Grocery Stores Central in Childhood Obesity

We recently read an article based on an initiative to make Philadelphia supermarkets healthier, in an attempt to reverse childhood obesity.

Obesity rates have more than quadrupled for children ages 6 to 11 and more than tripled for adolescents ages 12 to 19 in the past 40 years. Rates are more significant in the lower-income, multi-ethnic communities and neighborhoods - usually located in food deserts (areas with no easy access to healthy affordable food).

"If we don't reverse the epidemic, the current generation of young people could be the first generation in U.S. history to live sicker and die younger than their parents' generation," says the Philadelphia proposal.

Because full-service supermarkets and grocery stores offer large varieties of healthier foods compared with convenience stores, there is growing evidence that people who live more than a mile from a full-service grocery store are less likely to consume a healthy diet and more likely to be obese.

Almost 60% of shoppers say they spend most of their food-budget money in full-service grocery stores and over 90% of shoppers from households with children say they have shopped in a grocery store in the past 3 months (half the time accompanied by their children).

Supermarkets also help protect adolescents from becoming overweight. Additionally, there is a direct correlation between the presence of convenience stores and being overweight.

Conclusion: Grocery stores are "center stage" for combating and preventing childhood obesity.

Change Supermarket Design
Although, as mentioned above, there are advantages to having easy access to grocery stores, some experts believe they need to be rearranged. After all, remember that supermarkets are designed to sell inventory as fast, and in as large quantities as possible. They actually have ways of luring you into buying much more than what you've put on your shopping list - what you had planned.

Here are a few of the proposed changes for supermarkets:
The initiative proposes things like moving sodas and chips from the end of isles (highly visible and very easy to access) and removing sugary cereals from the bottom shelves where little kids can most easily see and grab them. Another proposed change is to place healthy and unhealthy items next to each other.

Why are these Changes Needed?
The following is a very powerful statement taken directly from the article:
"Self-checkout doesn't have the gauntlet of candy bars. Some industry consultants calculated that an average American woman could lose four pounds a year just going through self-checkout."

This is proof that people are lured into buying and consuming items they did not intend to buy. One of the references used for our "Scientific Reasoning Behind Drinking Diet Soda" says that certain foods are as addictive as some illegal drugs.

We agree that placing addictive items at arms' reach of kids, and enticing buyers is a huge factor in the current obesity trend seen across the world (not just the US). Changing displays and updating item locations can be a huge aid. It will be interesting to see how far this initiative gets... All of these changes affect the stores' bottom line.

We invite you to read the following two articles. They expose manufacturers and their use of food labels to make their products look healthier than they really are:

Subliminal Messages in Food Labels
Subliminal Messages in Food Labels II

Article:
[Good.is]: Check Yourself Out! The Science of Supermarket Design

Download initiative (PDF - 29 pages)

Some Obese Kids in Mexico Now Face Health Risks

Schools in Xalapa Mexico reported that 60% of children were overweight or obese. This prompted researchers from the state's university to conduct a study with children young enough to be in elementary school.

In their study, they found that 11 and 12 year olds showed early signs of risks associated with metabolic syndrome. The researchers established that as a child's age increases, so do problems related to weight and obesity, meaning that preschoolers have a less overweight rate but this changes when they get to elementary schools and junior high school.

The researchers noticed that bagged lunches may be the explanation. Kindergardeners are more likely to take prepared foods to school while older children are more likely to purchase food at schools. Almost no one takes a lunch to school in junior high school.

Another issue that researchers noticed is that activity decreases as kids age. Older kids tend to play less outside and their games or forms of entertainment are rarely related with exercise. They normally resort to video games.

Proposed Solution
The researchers suggest that a solution requires help from different sources. The first and key source is the parents. Parents need to know and must control what their kids are eating. They insist that parents prepare lunches at home. In general, kids do not worry about nutrition. This is why they should seldom be given money that will be spent on food items.

When interviewed, children said they purchased potato chips, french fries, pastries, peanuts, and sodas (among other types of junk food). Some parents prepare a lunch but also give their kids money so they can purchase additional items. In one case a child expressed that his mom made him a sandwich every day but that his father gave him money as well. He buys a Coke and a bag of flavored chips. “This is exactly what I eat everyday during recess.”

According to the researchers, these actions have led to the current overweight/obesity problem.

When was the last time you prepared a healthy lunch for your kids? When was the last time you asked (and knew they weren't lying) what your kids ate during lunch?

