Monday, May 30, 2011

Let Kids Be Kids To Stay Healthy

It's summertime and that means more time for the kids to find something to do. But it seems... sometimes it's just a good idea to let them hang out.

By hanging out, I mean getting outside and doing what kids to best, just running amok. That will keep them in better shape than any program around.

To fight childhood obesity, a recent study is showing that what your kids need most is "unstructured" activity. And they've even narrowed it down to how much does them good. For those between the ages of 5 and 17, they need up to 90 minutes a day.

So, for many of us parents, that also means showing your child the door. That doesn't mean going to a friend's house for video games. In this study, children that were the most active also ended up with the healthier numbers for blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin. That's not a big surprise. What might be though is that this applied to all children, whether they were obese or thin as a rail.

And again, this didn't mean having them join a guy or hop on a treadmill. They simply need to do what they do best... play... run around like you did when you were a kid.

These researchers found out that physical activity for children doesn't need to be intense, like playing soccer or tennis, but instead just small bouts of activity, like running around with friends, can do the trick.

What this and other studies are showing is that it's the little things that count, and for the young ones that means just playing like kids tend to do anyway once you pry them away from the computer or TV.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Protein Breakfast

You might have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But what you eat for breakfast can go a long way towards helping you stay slim.

Besides just "breaking the fast," breakfast, especially a high protein one, can keep you from getting over hungry during the day.

For years scientists have told us that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It not only gives us a boost of energy when we need it the most, right after waking up, but has also been shown to keep you from eating too much during the day. And we've also known that skipping breakfast can lead to unhealthy snacking during the day and to overeating.

But a researcher out of the University of Missouri has found that a high protein breakfast in particular can make you feel fuller and help reduce hunger pangs throughout the day. In this study the worst offenders----"breakfast skipping" teenagers were given different types of breakfast and MRIs were taken of their brains to see how they responded. The ones eating high protein breakfast, in this case Belgian waffles, syrup and yogurt had the part of their brain activated that controls our food motivation.

So, at least according to this latest study, not only do you want to make sure you eat breakfast every day, but you'll also want to make sure it's rich in proteins---an easy way to help in the battle of the bulge.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Cholesterol Testing For Kids

We all know high cholesterol can be bad for you, but when is it time to start getting tested? It's probably earlier than you or your children think.

It'll probably come as a surprise to most of us but a new group of experts is now recommending that children as young as 2 get tested for cholesterol.

Many of us suffer from high cholesterol. Untreated it can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Up until now it's mostly been thought of as something adults needed to worry about. But over the past years we've noticed heart attacks and strokes in younger adults and more children with high cholesterol.

And since cholesterol is one of those things that takes its toll over time, getting treatment started early on is the key to keeping it from causing problems later in life. The National Lipid Association has issued new guidelines aimed at getting children tested for cholesterol. The new guidelines call for all children to be tested for high cholesterol when they are 9 to 11. They go one step further and say that if your family has a history of early heart disease than your children should be tested as early as age 2.

Although these are just guidelines, they do point to a growing problem with obesity and high cholesterol in our young children. A problem that if not treated early on, hopefully through improved diet and exercise, can lead to cardiovascular problems in early adulthood.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Coffee: Good or Bad?

Is coffee good for you or bad for you? Seems like the story keeps changing, but some new info might have you sipping away on that morning cup.

And the answer to whether coffee is good or bad for you is "yes," or better yet, how about "it depends." And it depends on how much you drink. And since my motto is "everything in moderation," coffee definitely falls into that category. In addition to keeping you awake and alert, now it looks like a "moderate amount" might also be fairly healthy for you.

Recent studies have shown that coffee can reduce your chances of developing anything from type 2 diabetes and possibly even certain cancers, to keeping away heart problems. But now it looks like part of the reason might be because coffee is rich in antioxidants. According to a new study, just published in The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, coffee is one of the richest sources of antioxidants in our diets.

But of course too much of a good thing can be bad and in coffee's case too many cups a day can lead to jitteriness, make your heartburn flare up or your heart rate speed up and can even cause you to lose some sleep. So to keep coffee healthy for you, make sure you practice my favorite word---"moderation."

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

How Long Will You Live Test

Can a simple blood test tell you how long you will live? One company says yes. But others say... "not so fast."

This is definitely one of those read the fine print before relying on a test like this.

There is a company out of England offering a simple blood test that will tell you how old your body is. And as most of us know, our body could be a lot older or a little younger than our actual age, depending on how well we've taken care of it.

This company's blood test looks at something we all have called telomeres. These are bits of dna at the ends of our chromosomes, like the x and y chromosomes that decide whether we are boys or girls. As we get older, these telomeres start to shrink and the older we are, the smaller they are. This blood test looks at how long they are and uses that to tell us how old our bodies are. According to the manufacturer of this test, it can tell you within about a decade what your biological age is.

This currently costs around $700 and most experts don't think it's something you need. They pretty much feel that more testing needs to be done to figure out how valuable this information is. But at the same time, the company making this test says that with the results you can see if your telomeres are much shorter than they should be for your age and take steps to improve your health. But other experts point out that you probably don't need an expensive blood test to tell you you need to eat better and exercise more.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Cat Scan Kids

When it comes kids and head injuries are we getting to many cat scans? A new study says, "yes."

