diet and health
Bed wetting may be related to dairy intake
Bed-wetting, or enuresis affects an estimated
7 million children over the age of five. There is a strong
correlation with bed wetting and milk consumption.
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extensive links on the subject
Group calls for health warnings on soft drinks
A consumer group Wednesday called for cigarette-style warnings on soft drinks
to alert consumers that too much of the sugary beverages can make them fat
and cause other health problems.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2005-07-13-soft-drink-warning-labels_x.htm?POE=click-refer
New Study Warns New Moms to avoid Fries and Chips
Pregnant women and nursing mothers should
sharply limit--or even cease--eating French fries, potato
chips or other foods that contain the chemical acrylamide,
according to study released Tuesday by German researchers.
-Reuters
Prevention of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Infants
and Toddlers
A recent report from American Family Physicians
states that the number one reason for iron deficiency in
infants is a diet supplemented with cow's milk. They recommend
children in the first year of life do not get cow's milk
at all.
Breastfeeding is the ideal feeding practice for many well-documented reasons,
including lowering the risk of iron deficiency anemia. Although breast milk
is low in iron content, about 50 percent of the iron is bioavailable to the
infant. Exclusive breatfeeding beyond 4-6 months may no longer provide adequate
iron intake and a diet which includes adequate sources of iron and vitamin
c (which enhances iron absorption) is recommended.
Infants started on formula at birth and those switched from breast milk to
formula should receive iron-fortified formula. If a child is fed iron-fortified
formula, the AFP states that parents should not give their children vitamin
drops with iron. This combination provides too much iron and is not healthy.
Toddlers (12 to 24 months of age) who drink a lot of cow's milk, have a diet
low in iron, or already had iron deficiency as an infant are at risk.
After a child is 12 months old, if the mother stops breastfeeding or using
iron-fortified formula, they suggest parents feed their toddlers foods rich
in iron such as: meat, chicken, fish, whole grains, enriched bread and cereal,
dark green vegetables, and beans. Foods high in vitamin c remain important
because it helps the body absorb iron.
Finally, the authors recommend that parents keep all products with iron stored
out of the reach of children because they can be poisonous if taken in very
large amounts.
I.C.P.A.'s editor's comment: Two ways to reduce iron deficiency in infants
can be addressed pre and perinatally:
1- Encourage the mother to up her intake of iron rich foods throughtout pregnacy
and while breastfeeding. Dark greens are the best and easiest source of iron
consumption and products like chlorella, spirulina and other powder greens
make daily consumption easy. (1)
2- Avoid early umbilical cord clamping in the newborn: "Higher red blood cell
flow to vital organs in the first week was noted & term infants had less
anemia at 2 months" (2)
Kid Bit on-line references:
http://www.icpa4kids.com/chiropractic_newsletter_references.htm
Understanding soft drink consumption
among female adolescents using the Theory of Planned Behavior
This
study identified factors that influence regular soda consumption
among 707 female students, aged 13-18 years, attending North
Los Angeles County public high schools. Participants completed
a group-administered Theory of Planned Behavior-based questionnaire.
Almost all of the participants, 96.3%, reported that they currently
drink soda; 50.1% reported drinking 2 glasses of soda or more
per day during the past year. Students reported drinking regular
soda more than diet soda and reported drinking phosphoric
acid-containing soda more than non-phosphoric acid-containing
soda. Attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral
control had statistically significant positive associations
with intention, and were each significant predictors of intention
to drink regular soda and together explained 64% of its variance.
The strongest predictor was attitude, followed by perceived
behavioral control and subjective norm. Our results suggest
that efforts to reduce soda consumption among female adolescents
should include parents and friends. It is also important
that soda should not be excessively available at home or
widely accessible to teenagers at schools. Healthy eating
messages for adolescents need to be developed and incorporated
into existing and future campaigns to reinforce the perception
that there are other healthier drinks that quench thirst
and that taste good as well.
Department of Health Promotion
and Education, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University,
Loma Linda, CA
Study Says Cows Milk & Childhood
Diabetes Linked
A Finnish study suggests that certain children may be vulnerable
to diabetes later in life after exposure to cow's milk
while very young. The study suggested that children exposed
to the insulin naturally be contained in cow's milk may
develop antibodies to insulin. The study looked at infants who had been either
given cow's milk since birth, or given a combination of breast feeding and
non cow's milk formula. At 3 months old, those given cow's milk had immune
systems which reacted far more strongly to cow insulin. The levels of immune
system antibodies to human insulin and cow insulin tended to be higher
in the group of infants fed only cow's milk.
The researchers wrote: "It is possible that in some genetically susceptible
children, a continuous, even small-dose early exposure to bovine insulin in
cow's milk may lead to loss of tolerance to insulin."