Link to Article:
[Diario Xalapa]: Llega a niños riesgo a la salud por obesidad

Medical Social Security will Destroy Mexico's Economy

According to a recent article on CNN Mexico, "The Mexican population has grown 7 times in the past 100 years, but lives longer". The article states that "In a century, the Mexican population grew 700%, and at the same time life expectancy went from 25 to 75 years of age".

This sounds like good news, but their not.

With the population increase grows environmental decay and the decay in the quality of our foods. Example: 100 people will contaminate any habitat more than 1. What about our foods? Have your grandparents ever told you about how life was at the ranch or town in which they lived? It was a calm life full of walks from one side of the town to the other... It was a time when your neighbor was the one with who grew avocados and that's where you purchased them. Ripe, freshly picked, and of course, full of nutrients. There were no cars to contaminate the air, or planes that dropped exhaust on the masses. Dirty/contaminated air was the dust picked up by the wind or kicked up by a passing horse.

But that type of lifestyle has vanished with increased population. There are more and more larger companies that come in with modes of transportation that aggressively attack our environment and leave us with contaminants that make us sick. These large companies also introduce foods that never ripen before they are picked. So that Mexicans can get bananas from Ecuador, those bananas had to have been separated from the plant before they ripened. The problem is that nutrients are introduced to the fruits en the last 48 hours of ripening. If it isn't connected it will never receive the nutrients it is supposed to have. The very same nutrients that help us stay healthy.

Problem in Mexico
With increased age com many chronic problems. Medical Social Security in Mexico will not be able to take care of the population's medical needs. It is impossible, because these types of treatment cost a lot of money. With an increase in population and a prolonged lifespan, treatment costs will skyrocket, and it will be the end of Medical Social Security in Mexico. Or, if not... it will be the end of the country. It will be an economic impact from which it will not be able to recover. We sincerely believe that the Mexican government will change its laws in the near future.

All this because the people will suffer from more health issues. They won't have sufficient money to pay private doctors and will have to depend on the government.

Citzens, it's in your hands
The country is made or destroyed according the its citizen's actions. And what the Mexican citizens need to do in this case is to take control of their own health. You have to think about prevention and not wait until you are sick to start taking corrective measurements.

The people have let themselves be influenced by advertisement and marketing. The country renowned for its delicious fruit juices is now one of the top soda consumers in the world. The country that exports a lot of produce to the US only consumes vegetables in hamburgers or juices from foreign companies. Mexico has the second largest obese population in the world (only behind the US). But this will change in the next generations. Yes! Mexico has the highest child obesity rate in the world! When they grow up, they will become the most obese adults as well. We need to adopt a Mediterranean style diet in which 70% of the food is in the form of raw produce (salads, vegetables, fruits, etc). Oils and meats that are rich sources of Omega-3 are consumed. The cheeses are fresh and the wines or beers are drunk, in moderation, with meals because enzymes in them help with digestion.

What happened to our fresh salsas? Now it is common to buy them in cans at the supermarket.

Let's stop eating the burgers, the sodas, and the candies. These are candies like before with a little bit of peanut and caramel. In which EVERYONE in the world can pronounce the ingredients. Now they are candy with colors and preservatives that only a biochemist can pronounce the ingredients of. Without a biochemistry degree it is near impossible to pronounce certain ingredients... much less know what they are, or know what they do to the body.

We need to return to a state of physical activity. A recent study found that the longer you sit (prolonged time) the shorter you'll live. And it doesn't matter how much exercise you do. The human body needs to move around. Think of the times when humans didn't have refrigerators or neighborhood stores a few steps from where we live. We had to hunt, climb trees, or dig to obtain our foods. There were no matches, lighters, or stoves that created instantaneous fire... It was a great task to start a campfire with stick or rocks.

And finally, you need to supplement. Science recognizes that it is impossible to get the necessary nutrients that your body needs to be healthy through diet alone. This is why Harvard's Medical School came out with a food pyramid that included "supplements for most". We have to think about an optimal health system that supports the cell in it's 5 physiological needs.

Making decisions has to do with much more than yourself! What you eat and what you buy at the supermarket is what your kids will eat and what they will buy in the supermarket. Change your eating habits today and you will change the your health and that of your future generations.

There is a way to get the products from the optimal health system for free. Get in touch with us today to learn details about this refund program.

Artícles:
[CNN México] (Spanish): The Mexican population has grown 7 times in the past 100 years, but lives longer
[ScienceDaily]: More Time Spent Sitting Linked to Higher Risk of Death; Risk Found to Be Independent of Physical Activity Level