Nutrition: February 2007 Archives

The Food and Drug Administration advises pregnant women to avoid eating certain fish entirely, because they may contain unsafe levels of methylmercury, and to limit seafood to 12 ounces, or about two servings, a week. But a British report, published in The Lancet on Feb. 17, suggests that this may not be the best advice.

In an observational study of more than 8,000 pregnant women and their children, the researchers found that the children whose mothers ate less than 12 ounces of seafood a week were about 45 percent more likely to fall into the lowest 25 percent in I.Q.

Obesity is one of the number one health concerns in today’s society. The US Centers for Disease Control estimates that over 60 million Americans, or 30% of the adult population, are obese. The term obese refers to people who weigh over 30 pounds more than their ideal weight, or who have a Body Mass Index of 30 or more.

One of the national health objectives in the US is to reduce the incidence of obesity to less than 15% of the adult population by 2010; however, current statistics indicate that the problem is still on the rise. In addition, the percentage of young people in America who are overweight has more than tripled since 1980.

Over 9 million children and teens between the ages of 6 and 19 are considered overweight. This equates to 16 % of the population.

A new study from the US National Institutes of Health and Bristol University that questioned 11,875 pregnant women on their dietary habits found that eating more fish during pregnancy resulted in significant, measurable benefits to the communication skills and social standing of their children seven years later.

What's in the mystery meat shouldn't be the only thing school kids worry about when going to the cafeteria: a recent study showed that some cafeterias barely make the grade.

The study looked at high school cafeterias in 20 different jurisdictions across the nation. In some, researchers found roaches, rats and outdated safety codes.

The study was conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based non-profit.

Researchers evaluated the cafeterias on four criteria: how optimal are the food safety codes, how often the facilities are inspected, how easy is to get public information about the cafeteria from the internet and how safe are the cafeterias themselves?

The Ministry of Health is to defend the consumer’s right to receive “truthful” information about the foods they buy, both in advertising and on the packets themselves, to avoid firms providing “confusing, exaggerated or misleading” data about a product’s nutritional content or benefits for health.

The Minister, Elena Salgado, announced the move last week in the company of the president of the Spanish Agency for Food and Nutrition Safety (AESAN), Félix Lobo, who added that the new European guidelines on the issue would come into force on July 1st 2007.

Salgado explained that the EU regulations stated that descriptions such as “rich in vitamins”, “low calorie”, “no added sugar” or “fat free”, which are becoming more and more common in the promotion of products, must be based on “proved scientific evidence”. She added that the measures would prevent the use of confusing messages to attract consumer attention and at the same time protect consumer health.

Nutrition research can often be tantalising.

In the early stages, when researchers discover new functions for well-known nutrients, but there is not yet an overwhelming body of evidence available, we know that a nutrient may have new and important roles to play.

However, we can't as yet recommend exactly how much of the nutrient would be required to achieve its protective or curative function. At present, this applies to vitamin B6.

Q:What should I know about regarding carbohydrates listed on the Nutrition Facts label?

A:We have divided the Nutrition Facts label into pieces of a puzzle over the past few weeks.

We started our discussion with portion sizes. Then we uncovered the role calories and percent daily value play in meal planning. Learning how to read labels for fat, cholesterol and sodium followed.

Now the relevance of using the Nutrition Facts label for carbohydrates is revealed.

Puzzle Piece 7 - Total Carbohydrate: Carbohydrates play an important role in overall health. They are the preferred energy source for our cells, are found in an abundance of foods and can directly affect an individual's blood sugar control.