. We all have room for improvement-some more than others. So why not start now? Yes, I am talking to those people that need to lose weight, that need to get a check up from the doctor, that need to put down that candy bar and pick up a piece of fruit. I am talking to you-get up and get moving. I am talking to you-you can do it!
My friends, this is the adventure-it’s a marvelous journey. Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way!

It has been reported that kids see almost 40,000 ads a year-maybe more with radio. Are you surprised to hear that the more time a child spends in front of the television set-the higher his or her risk of becoming obese is? You shouldn’t be. That’s data from 1985-over 25 years ago (W. Dietz and S. Gortmaker). Multiple studies (NHANES, CDC, Framingham, etc.) since then have confirmed that the highest BMI’s, the most body fat and the least amount of playtime (exercise time) were recorded in kids that watched over two hours of television a day.

Zooming back from 1985 to today! A recent study published in the journal Nutrition and Dietetics has demonstrated that when kindergarten children were given a multi media experience: Popeye cartoons, tasting parties and cooking classes, their vegetable consumption increased.

Let’s put this all together: kids watch lot’s of television. Despite all of the warnings and advice from noted organizations, it doesn’t appear that TV time will stop. In addition, they sit, working on their computers for school and entertainment. And with our techno oriented culture, the computer time will increase instead of decrease. We know, by documented scientific research, that kids are highly influenced by what they see, hear and read. And we know, also by scientific evidence, that with positive influences, they can increase their consumption of healthy foods, like vegetables. So what are we waiting for? We need more positive role models, that bring a positive message about the benefits of eating healthy and exercising. We can target kids at an early, impressionable age. Let’s find characters (like Nerdel) that bring this positive message directly to the kids. Let’s get celebrities (both sports, TV and Movie), that kids already see and know to become part of this push for a healthier lifestyle. 

Now wait a minute-I know all of you anti-TV critics will send me letters saying I am too soft on “TV Time,” so I want to explain my position. Yes, I feel that kids in general spend way too much time sitting in front of the small screen. Their time is not properly balanced by exercise/fitness time. This unequal balance of energy taken in (in the form of calories consumed) compared to that being burned off, leads to the weight gain. If kids spent as much time exercising as they do watching TV, we would not have this obesity epidemic. Yes, there needs to be family time and family dinners without the distraction of television. But I do believe that TV is here to stay-and kids, like adults derive much enjoyment, entertainment and education from this incredible modality. Modify the amount of time its being used- maybe an alternative. Use the modality for nutritional and fitness education for our children-this is a no brainer. 

Let’s face facts-Most of us love television. We are the small screen generation. And our kids love it too! Let’s get  the right programming, the right role models and the right messages. It’s our job as parents to supply the right foods at home and balance the sitting and moving. It’s up to the schools to balance the nutritional meals and snacks with fitness time.

My friends, this is not brain surgery, it’s a dose of reality! Do we need a “Nutrition” and “Fitness” chip in our TV’s? Maybe! 

Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way!

The following sources were used in preparation of this article-please check them out!:

1. Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children’s Taste Preferences, Thomas N. Robinson, MD, MPH; Dina L. Borzekowski, EdD, Donna M. Matheson, PhD,  Helena C. Kraemer, PhD, Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 2007; 161 (8): 792-797.               
2. Chutima Sirikulchayanonta, Kingkarn Iedsee, Poonsook Shuaytong, Suwat Srisorrachatr. Using food experience, multimedia and role models for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption in Bangkok kindergarten children. Nutrition & Dietetics, 2010; 67 (2): 97 DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-0080.2010.01426.x
3. Do We Fatten Our Children at the Television Set? Obesity and Television Viewing in Children and Adolescents: William H. Dietz Jr, MD, PhD, Steven L. Gortmaker, PhD, PEDIATRICS Vol. 75 No. 5 May 1985, pp. 807-812
4. ISSUE BRIEF, The Role of Media in Childhood Obesity, February 2004: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/The-Role-Of-Media-in-Childhood-Obesity.pdf

 In the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent estimates, there are over 36 million people over the age of 65 and about 200,000 people over the age of 100. And according to the United Nations, by 2013, there will be over 3 million people in the world over the age of 100. So our population is growing and living longer. How are they living longer? Well you could say that one of the reasons is the advancements in medical care and treatment. Certainly in developed nations, that may account for part of the answer. Remember hearing how influenza ravaged the population many years ago? Now we have “flu” vaccinations. In fact we have vaccinations for many serious illnesses that previously eliminated parts of the world’s population.  Advancements in the treatment of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and AIDS have helped prolong life as well.

