Now I know why the American Cancer Society stopped using birthday cakes in their "Happy Birthday" ads.

Robert Lustig is a specialist on pediatric hormone disorders and the leading expert in childhood obesity at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine.  According to the enormous feature in The New York Times Magazine about his theories, UCSF has one of the best medical schools in the country.  Lustig published his first paper on childhood obesity over a decade ago, and he believes the leading cause of the epidemic is something we all consume every day: sugar.

But not only does Lustig believe that sugar causes obesity and diabetes in children and adults, he goes so far as to describe sugar and high fructose corn syrup as toxic, poisonous and downright evil.  Times scribe Gary Taubes is upfront about the fact that after 10 years of research, he’s in complete agreement with Lustig.  Early in the lengthy piece, Taubes writes, “when you bake your children a birthday cake or give them lemonade on a hot summer day, you may be doing them more harm than good, despite all the love that goes with it.”  Lustig, Taubes and others believe that sugar can even cause cancer. Continue reading »

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Food Revolution scared me. And not just because of the Pink Slime. The parents on the show seemed educated and informed. They were feeding their kids well at home, but being undermined by the institutional food their kids were eating during the day. One mother said her son’s tastes had actually been altered by school lunch: “He used to eat all the good food we have at home before. ” Others nodded gravely. Are kids that vulnerable to influence? Would they really just be eating pizza and fries at every meal if we’d let them?

Yesterday’s New York Post asked the same question in a very different context: an article quoting various restauranteurs about kids and fine dining. The angle was irritating in general, but it was the last quote that left me with the worst taste in my mouth:

“… at least one of the city’s top restaurateurs thinks parents may be forcing gourmet cuisine down their children’s gullets. ‘The only food I ever see children enjoy at any of my restaurants are the pizzas at Pulino’s,’ said restaurateur Keith McNally, who also owns Balthazar and Minetta Tavern. ‘That’s all children ever want to eat. Anyone who says anything else is lying.”’

Really? Continue reading »

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If it's everywhere, we just don't see it.

I know this story all too well. “As (being) overweight and obesity have become more common, those who are carrying unhealthy extra pounds are increasingly likely to see their weight as normal, and are therefore unlikely to feel the need to shed some of those pounds.” That’s from a Health Magazine article about obesity in the US. Like many women, I jumped from being “normal sized” to being “plus-sized” after giving birth. (And I’ve stayed plus-size because that was the last time I ever jumped.) For most of my 20′s, I hovered near the top of the normal-sized ladder, wearing a 12 or 14. (The only exception being the summer I got married, when I was in a size 6. My wedding, apparently, was a low point.)

I didn’t gain tons of weight while I was pregnant, but since I was so close to the tipping point as it was, I didn’t have to pull a Kate Hudson and gain 75 pounds to wind up an 18. My life was quite full after my daughter was born, and when Americans run out of time, we often eliminate those activities that are best for us. I was too busy and tired to go to the gym or to workout. I was too stressed by work and my relationship to worry about trying to lose weight. (Of course working out relieves stress, but that argument wasn’t convenient at the time.) I did walk and carry my daughter’s stroller up and down the subway stairs, but I wasn’t getting enough physical activity to make a difference. I had become fat. It snuck up on me, like a cheesecake in the night.

According to Health, “Roughly two-thirds of adults and one-third of children in the U.S. are now overweight or obese.” But perhaps more importantly, we’re ignoring the fact that we’re out of shape. “The latest evidence for this trend was presented Wednesday at an American Heart Association conference in Atlanta, where Columbia University researchers reported the preliminary results of a study that found that overweight mothers and children tend to underestimate their own — and each other’s — weight.” Continue reading »

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With every fad diet comes another chance a young girl will start an eating disorder career

Another diet is about the make waves on the shores of the United States: the Dukan Diet. Like Atkins, it’s high in protein and low in carbs. Like many other diets, there are complicated and unrealistic phases to follow. And like virtually every other fad diet, I’m willing to wager that most of the people who go on it will gain all the weight they lose as soon as they go off it.

Straight from France, meet the Dukan Diet. But please, don’t go on it if you have preteen and teenage daughters. As someone who, from the age of 4 was self-conscious and paranoid about her weight, they will know if you’re counting carbs and eating an inordinate amount of bunless burgers in an attempt to be svelte. They will think diets are a way of life, and that fad diets are shortcuts worth trying.

Continue reading »

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A truly scary Halloween treat.

As someone who has difficulty resisting temptation, I have yet to stock up on Halloween treats. I find it best to wait until just hours before the trick-or-treaters show up before going to the store to make my purchases.   This way, I can be sure that there will actually be some treats left to hand out when the time comes.

But when I do go shopping, I know what I will buy:  Chocolate.  There will be no pretzels or dried fruit at my house. And there sure as heck won’t be any carrots.

But who, you might ask, would give out carrots on Halloween anyway?  Bolthouse Farms, a commercial vegetable farm in western Michigan, is hoping you will.  The company, known for their  “Eat ‘Em Like Junk Food” campaign, in which they package baby carrots in small bags and market them as a potato chip alternative, has now set their sights on making Halloween healthy. Continue reading »

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Running with the dogs is good for kids.

If you are on the fence about getting a family dog, perhaps a new study out of St George’s  University of London will provide the push you need.

According to researchers, children whose families own dogs are more physically active than those who don’t. Continue reading »

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Do overweight kids face bias at home?

Do parents discriminate against kids who are overweight, even when those kids are their own?

A recent study by researchers at the University of North Texas in Denton, published in the journal Obesity, has found that, at least as kids get older, parents are less likely to help their overweight offspring in two key ways – buying a car and paying for college — than they are to help children who are not overweight.

“No one is going to be surprised that society discriminates against the overweight, but I think it is surprising that it can come from your parents,” study co-author Adriel Boals told Reuters Health. Continue reading »

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