When moms talk about the trials and tribulations of feeding their children, the conversations typically center on what types of foods their kids like and dislike. How to get young Jim to eat green beans. Whether it’s healthy for Gracie to avoid meat entirely. You rarely hear parents discussing whether their kids are getting the right percentages of specific nutrients and additives, the correct amount of starch or sodium.
But while a nutrient-centric view of food isn’t in tune with how most people think about their food intake, it’s exactly how the U.S. government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans approaches the subject. [click to continue…]
Jorge Medina-Barreto has taken a proactive role in bettering his health
Being a teenager can be rough. Simultaneously dealing with school, peer pressure and puberty can leave many young people feeling like forces outside their control are running their lives. But Jorge Medina-Barreto, a peer leader in the Adolescent Services Program at Martha Eliot Health Center, has taken a new path towards self-empowerment: improving his health through cooking and exercise.
If you believe that gaining a little weight above what’s recommended while pregnant doesn’t matter, it may be time to re-think that notion. Janet Currie, PhD, of Columbia University and I collaborated to examine this question, and found that excess pregnancy weight gain is a strong predictor of high birth weight in infants. What’s the big deal if a baby is a bit too heavy? Research suggests high birth weight increases risk for numerous health problems, including obesity later in life.
As part of her Let’s Move! campaign, Michelle Obama is reaching out to software developers and technology innovators to create engaging games and mobile phone applications that encourage children to take a more proactive role in healthy nutrition and exercise. Ben Reis, PhD, of Children’s Hospital Informatics Program, is leading a team from Children’s determined to answer the first lady’s call, with a new app called Food Hero.
Players choose a character and decide what he or she eats for the day. After their virtual character has eaten, they’re asked to engage in physical activities like biking, running and swimming. If the character eats too much, it becomes slow and sluggish; if it eats too little, it becomes too weak and tired to finish its exercise in time. Only a properly nourished character has the strength and stamina needed to complete the physical challenges in record-breaking time. [click to continue…]
Earlier this week Claire McCarthy, MD, wrote a Thrive post defending working mothers, in response to a study from the UK linking our busy schedules to increased rates of childhood obesity. The post generated a lot of discussion and several readers chimed in with some great advice for raising healthy kids while working full-time.
What do you think? Are you a working mom or dad with strategies for keeping your kids healthy that could help your fellow busy parents? Advice for juggling work, the kids and dinner on the go? Please join in the conversation by adding your comments below.
The debate over whether or not a tax on soda and other sugary drinks would actually discourage people from drinking them has been going on for some time. People who support the idea often point to alcohol and tobacco taxes as examples of how price increases for health-harming products can reduce their use. Anti-soda taxers say that comparing soda to things as harmful as booze or cigarettes is inaccurate, and question whether a soda tax would unfairly target specific populations.
But amidst the points and counterpoints, name-calling and finger-wagging, researchers at Harvard Medical School/Harvard Pilgrim Health Care conducted a real-life study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to see if a soda tax would help reduce soda consumption. And as it turns out, it did. [click to continue…]
Being a working mom means feeling guilty and stressed. There’s always something we can’t get done at work because of our kids, or something we can’t do for our kids because of work. We can’t win.
Now there’s a study from the United Kingdom to make that guilt and stress even worse. Apparently, when moms work full-time, it’s more likely that their kids will be overweight. Not that it helps if we stop working: being in a lower socioeconomic class (which could happen to our families without our income) raises the risk of having overweight kids too. Again, we can’t win.
I gotta say, this feels unfair. I’m okay—well, sort of okay—with being blamed for a work project not getting done, or forgetting to pack the Girl Scout vest in my daughter’s backpack. I’m okay with being given a hard time for not working late, or for missing a school concert because of work. But I’m not okay with being blamed for childhood obesity.
Soda from a marketing perspective: “It’s bubbly, sweet and drinking it makes your life like a non-stop party!” The reality of excessive soda consumption: sugar-heavy sodas have been linked to America’s growing rates of obesity, diabetes, tooth decay, heart disease and depression.
In an effort to put a cap on young Bostonians’ soda drinking, the city is initiating the Soda-Free Summer Challenge, where participants pledge to abstain from drinking soda all summer. [click to continue…]
David Ludwig’s research was featured in 
The debate over whether or not a tax on soda and other sugary drinks would actually discourage people from drinking them has been going on for some time. People who support the idea often point to alcohol and tobacco taxes as examples of how 
