Talking About Health; Why Health Communication Matters

What is ‘negative labeling’ of genetically modified foods?

February 6, 2012

My three favorite food groups are salsa, salsa, and more salsa. I prefer to have a beautiful garden of fresh tomatoes and onions and peppers to pluck and prepare my own salsa. But I don’t. So I use Green Mountain Gringo Salsa, the ‘hot’ variety. And I am forever happy when Dr. Oz talks about healthy eating and I find that my salsa qualifies. It has some sea salt in it but that’s the last ingredient in the list of fresh vegetables.

And then there is the message, ‘No Genetically Modified Ingredients’. I think they mean to say, ‘No Genetically Engineered Ingredients’. I think that because what I believe is true about the salsa I love is that the ingredients have not been genetically altered with the DNA of one organism combined with another. No salmon in the tomatoes, for example. [read about this here: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/dna/pop_genetic_gallery/index.html ].

This method of informing consumers about GM content in food is called negative labeling — it tells us something isn’t present. In cases where there is no ‘negative label,’ we can reach the conclusion that there is such content in the food. We don’t know what. We don’t know how much. But we also don’t know based on any systematic research conducted over time whether we need to know.
http://youtu.be/MfTQergr29M

What do we say to youth about exercise?

April 13, 2011 GUEST BLOG POST by Elliot Searer

In many previous studies, we have found out that a healthy balance of diet and exercise is the most efficient way of staying healthy. I feel more emphasis needs to be put on children and how much physical activity they receive, and if they are even coming close to the recommended 60 minutes per day. I feel that organizations, like YMCAs, should offer more opportunities for our youth to have a place to properly exercise. Questions I have are:

Do our youth have proper access to a clean, safe environment suitable for physical activity and play? Do our youth understand the importance of physical activity from a health perspective? Do our youth have access to information that answers their questions about different exercises or exercise equipment? Do children understand the importance of nutrition in order to gain the most from their physical activity? Are youth who lived in dirty, unsafe conditions permitted to exercise at facilities like YMCAs despite possibly not having the proper financial means?

In a study conducted by Bowman and Neal, particpants between 5 and 17 years of age were scheduled to attend nutrition classes only or nutrition classes and family YMCA membership. The primary outcome measure was change in BMI-for-age percentile. Four participants in the control group and one in the treatment group achieved the target reduction of 2 BMI percentile points. Within the treatment group overall, YMCA attendees had a mean increase of 0.30 BMI points compared with an increase of 0.60 BMI points in nonattendees. Questions I have about the study in particular are:

1) In what type of shape, physically, were the eligible participants in before the experiment? 2) After? 3) What type of guidance was received from YMCA workers or someone of a trainer’s capability?

Through my personal experiences as an athlete, I find it extremely surprising that better results weren’t seen. The study states that some of the participants didn’t even go to the YMCA despite having a paid membership. I would like to know what type of guidance they were getting. For example, if they were doing proper exercises to promote weight loss or if they even knew how to properly operate the equipment and machines.

I feel a lot more can be done by communities to stress getting the 60 minutes of daily physical activity. Organizations should take a stronger stance and venture out in the community, and set up activities in parks or rec sites. It wouldn’t be hard, and would be low cost. Also, the organizations may not even have to use their facilities as host sites for the gatherings. Getting our youth out in the community, learning how to properly take care of themselves through physical activity could possibly lead to more benefits. Better eating habits, spreading nutrition information to other family members, and overall healthier communities may encourage children to pursue sports or other careers based on exercise/play as opposed to sitting at home…

M. A. Bowman and A. V. Neal; Policy and Financing in Family Medicine and the Medical Home. J Am Board Fam Med, May 1, 2010; 23(3): 277 – 279.

Have you heard of black bean powder?

