UK Food Advertising Regulations Have Done Little To Address Exposure Of Children To Unhealthy Food Marketing

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet;??Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 17 May 2013 - 2:00 PDT Current ratings for:
UK Food Advertising Regulations Have Done Little To Address Exposure Of Children To Unhealthy Food Marketing

Regulations brought in by the UK to reduce the volume of television advertising of unhealthy foods to children appear to have little impact on the advertising around programmes children actually watch, according to research presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, UK. The research is by Dr Emma Boyland and Professor Jason Halford, University of Liverpool, UK, and colleagues.

The authors did an analysis of food advertising on television in the UK in 2008 (when some regulation was in place) compared to 2010 (when new regulations had fully taken effect). UK television was recorded from 6am to 10pm for a weekday and a weekend day in every month between January-December 2008 and again in 2010 for 14 of the most popular commercial channels broadcasting children's/family viewing. Recordings were screened for advertisements, which were coded according to predefined criteria including whether they were broadcast in peak/non-peak children's viewing time.? Food advertisements were coded as core (healthy)/non-core (unhealthy)/miscellaneous foods.

The researchers found there was a slight reduction in the overall % of food advertisements (13% in 2008 to 12% in 2010). There was a reduction in advertising of both core (26% to 19% of FA) and non-core foods (64% to 58%), both going down as advertising for miscellaneous products including supermarkets, tea, coffee, and vitamins went up. There were rises in the proportion of FA that were for confectionery (9% to 11%), full-fat dairy products (4% to 9%) and high fibre/low sugar breakfast cereals (7% to 8%). Food advertising during dedicated children's programming fell between 2008 and 2010 (11% to 4%). Dr Boyland says: "The regulations arehaving an effect on dedicated children's programming, however the majority of children's viewing takes place outside of this, during family viewing hours. Thus the impact of the regulations on advertising around the programmes children actually watch is very small."

Professor Halford says: "Unhealthy food advertising still dominated in 2010. Regulations governing TV advertising of food in the UK principally addressed child-dedicated programming. However, they have only had a minimal impact on food advertising in and around the programming children actually watch--that extends well beyond defined children's broadcasting times--and there is no evident shift towards an emphasis on healthier dietary options. The rules should be re-examined to address this weakness."

The authors add that despite the lack of impact of the regulations, the UK Government and OFCOM (the independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries) have stated that they are not looking to make further changes.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Source: Source: European Congress on Obesity (ECO)
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Breastfeeding May Help Prevent ADHD In Children

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Academic Journal
Main Category: ADHD
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;??Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 16 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Breastfeeding May Help Prevent ADHD In Children

Breastfeeding may help prevent children from developing ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) later in life, according to a new study.

The research was conducted by a team of Israeli researchers and published in Breastfeeding Medicine, the official journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine.

The scientists, led by Aviva Mimouni-Bloch, MD, of the Tel-Aviv University (TAU) Sackler Faculty of Medicine, wanted to determine whether the development of ADHD might be linked to a shorter duration of breastfeeding.

They compared breastfeeding history and other factors in children between the ages of 6 and 12 who were diagnosed with ADHD at Schneider's Children Medical Center in Israel with data from two control groups of kids of the same age without the disorder.

One of the control groups consisted of healthy children whose brother or sister had ADHD - this group was considered as having a similar genetic background and environment as the research group.

The other group was made up of kids who were consulted at the clinic and were not suspected of having the neurological disorder.

The mothers were asked to complete a questionnaire which sought information about their educational, psychosocial, medical status, pregnancy and perinatal details.

The researchers looked at whether the mother breastfed exclusively, whether she breastfed and gave formula, or whether she only gave formula when the child was 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year old.

Kids who had ADHD were less likely to have been breastfed at 3 and 6 months of age than the children without the disorder, according to the results.

Only 43% of ADHD kids were breastfed at three months of age and just 29% were breastfed when they were 6 months old, the researchers explained.

Results showed that 69% of the siblings group and 73% of the other control group were breastfed when they were 3 months old, and at six months of age, 50% of the siblings group and 57% of the other group were breastfed.

Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine, said:

"Breastfeeding has been shown to have a positive impact on child development, good health, and protection against illness. Now, another possible benefit of breastfeeding for three months and especially six months or longer has been identified. This study opens another avenue of investigation in the prevention of ADHD."

The authors concluded:

"Whether the lesser exposure to breastfeeding in ADHD children is causally associated with ADHD or, on the contrary, a consequence of early abnormalities of feeding behavior at the breast cannot be determined from the current study.

We speculate that prevention, at least partial, of ADHD may be added to the list of the multiple biological advantages of human milk feeding."