What else can we attribute the longer life span to-especially in non-developed parts of the world? We have scientific evidence that exercise helps and something that we have known for a while, eating less. It’s true, eating less, the process of taking in less calories as energy, can help you live longer*. That seems like a very basic concept, especially in a world over run by epidemics of starvation and obesity, but it has lots of science to back it up. Of course it goes against the age-old reminders of parents (my parents included) to “eat everything on your plate because there are millions of starving kids in China.” I never knew why parents picked China-now with an expanding population over two billion.

So what does it mean to eat less? The recommended daily calorie intake for a man is about 2500 calories; for a woman it is 2000 calories; for a toddler- 1300 calories and for children ages 7-10 about 1800 calories. Okay, how does that translate into our daily consumption program? Over the past twenty years, our daily consumption of calories has grown and our exercise/ physical fitness time and amount has dropped. As a direct result, those extra calories have hung around and increased the weights and waist sizes (BMI’s) of our adult and child population. Despite the multitude of diets (i.e. low fat, low carb, high protein, etc.), it has been extremely difficult for people to lose the weight once it has been gained and we have been unable to stop the epidemic of obesity. 

What can we do: maybe the following Six Steps For A Healthy Lifestyle :

1. Cut your portion sizes-this is a no brainer-start by cutting down your meal sizes by 10 percent right now. This is evidenced based! Less calorie intakes translates into less obesity, less medical problems and longer life.
2. Cut out processed foods and added sugars. Start by decreasing the white products (white bread, white rice, etc.) which offer no nutritional benefit other than calories. Substitute whole grains whenever possible. Limit and or cut out the sugary drinks (sodas, coffee products with sweeteners and fat, energy drinks with hidden sugars and caffeine). 
3. Increase plant foods in your diet-many studies have shown that a higher consumption of fruits and veggies (loaded with nutrients and antioxidants) is associated with the development of less chronic diseases. Eat lots of colorful salads using limited amounts of high fat salad dressing.
4. Eat low fat, high quality proteins-more fish and plant foods which provide the healthy omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and nutrients.
5. Eat more mono and poly unsaturated fats-olive oils, nuts (for those non allergic), avocados, salmon, beans, poultry, flax and less saturated fats. Limit your red meat consumption. Use low (or zero ) fat dairy products.
6. Exercise at least ten minutes each and every day-and more if you can. (read “Take Ten” in Nerdel Blog). Ten minutes is a start and much better than nothing. As we grow older, our metabolism slows. It takes more and more exercise just to maintain our weights as we age. Another reason to have a decreased body weight.

My friends, eat less, exercise and live longer. Stay fit and healthy The New Nerdel Way!

 *The following sources were used in preparation of this article. Please check them out!

1. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) (2010, July 25). Light and moderate physical activity reduces the risk of early death, study finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2010/07/100723112713.htm
2. Calorie Restriction Society International:  http://www.crsociety.org/
3. Caloric restriction and aging as viewed from Biosphere 2 : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7613481
4. Lynn F. Cherkas, PhD; Janice L. Hunkin, BSc; Bernet S. Kato, PhD; J. Brent Richards, MD; Jeffrey P. Gardner, PhD; Gabriela L. Surdulescu, MSc; Masayuki Kimura, MD, PhD; Xiaobin Lu, MD; Tim D. Spector, MD, FRCP; Abraham Aviv, MD. The Association Between Physical Activity in Leisure Time and Leukocyte Telomere Length. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168(2):154-158.
5. U.S. Bureau of Census: www.census.gov
6. Graehm Gray: The New Dietary Guidelines For Americans, Part One and Part Two