February 7, 2011

I love to try new foods. I particularly like spices. I like the smell of ground cloves and cinnamon…I love a fresh tomato out of the garden. I love peppers and grow several kinds each summer. I love the smell of fresh herbs and grow them as well. I dry oregano for use in my own cooking and to give as gifts. And as luck would have it, these things turn out to be good for you…

Research links consuming cinnamon to improved glucose levels and less likelihood of diabetes, as well as improved cholesterol [http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/26/12/3215.abstract]. Dried oregano works as an antioxidant… Cloves may prompt recall…

One of the graduate students in our health communication program brought me a gift when she returned from Korea after the break–black bean powder. .. I love black beans, especially when they have been cooked with some of the spices I like best and served with tortillas. I also have experimented with making black bean brownies… But I hadn’t heard of black bean powder. It provides a very easy way to add protein to a meal, even breakfast. Add to a glass of milk with a little honey and–presto–a healthy breakfast or other time power drink. Make your own black bean powder [http://www.soy-beans.org/soy-powder.html].

It’s fun to talk with friends and family about good food… and to make and share it… especially when you know it is good for your health, too.

What is the message in ‘Jamie Oliver’s food revolution’?

141_0767 April 7, 2010

In the past couple of weeks, I have been watching the TV show that sparked some discussion on this blog a couple of weeks ago. After watching it so far [and with plans to continue to do so], I wanted to take note of a couple of points in his message that may be getting lost.

First, I heard Jamie say, “It is not about weight. …Thin people can be unhealthy, too.” This is a message about our health that gets lost in the clutter of messages about weight loss, dieting, obesity, and the fixation on what the scales say. Another time that I heard a similar message in a popular TV show was one year when the first dancer to be voted off ‘Dancing with the stars’ was a model. When she was rehearsing and then performing, she did not have the physical strength to pull herself up from some of the positions her partner placed her in. She was beautiful but as her expert dance partner said, “She is deceptively unfit.” So, yes, it is NOT about the weight. If we could follow more of the fitness model and less of the weight model, a healthy weight would likely be one of the outcomes. This is one of the great messages being communicated by Michelle Obama… to the kids of the U.S., get out and get up and get moving. To the rest of as adults who set role models for our youth and for our friends and family and coworkers, ditto… I talk about this in my book ‘Talking about health’ when I tell my own experience with sitting at the computer for too many hours over too many years and developing bone spurs in my neck–literally a stiff neck. I talk about how our generation of computer workers is not unlike the old factory and production line works in that we are in one position for too long and literally get stiff [and a little fat from it, too]. My physical therapist told me, ‘Never sit at the computer for more than 30 minutes without getting up and taking a stretching break for at least 2 minutes.’ He told me to set a timer and I do–at home and at the office. Get moving and make it fun!

A second message from Jamie Oliver’s show that we should hear and act on has to do with the how over processed our foods have become. We have given the food industry a profit motivation to come up with products for us to purchase that say on them such things as ‘fat free’ or ‘no sugar added.’ A long list of ingredients then includes a lot of long words that none of us recognize because they have mostly been created in food laboratories. I was shocked when Jamie showed a class of youngsters various vegetables and the kids could not name a ‘tomato’ or a ‘potato.’ They knew what french fries are but not what a potato looks like. Wow! A shout-out to those writing the ABC picture books. We need to put some vegetables in one. Perhaps an entire picture book devoted to vegetables. And then, of course, it would be great if we followed up by eating some of these vegetables. On this blog a couple of weeks ago when the Jamie Oliver show was brought up by a participant, it was noted that the cost of fresh vegetables is high. The cost of frozen vegetables may be a good substitute. One of the partipants in that discussion said that she could buy a bag of mixed frozen vegetables in the store brand for $1 and feed her family of four with it. I suspect that the store advertises that product with an emphasis on the cost rather than the nutrition. We need more communication about how to use frozen affordable vegetables when fresh ones are not an option.

Third, following on the heels of our food being over processed is a message about our foods containing too much salt. Most of us know that the ‘dead sea’ doesn’t support any life because the water is too salty. Well, when we get too much salt, our health doesn’t do well. That is one of the challenges of buying frozen vegetables. We still have to look at the product to see if anything has been added. Not all frozen vegetables are created ‘equal.’ Some of them have salt added. So it is not just the long scientific chemical names to watch out for when looking at nutrition labels and the ingredients of products, we need to watch out for ‘sodium’–salt that has been slipped into the ingredients. We can change the way products come to us. We change them with the votes of our dollars–our food purchasing dollars…