A previous study found that ADHD often continues into adulthood, and kids with the disorder are also more likely to have other psychiatric conditions later in life.

Written by Sarah Glynn
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Visit our adhd section for the latest news on this subject. Breastfeeding May Protect from Developing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Aviva Mimouni-Bloch, Anna Kachevanskaya, Francis Benjamin Mimouni, Avinoam Shuper, Eyal Raveh, and Nehama Linder
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19 May. 2013. APA

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posted by Harold Rongey, Ph.D. on 17 May 2013 at 3:05 pm

A simple review of the USDA Nutrient Database to compare breast milk to alternate sources shows breasst milk to be the best with cow's milk 2nd best. When comparing the breast milk to healthy brain tissue one finds that several amino acids, tryptophan, lysine, methionine, cystine, tyrosine, and serine are likely to be low as well as the vitamin choline, and others. There will be an overall much better balance of all needed nutrients if solid foods are begun at three to four months of age with one or two egg yolks. This was the recommended practice for more than 35 years from 1946 throug 1974 or later---before problems of autism and ADHD became so common. (see Dr. Bennjamin Spock, "Baby and Child Care.") This data comparison confirms the need to supplement breast feeding and especially alternate milk sources for proper brain development.

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Children With Heart Defects May Benefit From Carnitine Supplement

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;??Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 11 May 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Children With Heart Defects May Benefit From Carnitine Supplement

A common nutritional supplement may be part of the magic in improving the survival rates of babies born with heart defects, researchers report.

Carnitine, a compound that helps transport fat inside the cell powerhouse where it can be used for energy production, is currently used for purposes ranging from weight loss to chest pain.

New research shows it appears to normalize the blood vessel dysfunction that can accompany congenital heart defects and linger even after corrective surgery, said Dr. Stephen M. Black, cell and molecular physiologist at the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.

"My hope is this is going to have a major, major impact on survival of babies," Black said. About half the babies born with heart defects have excessive, continuous high pressure on their lungs from misdirected blood flow. Early surgery can prevent full-blown pulmonary vascular disease, but scientists are finding more subtle disruptions in the signaling inside blood vessels walls that can be problematic - even deadly - up to 72 hours after surgery.

The good news is the changes are reversible and that carnitine speeds recovery and can even prevent the damage in a lamb model of these human heart defects, according to studies published in the journal Pediatric Research.

Normally, most blood flow bypasses the lungs in utero when the placenta provides blood and oxygen for the baby. Baby's first breaths naturally expand the lungs and blood vessels, activating a process inside the lining of vessels that enables them to accommodate the initial blood surge, then reduce pressure quickly, dramatically and permanently.

This natural transition doesn't occur when heart defects misdirect blood flow. "It's kind of like a chronic fetal-to-newborn transition," said Black, the study's corresponding author. Lungs get pounded with about three times the normal flow and, even when surgeries are done as early as possible to repair the defect, correct blood flow and protect the lungs, the 20 percent death rates from acute pulmonary hypertension have remained unchanged for a decade. "That's 1 in 5 kid (with this condition)," Black said.

Left unchecked, the barrage thickens blood vessels, making them unresponsive, much like those of an elderly individual who has lived for years with uncontrolled high blood pressure. The comparatively brief periods of pounding these babies experience impairs the ability of the endothelial cells, which line blood vessels, to produce nitric oxide, a major dilator of blood vessels.

The shear force disrupts carnitine homeostasis, weakens the mitochondria (the cell powerhouse) and impairs nitric oxide production. To make bad matters worse, the precursor to nitric oxide instead makes more peroxynitrite, prompting endothelial cells to grow and thickening blood vessels. Black was also corresponding author of a recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry that showed peroxynitrite does this by turning on the cell survival protein kinase Akt1.

The new study indicates that even without fixing the heart defect, high daily doses of carnitine in the first four weeks of life can prevent endothelial dysfunction. In fact, the laboratory lambs' ability to make nitric oxide is preserved even without the benefit of heart surgery and the responses to the chemical activity that enables blood vessel dilation is normalized, Black said.

Study co-author Dr. Jeffrey Fineman, a whole-animal physiologist and physician at the University of California, San Francisco, developed the model, a lamb whose four-chambered heart is very similar to humans. In utero surgery that misdirects too much blood to the lungs, means that, like children, the lambs are born with the defect.

Black is now working with Fineman, who is pursuing additional funding to resolve questions such as the optimal dosage and timing for giving carnitine. "Do you want to give it for six weeks when you only have to give it for six hours?" Black said. The researchers also plan to examine carnitine homeostasis in the blood of children with heart defects to see if it's disrupted. If it is, they plan to start clinical trials.

