Breast Cancer

‘Healthy Foods and Breast Cancer Awareness’-http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com, 02/10/08

Apparently October is National Breast Cancer Month.

Concord Grape Juice- the Journal of Medicinal Foods published a study that found that the Concord grape extract in purple Welch’s 100% Grape Juice has “breast cancer chemopreventive potential” because it protects healthy breast cells fron DNA damage.

Apple- according to research from Cornell University, natural chemicals in apple peels can inhibit breast, liver, and colon cancer cell growth

Milk- a study from the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School found that pre-menopausal women who consume high amounts of vitamin D and calcium may reduce their risk of breast cancer by 40%.

Brussel Sprouts- a recent study has found Brussels sprouts to be powerful cancer fighters. Less than one cup of Brussels sprouts a day may reduce the risk of breast, liver,  colon, and bladder cancer and heart disease by up to 59% in women and 71% in men.

Broccoli Sprouts-the American Cancer Society says that a compound in broccoli sprouts, sulforaphane, may prevent and treat breast cancer, by causing the body to make more of the enzymes that fight-off cancer-causing chemicals

Olive Oil- Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz say that a healthy fat in olive oil, oleic acid, “may help disarm a gene that prompts breast cancer cells to grow and divide.”

Fibre-Rich Foods- University of Leeds researchers have found that pre-menopausal women who eat 25-30g of fibre a day are 50% less likely to develop breast cancer than those who eat less fibre. Their findings showed that a high fibre diet helps to regulate estrogen levels which are associated with breast cancer.

 

This post would have interested worried about breast cancer, but for the majority of those who think ‘they’re ok’ the article may have seemed as if it didn’t concern them.

Each of the foods found to have a defending effect against breast cancer were separated into different paragraphs and highlighted in bold, so readers could easily just read the headings and know what food was good for defending breast cancer. Although the article included a picture at the end, it was quite long and would not have attracted many to read the post.

Fresher food!

‘Fresher food for freshers: Jamie Oliver’s dinner lady cooks for students’- Ann Lipsett, guardian.co.uk, 01/10/08

 Jamie Oliver has been reported in the guardian website a couple of times this week.

This article reported on his right-hand woman, Nora Sands, the dinner lady from Jamie’s School Dinners. The article focuses on her recent cooking demonstration at the University of Hull, teaching students how to cook quick, simple, healthy meals on a budget.

I think this is a good idea in promoting healthy cooking. Students are arriving at universities not knowing how to cook, or can’t be bothered to, and are relying on baked beans and toast, and kebab takeaways.

However, I don’t see many students will continue to cook for themselves after a period of time. It may be fun at the beginning, but they’ll probably feel they can’t be bothered to cook after a few weeks…or days. I wonder how many students attended the event?

I have a younger sister who has just started her first year in university, living away from home in halls. Apparently her knew accommodation does not have a kitchen since it is catered…Lord knows what she’s eating!

 

Most of the article included quotes from Nora Sands, showing how compassionate she is about food. Many parents who have read the article will probably wish that Nora will visit their own children’s universities and teach them how to cook as well.

The article includes a picture at the top of Nora and students enjoying cooking, hinting a positive outlook on Britain’s healthy eating campaign. It was easy to follow, and many people would remember their student dietary life whilst reading it. No negative comments or debates were made about the demonstration in the article, enforcing a positive view of the story.

The article included words highlighted in blue which when clicked, linked onto other related websites/articles; a feature only available on the web. By doing so, it diverts traffic on to other sites/ articles on the guardian website, as well as allowing readers to refer to other items giving them more understanding. The article ends by inviting readers to share their favourite student recipes with other readers, making the guardian page a friendly environment where Internet users can interact. As you can see by the comment posted afterwards by a reader, the article brings up emotions and memories of readers and allows them share with others.

