Friendly Fruits
Apple, fresh
Apple, dried
Apple juice
Banana

Friendly Vegetables
Vegetables Baked potato
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Green beans
Peas

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables are associated with a reduced risk for developing certain chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes. Fruits and vegetables tend to provide essential vitamins and minerals, and contain phytonutrients, as well as fiber. In addition, they are relatively low in calories for the nutrients they provide.

by Charles Stuart Platkin,

I was in the supermarket the other day with my 4-year-old daughter. As we were walking down the dairy isle, she saw a yogurt with a cartoon character on the container, and she wanted it bad. No big deal, right? Yogurt is healthy. Well, this particular yogurt was filled with added sugar and loaded with calories. Raising nutritionally intelligent children is no easy task, but you have to start them young. How young? I reached out to a few experts to find out.

When do you start teaching your children about healthy foods?

"Nutrition begins with the parents. Some studies indicate that a child's taste starts to be established based on what a pregnant women eats," says Shari Barkin, professor of pediatrics at Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University.

WASHINGTON, DC—A report of the American Psychological Association (APA) released today found evidence that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harmful to girls’ self-image and healthy development.

To complete the report, the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls studied published research on the content and effects of virtually every form of media, including television, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, movies, video games and the Internet.  They also examined recent advertising campaigns and merchandising of products aimed toward girls.

Obesity is now as common among women as men, according to the report, which was published on Tuesday and studied Swedes' weight from 1980 until 2005.

The problem has increased most among young women, non-labour workers and rural residents, though Swedes across all social groups registered weight gains during the period.

Obesity, blamed on changes in diet and lifedtyles, has long been a problem in the United States and is on the rise in many European countries. In France, nine percent of people are considered obese, compared to 12 percent in Germany and 23 percent in Britain.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse

Researchers tracked nearly 48,000 Danish couples between 1996 and 2002, including about 7,600 couples with both the man and woman either overweight or obese according to standards set by the World Health Organization.

They measured how long it took couples to conceive a baby once they began unprotected sex in a bid to have a child.

Although one of these popular procedures, gastric banding -- or “lap banding,” as it is commonly known-- has been an accepted practice in controlling weight in obese adults since 2001, the Food and Drug Administration has been reluctant to approve it for the treatment of childhood obesity.

By NICHOLAS BAKALAR, The New york Times

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.

The National Drugs and Poisons Schedule Committee has decided to stop it advertising directly to the consumer.

Roche Products said it would not appeal against the decision to revoke its licence to advertise. The regulator found Xenical's marketing generated increased demand among consumers who might not need the drug.

By Dr. John Briffa

Some of you may remember that the Coca-Cola Corporation announced the forthcoming launch of its "weight loss" drink Enviga. Naturally, I felt compelled to blog about this on my own website, and included a calculation which revealed that (if what the Coca-Cola Corporation says is taken at face value) each kilogram of weight lost through the imbibing of the beverage would cost about $650 [1].

Well, finally the Coca-Cola Corporation have got Enviga onto shelves in America, and have done this by teaming up with the food company giant Nestlé. The behemoth formed by the unholy union of these two food companies goes by the name of Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW). No doubt, with its promise of weight loss, BPW see Enviga as a ticket to further its quest for fat profits.

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.

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the first nonprescription drug for weight loss. Alli (pronounced AL-eye) is slated to hit shelves this year, according to its maker, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). That move has been denounced by some who say it should not be made so readily available because of limited efficacy and safety concerns.

Before you even consider this drug, there are some facts you need to know and some questions to ponder:

Gosh, how much weight can I lose with this new drug? First, the drug isn't new. It contains orlistat, a weight-loss medication that has been sold by prescription as Xenical for nine years worldwide and since 1999 in the United States. There have been about 100 studies of the drug involving some 30,000 people. The results suggest that users can shed as much as 50 percent more weight than they would by diet alone.