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Long working hours make parents compromise on food choices

September 10, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Sept 10 (ANI): Long work hours and irregular schedules are forcing people to compromise on food choices for themselves and their children, suggests a new study.

The research team from Cornell University measured food choice coping strategies in low- to middle-income families in five categories: (1) food prepared at/away from home; (2) missing meals; (3) individualizing meals (family eats differently, separately, or together); (4) speeding up to save time; and (5) planning.

They found that fathers who worked long hours or had nonstandard hours and schedules were more likely to use take-out meals, miss family meals, purchase prepared entrees, and eat while working.

Similarly, mothers were also likely to purchase restaurant meals or prepared entrees or missed breakfast.

About a quarter of mothers and fathers said they did not have access to healthful, reasonably priced, and/or good-tasting food at or near work.

The findings suggest that better work conditions may be associated with more positive strategies such as more home-prepared meals, eating with the family, keeping healthful food at work, and less meal skipping.

“This study examined how work conditions are related to the food choice coping strategies of low- and moderate-income parents,” said Dr Carol M. Devine, RD, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University, and colleagues.

“Study findings will enhance understanding of social and temporal employment constraints on adults’ food choices and may inform workplace interventions and policies…The importance of work structure for employed parents’ food choice strategies is seen in the associations between work hours and schedule and food choice coping strategies, such as meals away from home and missed family meals.

“Long work hours and irregular schedules mean more time away from family, less time for household food work, difficulty in maintaining a regular meal pattern, and less opportunity to participate in family meals; this situation may result in feelings of time scarcity, fatigue, and strain that leave parents with less personal energy for food and meals,” the researchers added.

The study appears in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior. (ANI)

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High insulin levels may increase prostate cancer risk

August 22, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 22 (ANI): Researchers have found that high insulin levels might increase the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Lead researcher Dr Demetrius Albanes, of the Nutritional Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., examined the relationship of the level of serum insulin and glucose, as well as surrogate indices of insulin resistance, to the development of prostate cancer.

The study showed that elevated insulin levels in the normal range appear to be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.

When subjects in the second through fourth quartiles of serum insulin concentration were compared with those in the first or lowest quartile, higher insulin levels within the normal range were associated with statistically significantly increased risk of prostate cancer.

The findings appear in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. (ANI)

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Global brands join hands with nutritional supplements shopping portal MyNutraMart.com

July 7, 2009 By admin 1 Comment

Bangalore, July 7 (ANI/Business Wire India): Pragya International, a Bangalore-based company, has launched online shopping portal MyNutraMart.com to cater to the growing wellness nutrition market.

The Indian wellness services market is expected to remain buoyant and has the potential to sustain a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 30-35 per cent for the next five years, says a latest study by FICCI and professional services firm, Ernst and Young. T

he wellness services market is currently estimated at Rs 11,000 crore in India.

The FICCI-EY report, titled Wellness- Exploring the untapped potential, highlights that the growth is expected on the back of favorable market demographics, consumerism, globalization, changing lifestyles, increasing availability across categories and regions and rising awareness among people.

Global brands like Joint Expert, Mega-Pro, Zenith Nutritions, Joint’s Coach and Alpha Omega, have joined hands with MyNutraMart.com to sell their brands online.

Pawan of Vista Nutrition’s said: “In US more than 60 per cent of dietary supplements and wellness products are sold online. In India, online shopping is at nascent stage as internet penetration stands at paltry 9 per cent. But still being able to sell online gives us instant advantage to cater to wider market and save on branding expenses”.

MyNutraMart.com is expected to tie-up with more than 300 brands and offer 5000 products to cater to the growing Nutritional supplements market worldwide and in particular India.

The portal offers products for cholesterol management, blood pressure management, skincare, brain and memory, depression, vision and eye. Well known supplements like Grape Seed extract, colostrum, policosanol, glucosamine, spirulina and major vitamins have been included on the portal.

“While the Bodybuilding supplements market in Southeast Asia is well developed, at the same time uninformed and fraudulent selling is on the rise. By joining hands with MyNutraMart.com, we have ensured that the customers will get the option to make informed purchase and avail some discount as well,” said Arvind M Madhok of Bodycare Nutritions India, exclusive distributor for South Asia for US based company MEGA-PRO International, deals in sports nutrition. (ANI)

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Midday meal scheme attracts students to schools in Gorakhpur

April 23, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Gorakhpur, Apr 23 (ANI): Midday meal programme has been successful in Uttar Pradesh in getting the rural young boys and girls to attend schools and study.