About 1 in 125 babies are born with a heart defect each year in the United States, according to the March of Dimes.

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
Visit our cardiovascular / cardiology section for the latest news on this subject. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation Leducq and the American Heart Association.
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ADHD Incidence May Be Reduced In Breastfed Children

Main Category: ADHD
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology;??Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 16 May 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
ADHD Incidence May Be Reduced In Breastfed Children

Breastfeeding has a positive impact on the physical and mental development of infants. A new study suggests that breastfeeding may protect against the development of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in childhood. The study is reported in Breastfeeding Medicine, the Official Journal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Breastfeeding Medicine website.*

A team of Israeli researchers led by Aviva Mimouni-Bloch, MD compared breastfeeding history and other factors in a group of children 6-12 year of age diagnosed with ADHD to control groups of children who did not have ADHD. The results demonstrated that overall, the children with ADHD were less likely to have been breastfed at 3 and 6 months of age than the children without ADHD. This association between ADHD and lack of breastfeeding was statistically significant.

"Breastfeeding has been shown to have a positive impact on child development, good health, and protection against illness. Now, another possible benefit of breastfeeding for three months and especially six months or longer has been identified," says Ruth Lawrence, MD, Editor-in-Chief of Breastfeeding Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics, University of Rochester School of Medicine. "This study opens another avenue of investigation in the prevention of ADHD."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Click 'references' tab above for source.
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Medical Devices Fall Short for Children

Alex Nabaum

Only 15 months old, Vivian Andorf underwent her sixth cardiac catheterization. Her cardiologist inserted a flexible tube through a tiny artery in her leg and wended it to her heart in an attempt to treat her narrowed veins and arteries, the result of a congenital condition.

In prior procedures, the first of which she had at a mere 3 weeks old, an adult-size catheter had to be used. Catheters sized for a child, let alone an infant, were not available. The larger catheter took longer to insert and?was more likely to?injure her already abnormal blood vessels, said her cardiologist, Dr. Alex Golden of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital.

“It’s trying to put something too large into something smaller,” he said.

But during the sixth procedure, Vivian became just the second young patient in the country to benefit from a catheter approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in children. It is a rare success in the field of pediatric medical devices.

The development of surgical tools and medical devices designed for children lags a decade behind device development for adults. The lag, say experts, can be blamed largely on economics. The pediatric market is far smaller than the market for adults, making it difficult for companies to recoup research and development expenses for smaller devices.

“Innovation in medicine is driven by need, but also by the market,” said Dr. Michael R. Harrison, the director emeritus of the Fetal Treatment Center and the director of the Pediatric Device Consortium, both at the University of California, San Francisco. “Big markets have lots of folks developing devices, but small markets like the pediatrics market don’t.”

Take, for example, the field of knee and hip replacements in adults. “There’s been an incredible amount of investment and talent and innovation devoted to those things,” said Dr. Harrison, “but essentially none to pediatric orthopedic devices.”

So for decades, pediatric surgeons and other specialists have had to make do, using adult-size devices “off label” in children. They might chisel out their own smaller surgical tools in workshops, or jury-rig devices to squeeze into their tiny patients. Always, they contend with the extra challenges that come with using a device that’s not quite right.

“Often we end up having to dramatically modify an operation simply to be able to implant a device in a child,” said Dr. Pedro del Nido, chairman of the department of cardiac surgery at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Among the adult devices used with children are stents, defibrillators, pacemakers, artificial mitral valves, chemotherapy delivery devices, kidney dialysis systems, and metal implants that help straighten a spine or replace a piece of bone.

Young patients often have to undergo multiple operations to resize or replace devices that no longer fit or have worn out, because they were not designed for the physiological changes of childhood. While the failure rate of defibrillators in adults is extremely low, for example, it’s 20 to 25 percent in children, said Dr. del Nido.

“Children have growth spurts. Their immune systems and hormones are changing,” said Barbara D. Boyan, the dean of the engineering school at Virginia Commonwealth University. “You need to be able to adapt to different ages, different stages of development.”

At the same time, some pediatric conditions do not occur in adults or are best treated in childhood. These conditions are often completely ignored by medical device companies.

In 2007, Congress passed the Pediatric Medical Device Safety and Improvement Act, authorizing the F.D.A. to offer grants to stimulate the development of pediatric devices. The agency has given $11 million in grants to several university-based consortia. These groups offer seed money to developers and provide technical advice, assistance finding investors, and advice about navigating the regulatory process.

The consortia have assisted in more than 220 projects, which are in various stages of development.

