Free school dinners

‘Golden ticket to a healthier Britain’- Sharon Hodgson, guardian.co.uk, 03/10/08

In response to the Government’s recent plans to provide free school meals to the first 3 years of primary schools, the article explains that this is a good opportunity to promote healthy eating, and would make progress on tackling obesity and childhood poverty.

This article also refers to Jamie Oliver’s campaign, where we found that social class dictated diet for Rotherham’s people (as discussed in previous post).

With the government tackling the problems head-on, it looks like we would achieve our goals much faster.

 

The author of the article encourages the proposal and has been working together with Roberta Blackman-Woods MP towards it, thus giving a positive view to the reader. However, some readers who have commented to the article do not agree; they say food is not the reason but exercise is for obesity, they do not want to see tax-payer’s money put towards children’s school dinners etc.

It relates to other Jamie Oliver articles on the guardian website, and attracts readers interested in the topic.

Oliver!

‘Britain on a plate’- Felicity Lawrence, guardian.co.uk, 01/10/08

Relating to Jamie Oliver’s new TV series again, this article explains that the diet of a person depends on class, i.e. the poorer you are, the more you will try and fill yourself up with cheap food. It gives us a deeper understanding about why Britain’s problem exists.

‘ What may seem ignorant choices to others are in fact quite rational. Lobstein has calculated the cost of 100 calories of food energy from different types of food. The cheapest way to get your 100 calories is to buy fats, processed starches and sugars. A hundred calories of broccoli costs 51p, but 100 calories of frozen chips only cost 2p.’

 

The article starts by giving an insight to the dietary lives of people featured on the TV series, and talks about the history of the relationship between diet and social class. I was surprised to find that the working class’s diet of 1930s sounded healthier than of today’s… “The basis of their diet is white bread and margarine, corned beef, sugared tea and potatoes”.

The article gives facts and quotes from various sources, describing a grave situation. Although the article starts with a black and white picture at the top that attracts attention, the article is very long and many people will choose not to bother reading all of it. The fact that the picture is in black and white somehow adds to the negative outlook of our diets.                                                   

As well as Jamie Oliver, we the readers realise how ignorant we were about the reason of the present day situation.

The article has links on to the guardian food blog, inviting us to join the debate.

Ironically, the advert placed next to the article at the time I read it, was a McDonald’s one, although the burger looked somehow healthy.

The article was listed on the top of the Food and drink section of the Lifestyle page, thus exposing it to a large audience.

The new Mediterranean diet

‘The Mediterranean diet sinks in a sea of obesity- Elisabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune, 25/09/08

Not about the UK or the US, surprisingly Greece has problems with obesity too.

The Mediterranean diet that often uses olive oil, fresh produce and fish, has been associated with longer life spans and lower rates of heart disease and cancer. However, it is now in retreat in its home area and are replaced with fast food. Today in Greece, two-thirds of children are now overweight, and three-quarters of the adult population is overwegiht or obese, the worst rate by far according to the UN.           

The Greek government is alarmed by the trend in obesity and its health effects, and have been visiting schools annually for the past few years to weigh children and lecture them on nutrition. ‘“It was the talk of the school,” said Stella Kazazakou, 44, whose son Theodore is 9. “Instead of grades, the moms were comparing cholesterol levels.”‘

Dr. Antonia Trichopoulou, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens Medical School, said the problem had grown dramatically with the spread of supermarkets and, especially, convenience foods. Advertising has swooped widely across Greece; there are TV commercials for chips, there are stands of candy at supermarkets.

‘But facing both aggressive convenience food marketing and obesity for the first time, many rural residents here have little resistance to or knowledge of the dangers.

Trichopoulou said that some older people might have even been tolerant of childhood chubbiness because Greece had for so long been a poor nation where hunger was a recurrent problem.

The traditional diet, low in saturated fats and high in nutrients like flavonoids, was based on vegetables, fruit, unrefined grains, olive oil for cooking and for flavoring, and a bit of wine – all consumed on a daily basis.

Fish, nuts, poultry, eggs, cheese and sweets were weekly additions.

Red meat, refined sugar or flour, butter and other oils or fats were consumed rarely, if at all.’

 

It was surprising to find that a country known for their healthy lifestyle is facing obesity problems and it was refreshing to read on a country other than the UK and US.

The article gives figures on the percentage of obese children, adults and daily cholesterol consumption, and compares them with figures of the US and other European countries, to show the dramatic change in lifestyle over the years. The article explains how obesity had become a problem in Greece and what the government is doing to tackle it, giving a deeper overview of the topic.