The ‘Health & wellbeing’ section of the guardian site introduces the article on the page with a picture of a laughing Nora, and a brief introductory to the article, attracting users’ attention to read the story. A couple of stories relating to Jamie Oliver has been published recently, thus generating a large number of readers interested in Jamie Oliver or his campaign to visit the guardian site.

 

 

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.

Diverticulitis

‘Reduce Your Risk of Diverticulitis’- - http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com, 01/10/08

Laurel has also reported about the effect of eating nuts and small seeds on diverticulitis. She breaks down the original article in the New York Times (which the International Herald Tribune is its global version). The article has summarised the original report and added pictures of nuts and popcorn on the end, making it easier to read for viewers.

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.

Cranberries

‘Did We Forget About Cranberries?’- http://www.laurelonhealthfood.com, 23/09/08

The Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry has published research that confirmed that cranberries are packed with antioxidants.

I often drink cranberry juice in the mornings and had read the packaging that said ‘full of vitamin C and anti-oxidants’, so this wasn’t surprising news for me. ‘Study author Professor Joe Vinson from the University of Scranton says that “one serving of cranberries provides more phenolic antioxidants than the average daily consumption of antioxidants from all fruits…Cranberries have the highest antioxidant content among 20 commonly consumed fruits, yet they are underconsumed, ranking 16th in the US.”’ I always considered cranberries as a North American fruit, so it was slightly surprising to learn that they are not eaten much in the US.

The blogger included her own advice on how to take in more cranberries into the diet which were put into bullet points, and added a picture on the end, making it more interesting and easy to read.

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.

 

Energy Boot

‘Doctors call for warnings on energy drinks to prevent caffeine overdose’- Ian Sample, guardian.co.uk, 24/09/08

Doctors are concerned over the amount of caffeine included in some energy drinks and say they should carry prominent health warnings to protect young people from overdosing.

According to the article, research in the US has found that some energy drinks contained as much as 14 times more caffeine than a can of cola (or 7 cups of strong coffee).

In the UK, drinks containing more than 150mg caffeine per litre must be labelled as ‘high caffeine content’, BUT there is no upper limit on the amount of caffeine, nor do drinks need to carry warnings about the potential risks of caffeine overdose.

One brand, which was launched in Britain last month, called Cocaine Energy Drink contained 280mg caffeine, or 8 times as much caffeine as a can of cola (a can of cola contains about 35mg, a cup of coffee about 75mg).

Professor Rolland Griffiths at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland says; ‘ “What we’ve seen since the first energy drinks arrived on the shelves is a sea change in how caffeine is being marketed…These drinks are being very aggressively marketed, often to kids interested in extreme sports, and some of them are making overt appeals to the illicit drug culture. You can easily imagine people consuming a couple of these drinks and running smack into caffeine intoxication. People can end up not only feeling lousy, but in ER thinking they’re having a heart attack.”

Griffiths calls for energy drinks to carry the same kind of warnings as caffeine pills that are bought over the counter at chemists. Those labels warn the risks of having too much caffeine, e.g. nervousness, anxiety attacks, rapid heartbeat and nausea.

 

I am alarmed that energy drinks that contain as high as 14 times more caffeine than a can of cola is not banned from production at all! I am also surprised that a drink was allowed to be named ‘cocaine’ . What were they thinking? Surely they would have expected the confrontations that were to come. If it was a plan to stir up commotion, surely they can’t get away with it. Do their eyes only reflect dollar signs? They have no love or consideration for the consumer.

If kids see other kids drink the Cocaine Energy Drink, they may misunderstand that the real cocaine drug is a casual thing to take. “Look I’m drinking Cocaine, how cool’s that!” Oh the calamity.

As designers, we are partly responsible for the way the information is displayed on the packaging. I wonder who designed the Cocaine Energy Drink?

If these energy drinks were to be labeled with warnings in the future, would they resemble the health warning sign found on cigarette packs? Or would the warnings be written so miniscule that no one would read them?

