GRHF Announces Obesity Ad Campaign

The Greater Rochester Health Foundation has announced a new TV advertising campaign that targets the parents of overweight children.  The ads are part of a $50 million campaign against childhood obesity that the Foundation announced last year.

You can see the ads and read about the campaign at the Foundation’s “Be a Healthy Hero” website and read a D&C article about the yesterday’s announcement here - full text of the article after the jump.

LA Restricts Fast Food Restaurants

The government response to the obesity crisis has taken many forms over the last several years, including banning trans-fats, removing soda and candy from schools, and requiring calories to be posted on menus.  However, last month Los Angeles took perhaps the most aggressive step by banning the construction of fast food restaurants in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.   Public control over the built environment in the name of health has many advocates, including Tulane University’s Tom Farley who visited the Medical Center to discuss this very topic, which he has termed “healthscaping,” last year.  The restriction, which is coupled with incentives for new grocery stores and (healthier) restaurants to move into the neighborhoods, has ignited a debate over the line between public health and personal choice.

You can read a NY Times story about the debate over the ban here.

Foodlink: Healthy Meals Still Available

Foodlink is attempting to raise awareness — and participation — in its summer meals program.  The program currently provides free healthy breakfasts and lunches to 8,000 local children at some 30 sites across the city, but an estimated 25,000 children are eligible for the meals, which are subsidized by the US Department of Agriculture.

You can read a D&C story about a joint new conference held by Foodlink and the Rochester Rhinos here (full text after the jump).  And you can find out more information about the program on the Foodlink website here.

In the News: Cancer Rates and Education and Obesity and Diabetes

Two new studies of interest out today.  The first links cancer rates and socioeconomic status, particularly education.  Researchers associate the drop in cancer rates among well educated (people with at least 16 years of education) to better prevention/screening and declines in smoking.  You can read a Reuters story on the study here.

The childhood obestiy epidemic could have a lasting legacy of a growing number of adults with diabetes.   You can read a HealthDay story on the Michigan study here.

Study: Diet During Pregnancy and Obesity in Children Linked

A British study in rats has revealed that eating an unhealthy diet during pregnancy raises the lifetime risk of obesity and elevated cholesterol and blood sugar levels in offspring.

URMC childhood obesity expert Stephen Cook, M.D. commented on the study, which appears in the Journal of Physiology, in a WebMD story:

“A lot of information suggests that in-utero exposures can lead to long-lasting effects in children.  Women who smoke during pregnancy have children who are heavier, so maternal patterns can affect a child’s weight. Whether the cause is altered metabolism or something else, it is a very real concern.”

You can read the entire WebMD story here.

2008 Summer in the City Series Schedule

The Summer in the City Series, a joint program of the Center for Community Health and the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, has released its schedule for 2008.  The series consists of lunch-hour discussion on a variety of public health topics.

Unless noted, the discussions are from 12:00 to 1:00 PM and are held in Room K-307 in the Medical Center and include a light lunch.  The schedule is as follows:

July 8: Health-e-Access: Using Technology to Increase Care for Children

Ken McConnochie, M.D., MPH, director, Health-e-Access Telemedicine Network and professor of Pediatrics (Please note that this session only is scheduled 12:15 to 1:15 pm)

July 15:  Nourishing our Neighborhoods

Chris Hartman, co-manager, South Wedge Farmers’ Market

Eleanor Coleman, Southwest Area Neighborhood Association

Katrina Korfmacher, Ph.D., community outreach coordinator; research assistant professor, Environmental Health Sciences Center

July 22: Creating Urban Villages in the Rochester Children’s Zone (RCZ)

Ellen Lewis, interim team leader, RCZ

Rev. Glenn Alexander, pastor, Holy City International Church of God in Christ; board member, RCZ; Sector 10 Co-Chair, North East Neighborhood Alliance

July 29: Teen Smart Driving: What Parents Should Know

Anne Brayer, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics

Lynn Babcock-Cimpello, M.D., associate professor of Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics, co-directors, Injury Free Coalition for Kids of Rochester

For more information: CenterforCommunityHealth@urmc.rochester.edu or 276-3056

Report Details Racial Disparities in Care

The Dartmouth Atlas Project has released a report titled Disparities in Health and Health Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries.  While disparities in care are generally associated with race and socioeconomic factors, the Dartmouth report reveals that geography also plays an important role.  The report examines geographic disparities in the rates of leg amputations (a complication of diabetes), screening for breast cancer and diabetes, the prevalence of primary care physicians, and ambulatory care vs. hospitalization rates. You can read a NY Times article on the report here.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation used the data in the report as a platform to announce $300 million in new grants to fight health disparities.

The Democrat and Chronicle reports on the Rochester numbers in the report (full article after the jump) and notes that that while progress has been made in areas such as immunizations and mammograms, disparities in diabetes care remain.  According to the most recent Monroe County Adult Health Survey, 20 percent of African Americans in the county have diabetes – more than twice the number of whites and Latinos.

California Study Links Obesity and Food Environment

California researchers this week released a report suggesting that obesity and diabetes are more prevalent in neighborhoods with a high ratio of fast food restaurants and convenience stores to grocery stores and produce vendors.  You can see the study here and read a Los Angeles times story here (subscription required).

The authors call on policymakers to undertake small-scale retail innovations, such as adding mobile produce vendors and farmers’ markets; leverage recent changes to the federal Women, Infants and Children food package to expand the number of authorized vendors and increase capacity at existing vendors; and require restaurant menu nutrition labeling to help consumers make more informed meal choices. In addition, the authors recommend that community planners address the food environment, in part through zoning decisions designed to limit fast food restaurants in already oversaturated neighborhoods.

A smaller, but illustrative, survey of convenience stores in the southwest quadrant of Rochester conducted by SWAN and a University of Rochester student last summer revealed that lack of healthy food options for residents.

Locally, the there is an effort beginning in Monroe County to develop an agenda for policy changes that can prevent childhood obesity. This effort consists of a policy team of community leaders who represent schools, parent groups, restaurants, recreation organizations, etc.  Lead by the Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency in partnership with URMC’s Center for Community Health and Department of Pediatrics, and the Children’s Agenda, the effort is considering and selecting most promising policy changes for our community.

Additionally, several community organizations have – over the last couple of years – been taking steps to bring healthier food options to city residents.  This includes new farmer’s markets, produce stands, and projects in cooperation with FoodLink and other organizations.

We will have more to report on these projects as they unfold.

The Dangers of Plastics and the Benefit of Exercise

The Washington Post reports that the federal the NIH appears to have reversed course and is preparing to waded into the debate over the potential health dangers of bisphenol A, or BPA, the ubiquitous chemical found in plastics. A draft report by the National Toxicology Program acknowledges that that chemical, which has been in plastic production for the past 60 years and is found in countless products, may cause cancer and other serious disorders. You can see a draft of the report here.

UPDATE: The New York Times is reporting that the Canadian government is about to declare BPA “toxic.”

USAToday has a story today on the importance of exercise on reducing belly fat. People who exercised for 60 minutes a day, 5 days a week, saw a 10% reduction in their midsection.

Philly Schools Cut Weight Gain

Reuters and several other outlets have run stories today on the results of a two-year effort to lower obesity in Philadelphia’s schools. The schools implemented a program developed by the Food Trust, a non-profit that works to increase access to affordable, healthy foods, which included changes in food vending machine products, student incentives for healthy eating, and lessons no good nutrition.

According to the study, which was compiled by researchers at Temple University, this approach reduced the number of overweight children by 50 percent. You can read the Reuters story here and a HealthDay story here.