Here’s a glimpse of just some of the commentary on NY mayor Bloomberg’s call for a ban on supersized soda in any public place regulated by the city health department. It’s become a battle of clever headlines:
Soda Jerk
Soda Plan Fizzles
Sugar Daddy
City Health Weasels Go “Pop”
On Philly.com, William Saletan called Bloomberg a hypocrite:
“…the harder Bloomberg presses, the more he’s outed. He’s been caught salting pizza and bagels. He drinks three or four cups of coffee a day. NBC’s Matt Lauer recently grilled him about his proclamation honoring “NYC Donut Day.” The mayor replied, “One donut’s not going to hurt you. In moderation, anything — most things are OK. … That’s exactly what we’re trying to do with soft drinks, is get you to drink in moderation.”
Really? Bloomberg believes in moderation? Then let’s talk about the wiener orgies.
12 minutes, 50 wieners
The orgies take place every year in Coney Island. They’re broadcast live on ESPN. They’re known as the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest. In 10 minutes, contestants stuff as many hot dogs down their throats as they can. During Bloomberg’s tenure, the record has increased from 50 to 68. It’s pornography for gluttons.
Year after year, Bloomberg officiates at the weighing-in ceremony, praises the contestants for gorging themselves, and brags about the millions of people watching on TV.”
On TheAtlantic.com, Brian Wansink and David Just wrote: “How Bloomberg’s Soft Drink Ban Will Backfire on NYC Public Health.”
The New York mayor defends his prohibition on sugary drinks with an appeal to science, but the very people who carried out the studies in question say he’s misread their work.
A web search could give you a weekend of reading and you still wouldn’t catch up. On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart has hammered Bloomberg in a series of shows in recent weeks. Here’s one:
Not all think it’s such a bad idea.
In the Kansas City Star, Barbara Shelly wrote, “Why we should all cheer Bloomberg’s soda policy,” noting how majors in Kansas City, Newark, Oklahoma City, Boston and San Diego have also taken public steps to promote healthy weight.
And one of our expert editors, Harold Demonaco, MS, wrote the following:
Whether you agree or not with Mayor Bloomberg’s attempts to banish 32 ounce soft drinks from the streets of New York, you have to give him credit for highlighting the problem of “supersizing.”
In a perfect world, people would understand the consequences of their actions and a Big Brother approach would not be necessary. After all, shouldn’t adults be allowed to decide what to eat and drink? The obvious answer is yes.
Two recently published studies provide a bit more insight into the issues surrounding over consumption.
A study published in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine suggests that regulation of nutritional content of foods can make a big difference in school aged children. California regulates the food and beverages available to students in the schools. This includes cafeteria foods and beverages as well as those sold elsewhere in the school. On average, California students consumed about 160 fewer calories daily than their counterparts in the 14 states studied that do not regulate foods in schools. That’s equal to a bit more than half of a 32 ounce soda a day. Maybe regulations do work! But of course, we are talking about children………………
Dan Ariely and colleagues published a study in February looking at what would happen if you simply invited people to downsize a portion of their meals. Surprisingly, about one third of people asked did reduce their portion size and did so whether they received a discount or not. They effectively reduce their calorie consumption by about 200 calories. And they did so without changing the amount of leftovers.
I stumbled over a really interesting body weight simulator from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders. With it, you can see what changes to your caloric intake and exercise will do to your weight, body composition and body mass index over time.
I ran the simulator to see what would happen if I drank a 32 ounce soda daily for a year. That’s 310 extra calories a day. My weight went from 175 pounds to 189 pounds. And that is despite my daily exercise routine. To rid myself of the extra pounds, I would need to increase my exercise commitment by 80% (that’s an extra 45 minutes on the accursed spinning bike daily). Without additional exercise, I would weigh about 200 pounds at year two.
Over 60% of adults in the US are overweight and just about 30% are classified as obese. The causes are complex and the fixes are not easily apparent. What is apparent however is that the present course will only lead to the obesity problem getting worse.
Copyright © 2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Stroke, news release, May 22, 2012
June is National Homeownership Month, and NCLR and its partners are taking a closer look at some of the states harmed most by the foreclosure crisis. The crisis exposed weaknesses in the housing system that has long affected low-income families and communities of color. An estimated 25% of Black and Hispanic borrowers in the U.S. lost homes or are at serious risk of losing their homes, compared to 12% of White borrowers.
Latinos have been some of the hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis and have suffered a massive loss of wealth because of it. The U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to make already tough working conditions even tougher and more dangerous for poultry workers, many of whom are Latino. Our education system is not serving our kids well enough. Members of Congress are comparing immigrants to dogs while they do nothing to fix our terribly broken immigration system. Voter suppression laws are popping up in heavily Hispanic states like Florida and Texas. Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being sued by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations against Latinos in his county. And Alabama has just passed a revised, yet still harsh anti-immigrant racial profiling law.
Remember the trending Twitter campaign, #40Dollars, which the White House launched last December to rally support for extension of the payroll tax break? That extra $40 per paycheck was apparently a big deal—responses flooded in at a rate of 2,000 an hour. What do you think another $535 or $589 means for American families? 
Memorial Day has come and gone and the unofficial start of summer is upon us. With the last day of school not far behind, students everywhere are dreaming of warm weather, fun summer activities, and—let’s not forget—no school. 
View Within ArticleTable 2. Rates of change (minutes per day per year) in sleep duration according to sex, age, day type and geographical location.
The Ritchie Centre, Monash Institute of Medical Research, Monash University, Melbourne, AustraliaReceived 9 December 2011. Revised 20 April 2012. Accepted 20 April 2012. Available online 29 May 2012.View full text Sleep disordered breathing (SDB) is a common disorder in both adults and children and is caused by the obstruction of the upper airway during sleep. Unlike adults, most cases of paediatric SDB are due to the presence of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, thus the main treatment option is adenotonsillectomy (T&A). It is well known that obstructive sleep apnoea in adults increases the risk for hypertension, coronary artery disease and stroke, and there is now mounting evidence that SDB also has a significant impact on the cardiovascular system in children with reports of elevated blood pressure, endothelial dysfunction and altered autonomic cardiovascular control. As there is now substantial evidence that elevated blood pressure in childhood is carried on to adulthood it is important to know if treatment of SDB improves cardiovascular outcomes. Studies in adults have shown that treatment of SDB leads to improvements in cardiovascular function, including a reduction in pulmonary artery pressure, systemic blood pressure and endothelial dysfunction. However, studies exploring the outcomes of treatment of SDB in children on the cardiovascular system are limited and varied in their methodology and outcome measures. As a number of cardiovascular disturbances are sequelae of SDB, early detection and management could result in the reduction of elevated blood pressure in children, and consequently a reduction in cardiovascular morbidity in adulthood. The aim of this review is to summarise the findings of studies to date which have investigated the cardiovascular outcomes in children treated for SDB and to make recommendations for future management of this very common disease.prs.rt("abs_end");Adenotonsillectomy; Blood pressure; Cardiovascular; Children; Hypoxaemia; Inflammation; Obstructive sleep apnoea; Sleep disordered breathing; Treatment
