Activists Attack Again
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Friday, June 12, 2009
The premier food nannies, those folks at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), are at it again. Not content with disparaging all foods and beverages they don’t like, they’re now agitating to reverse a rule by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to “prevent states from using federal nutrition education funds to discourage soda consumption.” According to their legal affairs director, Bruce Silverglade, such beverages are “the only food or beverage   Read Full >>

Journalism Professor Rates Health Studies
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Here at ACSH we’ve complained for years that health-related stories in the popular media often pay scant attention to the scientific accuracy and importance of the studies they report on. For example, we’ve seen preliminary studies reported at scientific meetings given equal weight with studies that have undergone peer review and are published in respected scientific journals. As we’ve Read Full >>

Does Red Meat Increase Risk of Early Death?
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Should we be wary of eating red meat? Taken at face value, a new study suggests that might be a good idea -- but a more careful consideration does not.A report in the March 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine describes a very large study -- over half a million people initially aged fifty-one to seventy-one years -- who reported their diets at the study's outset and were then followed for ten years. Over 300,000 men and over 200,000 women participated in the study. During   Read Full >>

TESTIMONY: New York's Soda Tax
By Ruth Kava, Ph.D., R.D.
Publication Date : Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The following statement was submitted on February 2, 2009 by ACSH's Dr. Ruth Kava to New York State's Senate Finance Committee and Assembly Committee on Ways and Means during discussions of 2009-2010 budget plans for health and Medicaid.As a non-profit, independent public health organization, the American Council on Science and Health provides sound, science-based information on numerous issues that can affect the public's health -- including obesity. We appreciate this   Read Full >>

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 >>