This isn't so much a don't get a CT scan story, but more of a “sometimes” it's better to do a little of what we call watchful waiting.

According the the CDC, more than half of the children brought to the Emergency Room for head injuries end up getting a cat scan. And although it gives the doctor and parents some very useful information it also gives the child a dose of radiation. And repeated cat scans over time can increase the amount of radiation they are exposed to.

Researchers involved in a new study feel that more watchful waiting might mean less CT scans for children and less exposure to that radiation. According to them, blunt head trauma in children is very common but oftentimes not serious. The problem is that it's sometimes hard to tell which is which. But for some cases they feel that watching a child for a few hours might eliminate the need to get the cat scan. However, they also say that for some more severe cases, especially when children ended up vomiting, ended up losing consciousness at some point or have a memory loss, these are more serious signs that could mean a cat scan is needed sooner rather than later.

So, if you end up in the ER with a banged up child the doctor might want to just observe them for a few hours instead of getting a quick CT scan.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Measles Outbreak

It's not a disease you hear much about these days, but the U.S. is on track to have the most measles cases in the last decade.

Most of the new cases doctors are seeing here in the U.S. are linked to other countries, especially Europe. Health experts are blaming this increase on a failure to vaccinate children. Some of the cases are from adults visiting the U.S., other cases are children who live here but visited a foreign country recently and returned infected with the measles.

In a typical year, this country only sees around 50 cases. So far this year we've seen 89 and are on track to have more cases than we did back in 2008 when 140 people got infected. Measles is a very contagious disease with up to 90% of unvaccinated people getting infected if exposed to a sick person. Unfortunately, in bad cases it can cause pneumonia or even encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain. And for every 1,000 kids that get sick, around 2 will die.

Prior to the introduction of the MMR vaccine about 500 died from the measles every year. But now fewer children are getting vaccinated than in the past decades meaning they can not only get this disease, but they can spread it once they become infected. And for those traveling overseas, especially to Europe, this vaccine is more important than ever.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Beware The Baby Bottle

Using a baby bottle to comfort your older toddler, might be setting them up for obesity.

According to a new study, 15 months seems to be the cutoff point for the bottle.

Researchers looked at the diet of over 6,000 children and found that more than 20% of them still used a baby bottle. When these same children were looked at three years later, when they were 5 1/2, more of the late bottle users ended up being obese children. Prolonged bottle users were much more likely to be obese children even if they were breastfed early on and regardless of when they started solid foods or even if they spent more time in front of the television or video games. In this study, late bottle feeding seemed to be the big issue.

Part of the reason is because at this stage, beyond 15 months, using a bottle sets up bad food management habits that children use later in life. It lets them get food, in this case from a baby bottle, for behavior reasons and not because of hunger or appetite.

The researchers involved in this study, from temple university have a couple of recommendations when it comes to bottle feeding. Weaning them by 12 to 14 months could help fight this obesity issue. Also, instead of using the bottle to calm children, parents should instead address their underlying hunger and nutritional needs. And, of course, switch them to a cup as soon as you can.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

New Autism Test

There's a new, quick test that might help doctors and parents spot Autism earlier than ever.

The important part behind this is that when it comes to Autism, the earlier treatment is started the more successful it is. And this new, simple test can help discover it much earlier than what we can currently do.

Right now, it's usually discovered around the time a child turns three. But researchers have found clues in early infancy that can be used to help spot it even earlier. And they have turned that information into a new test that can find signs of autism in infants as young as 12 months old. And one of the beauties of this test is that it only involved about five minutes worth of paperwork while waiting in the doctor's office.

Researchers involved in this study used a 24-question checklist asking parents about things ranging from, "When your child plays with toys, does he/she look at you to see if you are watching?" to, "When you are not paying attention to your child, does he/she try to get your attention?"

By using this checklist, doctors involved in the research were able to diagnose around 75% of babies that went on to develop Autism. Although this survey tool still needs some fine tuning and isn't ready for widespread use yet, once more testing has been done to verify its accuracy it should become widely available.

The hope is this simple tool will be used by doctors and parents to get treatments started earlier on children at a higher risk of developing Autism.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Liposuction - Fat Comes Back

Liposuction can help shape parts of your body, but the fat it takes away might not stay away.

A new study is showing that one year after liposuction the fat does come back, but it comes back in a different area of the body. And most women in the study were still happy with the results.

A University of Colorado study looking at what happens to women's fat after liposuction found that in the 14 women they followed, the fat returned to their bodies. The women in this study had a modest amount of fat removed from their thighs and hips. Fat measurements, using a device called a DXA that not only measures body fat but tells where most of it is, found that 12 months after undergoing liposuction, the fat they lost had actually come back. But instead of going to the waist or hips, where they had it removed, for most of the women it was added to their abdomen.

Obesity experts think the reason the fat comes back is because our bodies defend the fat it has. So, when it's removed by liposuction the body brings it back. But it doesn't come back to the area it was removed from since the structures supporting fat in that area were damaged, but instead goes to other parts of the body. In this case, the abdomen. However, the women in the study were still happy with the results of their liposuction, probably because it improved their "problem areas."