• Feb15

    How To Recognize If Your Child Is Obese: Results from a Pediatrician’s Office

    Posted in: Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss

    Many studies now show parents underestimate their overweight kids’ weight.

    A New York pediatrician’s office shows that barely 10% of parents of overweight kids actually thought their kid was overweight.

    In contrast, fully 60% of parents of normal-weight kids knew that their kid’s weight was normal. Parents of overweight kids were off by an average of 45%tile.

    Parents of normal-weight kids who underestimated are more likely to be concerned about their child’s weight than parents who get it right.

    Parents most likely to make changes are those who knew that they themselves were overweight, had overweight kids over 8 years old, and those who thought their kid had a health problem.

    Obese children have a high risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and metabolic syndrome. These are all disorders thought only to occur in adults–like my patients–until several years ago.

    Bottom line: parents have a hard time discerning when their child is overweight, and it is different for adults than for kids.  For kids, use the BlubberBusters BMI for kids calculator: good, clear explanations and info.

     
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  • Jan20

    Is Walmart Better-For-You? Yes, Nutritionally.

    Posted in: Aging and Costs of Aging, Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss, Uncategorized, Wellness and Health

    As Marion Nestle points out on NPR’s piece on Walmart’s nutrition initiative, farm subsidies are what drives the availability of processed foods over whole, fresh foods. We often don’t eat and cook healthy because it’s cheaper not to. And kids too often suffer.

    But what she missed is the difference between philosophy and practice. Whether better-for-you processed foods are good is not just a philosophical question. It’s a practical one. The answer is “Yes,” though the processed products are not ideal.  At least for my patients with hypertension, heart disease and high cholesterol.

    Walmart’s economies of scale will drive down whole veggie prices to consumers, and that’s more important than the salt and sugar subtractions on processed foods.

    Broccoli may be presented not wilted in a package or dessicated in a boxed dinner, but as a head. And with cheaper, whole vegetables should come cooking lessons, kitchen innovations, cutlery, spice mixes and ways to put veggies on the plate, quickly.

    Because time is the most precious commodity. When you’re working 3 jobs and taking 4 buses in a day, it’s hard to find time to cook.  But Walmart can help solve that problem for many of its customers too.

    Only 26 percent of the nation’s adults eat vegetables three or more times a day, including lettuce on a burger. Walmart (and soon to follow Walgreen’s, Kraft, Target, and more) can and will help.

     
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  • Dec21

    Treating Overweight Kids…With What?

    Posted in: Child Obesity, High Cholesterol, Obesity and Weight Loss

    Dr Molly Ferguson is a naturopath in Michigan who is courageous enough to discuss treating childhood obesity.
    Video: Treating Childhood Obesity

    Putting kids on a diet has long been terrifying to physicians because we are frightened about creating eating disorders (the other way!)

    But there is good data to show that the suggestions she makes: “eating the rainbow”, “eating fewer processed foods”, and “avoiding chemical additives” can have beneficial effects on kids’ health: improving immunity, increasing energy level at school, reducing hyperactivity symptoms.

    Is there a good diet for overweight kids? If there were just one, all kids would be on it.

    Childhood obesity has leveled off in kids ages 2-5, because Moms are super concerned, and have more control over what there is to eat.   The next frontier: kids ages 6-11 or 12.

    I think teaching kids about food and the basics of how to cook would transform family lives: treat Mom’s diabetes, and Dad’s cholesterol and heart disease, and Sis’ asthma.

    Eating and cooking healthfully to lose weight has worked for adults enrolled in Chef Clinic, and in adults who make big lifestyle changes.

    Should overweight kids be on a diet? And if so, what would one look like?

     
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  • Dec6

    Nonstick Cookware, PFOA and Your Cholesterol

    Posted in: Environmental Health, High Cholesterol, Wellness and Health

    With the fear of fat that still dominates Americans’ nutritional interest came the widespread use of nonstick cookware, including panini makers, countertop grills and saute pans.

    But a recent Archives of Pediatrics cholesterol report analyzing over 12000 children finds that those with highest levels of PFOA and PFOS–chemicals used in nonstick cookware creation–also have, by far, the highest cholesterol levels.

    In 2006, the EPA asked companies including Dupont, which produces Teflon, to stop using PFOA by 2015, and they agreed.

    The EWG showed that nonstick “could reach 700 degrees Fahrenheit in as little as 3-5 minutes.” And high heat–even at pan temps of 464 degrees Fahrenheit– produces toxic gases from nonstick coatings, killing pet birds (really!).

    The same PFOA causes cancer in animals.

    Cholesterol is one of the best studied markers for heart disease, and in the U.S., statins are often prescribed.

    But well-done nutritional and exercise programs have lowered cholesterol without statins, and have been reported in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

    Too much LDL cholesterol and too little HDL cholesterol is a recipe for heart disease, stroke, erectile dysfunction and early memory loss, and possibly prostate cancer.

    There are good nonstick cookware sets available, by Cuisinart and others, without PFOA. And every parent (and grandparent) now has another reason to cook with safe cookware.

     
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  • Nov16

    See How Easily You Can Make Yourself Younger: Small Group Seminars

    Posted in: Aging and Costs of Aging, High Cholesterol, Wellness and Health

    One of the most productive and fun seminars I’ve given took place just two weeks ago, here in Santa Barbara, in a nearby rented living room: house call!

    A group of guys from the Midwest, all members of an executive professional organization, called me a few weeks ahead of their planned biking and wine country expedition. They asked if I would speak with them for a couple of hours on Staying Healthy as You Age.

    Sure, I said. I asked them all to take a RealAge test (disclosure: I wrote two books on healthy aging with RealAge founder and Dr Oz superstar Michael Roizen, and serve on the Scientific Advisory Board).

    And the good news: nearly all had RealAges (the age of their bodies as they’ve chosen to care for them) younger than their birthday ages. And all wanted to do better…especially in weight loss, cholesterol, sleep, stress relief, quality of life.

    Plus, we got to talk about wine, wine-tasting, pairing and making. And I shared two wines I’d made–a Petite Sirah and a Zinfandel–which was also really fun. I gave each a signed copy of The RealAge Diet.

    I’m confident that the next time I see them, several of them (all of them?) will look and feel better and younger than they do now.

    Judith Weinraub of the Washington Post interviewed several of us who have observed that men and women sometimes need different advice.

    And collaboration and partnership, instead of direction. Very satisfying.

     
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