Nutrition is simply a paramount ingredient in our health. In fact, we are what we eat.
This section will focus on the overall picture of the eating habits, which exist in contemporary society. A number of interesting viewpoints and reports will be available for you, the parent, to contemplate. In return, if you have anything significant to share in relation to this topic, please let us know.
20pc of four-year-olds too fat
March 11, 2007 04:10pm
Article from: AAP
ONE in five four-year-olds in South Australia are overweight or obese, according to a new survey by the state's Department of Health.
In light of the findings, the state is backing a NSW move to control junk food advertising during children's television viewing times.
Representatives from the SA Government, the corporate sector, community groups, education and health experts, will meet in Adelaide on Tuesday to discuss strategies to address the state's growing weight problem.
"Ideally what we want is for our community leaders to join us to be part of the solution for dealing with the obesity epidemic," SA Health Minister John Hill said.
The survey, done last year, found that 20 per cent of four-year-olds were overweight or obese, 78 per cent of people feel there's too much advertising of unhealthy food during children's television viewing times, and 90 per cent of people believed the ads influenced children to want to buy junk food.
"This survey clearly indicates that SA parents are deeply concerned about the impact of junk food advertising on their children," Mr Hill said.
He said he supported a move by NSW to put controls on junk food advertising during children's viewing times.
"We think there really needs to be some controls on advertising junk food to our most vulnerable - our children," he said.
Mr Hill also today released a new guide for teachers to help them teach children how to make healthy choices in life.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's official: diets make you fatter
By Fiona Macrae and Michelle Cazzulino
April 11, 2007 02:00am
Article from:
THE world's largest study of weight loss has shown
diets do not work for the vast majority of slimmers, and most dieters put more
weight back on.
More than two-thirds pile the kilos straight back on, raising the danger of
heart attack, stroke and diabetes.
Researchers warned the strain this repeated weight loss and gain places on the body meant most people would have been better off not dieting at all.
The findings, published in the American Psychologist journal, follow other research released in 2004 that showed 2.5 million Australians had tried or intended to try a low-carb diet.
Last night, the US scientists behind the latest research - the most thorough and comprehensive analysis of its kind - said dieting simply did not work.
The University of California researchers analysed the results of more than 30 studies involving thousands of slimmers.
Although the overview did not name specific weight loss plans, popular diets in recent years include the low carbohydrate, high protein Atkins diet and the GI diet, which is rich in slow-burning wholegrain carbohydrates.
Pooling the results of the various studies clearly showed that, while people did lose weight initially, most quickly put all the weight back on.
In fact, most people ended up weighing more than they did to begin with.
Researcher Dr Traci Mann said: "You can initially lose 5 per cent to 10 per cent of your weight on any number of diets.
"But after this honeymoon period, the weight comes
back.
"We found that the majority of people regained all the weight, plus more."
Dr Mann's research showed that up to two-thirds of dieters put on all the weight they lost - and more - over a four to five-year period.
Half of those taking part in one study were more than 5kg heavier five years later, while dieters taking part in another study actually ended up heavier than other volunteers who hadn't tried to lose weight.
A four-year study into the health of 19,000 men revealed that most of those who put on weight had dieted in the years before the start of the study.
Truth 'could be even worse'
Weight loss expert Dr Samantha Thomas from Monash University in Melbourne said Australian research supported the US findings.
"We've also seen that dieting can be linked to a lot of poor mental health outcomes," she said.
"That just means that people take the weight off and feel really great about themselves and when they put the weight on again - which is kind of inevitable with yo-yo dieting - that people become depressed, have really low self-esteem and feel even worse about themselves than when they went on the diet in the first place."
Dr Thomas said people who struggled with their weight often became discouraged when, after embarking on fad diets, they found the results were not long-term.
"The really awful thing about dieting is that it's become a cultural or fashionable thing and most people have spent lots of years and thousands of dollars on it, when there's no evidence to suggest that there's long-term weight loss benefits," she said.
Rebecca McPhee from Nutrition Australia agreed: "Dieting works in the short term but it just encourages unhealthy behaviours in the long term because it puts the body under so much strain.
"Everyone is time-poor and they want results quickly, so they diet and then regain the weight after going back to eating normally.
"If you look at The Biggest Loser, for example, the contestants lose too much weight, far too quickly, and they haven't developed the sort of skills to then go away and manage their diets."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schools soft drinks ban
Diet versions of popular soft drinks will be exempt.
The ban, aimed at curbing childhood obesity, will also apply to fruit juices and sports drinks with high amounts of added sugar.
The sugar cut-off point is still being determined.
Most soft drinks contain about 12 per cent sugar, or 12g per 100ml.
The Government also plans to restrict access to confectionery at school.
The soft drink ban will affect about 1600 state schools. Non-government schools will be encouraged to follow the move.
Education Minister Lynne Kosky said the ban aimed to improve the health of school children.
"Anything that has a large amount of added sugar we obviously want to ban," she said.
Ms Kosky said while many canteens now served healthy food, tougher measures were needed to curb obesity.
About a quarter of Australian children are considered overweight or obese, putting them at an increased risk of serious medical conditions including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and asthma.
Fizzy drinks have long been considered by health experts to be a key contributor to the obesity crisis and growing dental decay.
Ms Kosky said research shows almost 80 per cent of teenagers consume soft drinks weekly, with one in 10 having more than a litre per day.
"Children treat soft drink now as we treat water. We have to have water to survive. We don't have to have soft drink to survive," she said.
Ms Kosky said low-joule soft drink versions would be exempt from the ban, with drinks such as Coke and Pepsi, for example, replaced with sugar-free Coca-Cola Zero and Pepsi Max.
