Lower income, fewer fruits and vegetables

According to the USDA in 2005, 11% of the country's households were food insecure – that means 1 in 10 had difficulty providing food during the year due to a lack of resources. The Journal of American Dietetic Association (November 2007) published three studies examining the relationship between low income and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Do lower-income neighborhoods consumer fewer fruits and veget- ables? Yes, according to a University of Texas study. Researchers con- cluded that neighborhood deprivation was associated with lower serum levels of carotenoids There was a significant disparity between low deprivation and high deprivation residential areas in regard to fruit and vegetable intake.

Another study determined that which federal nutrition program you part- icipate in could affect your health. Researchers from Ohio University concluded that food insecure part- icipants of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program have a more healthful diet than participants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and

Produce is also pricey. Researchers at the University of California, Davis, compared the average cost of a market basket of fruit and vegetables from the Thrifty Food Plan and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (2005 Dietary Guidelines). The result? The 2005 Dietary Guidelines market basket cost 4% less than the Thrifty Food Plan (P<0.001). Even so, the 2005 Dietary Guidelines market basket would require a low-income family to devote 43% to 70% of their food budget to fruits and vegetables.

The authors conclude that the key to ensuring low-income areas are not deprived of fruit and vegetables is through continuing nutrition education and by creating policies that allow people of all economic levels to benefit from the healthiest foods available.

Source:
Journal of the American Dietetic Association (November 2, 2007)

Obesity rates for men and women have been on the rise since 1980. A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that obesity rates appear to be leveling off.

New data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) show an increase in obesity between 1999 and 2006 for men. However, there was no significant change between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 for either men or women, and there has been a trend of leveling off in obesity among women. “But the trend is less clear among men,” said a CDC researcher and lead author of the study.

Although there is a leveling off in obesity rates, obesity is still of epidemic proportions. The study found more than one-third of U.S. adults (more than 72 million people) were obese in 2005-2006.

Source:
National Center for Health Statistics (November 28, 2007)

Bariatric surgery patients have a higher death rate than the general population, including more suicides, according to a review by the University of Pittsburgh. The study looked at more than 16,000 bariatric surgeries done in Pennsylvania over a nine-year period and found 440 deaths among the patients, who were an average of 48–years old when they had surgery. Seventy-six patients (20% of the group) died of heart disease and there were 14 suicides, compared to two in a general population group of that size.

A second study published in the Archives of Surgery reports that high-risk obese patients who lose 5 to 10% of surplus body weight before gastric bypass surgery usually stay in the hospital less time and lose weight more quickly after the operation.

Researchers at the Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA found that patients who lost over 5% of their body weight tended not to stay in the hospital for more than four days. And those who lost over 10% of their body weight prior to surgery more than doubled their chance of having lost 70% of excess weight one year later, compared to patients who lost between nothing and 5% of their excess weight prior to the surgery.

Source:
Reuters (October 15, 2007)
Medical News Today (October 17, 2007)

Aerobic and weight training combo helps manage
type 2 diabetes

When it comes to managing type 2 diabetes, aerobic and resistance training combined are more effective than either aerobic or resistance training alone. The study, published in the September 18 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at 251 adults with type 2 diabetes, ages 39 to 70, who were not regular exercisers at the start of the study. A1c value declined by about 0.5% for those who undertook resistance or aerobic exercise compared to the non-exercisers. Most importantly, those who did both resistance and aerobic exercise dropped their A1c values by 0.97% as compared with the non-exercising group.

Source:
Health Day News (September 17, 2007)