Tuesday, April 17, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog # 10 – A POEM

We have discussed personal and community health all semester. For your final blog comment you will create an ACROSTIC Poem using the words PERSONAL & COMMUNITY HEALTH.

An acrostic poem is, a short verse composition, constructed so that one or more sets of letters (such as the initial, middle, or final letters of the lines), taken consecutively, form words. Below is an example using the word acrostic:

ACROSTIC

An acrostic poem
Can be about anything
Really
Of course, some people like to
Start each line as a sentence, like this one, though
I prefer weaving words into a
Creation that is more free form.

Here is another example using my first name:

JANIS

Janis is
A
Natural woman, and is
Interested
Sincerely, in your acrostic poem about PERSONAL & COMMUNITY HEALTH.

The words must connect to personal & community health, course content, and make sense in order for you to earn points for this blog comment.

Reflection will not be assessed for this comment. I will assess CONTENT (4 points), CRITICAL THINKING (4 points) and PRESENTATION (2 points).

Your turn, and have fun with it!

PERSONAL & COMMUNITY HEALTH


P
E
R
S
O
N
A
L
& (IGNORE THE &)
C
O
M
M
U
N
I
T
Y

H
E
A
L
T
H

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog # 9 - Your Health History

Read pages 472 – 484 in your textbook.

A family health history is a record of health information about a person and his or her close relatives. Creating your own family health history can help you identify whether you have higher risk for certain diseases.

It can also help your health care practitioner provide better care for you and recommend actions for reducing your personal risk of disease.

You have completed your Family Health History Diagram and Data Table.

Your assignment provided you the opportunity to create your own family health history and to identify the health risks present in your family. Now you can take steps to make sure you stay in control of your destiny.

List the conditions and diseases that are prevalent in your family – not only what people have died of, but what people are living with. Identify and articulate the environmental factors and/or lifestyle choices most strongly associated with development of the conditions and diseases in your family.

Then write about what changes you could make in your environment that would reduce your risk/s.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog # 8 - Food For Thought

You Are What You Eat or Are You What They Eat?

As I continue to read Marion Nestle’s book, let me just share with you a few of her findings about nutrition.

Meat: The Choices

Organic versus “Natural”

The rules for organic meat production expressly forbid feeding animal by-products to other animals. They also forbid the use of antibiotics and hormones and require animals and birds to be raised under conditions that appear more humane than those of typical of commercial feedlots and batteries.

“Natural” does not mean organic.

“Natural” meat – may mean that the producers follow some or all of the organic practices, but they do not have to. “Natural” is on the honor system.

There are no rules that require “natural” animals to be fed organically grown grain; to be allowed freedom of movement and access to the outdoors; to be raised without using antibiotics, hormones, or other animal drugs; or to be inspected for adherence to such practice.

Grass Fed Cows

Cows are supposed to eat grass, so it should come as no surprise to learn that grass feeding affects the nutritional content of meat. Eating concentrated feed made from corn and soybeans makes cattle grow faster and fatter, but it alters the mix of bacteria in their rumens. This gives them the equivalent of cow indigestion; the animals are not as healthy and need antibiotic treatment more frequently. These sicknesses and the antibiotics can be passed on to the humans that consume the meat.

With so many issues to be evaluated and balanced against one another, the choice of meat and poultry seems especially complicated. When price is no object, my hierarchy of choices for people who consume meat goes like this:

First Choice: Certified Organic because the rules make sense and production is monitored by regular inspections that hold growers accountable for their practices

Second Choice: “Natural” when it is near organic, meaning “no antibiotics, no hormones, no animal by-products,, humanely treated, and grass fed”

Last Resort: All the other kinds

Fish Facts

If you are going to follow heart healthy advice to eat two servings of fish a week, you will need to know more than you ever wanted to about the diets of fish as well as your own. The adage “you are what you eat” goes for people, cows, chicken, and fish, too. If you consume any animals it is important to know what they have consumed, because that is what constitutes your nutrition.

The PCBs in fish cause the same type of dilemma as the one involving omea-3s and methylmercury, but with one unpleasant addition: all fish have PCBs, but farmed fish – those fed fish meal and fish oils have more.

When you see a shark or any other predatory fish of impressive size, you have to assume that the meat is loaded with toxic chemicals. Shark is for nonpregnant adults only!

If you are pregnant, methylmercury crosses the placenta and goes right to the brain and nervous system of your developing fetus, with potentially dangerous consequences.

Commercial fishing is no longer a business that people expect to pass on to their children. They know that the fish will be gone from the sea and too few will be left for anyone to catch.

Indeed, salmon farming is so controversial that it has spawned its very own opposition groups. One, the Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform, runs a “Farmed and Dangerous” campaign to encourage you to think twice before eating farmed raised salmon.

