Nearly 45 million American receive help purchasing food each year through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly called food stamps. Here on EBL, we’ve written about the federal program in the past, specifically how it helps keep families out of poverty. [Read more…]
New evidence about the federal food stamps program
March 20, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Evaluating programs to promote teen sexual health
March 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Teenagers and young adults represent only 25 percent of the sexually active population in the U.S., but they acquire nearly half of all new sexually transmitted infections, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. [Read more…]
The murky evidence about saturated fat
March 11, 2013 By 5 Comments
For decades, it has been accepted as truth that eating foods high in saturated fats such as full-fat milk products and fatty cuts of meat — lead to an increased risk of heart disease. Yet a small but growing body of evidence is raising questions about whether reducing saturated fat intake impacts health outcomes. [Read more…]
The latest evidence on Vitamin D
March 7, 2013 By 1 Comment
Keeping track of the latest evidence on which vitamin supplements to take can be confusing. Although new information is available regularly, mainstream media outlets don’t always report the full story, which can result in conflicting reports.
There is new, clear evidence this month: The U.S. Preventative Services task force is recommending that healthy, postmenopausal women should not take Vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent fractures.
The task force – an independent panel of medical experts – reviewed more than one hundred medical studies before making their recommendation. It found insufficient evidence that taking vitamin D and calcium actually helps prevents fractures, and found a small risk of increased kidney stones for people who did take the supplements.
The task force’s recommendation does not apply to people suffering from osteoporosis or vitamin D deficiencies, or those living in skilled nursing facilities.
Cornell nutritionist Patsy Brannon has weighed in on the national debate over vitamin D supplements. Brannon was on the Institute of Medicine panel. While the panel recommended increasing the daily intake of vitamin D, it did not find that a deficiency is linked to chronic conditions such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease.
“The evidence available is inconsistent, with some studies demonstrating this association while others show no association, and still others show evidence of adverse effects with high blood levels of vitamin D,” Brannon told the Cornell Chronicle. Although we can’t conclude whether low vitamin D is associated with chronic disease, the evidence is clear that these vitamin supplements do not prevent fractures.
Debunking weight-loss myths
March 5, 2013 By 7 Comments
As our nation continues to struggle with an obesity epidemic and individuals work to lose weight with diet and exercises programs, a group of researchers from University of Alabama at Birmingham want to make sure we know what not to do.
In an article published earlier this year in the New England Journal of Medicine, obesity researchers reviewed the evidence about losing weight to identify what we really know about the best ways to lose weight.
They identified 7 commons myths about losing weight which are not true:
1. Small changes in diet and exercise will create big, long-term weight changes.
2. Setting realistic goals for weight loss is important to prevent frustration.
3. Rapid weight-loss is less successful over the long-term than gradual weight loss.
4. Patients who want to lose weight must be “mentally ready.”
5. Physical education classes play an important role in preventing childhood obesity.
6. Breastfeeding protects babies against obesity later.
7. Sexual activity is a good way to burn calories.
The review also identified some common perceptions about losing weight that are, in fact, supported by strong evidence:
- Genetics play a role in weight loss, but that factor is not insurmountable.
- Exercise helps people maintain their weight.
- Patients lose more weight on programs that provide meals.
- Some prescription drugs help with weight loss and maintenance.
- Weight-loss surgery is an effective way to maintain long-term weight loss and reduce mortality in appropriate patients.
The study also listed some ideas about weight loss that are still not proven or disproven by the current available evidence. For example, we don’t actually know whether eating breakfast regularly aids in weight loss, or whether people who snack often are more likely to gain weight.
In general, the medical community and researchers have praised the study for providing an accurate picture of what we know – and what we don’t – about losing weight. The idea going forward is that researchers should continue to develop new evidence on the most effective methods for losing weight.
The serious effects of physical discipline
February 26, 2013 By Leave a Comment
There are many factors that influence how parents discipline their children: parents’ own upbringing, family customs and stress levels all factor in. But there is clear evidence that some forms of discipline – specifically physical punishment – have negative effects on children throughout their lives.
A new systematic review reveals a body of evidence demonstrating physical punishment may increase the chances of antisocial behavior and aggression, depression, anxiety, drug abuse and psychological problems later in life.
The review is especially interesting because it discusses intervention programs designed to reduce physical punishment and child abuse. It included a trial of one intervention that taught parents to reduce their use of physical punishment, which led to less difficult behavior by their children.
Another such program – called Triple P – originated in Australia was tested in a study funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The program uses a broad range of strategies to address physical abuse including consultations with parents, public seminars and public service announcements on local media. It led to significantly positive results that are encouraging if replicated in other areas of the U.S. Counties that implemented the program had lower rates of substantiated child abuse cases, fewer instances of children removed from their homes and reductions in hospitalizations and emergency room visits for child injuries.
John Eckenrode, professor of human development and director of Cornell’s Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research, is an expert in child abuse and maltreatment. He’s written a chapter about preventing child abuse in the book Violence against women and children, published by the American Psychological Association.
“We know that there are tested and effective ways to support parents so that they can better provide a safe and supportive environment for their children without resorting to physical punishment,” he said. “But we must get the word out, provide those who interact with parents such as teachers and physicians with the tools they need to promote positive parenting strategies, and provide resources to states and localities to scale-up effective programs.”
The take-home message: Physical punishment and child abuse are serious problems that have life-long effects. But there is a growing body of evidence that intervention programs can help guide parents to other methods of discipline.
Exercise: One of the best medicines for your heart
February 18, 2013 By 3 Comments
We all know that exercise is good for us. But a new systematic review shows that regular exercise can significantly reduce cardiovascular risk factors, which ultimately reduces the risks of dying from heart disease.