Paronen J, Knip M, Savilahti E, Virtanen SM, Ilonen J, Akerblom HK, Vaarala
O. Effect of cow's milk exposure and maternal type 1 diabetes on cellular and
humoral immunization to dietary insulin in infants at genetic risk for type
1 diabetes. Finnish trial to reduce IDDM in the genetically at risk study group. Diabetes.
2000;49(10):1657-65
Drinking Cow's Milk Triggers Childhood Constipation
Intolerance to cow's milk is associated
with constipation in children. Investigators split 65 children
with chronic constipation into two groups. All subjects were
aged 11-72 months, and had been previously unsuccessfully
treated with laxatives.
The first stage of the trial involved half the children drinking cow's milk
and the other half drinking soy milk, in stage 2 the groups were reversed.
Each stage lasted 2 weeks. None of the children experienced a resolution of
symptoms while receiving cow's milk. In contrast, symptoms of constipation
improved in 68% of the children while receiving soy milk. This response was
confirmed by a double blind cow's milk challenge.
Children not Eating Enough Veggies
Preschoolers aren't eating
enough fruits and vegetables. Of the 168 children who took part in the
week long study, none ate the recommended 5 servings
per day of fruits and vegetables. The majority of children
investigated consumed 2 servings of fruit, and less than
half a serving of vegetables each day- or approximately 80%
of recommended fruit servings per day and 25% of recommended
vegetable servings. However, most of the fruit intake was
in the form of juice (an inferior source compared to whole
fruit say the authors)
Journal
of the American College of Nutrition 1998 (Aug); 17: 371-378
Seizures Decrease Rapidly Ketogenic Diet
The atonic or myoclonic seizures decreased
in these children by more than 50% immediately. Using a 24-hour
ambulatory electroencephalogram, we documented that the seizures
reported by a parent represent only a fraction of the electro
clinical events; the technique could be used to measure the
profound decrease in electrically documented seizures.
Freeman JM, Vining EPG. Seizures
decrease rapidly after fasting: preliminary studies of the ketogenic diet Arch
Pediatr Adolesc Med 1999 (Sep); 153 (9): 946-949
Most Veggie Intake is Junk Food
For many kids, "eat your veggies" means
dig into a bag of potato chips or a container of french fries,
according to a study presented last week at EmoryUniversity
and sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. These
two "junk foods" account for a large proportion of children's
vegetable intake, says the study's author, Dr. Catherine
Champagne of LouisianaState University in Baton Rouge.
Champagne and colleagues poured over food-intake data from the US Department
of Agriculture. They computed that children under the age of 7 received 27.3%
of their vegetables from fries and chips. This figure jumped to 28.9% in children
aged 7 to 12, and to 31.2% in children aged 13 to 18. African American children
aged 13 to 18 got 40% of their total vegetable intake from chips and fries.
Champagne CM, Allen HR, French fried potatoes and potato chips
as vegetable servings: How much do they contribute to the intakes of children
in the United States? Champagne Pennington Biomedical Research Center,
Louisiana State University - International Conference Series on Health Promotion
Conference on Childhood Obesity: Partnerships for Research & Prevention. Atlanta,
Georgia, May 3-5,1999
Infants Vitamin D Intake Effects Bane Mineral Density
Later in Life
Babies who receive vitamin D supplements
may be at a reduced risk of osteoporosis later in life, researchers
report. Investigators looked at 106 healthy Caucasian
females, aged 7 to 9 years. Of this group, 91 girls received
vitamin D supplements during their first year of life. Bone
area and mineral content was measured at six skeletal sites
using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry.
The findings revealed that girls who received vitamin D supplements as infants
had higher bone mineral density at the radial metaphysis, femoral neck and
femoral trochanter. However, no significant difference in bone mineral density
was found in the lumbar spine.
Zamora SA, Rizzoli R, Belli DC, Slosman DO, Bonjour JP. Vitamin
D supplementation during infancy is associated with higher bone mineral mass
in prepubertal girls J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1999 (Dec); 84
(12): 4541-4544
Soft Drinks Hurt Bones
Girls who drink carbonated beverages
have a heightened risk of fracture, according to a report
in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine by Dr.
Grace Wyshak. The study tracked 460, 9th- and 10th-grade
girls. Subjects completed questionnaires detailing physical
activity, behavioral habits, carbonated beverage consumption
and history of bone fracture. Findings revealed that
girls who drank carbonated beverages had 3.14 times the risk
of fracture, compared with their peers who did not drink
soda. These results were especially pronounced among physically
active girls who drank cola. Specifically, drinking cola
boosted the risk of fracture by nearly five-fold in active
girls. Experts speculate that the abundance of phosphorus
in cola inhibits calcium metabolism, in turn weakening bones
and predisposing them to fracture.
Wyshak G. Teenaged
girls, carbonated beverage consumption, and bone fractures Arch
Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2000 (Jun); 154 (6): 610-613