Apr
10
2011
Hello my fans. This is the second column of a two part series on Metabolism. Metabo what? Yes metabolism- the way life is sustained. Food we consume is converted into energy, which is then utilized for the bodies reactions, which help growth, repair and of course elimination of waste products. I guess you can call metabolism an example of the “circle of life”. Why are we concerned about metabolism? Well you see as we get older (do we have to? Yes we do!), our internal engine slows down. We don’t seem to have the energy we once had as a teenager. Our hair is falling out, our skin is sagging, its harder to straighten up in the morning, our muscles are disappearing and we are gaining weight. We wake up one morning and notice that we now have an additional layer of body fat around our waist. Where did that come from? Who put that there? Its like taking a model of the Earth and placing a 2x2 inch layer of Jello around the equator. OMG! My pants don’t fit any more. That dress-forget it! And the bathing suit-ugh! Cover the mirror! Actually it developed from your steady diet of eating, doing less exercise and your metabolism which slowed down. Yes, our metabolism can slow down by up to 10% every ten years. That’s why our fitness gurus have made ...
Posted in: Editor's Page, Home
Mar
22
2011
Hello my fans. I am interrupting my Best Diet in the Universe series, which I hope you all are reading and following, and want to mention National Nutrition Month. Sponsored by the, American Dietetic Association*, March 2011-Eat Right With Color,has been designated as the month to promote eating healthy and exercise. As you all know, The Nerdel Company’s prime health directives besides its motto “everything good for kids,” includes making healthy choices in what you eat and to get plenty of physical activity. So what exactly does all this mean for you and me?
Well, it has to do with following the newly released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans** and the physical activity guidelines as well. Let’s break it down into easy facts you can use: Here are the highlights:
Manage your weight by: 1. trying to prevent and reduce being overweight, 2. Improve your eating behavior and increase your physical activity
Control the amount of food you eat daily. That means for those of you overweight, REDUCING your calorie intake. Portion Control.
Increase your exercise and physical activity time DAILY! Cut back on the amount of time your are sitting!!!
Closely watch your weight in each stage of your life and balance the calories in with the calories out!
Cut back on salt-reduce the amount of salt in your diet to 2300mg daily. If you are age 51 and older, African American, have diabetes, hypertension ...
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Feb
11
2011
Well, there it is my friends. The reports are finally out-over a half billion of us-that’s right us-the people and residents of planet Earth, are obese. And this represents a doubling since 1980. These studies, led by researcher Majid Ezzati of the Imperial College of London and Harvard University, were published recently in the Lancet journal. And you know what happens with 500 million people with obesity? You are right again-a rise in the secondary medical problems that result from the obesity like heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure. Can you imagine a rising population of people with heart problems and diabetes? Our medical system will be overloaded with new patients. Not to mention-seeing many young obese individuals that develop secondary problems earlier and prior to adulthood. It’s catastrophic. What can be done? Cutting portion sizes and increasing exercise will help. Our medical treatment for elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol is getting better. But that won’t stop the tidal wave of kids and adults that will develop these problems. Maybe we should all feel better that we can treat these secondary problems effectively. But we really need to focus on primary prevention. We need to start the nutrition and fitness education at an early- preschool age and continue this until adult hood. We need to teach our young generation of kids how to eat, what to eat that ...
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Jan
14
2011
Wow, by the response from my last blog, you guys and gals are ready! It seems that many of us are ready to get the weight off. I am proud of all of you honest folks-yes, we let it out-we are honest-we gained weight and we are not happy campers. And now, you took the first five steps: 1. You got rid of all of the junk food in your kitchen-had to be done 2. You have weighed yourself-good or bad-had to be done 3. You set a weight loss goal that is realistic-had to be done 4. You made an exercise schedule and finally you went for (or have scheduled) a checkup with your medical provider-had to be done. Great job! Had to be done! Must be done! You are well on your way to success. Now you are all wondering, what’s next? What other secrets can you tell me? Tell me Graehm, please, please!
So let’s talk food! That’s right “da food!” What type, how much and when can I eat it? Isn’t that what we all ask several times a day? In my family, we ask it before we even finish our first meal of the day. We need to know! And we need to know now! We all think about food incessantly. It makes us feel good knowing what ...
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Oct
12
2010
I am back, my friends after a brief respite. Since my last column, I have had many long hours to read the papers, journals and listen to the chatter. So I guess that means I am ready to resume my ranting. Are you ready?
Well, this week’s column pertains to those derogatory and disparaging names that we hear all the time: terms like fat, obese, and overweight. That’s right, I am taking this time to discuss the categories that most of us feel we fit into. Many research studies point out that we don’t appropriately categorize our own body type. And in fact we don’t do it for our children either. Many overweight people consider themselves in the normal weight range. Individuals that are obese and even morbidly obese consider themselves a “bit overweight.” So is being fat the new “normal”? What really is in a name?
