Getting Kids to Eat Healthy Foods

This article in the New York times lists useful strategies to get kids interested in a wide variety of healthy foods. It seems to be aimed at parents of younger, preschool aged children, but some of the suggestions might work for older kids. The idea of involving kids in food preparation could definitely be adapted for Project Go.

How America Gets Its Drink and Snack On

The United States Department of Agriculture has released some data on the when and how of American eating. The article itself is loaded with graphs a fascinating look at food stamps, television habits, age and primary and secondary eating. This will be a great source of later data.

Sugar Smacks!

Cereal Is Dope by InternetsCelebrities is a funny (but not for kids) look at the nutritional content of American Cereals. While the content is light it gives out a few devastating facts about cereal. For example, the cereal industry uses enough sugar in a year to cover 3 pounds for everyone in the United States. Also, the average cereal eater has about 160 bowls over the course of a year.

Get Fit with Virtual Gym Buddies

Gyminee offers long term weight, exercise and nutrition tracking tools. It also offers encouragement to get fit through social networking and virtual gym buddies.

Obesity is Stabilizing in France

Good news on the weight gain front in the big hexagon.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

This New York Times article that covers the history of nutrition, discusses what it really means to be food and gives some sound advice about choosing what foods to eat. Micheal Pollan is the author of books suck as the Omnivore's Dilemma and The Botany of Desire.

Exercise and Fluid Replacement

This paper by the American College of Sports Medicine outlines standards for fluid and electrolyte replacement according to physical activity and individual bearing.

Links of the Day

What does it mean to be fit? : This article is mostly about strength training and physical fitness.

Push-up Calculator : Compare yourself to others in your age group by comparing the number of push-ups you can do without pausing.

Ask Metafilter : This thread discusses what would be the best single metric for determining someone's health.

Also : Is it okay to eat a little bacon as part of a balanced diet?

Proof that Eating Breakfast is Good for You

From the abstract:


Although experimental studies are needed to verify whether the association between breakfast and body weight is of a causal nature, our findings support the importance of promoting regular breakfast consumption among adolescents. Future studies should further examine the role of breakfast habits among youth who are particularly concerned about their weight.




Translation: breakfast = good

Health Content from Highmark

Learn to be Healthy is Highmark's online interactive health learning system. It has separate content for adults, teens and kids.

The YMCA Gears Up to Fight Obesity

The YMCA is planning on retraining staff in an attempt to position itself in the fight against obesity. The organization plans on using group activities and community support to bolster its fitness programs. The YMCA is prominent in urban communities and offers financial assistance to lower income persons. This inclusive environment might be a healthy partner for Project Go.

Looking at the BMI

Flickr has an extremely interesting photo pool, the Illustrated BMI, showing pictures of people along side their weight, height and BMI. It's very interesting to see how thin the margin is between normal, overweight and obese.

Over 30 BMI? No Soup for You!

Mississippi House Bill #282 proposes banning all obese people from eating in public. While the criteria for determining which people are obese have not been set, some have assumed that it will be based on BMI.

For further reading, there is a heated debate about this topic on Metafilter.

The Gap Between Multivitamin use and Scientific Understanding

"The evidence regarding vitamin use for prevention of chronic disease is still quite rudimentary, especially for multivitamins..."

Moms Prefer the Web for Information

A new Michigan State University study on 155 low-income moms found that the women retained information better when presented with a website rather than a game or a pamphlet. In addition, they reported that they would be more likely to use the website repeatedly.

Call for Game Submissions

Our game programming contest is on! The official call and rules can be found here. The deadline to submit falls during CMU's Spring Break, so we might consider moving the due date back a week.

Mission Nutrition is Super Cute

Mission Nutrition was created by Rachel Berkowitz and Chris DeLeon, both CMU students and Game Creation Society Members. The game features junk food villains and a grocery store setting.

Obesity is a Biiiig Problem

This Forbes article lists several causes of obesity and their impact. Here are a few interesting observations from the article that might be relevant to our research:

• Obesity currently accounts for 2% to 6% of many countries' total health budgets.
  
• While it may be possible to develop new drugs to help regulate appetite and control energy intake, their relatively high costs mean use of medicines alone never will become a sustainable long-term solution.
  
• Today, people are no more gluttonous than previous generations, nor is their biology significantly different; rather, society has altered.
  

Patients with Chronic Conditions and the Internet

An ACOR study reports that chronic patients use the internet to research their health and uncover treatment options.

The New Food Pyramid

The USDA has a website offering customized food pyramids based on age, gender and size. In addition, they have an in depth look at each of the food groups, including ideal members of each group. For example, they break down how beans are good for protein and are also suited to be counted as vegetable servings.

In addition, they have a pyramid-riffic game where players choose food items and activities in order to build an ideal daily menu in order to launch a cartoon rocket.