Still, some believe that the grant money could be better spent. Tim Moran, the founder of Pediaworks, the nonprofit company that created the pediatric catheter, said that there’s little market data on what pediatric devices are most needed, something he hopes to change.

Mr. Moran grew interested in pediatric devices after seeing his daughter, who was born prematurely, wince or scream in pain when devices designed for adults were used in her care. Mr. Moran surveyed pediatric cardiologists to identify their greatest needs and found that the catheter was high on the list. He eventually discovered a company in Japan that was making smaller catheters and created a joint venture to develop the catheter for children and to seek approval for it in the United States.

“I’d love to see the pediatric community as a whole identify the biggest device needs in their space,” said Mr. Moran, who plans to survey doctors in about 20 specialties about their medical device needs.

But market data may not have helped someone like Tommy Blackshaw, who was born with a condition that is rare in children, mitral valve stenosis. At 22 months, his dysfunctional heart valve needed replacement. Because the adult-size artificial mitral valve was too large to fit in the proper position, it had to be implanted above it.

About six years later, the valve had to be replaced. Dr. del Nido, Tommy’s cardiologist, believes that the less than ideal placement caused his heart to weaken. Tommy’s heart began to fail when he was 13, and he was told he needed a heart transplant. He got one, on Valentine’s Day, and he’s doing well.

“It would have been less dangerous if they had a smaller valve,” said his mother, Sandra Blackshaw of North Andover, Mass. “But there were no options for him.”

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A Musical Message for Children on Healthy Eating

Jane Brody on health and aging.

For all her talent and determination to help children eat better, Michelle Obama could still pick up a few pointers from Helen Butleroff-Leahy, a 66-year-old former Rockette turned registered dietitian.

Ms. Butleroff-Leahy devotes her time to teaching children in disadvantaged neighborhoods about eating healthfully and exercising regularly. Her lessons take the form of musical productions, rehearsed in classrooms and on the stages of 52 New York City public schools so far. Children from each school do gymnastics and dance to a rap-based script by Roumel Reaux that entertains while explaining the essentials of good nutrition. The 45-minute production by Ms. Butleroff-Leahy is called “My Plate: The New Food Guide Musical.”

Truth be told, Ms. Butleroff-Leahy’s lessons, both nutritional and dramatic, could benefit American children in every socioeconomic group, for none are immune to the foods laden with sugar, salt and calories that pervade our society, both within and outside schools. I had the opportunity to watch her in action last month at P. S. 81 in Bushwick, Brooklyn, where enthusiastic 8-year-olds from four second-grade classes joined four professionals to proclaim the virtues of “eating for the health of it.”

Tramaine Montell Ford, a dancer who performed in the movie “Hairspray,” portrayed an angelic “bad habit breaker” intent on reforming two junk-food junkies. The actors demonstrated the stultifying effects of poor nutrition, followed by Mr. Ford’s energizing message:

You are what you eat.

You got the power, you got the might

To eat right and keep it light.

The action then focused on food groups that foster good health: grains (whole, please) for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks; vegetables (especially dark-green and orange) and fruits (all colors are nutritious and delicious) for myriad health essentials; protein (meats, beans and nuts) for the strength to get up and go; and dairy (light or skim) for strong bones.

To celebrate vegetables, for example, green-shirted youngsters danced to “Rock Around the Clock,” did cartwheels and jumping jacks and spun hula hoops, while other children in red and yellow shirts did break-dancing to Mr. Ford’s rap about 20 different vegetables, which he called “one of nature’s greatest wonders.”

Ms. Butleroff-Leahy spends three hours a week for 10 weeks in each school, devoting half an hour in each of three classes to hands-on nutrition lessons and the remaining half-hour to learning and rehearsing the musical. The school then tries to incorporate nutrition information into other lessons and lunchroom offerings. Cheryl Ault-Barker, the principal of P.S. 81, said a salad bar now competes successfully with the usual school lunch fare at her school.

Still dancer-lean with a cheerleader’s energy, Ms. Butleroff-Leahy said her mission was to help counter the city’s rising rates of childhood obesity and its sooner-or-later consequences, including Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. “Children learn best through active participation and repetition, both in the classroom and on the stage,” Ms. Butleroff-Leahy said.

The youngsters’ teachers and parents, many with their own significant weight issues, learn alongside the children, who bring their classroom lessons home. One mother at P.S. 81 proudly reported that she’d switched from whole milk to 1 percent, and one of the boys said he now has whole-wheat bread and oat cereal for breakfast.

The project is underwritten by the Ficalora Family Foundation in association with Ms. Butleroff-Leahy’s nonprofit company, the Nutrition and Fitness Education Initiative Inc., and is supplemented by small grants from New York State and the city’s Department of Education, which contributes $1,500 to the school. Each production, start to final applause, costs about $4,000.