US research shows teenagers who consume one can of soft drink a day are likely to be up to 6.4kg heavier after a year than those drinking artificially-sweetened versions.
Ms Kosky said the Government would also restrict the type, quantity or availability of confectionery at school.
But she said the Government needed to ensure the bans did not create a junk food "black market".
Fatty foods were next on the hit list, she said.
Australian Medical Association president Dr Mukesh Haikerwal said the ban was welcome, but did not go far enough.
"Water is the only drink that should be available in schools," he said.
From: Sunday Herald Sun
By ANNALISE WALKER
March 12, 2006
Research by the Sunday Herald Sun into the nutritional values of seven of Australia's fast food outlets has uncovered most fall short of health recommendations.
Of 70 meals suggested as healthier or lighter options, only 17 made the grade according to Nutrition Australia guidelines.
New franchise Sumo Salads fared best, with nine of its menu choices passing.
But a further 11 fast-food meals were found to be unhealthier than a Big Mac when kilojoules, fat, sugar and salt levels were compared.
They included sandwiches, baguettes, a pie and two salads.
None of McDonald's Deli Choices or Salads Plus meals passed, generally due to high sugar and saturated fat levels.
And none of Hungry Jack's new range of baguettes and salads passed, all being too high in salt.
Aloysa Hourigan, a senior nutritionist with Nutrition Australia, said for a main meal to be considered healthy it must have:
LESS than a total of two teaspoons (10g) of fat,
NO more than 3g of saturated fat,
THE Heart Foundation's recommendation of under 400mg of sodium per 100g,
LESS than 10g of sugars per 100g.
The healthy image many fast-food chains put out was misleading, Ms Hourigan said.
"They allow people to have a better choice about foods, but they can be deceptive," she said.
Ms Hourigan recommended replacing soft drink with water and eating fruit as a snack to keep nutrient levels up.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Study finds half of all
Aussies obese
Sunday 07 December 2003, 18:03 Makka Time, 15:03 GMT
Fifty-six percent of Australian adults and 27% of children are obese because they eat too much and exercise too little, a study has found.
About nine million Australians over the age of 18 are overweight and childhood obesity rivals North American levels and exceeds those of Britain, the Medical Journal of Australia said on Sunday.
Combined with inactivity and poor nutrition, obesity is responsible for at least 10% of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes and cancers, making the health effects as bad as those of tobacco, the journal said.
In a separate study, it said Australian women spent a total of A$414 million ($306 million) each year in their quest to slim, with some women spending more than A$3000 annually.
Reasons
Annual expenditure on commercial weight loss programmes -gyms, fitness equipment, personal trainers, weight loss pills, slimming products and meal replacements - averaged A$441 per woman.
Yet all their efforts seem to be in vain as obesity rates continue to rise, the journal said.
Bigger portions, cheaper processed foods, and heavy marketing of takeaway foods and soft drinks are among the factors driving obesity in Australia.
|
Reuters |
Children's drinks made for the school lunch box. How good are they for kids and how much is too much sugar? Today Tonight chose 10 different drinks, kid's favourites, and had them tested for sugar content to find out how much sugar there is per 100mls of each drink.
The results per 100 mls:
1) Cottee's Raspberry Flavoured Cordial, diluted according to instructions, has the LEAST amount of sugar, 7.9 grams per 100 mls. Followed by:
2) Deep Spring Orange Passionfruit Fruit Drink has 8.1 grams.
3) Moo Choc Flavoured Milk - 8.3,
4) Berri Fruits Valencia Orange Splash ... 9 grams.
5) Junior Popper Tropical Fruit Juice has 9.6, Just Juice Apple Juice 10.4.
Those with the highest sugar levels:
6,7,8) Prima Apple and Blackcurrant Fruit Drink and Pop Tops Apple Drink with 11 grams each,
9) Schweppes Lemonade 11.1
10) Coca Cola with 11.3 grams per 100 mls has the MOST sugar.
But the greater the quantity of drink, the more sugar. So based on our test results, this is how much sugar the whole portion of each drink actually contains:
1) 125 mls of Junior Popper has the equivalent of 3 teaspoons of sugar,
2,3) Moo and diluted cordial have 4.
4,5) Just Juice Apple Juice and Berri Fruits Valencia Orange Splash have 5 and a half
6,7) Prima Apple and Blackcurrant Fruit Drink and Pop Tops Apple Drink have almost 7 teaspoons of sugar.
8) A 375 ml can of Deep Spring Fruit Drink has 7-and-a-half teaspoons,
9) Schweppes Lemonade 10 and a half
10) 390 ml Cola it has 11 teaspoons of sugar.
Nutritionist, Rosemary Stanton says soft drink consumption is on the rise in Australia and that's being linked to increased levels of obesity in children. She says when children drink sweetened drinks they don't compensate by eating less calories from other foods. The sweetened drinks become an extra source of calories and are strongly correlated with excess weight.
Jennifer Williams says her four children crave juices and soft drinks, but she doesn't allow them on a daily basis because it is only going to lead to decay of their teeth. Alot of sugar's obviously not healthy for children let alone adults.
Childrens' dentist, Professor Richard Widmer says the way kids drink, like sucking on the top, contributes to dental decay. Some children with carbonated drinks keep it in the mouth 10 to 15 minutes and swill it around and that does alot of damage. Sometimes a straw is very useful, as it takes the liquid past the teeth
And in weighing up the pros and cons of sugar, Rosemary Stanton's advice is look at the company sugar keeps. "Now milk contains sugar but it comes with calcium and protein and riboflavin. Fruit juices contain sugar quite naturally but it comes with vitamin c and folate and a number of vitamins. If you look at the sugar in soft drinks and cordials it usually comes with no essential nutrients at all."