Initiative Takes Aim At Obesity In Children

As we starting talking about chapter 10 in class today which is all about managing your weight and finding a healthy balance I decided to do my blog today on how the U.S. is trying to curve childhood obesity. More than one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese. With so many children being overweight in this upcoming generation this is raising fears that they could constitute the first generation in recent history to have shorter life spans than their parents.

Friday, February 20th officials of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint effort of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation unveiled their initiative to help battle childhood obesity. One of the biggest problems many families face in fighting obesity is getting insurance companies to pay for doctor visits and other care to help deal with the problem. The initiative is designed to give children better access to health care to fight obesity. Participating insurance companies would pay for at least four visits to a dietitian and four visits to a physician each year to provide guidance to children and their parents on how to eat better and take other steps to reduce and control their weight. Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts have signed on to the initiative, along with two of the biggest insurers, Aetna and WellPoint.

Organizers expect that the initiative will provide the new benefits to about 1 million children in the first year and more than 6 million within three years.

Food Banks Toss 'Thousands of Pounds of Food' Linked to Peanut Recall

As some of you know we discussed in class the other day about the recall on some peanut butter products. Today I am going to talk about how this outbreak is affecting food banks all over the country.

Food banks are throwing out thousands of pounds of food containing peanuts recalled in the salmonella outbreak which as occurred in these past few weeks. More than 1,800 peanut products have been recalled in the wake of the salmonella outbreak linked to the Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Ga. plant. This brings up a real big problem for food banks because granola bars, cereals, cookies, nut mixes and peanut butter have been a basis food for pantries because of their durability and long shelf life but now all of them containing peanuts must be thrown away. With the economy struggling, the timing couldn't be worse for food banks to just be throwing food away.

The nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America, says food banks across the country reported a 30 percent jump in demand in December 2008 compared with the previous year. So it is essential that they are able to get all the food they can to help the growing number of people that they help. This outbreak is not only hurting the banks food supplies but it is also hurting their staffing. Workers have to spend hours searching their stockpiles for the tainted items instead of serving those in need.

The salmonella outbreak has sickened nearly 600 people and is linked to nine deaths

When to Replace your Running Shoes

With the burst of warm weather this upcoming week it will hopefully encourage you to get outside and start running or exercising, but before you do think about the last time you got a new pair of running shoes.

Running in old or worn-out shoes is one of the most common causes of running injuries. Your running shoes lose shock absorption, cushioning and stability over time. Continuing to run in worn-out shoes increases the stress and impact on your legs and joints, which can lead to overuse injuries. Some of the signs that you need new shoes are if you start feeling things such as muscle fatigue, shin splints, or some pain in your joints, especially your knees. If you are feeling some of these things you may be wearing shoes that no longer have adequate cushioning. The easiest thing you can do to prevent these types of injuries is replace your shoes when they're worn-out.

So how do you know when shoes need to be retired? Don't use the treads of your shoes to determine whether you should replace your shoes. The midsole, which provides the cushioning and stability, usually breaks down before the bottom shows major signs of wear. A good rule of thumb is to replace your running shoes every 300 to 500 miles, depending on your running style, body weight, and the surface on which you run. If you run on roads, you'll need to replace your shoes sooner than if you primarily run on a treadmill. For walkers you are not doing as much pounding on the shoes as runners but you should still replace your shoes about every 600 miles which if you walk 4 or 5 hours a week that comes out to replacing your shoes about every six months to prevent the same injuries as listed above for runners with worn-out shoes.

Did you know snowmobiling is really good exercise?

With all this snow we have been having some people find it hard to exercise so they need to turn to other ways to get out and burn those calories and that winter fat that seams to somehow accumulate. Some people go to the gym during these cold winter months but another popular winter sport is snowmobiling. Snowmobiling is a popular winter sport and that is similar to driving or racing a car on snow. Despite the fact that snowmobiling is done while sitting on top of a motor vehicle, it can be a physically demanding sport, requiring strength and flexibility to navigate and keep the snowmobile on track.
A 190-pound person will burn about 302 calories per hour by riding, according to calorie-counting charts. A 155-pound person will burn about246 calories, and a 130-pound person will burn off 207 calories. Snowmobiling is a great form of exercising and all you have to do is just sit their and enjoy the ride through the snow covered trails.

(this is a picture i took when i was snowmobiling with my little brother this past winter in NH)