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.

Lack of Sleep Linked to Obesity

There have been a few studies linking obesity with lack of sleep. This first one from NPR notes a difference in appetite based on subjects who slept for four or ten hours. Those with a full night's sleep awoke with a normal appetite, but those who slept four hours awoke with a greater hunger, especially for unhealthy foods.

This second study correlates sleeping less than ten hours a night with obesity. Children who slept less than 10 hours a night were 3.5 times more likely to suffer from the affliction.

Anne Marie links the weight gain among students to a lack of energy to play. Perhaps we should encourage a full night's sleep as part of maintaining and active lifestyle.