Nutrition Newsletter
Summer 2000
Prepared By: Linda Bobroff
Healthy Living
Keep On Walking...
Women who walk briskly for at least three hours a week could cut their heart attack risk by 30 to 40 percent, says a long-term study of 72,000 women aged 40 to 65. Brisk walking for five hours or more a week cut heart attack risk by more than 40 percent. And those who added another 90 minutes a week doing vigorous exercise, such as aerobics, cut their risk almost in half. Even women who had been sedentary most of their lives began to benefit when they started exercising, and as little as an hour a week of brisk walking helped reduce heart attack risk. Several studies have shown that the findings apply equally to men.
Reference: New England Journal of Medicine, August 1999.
Source: Update, March-April 2000 / FDA Consumer.
Estrogen and Heart Disease
Do hormone supplements after menopause help or hurt women's hearts? Another study seems to add to the confusion. Researchers recently reported that estrogen-progestin supplements reduced lipoprotein a levels in post-menopausal women who started the study with high levels. But in women with low cholesterol, the hormones appeared to raise their risk of a heart attack. Lipoprotein a contains LDL cholesterol and a protein that may promote blood clotting. The decision of whether or not to use hormones after menopause continues to be decided on an individual basis in consultation with a physician.
Source: National Library of Medicine, April 11, 2000.
http://web.archive.org/web/20010221011026/http://www.nandotimes.com/
For Your Information
| Money Spent on Prevention/Treatment
Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention |
New Blood Test Predictor of Heart Disease
Knowing your blood cholesterol numbers is a good way to monitor your heart disease risk. But about half of all heart attacks occur in people who have normal blood cholesterol.
A new blood test can help identify people at risk for heart attacks who may not have high blood cholesterol The test measures a protein in blood called high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP). This protein is an indicator of inflammation in the body. A recent study found that women with the highest levels of hs - CRP were 4½ times more likely to a have heart attack, a stroke, or need by-pass surgery compared with those at the lowest level.
The hs-CRP test, which costs about $20 to $25, was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Doctors need to be aware that the standard CRP test is not a predictor for cardiovascular disease -- the hs-CRP is the one to request.
Source: Tufts University Health and Nutrition Center, May 2000.
Waist Size & Breast Cancer
Waist circumference over about 30 inches appears to increase risk for breast cancer, especially in postmenopausal women who never received hormone replacement therapy. Visceral adiposity can cause hormonal and metabolic changes that may explain the change in risk.
Reference: Am. J. Epidemiol, 150:1316-1324, 1999
Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20010221011026/http://womenshealth.medscape.com/
Quality of American Diets
The report, "Away-from-Home Foods Increasingly Important to Quality of American Diet," finds:
- The frequency of dining out rose by more than two-thirds over the past two decades, from 16 percent of all meals and snacks in 1977-78 to 27 percent in 1995. The report is available on: http://web.archive.org/web/20010221011026/http://www.ers.usda.gov/
Source: USDA'S Economic Research Service.
Added Sugar Intake on the Rise
According to USDA's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII), Americans now average 20.5 teaspoons--nearly 3 ounces--of added sugars each day. That's 68.5 pounds per year.
Based on U.S. food-supply statistics, added sugars have increased in the U.S. diet 28 percent since 1982.
Source: USDA Agric. Research, June 2000.
Young People Eating Poorly
Only 2% of youth meet all the recommendations of the Food Guide Pyramid; 16% do not meet any recommendations.
Less than 15% of school children eat the recommended servings of fruit, less than 20% eat the recommended servings of vegetables; about 25% eat the recommended servings of grains and only 30% consume the recommended milk group servings on any given day.
Only 16% of school children meet the guideline for saturated fat on any given day.
Teenagers today drink twice as much carbonated soda as milk and only 19% of girls ages 9-19 meet the recommended intakes for calcium.
The partnership, signed today by Shirley Watkins, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services at USDA, is one of the steps USDA is undertaking to promote nutrition and good health, following last week's release of the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans at the National Nutrition Summit.
Additional information can be found on Web site: http://www.fns.usda.gov/fns/
Source: USDA News Release, 6/7/2000.
Cooking By Color Misleading
Kansas State University researchers found that one in four hamburgers turn brown BEFORE it reaches a safe temperature. But only 3% of consumers use a thermometer to check hamburgers for doneness.
Check out http://www.fsis.usda.gov/thermy
NUTRITION, PRODUCE, AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY UNITED
An exciting new partnership is now working to promote healthy eating and physical activity. The recently formed National Alliance for Nutrition and Activity (NANA) is a coalition made up of 80 organizations representing public health organizations; consumer organizations; groups that represent the interests of women, children, older Americans, and minorities; and organizations that represent the produce, supermarket, and fitness industries. Initial efforts have been to support increased funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the areas of nutrition, physical activity, and to prevent obesity. Currently, nutrition and physical activity are the only major chronic disease risk factors without dedicated funding for state interventions. CDC's entire Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity annual budget is $6.5 million compared to $100 million for DCD's tobacco program.
For more information about the Alliance or how you can be supportive, e-mail nana@cspinet.orgg
Resources Available
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance -- United States, 1999 is available online.
Nutrition and physical activity information are included in the report.
HTML (web) format: http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr /
DIABETES BOOKLETS FROM NIH
The following are low-literacy booklets (in English and Spanish) that are
available from NIH.
"I Have Diabetes: When Should I Eat?"
"Medicines for People with Diabetes"
"Why Am I Constipated?"
"The Diabetes Dictionary"
For ordering information, contact: National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health National
Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, 1 Information Way, Bethesda, MD 20892.
Tel: (301) 654-3327 Fax: (301) 907-8906
E-mail: ndic@info.niddk.nih.gov
Web site: http://www.niddk.nih.gov/
Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals
A recipe book from the Department of Agriculture
This colorful, 5½ by 8½, 76-page book provides information to assist families in purchasing and preparing healthy, thrifty meals that meet the Recommended Dietary Allowances, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and the Food Guide Pyramid.
Printed Copies: The book is available in single copies ($4.25 each) through the Government Printing Office (GPO Stock No. 001-000-04680-2) by calling (202) 512-1800.
Electronic Copies: The book may be downloaded in pdf format from the Web site of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at: http://www.usda.gov/cnpp
