Media Mentions – August, 2012

Study: Number of kids in poverty increasing
The number of children living in poverty in the United States grew by 4.5 million during a two-year period, including an 83,204 increase in Michigan, according to a study published Thursday. …“The good news is that unlike adults in the United States, kids aren’t more likely to be going uninsured because of tough economic times,” said Lynn Blewett, professor in the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health, and director of the State Health Access Data Assistance Center.
Oakland Press

Arteries show signs of damage even after short duration of smoking
For teens who smoke, heart health troubles may start early. American Heart Association spokesman Russell Luepker, MD, of the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, says it’s now well-established that heart disease and stroke risk factors in childhood track into adulthood.
Web MD

Less TV time cuts weight gain risk in kids
Reducing television-viewing duration may be an effective strategy to prevent excess weight gain in adolescent kids, a new study has revealed. The findings were based on a one-year community-based randomized trial that included 153 adults and 72 adolescents from the same households. The researchers from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health Obesity Prevention Center, measured television viewing hours, diet, and physical activity levels before and after the intervention and found a clear association between reduction in TV hours and decreased weight gain over one year in teenage kids.
The Times of India

CDC: Kids lowering cholesterol
The CDC reports that the number of American children with high cholesterol is down to 8 percent. Dr. Russell Luepker, Mayo Professor of Public Health, comments on the study.
FOX9

Fighting back against heart disease, the No 1 killer of Americans
Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of men (and women) in the U.S. …Men often develop and die from heart disease at a younger age than women, says Russell Luepker, Mayo professor of public health at the University of Minnesota and a spokesman for the American Heart Association.
Springfield News-Leader

Research says sport drinks just as bad as soda
More children and teenagers are drinking sports drinks like Gatorade and Powerade, instead of soda. While that may sound like a good thing, new research from the University of Minnesota shows in most cases it’s not a better option.
WCCO

Why and how to have family meals
“I would put the emphasis on just looking at where your family is now and seeing what you can do to improve.” That remark by Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, a University of Minnesota professor who has conducted groundbreaking studies about healthy eating and the positive effects of family meals, is a clear message that moving towards routinely eating meals with your family isn’t an all-or-nothing proposition: it’s a process rather than an event. But if you and your family don’t have a tradition of regular family meals, it may be hard to know where to start.
Illinois Times

Will rising food prices change America’s eating habits?
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has predicted substantial price increases for numerous food items in 2013, if not sooner, due to the devastating impact of the current drought on farms across the country. According to its latest Food Price Outlook, the agency expects prices to go up substantially, especially for meat and poultry because of reduced inventory and higher feed expenses. …For many of us, undoing all that would require changing our entire food environment, according to Dr. Simone French, director of the Obesity Prevention Center at the University of Minnesota.
Seattle Post-Intelligencer