Ms. Butleroff-Leahy she said she hoped to be able to bring her musical message about healthy eating and exercise to many more schools throughout the country.

Of course, hers is but one of many philanthropic projects, local and national, aimed at countering the often atrocious eating habits of children by arming them with the information and enthusiasm they need to make better food choices.

The Children’s Aid Society, for example, has a Go!Healthy initiative that sponsors an “Iron Go!Chef” competition to teach wellness with nutrition and healthy cooking programs for young children. The initiative includes a 24-week nutrition and fitness curriculum for schools and a six-week wellness program for parents that emphasizes movement, stress reduction and healthy cooking.

The Agriculture Department, which oversees school-based food programs, has recently updated the nutrition standards for school meals and is considering guidelines to ensure that the snacks and drinks available in schools also support good health.

New menus or school breakfasts and lunches became effective at the start of the current school year. They include more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, and are designed to provide nutrient-dense meals from a variety of foods in amounts that support healthy weights for children of different ages.

Students must select at least half a cup of fruit or vegetables at both lunch and breakfast. There are graduated reductions in salt and limits on saturated fats and fruit juices; milk can be only unflavored low-fat, or flavored and unflavored fat-free. Within two years, all grains served must be “whole grain-rich.”

School meals provide up to half the calories children consume, and foods that support good nutrition improve children’s behavior, performance and overall cognitive development, according to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

The alliance, which maintains that “schools are powerful places to shape the health, education and well-being of our children,” helps more than 15,000 schools across the country create environments that encourage healthy eating and physical activity.

But however hard schools may try, their efforts can be easily undermined by pervasive societal influences. For example, while Nickelodeon has made some improvements in the kinds of foods advertised during its television programs for children, a new analysis of food ads during 28 hours of programs by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that “nearly 70 percent are for junk.”

“Nickelodeon congratulates itself for running the occasional public service announcement promoting physical activity, but for each of those messages it’s running 30 ads for junk food,” said Margo G. Wooten, the center’s director for nutrition policy.

The network has made improvements. In 2005, an analysis by the center found that 88 percent of food ads on Nickelodeon were for unhealthy foods, but a similar sampling in 2012 showed a decline to 69 percent, which may reflect growing pressure on the food industry to reduce marketing to children. Nickelodeon could take a lesson from junk-food-free Qubo, a block of programming for children on the ION Television network.

Or perhaps Nickelodeon’s advertising executives should sit in on one of Ms. Butleroff-Leahy’s school productions.

Jane Brody on health and aging.

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Children Who Eat Same Food As Parents Eat Healthiest, Study Shows

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Nutrition / Diet
Article Date: 26 Apr 2013 - 2:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Children Who Eat Same Food As Parents Eat Healthiest, Study Shows

Young children who eat the same meals as their parents are far more likely to have healthier diets than those who eat different foods, according to research.

Children who rarely or never eat the same food as their parents had the poorest diets, compared with children who do.

A University of Edinburgh researcher looked at different aspects of family meals of more than 2000 five year olds, drawing upon data from the Growing Up In Scotland study.

Whether children ate the same food as their parents or not had the biggest impact on children's diets. This was true regardless of the families' backgrounds.

In light of the new findings, the paper calls for more attention to be paid towards helping parents establish good eating habits in their children's early years.

Other meal habits had a much smaller impact on diet. Among these, not eating a main meal during the day or at regular times, frequent snacking between meals, eating in the living room or bedroom, and an unpleasant atmosphere during mealtimes were all weakly associated with poorer diets.

Whether children ate with other family members was not significantly linked to children's dietary quality.

The study also found that firstborn children had healthier diets than second or third born.

While the research found benefits in family meals it also confirmed that mealtimes could be a difficult part of the day.

A quarter said family meals were never or only occasionally enjoyable for everyone. Nearly one in seven (14%) families found that mealtimes were rushed, with a fifth reporting that they never or rarely had the chance to talk during meals.

The paper recommends that government guidelines should be kept simple. It also says that some of the current targets, such as providing up to two grams of salt to children under three, expect parents to monitor nutritional targets in an unrealistic and impractical way.

Valeria Skafida, author of the paper and research fellow at the University's Centre for Research for Families and Relationships, said: "Offering separate 'children's food' for a main meal may often result in children missing out nutritionally. It is likely that in cases where children eat different foods, they are eating a less nutritious option. This is already known to be the case with kid's menus in restaurants, so children are best off eating the same foods as their parents."

Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release. Source: Source: The University of Edinburgh
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