Farm raised salmon are confined in pools of antibiotics, pesticides, chemicals, and wastes, which then spill the equivalent of raw sewage into local waters.

Knowing what fish to eat means knowing

Where the fish comes from
Whether t is farmed or wild
Where it is on the food chain
Whether it is listed in a state advisory
How much fat it contains

About 75% of the fish and 90% of the shrimp sold in US supermarkets and restaurants are imported, and most come from developing countries in Asia and Latin America.

When I ask the managers of fish counters if they are complying with COOL, most have no idea what I am talking about.

EGGS

If you see the Certified Organic seal on an egg carton, it means the eggs come from hens that eat organic feed, are allowed access to the outdoors and sunlight, and are inspected to make sure the rules are followed.

FROZEN FOODS

Researchers who work for the frozen food industry have looked into the hearts and minds of supermarket shoppers. Their profound insight: you want hot food on the table no more than five minutes after you begin preparing it, and never more than twenty.

If you want healthier frozen foods, look for packages with a short ingredient list.
Frozen fruits and vegetables with a single ingredient are the best nutrition buy.

If you would like manufacturers to explain more about the chemical ingredients listed on food labels, take up this matter with your congressional representatives. Congress tells the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) what to do.

Oh there is so much more to share with you, so much information and so little time to blog….Thanks to Ms. Nestle.

Anyway, the point I am trying to make is think about and care about where your food comes from. If you eat meat, fish, and fowl try to think about what the animal eats before you eat it. If the fish is a bottom feeder…how much nutrition are you going to gain from eating a bottom feeder? Think about your food. Think about the ingredients that you consume. If you eat foods that are not nutritious, eat them in moderation.

Are you hungry?

QotW

Why is it critically important to understand exactly what you are consuming when you eat? Does it really matter? What do you think?

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog # 7 Food For Thought

Where does the produce you buy come from and is it fresh?

The distance traveled: Food miles and Country of Origin Labeling (COOL).

Where does your food come from and how does it get to the food market?

The spoilage problem explains why the produce sections of supermarkets used to be limited in variety to whatever was in season, grown locally, or brought in from places no more than a few days away. The invention of trains, trucks, and airplanes lengthened the distances that foods could travel. Refrigeration changed everything. The ability to keep fruits and vegetables cold from the instant they are picked to the moment you put them in your shopping cart – what the food industry calls the “cold chain” – means that produce sections are no longer constrained by growing location or season. You expect to buy strawberries whenever you want them, and you can.

Just about all produce, excepting herbs, is trucked to your supermarket. For a large supermarket chain with its own distribution system, a head of broccoli undergoes a trip as follows: farm, local warehouse, regional distribution center, refrigerated truck, regional distribution center at destination, another truck, local supermarket, backroom stocking area, floor, and, finally, shelf. All of this can take a week to ten days. Even if the broccoli is kept cold throughout this odyssey (something hardly likely with all of those transfers in and out of trucks and warehouses), it isn’t going to be fresh and full of nutrition by the time we purchase it, and even less fresh by the time it is eaten.

Maintaining the cold chain is not the only factor that effects the quality of fruits and vegetables. Even “fresh” produce is often subjected to processing before it reaches the supermarket shelf. To allow them to endure transportation, bananas and tomatoes are picked while still green, then chilled, warmed, and then treated with chemical gases to force them to ripen. Bagged vegetables and salads have been washed and cut, subject to “modified atmosphere packaging” (which changes the proportion of oxygen and carbon dioxide to delay spoilage), and often produce is treated with preservatives to lengthen its shelf life and to maintain its color.

So what is the definition of fresh? In supermarket terms, “fresh” refers to produce and foods that spoil faster than others. It does not mean that produce was picked early that day or even that week, or that the produce is nutritious. Where was the broccoli grown? Salinas, CA, and it endured about 3,000 miles getting from California to Florence.

In 2002, Congress passed a law requiring country of origin labeling, the apt acronym is COOL, that was to take effect in 2004. Later, under pressure from the food industries, Congress postponed the deadline until 2005 for fish, but until 2006 and, later 2008 for other foods. We should know where our food comes from. Knowing this lets us know about freshness, taste, and nutritional value.

In America, food industry opposition to COOL is just about universal. Industry officials complain that tracking the origin of foods is difficult, but also would prefer that you not know how far food has traveled before it gets to you. Its lobbyists argued that COOL would be “extraordinarily costly with no discernible benefit,” but their real objection was that meat and produce producers would have to track where animals and produce products come from – another sensible idea that they have long resisted.