When was the last time you looked at your child and felt he or she was “obese,” or even “overweight?” And certainly we never would call our kids fat! Or have anyone call them fat for that matter! Do we as parents look at ourselves or our children based on the BMI scale? I don't think so. I can recall my mom calling me “chunky.” That didn’t make me feel any better, ...
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Oct
07
2010
Pronunciation – (x-ser-sīz)
n. a noun
v. a verb
What you do when you move; Get on your feet. What you need to do to increase your heart rate. The opposite of “couch potatoing”, put it into action; exert yourself; start with a little- get to a lot; less TV- more fresh air; move – move - move; get fit – don’t just sit; EXERCISEWord
Posted in: Nerdel's Words
Sep
20
2010
I usually write about childhood obesity issues, nutrition or fitness but I want to make a slight departure and discuss an issue that I feel very passionate about: Medical clearance of student athletes. Maybe the timing of this article is due to news of several student athletes in various sports, from running to football, collapsing and dying on the field, either from seizures or heart problems. It’s not a new story. Children in school sponsored sports programs have been dying every year, all over this country. Sometimes it’s a headline in the “Local” section of your daily newspaper or on your local market television news show. Sometimes it makes it to the network morning shows as a segment. It’s even discussed and debated on a national level by heart specialists and sport medicine specialists. The American Heart Association has even gone on record by saying that the current clearance guidelines are inadequate. But what has been done?Nothing. There is no consensus on the proper way to screen a child that will enter a sports program.
Where are we now? Up to this point, most public and private schools require students that want to enter a sports program to have a medical exam or a Pre-participation Physical Examination.
According to the American College of Sports Medicine, the pre-participation physical exam (PPE) is an important step toward safe participation ...
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Apr
29
2010
After reading the last feedback mail from my most recent posting on the potential of governmental penalties or restrictions for those individuals that may be over a certain weight limit (body size limit), I realized that this is a very hot topic for debate. I was surprised that so many people agreed about levying extra taxes and increasing the cost of health care for those citizens that are classified as obese. In addition, suggestions came in regarding extra taxes on artificially sweetened sodas(specifically with high fructose corn syrup), candy and donuts, and of course fast foods. Someone mentioned the recent laws that Mexico passed about requiring daily exercise for school children and a law that would restrict schools from selling junk food to students. I looked in to this and found out the following details:
The lower house of the Mexican Congress passed a law against childhood obesity. This law will try to limit the selling of junk food in primary and secondary schools and also require daily half hour exercise periods.
The new law will also try to stop children from eating and drinking foods with high fat, high sugar and preservatives and to encourage shops near schools to sell fruit and “healthy juice.”
According to Mexican data, almost 52 percent of the 5 to 11 year olds in Mexico are either obese or overweight and that Mexico has one of the ...
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Apr
18
2010
Well, I am back my friends-after a brief but needed vacation. Actually I didn’t go anywhere. I just stayed home and paid bills, read mail, cleaned and organized my desk, went grocery shopping several times, caught up on my TIVO. You know, sometimes you just don’t have to go anywhere. It’s certainly cheaper. Anyway, I was having dinner with some friends and of course the topic of nutrition comes up. They all know what I do, so inevitably someone will start the conversation off about cholesterol, fats in the foods and childhood obesity. This time was bit different. After discussing the idea of where to begin nutrition and fitness education and deciding it was in preschool, we covered the BMI report card, the “Let’s Move” program by First Lady Michelle Obama, Jaime Oliver’s new show on ABC: “Food Revolution,” and ended with the buy an extra seat on the airlines for the obese traveler. But it didn’t end there. This discussion was more heated. Most of my friends have kids, and most of their kids are in the “okay” weight range-meaning that they are in the middle of the BMI range. Some of the kids are overweight and some are thin. And then it happened: one of my friends said that we will not get anywhere with the obesity problem unless there is government intervention. Everyone took a deep breath ...
Posted in: Editor's Page, Home
Mar
01
2010
By John E. Lewis, Ph.D.
Childhood obesity is dramatically rising and is now the most significant health crisis affecting children today. Physical inactivity and poor nutrition are the principle
causes of obesity, according to the United States Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Agriculture (USDA). Thus, children should be made aware of the severity
of the problem that their generation faces, and they also need to understand that being active, which was taken for granted by so many prior generations, is one of the
principal keys to being in good health. As the electronics age has consumed so many aspects of daily life in the last couple of decades, children of today are indoctrinated
into the technological craze at a very early age. Popular electronics are readily affordable by most families, so children grow up learning how to operate everything from
televisions to computers to video games to PDAs and cell phones. While the use of technology provides our society with enormous advantages in access to information and
convenience, with such freedom at least partially comes the price of good health due to the sedentary lifestyle that such electronic equipment promotes.
In considering how electronic equipment can help to promote a more active lifestyle in children, one of the obvious appliances is the pedometer. Pedometers, like most
electronics, come in a wide variety of models, styles, features, and options, but a simple pedometer that accurately measures steps ...
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