 

 

I think this topic is new and has not been discussed much in the media before and therefore catches the attention of viewers. The article immediately starts with a picture of a selection of energy drinks, of which one brand, Red Bull, which will be familiar with the British. Once the reader recognises this brand, they will feel an immediate sense of intimacy with the article, and wonder if the article is any of their concern, making them read on (especially those who drink Red Bull often).

The article ends with a short inclusion of the energy drink manufacturer’s side of the sroty; ‘‘Jamey Kirby of Redux Beverages in Las Vegas, which makes Cocaine Energy Drink, said the drinks are labelled with their caffeine content to help children and adults consume them safely.

“Energy drinks are coming under attack because of the branding and marketing strategies. If we were hurting people, we’d be having our ass sued off by now. If you look at the demographic we are going for, it’s great news to have these people coming out and saying ban them.”‘

Perhaps because it is short and not explained in detail, but it just sounds like a pathetic reasoning. I don’t quite understand what they mean in the last sentence.

 

 

Children watching fast food ads

‘Children still watching ‘junk food’ ads, says Which?’- Mark Sweney, guardian.co.uk, 19/09/08

Since one of my original media sources did not contain as much healthy eating news as I expected, I decided to change my media source to the guardian website.

The guardian website featured an article about a criticism made by consumer body Which?, that Ofcom’s restrictions on the TV advertising of ‘junk’ food needs to be reviewed.

A report made by Which? showed that  only 4 of the top 20 programmes among under-16-year olds met Ofcom’s restrictions on TV ads for products high in fat, salt or sugar. Ofcom’s restriction bans ‘junk’ food ads from programmes if the proportion of under-16s viewing is 20% higher than the general population.

Ofcom’s research, ‘based on data from audience measurement body Barb, showed that programmes in the top 20 between June 9 and June 22 included Emmerdale, Coronation Street, 10 Years Younger, The Bill, Animals Do the Funniest Things, The Hulk movie and Beat the Star.’

The Advertising Association has hit back at Which?, saying it has missed the point; “Their list includes programmes clearly not aimed at children and films screened after 10pm. There clearly has to be an element of parental responsibility on which programmes they allow their children to view”.

 

 

The article ends saying, ‘ The Which? report showed that Ofcom’s proportional regulation system did block ads from appearing in shows clearly targeted at children such as The Simpsons, SpongeBob SquarePants, Shaggy and Scooby Doo Get a Clue, and The Power Rangers’, which is in more in favour of the Advertising Association’s argument. Although this last part was probably put in to show a fair view of the subject, it has left me, the reader, feeling that Which? has been nit-picking over the small details and their findings isn’t much of a fuss to be made of.

Whilst reading the beginning of the article, I was slightly alarmed that junk food was advertised in the top 20TV programmes among under-16s, but after reading the Advertising Association’s argument, I realised that they had a point…the Bill is a program not aimed at children, it isn’t a children’s program.

Of course, exposing junk food ads to children is a concern, but we can’t protect all children. Besides, most children wants to watch programs made for adults, because they are curious and think it is ‘cool’, so it is difficult to slot in the junk food ads into ‘appropriate’ programs, Is Which?’s finding such a fuss to be made of? I can’t remember the last time I watched a junk food ad on TV. As the article says, ‘The loss of prime advertisers such as Coca-Cola, Mars, Cadbury, Kellogg’s and Nestlé – which advertise in and around live sport content – would be disastrous and unsustainable for broadcasters.‘

The article is written as if Which? sounds like it has a weak argument, and does not mention the effects that junk food advertising has on children, whereas the Advertising Association is reported to describe Which’s report as sensationalist and unconstructive, which is much more hard-hitting and emotional, thus making it much easier to gain reader’s support.

The online article is categorised and linked onto other similar articles with key words such as ‘health’ and ‘Ofcom’ (listed on the right side of the article), which directs users to and from the article easily.

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.