The review spells out detailed evidence about how much exercise is needed to improve cardiovascular health, and which populations benefit the most. Here are some of the take-home messages that I found most interesting:
- The more your exercise, the more you reduce your risk of heart disease. An individual who moves from moderate levels of exercise to high levels sees a corresponding reduction in risk.
- There is a strong relationship between low levels of physical activity and death from cardiovascular disease. In other words, if you don’t exercise at all, you’re more likely to die of heart disease.
- Even if you suffer from other risk factors, such as diabetes or obesity, exercising still reduces your risk of dying from heart disease.
- People who are thin and don’t exercise are at a higher risk for heart disease.
But how much exercise is needed to produce health benefits? It may be more than you think.
The authors suggest it requires aerobic exercise at a moderate intensity – where you can have a conversation, but you may need to pause in between phrases to catch your breath – for a minimum of 30 minutes, four to five times per week. In addition, they recommend resistance training, such as lifting weights, using 8 to 10 different exercises that target the whole body two to three times each week.
The National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability provides a wonderful summary of the full review in its February newsletter.
The bottom line: exercising improves cardiovascular fitness and reduces your risk of heart disease. One of the best things you can do for your heart is to get moving.
The evidence on yoga and the mind
February 14, 2013 By 3 Comments
We’ve all heard about the benefits of practicing yoga: Increased strength and flexibility, and well as peace of mind.
Now there’s a growing body of evidence that suggests yoga is helping for treating psychiatric disorders including depression, schizophrenia and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A systematic review published last month provides a good summary of the evidence on using yoga to treat mental health problems. The review identified 16 studies which examined yoga as a treatment for psychiatric disorders.
The analysis by researchers at the Duke University School of Medicine found yoga to be effective for treating acute depression; effective as an adjunct therapy for schizophrenia (along with oral medication); calming children with ADHD; and alleviating sleep disturbances. However the results are conflicting regarding yoga’s effectiveness for treating cognitive and eating disorders.
But the most important conclusion of the study was that health professionals need more information to truly understand the impact of yoga on mental health. The authors suggest conducting biomarker and neuroimaging studies – where blood tests and brain scans care measure the effects of yoga – along with studies that compare yoga to standard pharmaceutical treatments and measure the effects of yoga over the long-term.
The take-home message: Yoga is a promising treatment for mental health conditions, but we need more evidence to understand the best ways to use it.
What we know about obesity and traffic accidents
February 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It’s the time of year when many people could use some additional motivation to continue working toward their New Year’s resolutions. I found this post on the New York Time’s Well blog. It contains some great evidence about why it’s important to keep weight-loss resolutions.
The post , based on a review in the Emergency Medicine Journal , examines whether people who are obese are more likely to be injured or killed in a traffic accident.
The answer is yes. The researchers reviewed data on more than 40,000 traffic accidents reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. All the accidents included in the review involved vehicles approximately the same size. Their final analysis included 3,400 accidents involving more than 6,800 drivers.
They categorized drivers into four groups based on body mass index, which they calculated from height and weight information recorded on drivers’ licenses. They considered other factors including seat-belt use, time of day, whether the drive had been using alcohol, and the type of accident.
The review found that obese drivers were more likely to die from injuries sustained in a traffic accident compared to normal weight drivers in the same type of accident. While the reasons are not clear, the authors speculated that seat belts don’t fit obese people as well as normal weight individuals, and obese people are more likely to be in poorer health before the accident.
The take-home message: Maintaining a healthy weight is an important health goal for many reasons.
New evidence on fluoride
February 5, 2013 By 5 Comments
Since I was a child, I have always considered fluoride a good thing for preventing tooth decay. I’ve always taken regular trips to the dentist, brushed with a fluoride toothpaste and generally taken good care of my teeth. So I was surprised last week to see a new review raising some questions about the safety of fluoride consumption.
The report – written by Harvard researchers and funded by the National Institute of Public Health – reviewed 27 studies published over a period of 22 years that looked into whether fluoride damaged the nervous systems of people. The studies included measured exposure to fluoride in drinking water related to cognitive function tests and IQ scores.
The researchers found that children living in areas where fluoride is added to the water score lower on IQ and cognitive tests compared with children living in areas where fluoride is not added to the water. The conclude that fluoride may be a developmental neurotoxicant for children that affects brain development at exposures much below those that can cause toxicity in adults.
What surprised me the most is that 70 percent of U.S. households live in communities where fluoride is added to the water. That’s millions of Americans ingesting an additive that has unclear long-term effects.
The report also calls for additional studies to evaluate dose-response relationship of fluoride – basically how much is needed to prevent cavities without causing harmful side effects
I feel lucky that my community does not add fluoride to our water supply. And I have to admit – since reviewing this new report – I’ve been much more careful about limiting the amount of toothpaste on my children’s brushes each day.
The evidence on eggs
February 1, 2013 By Leave a Comment
For years, eggs have had a bad reputation among doctors and nutritionists because of the cholesterol content of the yolks.
One large egg contains about 190 milligrams of cholesterol. The U.S. dietary guidelines recommended healthy adults eat no more than 300 milligrams of cholesterol a day, and those at risk for heart disease eat no more than 200 milligrams a day. (You can see how a three-egg omelet would be out of the question under the current guidelines.)
But a review published by the British Medical Journal this month questions whether egg consumption actually leads to heart disease and stroke. In the article, the researchers reviewed eight prospective studies that included a total of more than 260,000 people.
What did they find? Eating one large egg a day did not increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or stroke for healthy adults. The study did find, however, that egg consumption was associated with high levels of heart disease among diabetic patients, but this subgroup also showed a reduced risk for stroke when eating more eggs.
The take-home message: Further studies are needed to clarify the risks for people with health conditions like diabetes. But overall, eggs aren’t a risky food to eat everyday.
