Hyper Kids? Cut Out Preservatives

8/9/2007

Parents who suspect that artificial ingredients in food are affecting their children's behavior can now point to some cold, hard proof. A carefully designed study released Thursday in The Lancet, a leading British medical journal, shows that a variety of common food dyes and the preservative sodium benzoate — an ingredient in many soft drinks, fruit juices, salad dressings and other foods — causes some children to become more hyperactive and distractible than usual.

The study prompted Britain's Food Standards Agency to issue an immediate advisory to parents to limit their children's intake of additives if they notice an effect on behavior. In the U.S., there's been no such official response, but doctors say it makes sense for parents to be on the alert.

Meanwhile, the food industry is awaiting further research. "We take our responsibility to consumers seriously and will study the research finding in great detail," says Cathy Cook, spokesperson for the International Association of Color Manufacturers.

The research, led by Jim Stevenson, a professor of psychology at England's University of Southampton, involved about 300 children in two age groups: 3-year-olds and 8- and 9-year-olds. Over three one-week periods, the children were randomly assigned to consume one of three fruit drinks daily: one contained the amount of dye and sodium benzoate typically found in a British child's diet, a second drink had a lower concentration of the additives, and a third was additive-free. All the children spent a week drinking each of the three mixtures, which looked and tasted alike. During each weeklong period, teachers and parents, who did not know which drink the kids were getting, used a variety of standardized behavior-evaluation tools — some observational and one computer-based — to size up such qualities as restlessness, lack of concentration, fidgeting, and talking or interrupting too much.

Stevenson found that children in both age groups were significantly more hyperactive when drinking the stuff containing additives. Three-year-olds had a bigger response than the older kids to the lower dose of additives — roughly the same amount of food coloring as in two 2-oz. bags of candy. And, there were big individual differences in sensitivity. While the effects were not nearly so great as to cause full-blown ADHD, Stevenson nonetheless warns that "these adverse effects could affect the child's ability to benefit from the experience of school."

He notes that a separate pilot study found that kids can become more hyperactive within one hour of consuming food additives.

The Lancet study is the first to nail down a link between artificial ingredients and hyperactivity, though the connection has long been suspected and was the basis for the Feingold Diet, which eliminates all artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners and preservatives and was popularized in the 1970s as a treatment for ADHD. Though such a diet alone is not a proven treatment for ADHD, some clinicians routinely advise parents of kids with ADHD to stick with a more natural diet." I'm not maniacal about it, but I tell parents that your kid will do better if they are on a diet that is free of additives and junk food," says psychiatrist Edward Hallowell, author a several books on ADHD. "I urge them to eat whole foods; they'll be healthier anyway."

Now that a link has been found, researchers will be looking to confirm the British study and build upon it. "My guess is that if we do similarly systematic work with other additives, we'd learn they, too, have implications for behavior," says Dr. James Perrin, professor of pediatrics at Harvard. "My friends who study the food industry say we have about 70,000 new products a year, so children are facing tremendous numbers of new opportunities for things that may not be good for them." The study, he says, is one more reason to cheer the movement toward organic and natural foods.

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Walking hard for many exercisers

8/9/2007

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Nearly one in four people in the Atlanta area are exercise enthusiasts stuck in neighborhoods without sidewalks or other walking amenities, according to a study that illustrates a problem for many Americans.

Researchers said the findings point to the need for more exercise-friendly places to live.

"The bottom line is the built environment really does matter to health," said Lawrence Frank, a University of British Columbia researcher who led the study.

Walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods have sidewalks leading to nearby shops, restaurants or other destinations. They are built in a way that makes it easier to walk and get to buses and trains. Many are older neighborhoods, located in more urban areas.

Frank is among a group of scientists who have shown that people who live in walkable neighborhoods tend to weigh less than people who live in more isolated and car-dependent areas.

"He's the first one to make a connection between land use and obesity," said Christopher Leinberger, director of the University of Michigan's real estate program.

Frank's current study examined whether a community's walkability affected obesity rates. The research showed that exercisers had a similarly low obesity rate whether they lived in walkable neighborhoods or not. It was 12 percent for those in walkable areas versus 15 percent in non-walkable neighborhoods, a difference that was not statistically significant.

Among those who prefer to drive, however, about 21.5 percent were obese, and it also didn't matter whether they lived in walkable or non-walkable neighborhoods.

The distances driven were also noted. Exercisers in walkable neighborhoods drove 26 miles a day, while those in non-walkable neighborhoods drove about 37 miles.

