17 March 2011
Look to overweight, not overseas, for source of U.S. health problems, says surgeon general
By: Carol Ness, UC Berkeley NewsCenter
U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin came to Berkeley’s Alumni House Thursday to deliver her “vision of a healthy and fit nation.†But the day’s most burning health question, at least in the minds of the news media gathered at her subsequent press conference, was this:
Should people be worried about radiation from Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis?
“No, they should not be fearful,†Benjamin declared. Radiation experts, she said, “have told us that harmful levels of radiation are not going to reach the United States or our territories, so there’s no reason to be fearful.â€
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Posted by Pinar Aybar at 6:14
20 August 2010
Will a 30-Percent Incentive on Fruits and Vegetables Lead to Healthier Eating?
Source: Abt Associates
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service has selected Abt Associates to lead a team evaluating a ground-breaking pilot program aimed at encouraging healthier eating among lower-income Americans. The Healthy Incentives Pilot (HIP) will enroll households in Hampden County, Massachusetts that participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program).
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Posted by Pinar Aybar at 2:59
22 April 2005
Schools can Improve Nutritional Value of Food While Increasing Revenue
by Sarah Yang
BERKELEY – When schools kick high-sugar sodas and high-fat chips off their campuses, food service department revenues tend to increase, according to a new report by researchers at CNR's Center for Weight and Health.
The findings provide encouraging news to school officials concerned about the budgetary hit they might take if they eliminate junk food from school grounds.
"Our results show that when kids have less access to high fat, high sugar snack foods and beverages, they will switch to healthier meals," said Patricia Crawford, co-director of the Center for Weight and Health and co-author of the report. "This trend can benefit the students' health as well as the school food service department's bottom line."
The conclusion comes from a fiscal analysis of 16 middle and high schools in nine school districts in California that participated in a pilot program called Linking Education, Activity and Food (LEAF). The Nutrition Services Division of the California Department of Education established the LEAF program with funding from the California Department of Food and Agriculture to pilot test the implementation of Senate bills 19 and 56 (SB 19/56).
The state education department contracted with UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health to evaluate the impact on schools that implemented SB 19/56. The fiscal analysis is the first in a series of evaluation reports on the LEAF program to be produced by the center, which is based at UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources.
The state bills, together called the Pupil Nutrition, Health and Achievement Act of 2001, set nutrition standards for food and drinks sold outside the federally regulated school meal programs, such as items in vending machines, snack bars, student stores or on a la carte menus. Such offerings - classified as "competitive" foods by school nutrition experts - are typically high in sugar and/or fat, and low in nutritional value.
Under the bill's guidelines, the percentage of total calories from fat in such foods would be capped at 35 percent, and the total weight from sugar limited to 35 percent or less. Sodas would be replaced with water, milk and fruit drinks that have at least 50 percent fruit juice and no added sweeteners. Certain sports drinks would be allowed only if they contained, at most, 42 grams of added sweeteners per 20-ounce serving.
"I am glad to see evidence that schools do not have to forfeit revenue as a tradeoff to offering healthy options to students," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell. "We know from prior studies that students with healthy eating habits perform better in class. I hope this study will encourage more schools to increase the availability of nutritious food and drink options and eliminate unhealthy snacks."
Schools that participated in the pilot program were each given $200,000-250,000 to implement SB 19/56 regulations as well as policies promoting consumption of fresh produce grown in California. These funds were particularly critical for upgrading kitchen facilities and improving the appeal of the meals and serving areas in order to encourage students to participate in the school meal program. Some ongoing funding for coordination and evaluation, as well as to support nutrition education and promotion, would probably also be beneficial to ensure fiscally sustainable institutionalization of the nutrition standards.
The report analyzed two academic years' worth of data - from September 2002 through June 2004, excluding summer months. The researchers focused on sustainable daily revenues and expenses, so they did not include grant funds in revenue figures, nor did they include one-time capital expenditures in their calculation of expenses.
The report's authors found that 13 out of the 16 participating sites saw increases in food service per capita gross revenues ranging from 1 to 38 percent during the study period.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:18
01 August 2005
UC gives tips for coping with heat stress
by Pam Kan-Rice
The heat-related death of a man harvesting peppers in Kern County last month is a tragic reminder of the dangers of heat stress.
To help reduce dangers of becoming overheated, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist has produced a heat-stress information card for farmworkers that explains in English and Spanish how heat-related illnesses develop and how to avoid them.
Download a fold-up heat stress information card in English and Spanish (PDF)
More references about heat stress are available here.
Although the advice is directed at farmworkers, it is useful to anyone who works in the heat.
UC Berkeley-based agricultural personnel management specialist Howard Rosenberg warns that excess heat can impair the body even before a person feels ill. Symptoms of heat stress may include general discomfort, loss of coordination and stamina, weakness, poor concentration, irritability, muscle pain and cramping, fatigue, blurry vision, headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion, and unconsciousness (see "Heat illness symptoms and first aid" sidebar).
Although some of the heat that people have to deal with at work comes from the sun and ambient air, most heat is generated by their own bodies, Rosenberg says. "At rest the body produces little heat, but at work it demands more energy and faster metabolism, which greatly increases internal heat production," he explains.
To cool itself, the body first increases blood flow toward the body surface. This reduces the flow available to carry oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, brain and other internal organs, which in turn impairs strength, diminishes alertness and accelerates fatigue.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 0:41
05 October 2009
CNR Student Helps Keep Water Fresh in Uganda
CNR student David Dinh is helping rural Ugandans to have access to safe drinking water.
"In every home in Uganda, drinking water is traditionally stored in a clay pot and culturally, there is a tremendous preference for this method of water storage. Unfortunately, water stored through this method can become quickly contaminated from repeated hand contact," Dinh writes. Because of the need for safe water storage, Dinh has helped to create improved clay pots with plastic spigots. They are "an affordable, accessible, and culturally appropriate safe water storage approach for rural Ugandan communities, " says Dinh.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 1:39
12 May 2009
With passion for research, graduating microbial biology senior Jordan Anaya named University Medal finalist
Microbial Biology major Jordan Anaya has been honored as a 2009 University Medal finalist -- one of just six top UC Berkeley undergraduates representing the class of 2009 at the University Commencement Convocation on May 22. (IDS major Emma Shaw Crane will receive the University Medal.)
Anaya grew up in Fremont, Calif, and entered Berkeley as an eager premed. His interest in his science classes made him wonder what it would be like to be a scientist and resulted in him joining the lab of MCB and Chemistry Professor John Kuriyan, which he says cemented his desire to pursue a career as a scientist.
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Posted by Cyril at 0:02
06 May 2009
NST Professor Wins Searle Scholars Award
Assistant Professor Danica Chen of Nutritional Science and Toxicology has won a 2009 Searle Scholars Award, one of 15 young professors nationwide.
The Searle research grant provides $100,000 per year for three years to promising assistant professors early in their careers.
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Posted by Eva St. Clair at 4:12
30 October 2008
Indonesian biodiversity grant, CNR toxicologist seeks to discover human health solutions in Indonesian biodiversity
University of California scientists have received a five-year, $4 million grant to study the biodiversity of fungi, bacteria, plants, insects and vertebrates on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a southeast Asian island threatened by the loss of biodiversity in its tropical forests.
An international team of collaborators will conduct biodiversity surveys, screen microbes and plants for applications to human health and energy needs, recommend strategies to conserve endangered species, and develop and encourage local conservation. The project is organized into six associate programs -- five led by UC Davis scientists while one program, focusing on discovery of human health solutions is being led by Len Bjeldanes, professor of toxicology at CNR.
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Posted by Cyril at 2:01
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