This scheme was mooted by the Central Government with an aim to increase the enhance enrolment of children in the schools, improve their attendance and also the nutrition levels amongst children.

For instance, at Tikonia Primary School in Gorakhpur, the scheme has really helped to achieve all the three objectives.

The number of students has gone up to 300 from around 200 after the programme was launched.

“In rural areas, parents did not send their children to school as they did not think academic education to be important. But after the midday meal programme started, they started sending their children. Even if they send them for the meal, we can also make them study. So we can serve a dual purpose, feed them and educate them,” said Vinita Rani, a teacher.

Consequently, today, the parents of many children from rural areas are very keen to educate their children as the school provides a meal on all working week days.

On their part, the children too are happy with the arrangement.

As for the hygiene, special care is taken to ensure cleanliness when the food is cooked.

“We get different dishes including rice, pulses and fried rice. I like coming to school. I study and play,” said Gayatri, a student.

Apart from the midday meals, the students are also provided with free books, uniforms and scholarships for the brightest among them.

The scheme of midday meals was introduced in July 1995 to tackle the twin problems of dropout rates in primary schools and nutrition among children coming from poor families.

The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education, commonly known as midday meal scheme, happens to be one of the world’s largest nutritional programmes, covering more than one million schools throughout India.

Under this scheme, fresh and hot cooked meal of a minimum 300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein. By Vipul Goel (ANI)

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No clear link between lack of vitamin D and depression

March 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Mar 18 (ANI): A new study by researchers at the University of Warwick has shown that there is no clear link between lack of vitamin D and depression.

Lack of Vitamin D has been related to depression and the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

Exposure to sunlight stimulates vitamin D in the skin and a shortage of sunlight in the winter has been put forward as one possible cause of SAD.

However, Warwick Medical School researchers, led by Dr Oscar Franco, have found low levels of vitamin D in the blood may not be associated with depression.

In the study, the researchers recruited more than 3,000 people and tested levels of vitamin D (25-hydroxyvitamin D) in the blood. They then carried out a questionnaire with the participants to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms.

Vitamin D deficiency exists when the concentration of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D (25-OH-D) in the blood serum occurs at 12ng/ml (nanograms/millilitre) or less. The normal concentration of 25-hydroxy-vitamin D in the blood serum is 25-50ng/ml.

The researchers found there was no clear association between depressive symptoms and the concentration of vitamin D in the blood.

“Few studies have explored the association between blood 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations and depression in the general population. A deficiency of vitamin D has also been attributed to several chronic diseases, including osteoporosis, common cancers, autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases,” Dr Oscar Franco, Assistant Clinical Professor in Public Health, said.

The researchers recruited 3,262 community residents aged 50-70 from Beijing and Shanghai in China.

Franco said his study did not evaluate whether the depressive symptoms were seasonal and suggested more studies needed to be done.

“Previous studies into the effects of vitamin D supplementation have produced mixed results. More studies are still needed to evaluate whether vitamin D is associated with seasonal affective disorders, but our study does raise questions about the effects of taking more vitamin D to combat depressive symptoms,” Franco said.

This study was carried out in collaboration with colleagues from the Institute for Nutritional Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in China.

The study has been published in the Journal of Affective Disorders. (ANI)

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Apple’s Steve Jobs clarifies health condition

January 5, 2009 By Rajiv Gupta Leave a Comment

San Francisco – Apple’s iconic CEO Steve Jobs on Monday issued a rare clarification about his state of health after prolonged concern about his unexplained weight loss caused a dive in Apple’s shares.

In his statement, Jobs, who survived pancreatic cancer four years ago, explained that his gaunt look of late was due to a recently diagnosed hormone imbalance that was depleting proteins in his body.

Blood tests had confirmed the diagnosis and “the remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment,” said Jobs, who added that he would continue to serve as Apple’s CEO during his recovery.

In a separate statement, Apple’s board of directors promised Jobs its “complete and unwavering support during his recuperation.”

The renewed speculation about Jobs’ health was sparked last month when the founder of Apple said he would not be giving his traditional keynote presentation at the MacWorld Expo which began on Monday in San Francisco. (dpa)

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