Unlike the other International Herald Tribune articles I discussed, the first part of this article was introduced on the front page of the newspaper, and continued onto the main part of the newspaper. Since it was featured on the front page, it has a large possibility of attracting reader’s attentions (though the top article would have attracted the most). The article did not particularly include scientific words that were difficult to understand and it was easy to follow the article. The front page part of the article was placed next to a colour picture of another article (though it looked like it could have been featured for both) and the continuing part of the article featured a picture and a chart making it easier to understand and attract the eye of the reader. Both parts of the article were placed in the middle of the page, the latter part taking a large amount of space so there is a good chance that it would be read by many people.

 

After the ‘before and after’ pictures

‘Weight-loss surgery is only half the battle’- Jane E. Brody, International Herald Tribune, 18/09/08

This weeks’ health and science section of the International Tribune included an article about the difficulties of weight maintenance of people who had had gastric bypass surgery. Many people, including I, would have thought having surgery is an instant cure for obesity, but the article explains that in fact, not only strict rules of diet and exercise applies afterwards, but many people find it difficult to maintain their weight and actually put back some of the weight they had lost.

Dr Philip Schauer, bariatric surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and past president of the bariatric society,says “Up to 15 percent lose a lot of weight initially, then gain weight back. The difference between a great result and a good result is aftercare.”

“Patients do best,” he continued, “when they participate in a program that provides continuing education, psychological counseling, diet and nutrition support. Exercise matters absolutely. One of the best predictors of success is the degree to which the individual has a regular exercise program.”

There are various types of operation. They reduce the amount people can consume at a given time and the amount of digested food they can absorb, by creating a much smaller stomach and bypassing part of the small intestine.

Some facts from the article:

- about 15 million Americans are morbidly obese, with a BMI of 40 or more

-last year, about 205,000 people underwent surgery to help them lose 100 or more pounds that they have been unable to shed and keep off any other way (estimated by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric  Surgery)

 

 

These figures are huge!

 

A reason why many patients find it difficult to maintain their weight after surgery is because operations do not cure underlying psychological problems that prompt them to overeat or eat the most fattening foods.

 

 

My immediate impression after reading the article was sympathy for the patients. 

The article features interviews of three women who had had the surgery, and of a doctor and combines it with facts and figures to give an insight and understanding into the difficulties that the patients face.

This article was placed at the bottom left corner of the health and science section of the newspaper.The front cover of the newspaper runs a secondary lead for another article in the Health and Science section, which will lead some readers to the page. Although the article I am discussing does not contain any images, it took a large enough space of the page to be noticed. Though the narrow article next to it including an image and bold sub-headlines looks easier to read, this article would catch the interest of many people, since many people will be familiar with reading articles on obesity. The article provides these people with a better understanding about having surgery, as well as acting as a warning to people considering to take the surgery; the article ends with a quote from a patient ‘…if you don’t know why you’re eating, you shouldn’t do the surgery.’

Seriousness of the article is conveyed by the fact that it does not contain any images, and that it includes a clip from the main copy highlighted in bold in the middle of the article, reading ‘An operation does not cure underlying psychological factors that prompt many people to overeat.’, as if calling over a stern warning to readers.

Magic Mushrooms

‘Mushrooms and Weight Loss’- http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com, 17/08/08

Autumn’s near and it’s mushroom’s peak season. 

A preliminary study by Dr. Cheskin found that eating large amounts of mushrooms may help prevent and treat obesity. The study found that people can increase their intake of low-energy density (low calorie) foods, especially mushrooms, and decrease their intake of high-energy density foods, such as lean ground beef, to help avoid obesity and weight gain…which is unsurprising.

Dr. Cheskin also observed that the study participants ‘seemed to accept mushrooms as a palatable and suitable culinary substitute for meat. They didn’t compensate for the lower calorie mushroom meal by eating more food later in the day.’

 

The laurel on health food blog gives a suitable recipe tip on how mushrooms can be used as a substitute for meat. Laurel accompanies the article with a picture that makes it appealing to read (a vivid red against the blog’s green background), as well as making it appealing for readers to try out the recipe, thus encouraging people who are trying to control their weight to incorporate mushrooms into their diets.

As well as giving a recipe idea, the blog also links onto another website with a detailed recipe, making the blog a useful source of information for readers who are trying to be healthy.

The article, in terms of context and content gives a full ‘go-ahead’ sign to eat mushrooms as a substitute for meat. The comments made onto the blog also show that they are ‘pro’ to the article/ mushrooms, encouraging more readers to try the diet.