Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category

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20% of Britons miss five-a-day target

Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

A poll carried out by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has revealed that only 20% of Britons are consuming the recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables.

Despite the launch of the Department of Health’s “five-a-day campaign” first launched in 2003, the survey of more than 2,000 UK adults revealed that the majority of the British public were still not meeting this goal.

Variations were seen in consumption across the UK, with the study stating that only 17% of lower income households eat at least five portions per day, compared with 27% for those in higher income groups. Levels were generally lowest in the north of England, where 18% had five or more portions daily, compared with the south of England, where 26% said they ate at least five portions.

Kate Mendoza, Head of Education for the WCRF, said that the figures indicated that many were still finding it difficult to adhere to healthy eating guidelines. Whilst public awareness of the merits of a healthy diet seems to have increased, rising food costs and a lack of incentives are attributed to these failures.

“A diet based on plant foods, such as wholegrains and pulses as well as fruit and vegetables, can reduce cancer risk as research shows they protect against a range of cancers” Mendoza continued, asserting that public knowledge about the additional benefits of healthy foods may be insufficient.

As part of Cancer Prevention Week, the WCRF will be holding a “Fruity Friday” Awareness Day on the 18 May.

A Department of Health spokesperson said “through our Change4Life campaign, we invested around £10m last year on encouraging healthier lifestyles. This included things like the Supermeals campaign which promoted five a day by giving recipe ideas and money off fruit and vegetables in retail stores.”

Original Source BBC News

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Maternal diet linked to diabetes

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Scientists have reported a mechanism linking a poor diet during pregnancy and an increased risk of offspring developing diabetes in later life, emphasising the importance of a healthy diet was important during the earliest developmental stages.

Their research has indicated an imbalanced diet in the expectant mother can compromise the long-term functioning of the Hnf4a gene in the child, which is thought to be pivotal in the development of the pancreas and in insulin production.

Experimentally, rats were fed a protein-deficient diet and found higher rates of type 2 diabetes in the offspring, as expected. Furthermore, in the resultant offspring the Hnf4a gene appeared to be silenced as the rats aged, suggesting this may cause diabetes and can be directly linked back to the maternal diet.

Whilst further research would be needed to establish whether other instances of imbalanced diets had similar consequences in rats, it seems to be an early indication that similar mechanisms could occur in humans, and that the effects might be felt by more than just the immediate offspring.

In accordance with other studies indicating that such genetic mutations can be inherited across generations, the importance of having a healthy diet during pregnancy is now more pertinent than ever.

Original Source BBC News Health

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) System specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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The link between diet and childhood ADHD

Thursday, February 10th, 2011
Scientists have suggested that children suffering from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) should be placed on a restricted diet for several weeks to establish whether particular foods are the cause.

The Lancet published paper establishes that in many cases, food is responsible for the erratic and difficult behaviour of ADHD sufferers, although it is likely that different foods trigger behavioural problems in different children. These findings imply that the focus of treatment of ADHD in children may be able to move away from medication, an issue which is proving increasingly controversial.

50 children with ADHD were placed on a “restricted elimination diet” consisting of foods with the least possible risk of allergic reaction which was tailored to the individual preferences of each child. The behaviour of 78% of those who completed the five-week phase improved, while the behaviour of the control group of 50 children were not put on a diet remained the same.

It has been proposed that children who react favourably to this diet should be diagnosed with ‘food-induced ADHD’. They will then have the ability to enter a challenge procedure to define which foods each child reacts to, increase the feasibility and minimise the burden of the diet. In children who do not show behavioural improvements after following the diet, standard treatments such as drugs and behavioural treatments can still be considered.

Whilst the paper offers groundbreaking evidence unto the possible underlying causes of ADHD,  it may be premature to conclude definite clinical benefit to children as a result of dietary intervention without further research. Currently unknown are the costs of such an intervention is and motivation on the part of both the parent and the child to adhere to the strict guidlines.

The paper does however mean the start of proving the potential value of dietary approaches to the treatment of ADHD. Professor Jim Stevenson of the University of Southampton said “Many parents are reluctant to use a drug treatment and it is important that alternatives such as the few foods approach can be shown to be effective.”

Original Source The Guardian

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Gut Instinct: Training the brain to feel full with less food

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
A group of Nestle researchers are working towards creating smart food products that stimulate processes in the digestive tract to make the consumer feel more satisfied.

The enteric nervous system targeted is comprised of 500 million nerve cells which co-operate and communicate to a similar autonomous level as the neurons in the human brain. This system controls muscular contractions and gland secretions, communicating states of hunger or satiety to the brain.

The intention is to develop innovative types of foods that, essentially, seek to trick the gut, which could confer a longer-lasting sense of satiety in order to curb the desire for further consumption. Nestle has predicted that food produced in this manner could be available within five years, which could have significant implications for weight-loss initiatives.

Previous food products with single hard-to-digest components have proved unpopular, with Nestle now pushing for a multi-faceted approach targeting the satiety problem in a number of ways. The Swiss company says it has a good understanding of the science and is now racing to make foods with the new technology.

“The brain in the gut has a complex language,” says Dr. Heribert Watzke, a senior food scientist at Nestle. “We need to understand it properly before we can make true satiety-inducing foods.”

Original Source The Wall Street Journal

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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Walmart’s quest to cut the U.S. waistline

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011
Walmart, the largest grocer in the U.S intends to kick start a healthy eating campaign by dramatically reducing levels of sodium, sugar and any other unhealthy components of its food products.

In addition to their current commitment  to double sales of locally-sourced farm produce, this programme will eliminate industrial trans fats in all packaged food, slash added sugars by 10% and sodium by 25% in key categories of food products by 2015. These categories are wide-ranging and include grain products, meat, dairy, condiments and snacks.

Walmart’s highly influential position in the market means that it is likely to cause similar directives to be adopted by the entire grocery supply chain. Estimates of these effects could see adults in the U.S. ingesting 47 million fewer pounds of sodium annually.

Additional benefits derived from this incentive will be to make produce currently sold in store more sustainable and reduce premiums on healthier food, with better labelling on these reformulated products to ease identification by customers.

According to a 2009 study, the addition of one a Walmart “Supercenter” per 100,000 residents increased the  the obesity rate by 2.4% and average body mass index of locals by 0.25 units. This initiative should assist in counteracting the previous effects of highly processed Walmart products and could dramatically reduce the waistlines of the most obesity-afflicted areas of the U.S.

Original Source Fast Company

About Pathway Software

Pathway Software (www.pathwaysoftware.com) specialises in the design and development of patient information systems for Allied Health professionals.

Its flagship product, Therapy Manager, is an Electronic Patient Record (EPR) system specifically designed for Therapy Services to provide decision makers with the ability to track and manage clinical activity and analyse cost of care by patient, episode or service. The system also demonstrably reduces administration time and the costs of managing Therapy Services.

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