You might think that COOL would benefit American meat, fruit and vegetable growers (“Buy American!”), but that was not the case. Producers objected and argued that COOL was too costly, too complicated, and too revealing. Food producers, grocers, the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Produce Marketing Association lobbied Congress to introduce legislation, the Food Promotion Act of 2004, which would make COOL entirely voluntary. This too had an apt acronym: VCOOL. Although this legislation did not pass, Congress delayed COOL implementation until October 2006 and then again until October 2008. It is still difficult for us to know where our food comes from.

Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/) has voluntarily labeled the origins of fruits and vegetables for years. What could possibly be wrong with letting customers know where food comes from? Food suppliers must think that COOL will hurt their profits by forcing them to track the source of their foods, keep foods from different locations separated, and label the foods accordingly. Food suppliers do not want you to know how commonly food from different places is commingled. The foods in the bin might come from anywhere. So the industry wants COOL to be voluntary – so they can voluntarily decline to put COOL labels on their products.

Why is it important to know where our food comes from?

Well, number 1, food safety. Sometimes bananas from Ecuador, spinach from the US, grapes from Chili, green peppers and string beans from Zimbabwe, apples from South Africa, and onions from New Zealand might not be fresh, nutritious, and might not be safe. A nonprofit research organization called the Environmental Working Group (http://www.ewg.org/) reports periodically on health risks from pesticides in produce. The group says we can cut our exposure to chemicals and pesticides by 50 percent simply by reducing our consumption of the “dirty dozen” – the twelve fruits and vegetables they have found to be the most contaminated at the current time. At this writing, those twelve are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, nectarines, strawberries, cherries, lettuce, grapes (imported), pears, spinach, and potatoes.

Number 2, nutritional value, when we eat produce that is not fresh we do not get the nutrients and fiber that we should. Therefore, it is not as nutritious for us, does not provide maximum energy, and we will be hungry sooner and perhaps malnourished. Thus, we still get the same number of calories from the produce that is not fresh but not a lot of nutrition, it is more empty calories, and we will be hungry sooner, so we may end up getting too many calories, not enough nutrition, be hungry and over eat. Not good for our health nor the rates of obesity.

What can we do? Ask your grocer where the food you would like to buy comes from. I went into a supermarket a few years ago when I moved to Florence. I complimented the produce manager on an island display of mangoes, melons, pears, apples, bananas, peppers, onions, and tomatoes. The display was beautiful and looked very appetizing. I asked the produce manager where each item came from and he could not tell me the origin of a single piece of produce in that display. He pointed me to an organic area along the wall and he told me where all of the organic produce came from.
Moral of the story, buy locally for your health. Locally grown foods are more fresh, they taste better, they will also have more nutrients, will provide us with more energy and fiber, and we will be supporting local growers.

Where does the produce you buy come from and is it nutritious and fresh? What do you think about the freshness and nutrient content of the food that you eat?

Think about it, food for thought.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog # 6: How healthy are your eating habits?

You were required to complete the food diary (# 1 on page 244 in your text) for 5 days and then you were to sum the number of servings from each of the major food groups on each day and type or write them into the table provided. Then you were to submit the food diary to me.

For this comment I would like you to answer the following questions. The Assess Yourself for this chapter asks some sub-questions that may help you think about your responses.

Evaluate your food intake.

Is your food intake consistent with the My Pyramid recommendations? Explain your answer.

Does your diet have proportionality and is it balanced? Why or why not?

Are you getting enough fat-soluble vitamins in your diet? Explain your answer.

Are you getting enough water-soluble vitamins in your diet? Explain your answer.

The above questions gave you the chance to evaluate your current nutritional habits. Now that you have considered these results, you can decide whether you need to make changes in your daily eating for long term health.

How could you improve your dietary intake today?

Within the next two weeks?

By the end of the semester?

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

HLTH 301 Blog Post # 5 – Add It Up!

You were required to complete the “ADD IT UP!” assignment; you were also required to correct any errors following my assessment. What did you learn about your personal health from completing the assignment?

What did the analysis of your sleep habits as evaluated by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale reveal?

According to the results, is it possible that you are suffering from a sleep disorder? If yes, what will you do to resolve this problem?

According to your results, do you have barriers that keep you from being more physically active? If yes, what keeps you from being more active, and what will you do to resolve this problem?

What were the numbers for your daily calorie and daily energy needs? How did your recommended daily calories compare to your daily energy needs? What does this mean?

Finally, reflect about 2 facts you learned about your personal health from completing the ADD IT UP! Assignment, and write about one fact that surprised you about your personal health.

P.S. After you finish writing your blog comment, bring me your corrected Add It Up! Assignment so I can grade your blog comment.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Blog Break Week

There will be no blog this week. Your next blog will be posted on February 28 and will be due on March 5, 2012. Enjoy your blog break!