Among non-exercisers, those in walkable neighborhoods drove 26 miles, and compared to 43 miles in areas that were mostly car-friendly.

"Walking and driving really change a lot in different neighborhood types, regardless of people's preferences," Frank said.

The study is based on detailed surveys done in the 13-county Atlanta region in 2001-02. The results, which are being published this fall in a peer-reviewed journal, Social Science & Medicine, are based on responses from 1,432 people. Twenty-three percent of them were exercisers living in places more conducive to driving than walking.

The researchers also noted that sometimes people don't end up living where they want. Some move to less pedestrian-friendly areas because of concerns about crime or schools, Frank said.

Leinberger notes that some people can't afford housing in walkable neighborhoods, where homes can cost up to three times as much as similar housing in non-walkable areas.

David Goldberg, a 44-year-old Decatur, Georgia, resident who participated in the survey, has lived in both environments. Goldberg said he was randomly selected for the study, but he also works for Smart Growth America, a nonprofit coalition that combats urban sprawl.

In the 1990s, when he was a newspaper reporter, he and his wife bought a house in Henry County, a far-flung Atlanta suburb. It was an affordable, pretty area that was a good base for work trips to southern Georgia. But there were no sidewalks in the subdivision, and the only real walking destination was a convenience store across an increasingly busy highway. The family had to drive everywhere and he put on 15 pounds, he said.

By the time of the survey, he and his family had moved to Decatur, an older suburb closer to Atlanta. They settled in a walkable area near a pleasantly busy town center

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AeroClinic offers quick care for busy travelers

28/8/2007

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Stephen Plumlee started feeling dizzy and nauseated shortly after his flight from Sarasota, Florida, landed in Atlanta, Georgia. He was wheeled off the plane by paramedics, but instead of being taken to a hospital emergency room downtown, he was treated in the atrium of the busiest airport in the world.

The AeroClinic, a new retail medical facility, offers quick, inexpensive care to travelers and some of the airport's 55,000 employees. "We're kind of the stop in between the hospital during your travels," said Dr. Dominic Mack, chief medical officer for the clinic.

The AeroClinic joins a growing field of easy-access medical facilities found in pharmacies and retail outlets around the country. You could say it falls somewhere between the newer, small clinics and the larger full-service after-hours clinics that have been around for many years.

For about $80, a patient can be treated by a doctor or physician assistant for a minor acute illness such as strep throat, upset stomach or headache. That was the reason behind Derrick Gross' visit. The medical sales representative lives in Atlanta, but travels at least three days a week. He says he's too busy to see a regular doctor, and when he saw the sign while passing through the airport, he decided to make an appointment. Gross spent about 20 minutes with physician assistant Sabrina Jackson going through a battery of tests to try to determine the source of his headaches. Health Minute: Airport clinic gives travelers a health-care alternative ».

He received a supply of ibuprofen when the tests revealed no obvious medical problems. "I took a chance by coming here today and I'm satisfied," Gross said. He agreed to follow up with his primary care physician.

Mack said he treats a lot of patients like Gross. "You have 250,000 passengers who come through Atlanta Hartsfield every day, and people are sick. What they do is delay their care or they don't get their care at all."

Dr. David Satcher, former U.S. surgeon general and frequent flier, sees the need first hand. "I've traveled almost 40,000 miles in the last month and I know there are a lot of people who spend time in airports and a lot of people don't get the care they need," he said.

As a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Satcher believes the concept of a quick-care health facility inside an airport is a good one so long as patients continue to have contact with a primary care physician at home. He serves on the board of directors for The AeroClinic and is one of the privately held company's original investors.

He wants potential patients to understand the restrictions of a facility such as The AeroClinic. "This is not the place to go when you're having chest pains. ... (But) obviously, if you have a minor illness this is an opportunity to seek care while you're traveling and not have to wait until you get back home."

The clinic's 12 staffers also offer preventive care including physical exams, routine vaccinations and monitoring of chronic diseases. The facility accepts some insurance coverage.

In the fall, The AeroClinic, will open a second facility in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, airport. The staff plans to offer flu shots at mobile kiosks in the airport concourses. For now, travelers must go out of the airport security zone to reach the facility.

Stephen Plumlee didn't mind the inconvenience. "I was so out of it, I didn't know what was happening. But everyone has been very helpful."

After he rested for a couple of hours and recovered from the nausea, an imbalance in his inner ear was diagnosed. He was given medication to help him cope with the flight home and sent on his way.

"This has been good," concluded Plumlee. "It's been fine to be able to do it in the airport, not have to go to some other part of the city and find my way back."

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