More Scares for Parents from Animal Rights Group
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Thursday, July 24, 2008
Using the untimely death of former White House press secretary Tony Snow from colon cancer as an example, the animal rights activists misleadingly called the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) imply that such a fate awaits children who are fed hot dogs as part of school lunches.In an egregious attempt to frighten parents, PCRM today warned that allowing children to eat processed meats such   Read Full >>

Milk Is Milk Is Milk
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Friday, July 18, 2008
For many years milk marketers have provided consumers with a plethora of choices -- regular, reduced fat, low fat, nonfat, lactose-reduced, etc., etc. All such products have something real to offer. Unfortunately, for the past few years many have decided to add labeling that their milk comes from cows that "were not treated with rBST" (recombinant bovine somatotropin). Implicit in such labeling is the idea that milk from such cows is in some way different, indeed better, than milk   Read Full >>

Decline in Kids' Activity with Age Documented: New Study
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Concern about the increase in obesity in children and adolescents has spurred research into their activity levels. Data garnered from girls' reports of their activity, for example, indicates that as girls mature, their participation in leisure-time and total exercise appears to decrease. Because these studies are   Read Full >>

Obesity Bodes Ill for Future Heart Health: New Study
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine (2008;168:928-35) paints a rather bleak picture of the future health of obese Americans. Dr. G.L. Burke and colleagues confirmed earlier studies that found a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in most American ethnic groups. But of even more concern was their finding that many obese people who were apparently healthy with respect to current symptoms of cardiovascular disease (CVD) had signs portending future heart problems.The   Read Full >>

Low Activity + High Screen Time = Overweight Kids: Study
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Wednesday, April 16, 2008
It should come as no surprise that overweight and obesity are linked to a less active lifestyle. A new report in the journal Pediatrics (Laurson, et al., 2008) quantifies the relative effects of physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST) -- time spent watching TV and playing video games -- on the likelihood that children will be overweight or obese.The researchers monitored 709 children ranging from seven to twelve years old (318 boys and 391 girls) by having them wear pedometers for   Read Full >>

DASH Dietary Pattern Supports Cardiovascular Health: New Study
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Monday, April 14, 2008
Originally devised to help hypertensive patients lower their blood pressure, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) dietary pattern includes relatively large amounts of plant-derived foods, moderate amounts of low-fat dairy foods, and low amounts of animal protein. A new study by Dr. Teresa Fung and colleagues (Arch Intern Med 2008; 168:713) indicates that women who adhere to such a dietary pattern may lower their risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke as well.Approximately   Read Full >>

Common Sense on Biotech in UK and France!
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Friday, April 11, 2008
It may be hard to believe, but apparently there really are officials in both the UK and France who are not afraid of the use of biotechnology to improve and expand the food supply.In the UK, a bastion of pro-organic and anti-biotechnolgy sentiment, Prime Minister Brown called for the use of genetically modified crops. In a letter to the G-8 leaders, he encouraged   Read Full >>

Milking Consumer Fears
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Monday, March 24, 2008
It's a pretty sad state of affairs when grocery sellers decide to market their wares by kowtowing to consumer fears. But that's what seems to be happening now. Wal-Mart has decided not to sell milk from cows that have been treated with rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin, or growth hormone) -- even though the FDA has said more than once that milk from such cows is no different from any   Read Full >>

Weight Maintenance -- What Works?
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, March 11, 2008
It can be difficult for overweight or obese people to lose weight, yet many do so. What seems to be much harder is maintaining weight loss -- and the health benefits that can accompany it -- for the long term.Dr. L.P. Svetkey and colleagues (JAMA 299; 1139-1148) compared different strategies for sustaining weight loss in a two-phase trial. They found that having brief, monthly personal contact with a weight loss interventionist offered a slight benefit over either an interactive   Read Full >>

Kids, TV, and BMI: Fatter But No More Inactive
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Various facets of modern life (e.g., snack foods, television, unbalanced school food selections, etc.) have been blamed for the increasing prevalence of obesity and obesity-linked diseases in the young. A recent study by Leonard H. Epstein and colleagues in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (vol. 162:239-245) lends credence to the relevance of sedentary activities -- TV and computer use -- in contributing to youthful obesity.In an innovative two-year study, the researchers   Read Full >>