Posts from — June 2009

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Not really overweight”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Tips for Parents – Ideas and Tips to Help Prevent Childhood Overweight (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Maybe chunky kids have troubles, too. A study finds these teens, who tend toward overweight but are not overweight, show some signs of future heart trouble.

Yanbin Dong of the Medical College of Georgia saw it in data on teens in Georgia. His study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Dong says kids at risk of overweight have risk readings between healthy weight kids and overweight kids in things like blood pressure and salt in their urine. He says they need to head off trouble. But he says folks have not paid much attention to kids who fall between healthy weight and overweight.

“The ones falling in between also have to be taken care of, in terms of healthy lifestyles, exercise, more fruit, less TV view, and so on, so forth.’’

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 09 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “A sign of trouble”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Children and the Flu Vaccine (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

For overweight teens, tiny but elevated amounts of proteins called albumin in urine tests might be another sign of trouble.

Stephanie Nguyen of the University of California, San Francisco bases that on national data on teens. Her study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Nguyen says overweight teens with what’s called microalbuminuria were more likely to have indications which could lead to heart disease. These include belly fat, high blood sugar levels, high blood pressure, and cholesterol problems.

Nguyen says overweight teens can head off trouble by improving their eating and activity habits:

“The first-line therapy should always be behavioral and lifestyle modifications. And treatment should be tailored towards whatever complications they have due to their obesity.’’

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 10 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Flu and asthma”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Take Charge of Your Health! A Guide For Teenagers! (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)

A study indicates that the chance that a young child with the flu needs medical care goes up if the child also has asthma.

Kathryn Miller of Vanderbilt University Medical Center bases that on 330 laboratory-confirmed cases of flu out of 2,800 children ages 6 months to 59 months. Her study in the journal Pediatrics was supported by HHS agencies.

Miller found that kids with asthma were more likely than kids without asthma to have had outpatient care or been hospitalized for influenza. She also found that parents reported less than 30 percent of kids with asthma were vaccinated.

“Influenza causes many hospitalizations and doctors’ visits each year among kids with asthma. The best way to reduce your risk and your child’s risk of flu each year is to receive the flu vaccine.’’

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 11 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “A good breakfast and a good heart ”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Dietary Fiber (National Library of Medicine)

A bowl of whole grain cereal in the morning might do a man’s heart good. Researchers say men who ate more whole grain cereals had a lower risk of heart failure.

Luc Djousse of Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that in a long-running study of the health of men doctors.

“People who eat one or more serving per day had a 28 percent lower risk of having heart failure over nearly 20 years of follow-up.’’

And with more servings, there was more benefit.

The study in Archives of Internal Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

This study didn’t look for reasons how the benefit could come. But other studies have suggested that whole grains can lower the risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart attacks.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 14 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Campus tans”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Tanning (Center for Devices and Radiological Health)

Skin doctors say indoor tanning raises the risk of skin cancer. But that doesn’t seem to stop people from doing it. So a researcher decided to see what was on some of these people’s minds.

Joel Hillhouse of East Tennessee State University surveyed college women. His study in Archives of Dermatology was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Some tanners were special eventers – preparing before, say, a prom. Others tanned when the mood hit them. The hard core just tanned a lot. And some combined reasons.

Hillhouse says different tanners may need different ways to convince them that indoor tanning isn’t safe. And he says:

“There’s other options available out there, such as the spray-on or self-tanner. These do a pretty good job, they’re quick – and, more important, they don’t seem to have any health effects.’’

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 15 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Teens, grownups, and heart trouble”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Getting Started! (The President’s Challenge)

The epidemic of obesity among teens literally bodes ill for when they become adults. Researchers projected the heart trouble that can result if today’s teens don’t avoid excessive weight gain.

Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California, San Francisco says heart disease overall could increase by 5 percent to 16 percent by the year 2035.

Bibbins-Domingo says what could happen when today’s teens are 35 to 50 is worrisome. Consider that heart attacks have tended to occur more in older people.

“We may be in the future seeing a shift in patterns of heart disease to becoming more evident in a young adult population.’’

The study in the New England Journal of Medicine was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 18 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “We Can! After the holidays”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – We Can! (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute)

Resolved to improve your health for the new year?This is a good time to try new family activities to help kids maintain a healthy weight. The National Institutes of Health’s We Can! program offers practical advice on healthy eating, physical activity, and reduced screen time.

We Can!, which stands for Ways to Enhance Children’s Activity and Nutrition, gives families tips and tools for kids ages 8 through 12. At the NIH, obesity education coordinator Karen Donato gives one example:

“If you have a soup and a salad prior to your main meal, you’re more apt to be full. If you have vegetables instead of a second helping of mashed potatoes and gravy, you’re going to have fewer calories.’’

The program is being used in settings from schools to homes. Learn more at hhs.gov or call toll-free at 866-35-WE CLast revised: January, 16 2008AN.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 16 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Keeping track”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Tips to Help You Get Active (National Institutes of Health)

People with type 2 diabetes need to stay physically active. Most are not, but researchers say sedentary diabetics can get on track.

University of Michigan scientists gave pedometers to two groups of people with diabetes. For the lifestyle group, every step taken throughout the day counted. Those in the structured group only got credit for walks that lasted at least 10 minutes.

Caroline Richardson found both groups increased their walking, but those in the lifestyle group liked the program better.

“Most people in the lifestyle group who significantly increased their walking did so by electing togo on longer walks, rather than by doing a few steps here and a few steps there, adding up throughout the day.’’

Richardson’s work is supported by the National Institutes of Health. The study was in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 17 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “Family meals and teenage girls”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Body Image and Your Kids: Your body image plays a role in theirs (Office on Women’s Health)

It’s not easy for the whole family to have regular meals together. But family meals seem to set a healthy pattern.

Dianne Neumark-Sztainer of the University of Minnesota checked data from surveys of Minnesota teens to see what could reduce the risks that teens would use extreme weight-control methods like diet pills or self-induced vomiting.

She says five family meals a week made a difference:

“Adolescent girls who ate more regular meals with their families five years later were decreased risk for extreme weight-control behaviors.’’

Neumark-Sztainer notes it’s not always easy to eat together. She recommends being flexible..

The study in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine was supported by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration.

The study in Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine was supported by HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 21 2008

Health Tip – Audio Version – “The case of the dangerous stray”
Health Tip – Healthy Next Step – Rabies Exposure: What You Need to Know (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

It was a stray kitten – bright, alert, and very hungry and thirsty. Teammates who found it at a girls’ softball tournament in Spartanburg, South Carolina, adopted it. And when it started to act unusually tired and sleepy, someone brought it to a vet.

It turned out the kitten had rabies. And everyone who could have caught rabies from the kitten had to get vaccinations. It was a multistate investigation.

At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Kira Christian says there’s a lesson here about strays:

“If you were to come into contact with a stray, or un-owned, or otherwise unfamiliar animal, then what I would recommend is to call animal control.’’

People, especially kids, should not be playing with or petting strays. And even if it’s familiar, that doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Health Tip courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Last revised: January, 22 2008