[Distance] learning programs are invaluable because they provide a segment of our population with critical literacy and job-related skills as well as the means to take their careers to the next level

Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee

National Distance Learning Week (NDLW) will be held the week of November 9-13, 2009. The week-long event is set “to promote and celebrate the tremendous growth and accomplishments occurring today in distance learning programs offered by schools, businesses, and governmental departments.” NDLW is sponsored by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).

During National Distance Learning Week (NDLW), schools, colleges, and other organizations will be showcasing their programs for current and prospective students.

In addition, the USDLA (United States Distance Learning Association) will be conducting a series of free webinars during the week of November 9-13 to showcase various types of distance learning providers.

For more information see the NDLW website.

In the nearly 5 years that I have been teaching Nutrition there have been two high profile deaths from Water Intoxication. The first was a 21-year-old Chico State College Student, Matthew Carrington who died in 2005 after fraternity hazing.

The most recent one occured just two years later in 2007 when Jennifer Strange, a 28-year-old mother participating in a Radio Station contest to”Hold Your Wee for a Wii.” Both occurred in Northern California.

It is interesting how serendipity works at time. While I was lecturing on these unfortunate cases of Water Intoxication, a settlement was being reached in the lawsuit filed against the radio station. I am posting the latest correct information about the Wee for a Wii Water Intoxication (Hyponatremia) Death from 2007.

The Wee for a Wii Case

Jennifer Strange of Rancho Cordova entered the “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest sponsored by KDND-FM (107.9) “The End” to try and win a Nintendo Wii video game system for her three children. In the contest contestants were challenged to drink water (16 ounces of water every 10 minutes). She came in second, dropping out once she started feeling ill. Ultimately Strange ended up succumbing to the excessive water consumption from the contest.

On October 29, a Sacramento jury awarded $16 million to her family.Entercom Sacramento, which operates KDND-FM (107.9) “The End,” was found negligent of ignoring several warnings that a morning show contest could have fatal consequences. During the course of the contest, one on-air host mentioned the 2005 death of a college student during a hazing ritual in Chico and a listener also called in to advise against the stunt.

Info on Water Intoxication or Hyponatremia

Water intoxication is generally not a common problem. Researchers published a clinical case of a 64 year old woman who began compulsively drinking water in the Journal of Clinical Pathology in 2003. They included the mechanism behind water intoxication:

Water intoxication provokes disturbances in electrolyte balance, resulting in a rapid decrease in serum sodium concentration and eventual death. The development of acute dilutional hyponatraemia causes neurological symptoms because of the movement of water into the brain cells, in response to the fall in extracellular osmolality.

Too much water in the body causes water to move into the cells, particularly the brain cells. As the sodium concentration falls in the blood (because of too much water) symptoms progress from confusion to drowsiness and eventually coma. The rate at which the water is consumed plays an important factor in the lethality of water intoxication. Large volumes of water consumed in a short period of time can produce a rapid drop in serum sodium levels which may be fatal.

Hopefully with these two high-profile cases, the word will get out and people will know not to drink too much water too fast.

Sources:

October 2009. Radio Station Found Liable in Water Intoxication Death Suit. News10.net.
Grab S. October 2009. Jury awards $16 million to family in fatal radio prank. LA Times Blog.
Farrell DJ. Bower L. 2003. Fatal Water Intoxication. J Clin Pathol. October; 56(10): 803–804.
Korry E. 2005. A Fraternity Hazing Gone Wrong. NPR.org

Image: Richard Dudley. Glass of Water. Royalty Free Use.

The series takes a look at the differences between science and humanities papers read “Science and Humanities Papers the Differences.”

It also offers students help on writing scientific papers in “How to Write a Scientific Research Paper” as well as explaining the different required sections in “Identifying Parts of a Scientific Research Paper.” Finally the different types of styles used in formatting science and humanities papers are reviewed in  MLA, APA or URM? Different Research Paper Styles. All of the articles are listed in the right sidebar of the blog under “Science vs. English Papers.”

The first study, “Factor Contributing to the Facial Aging of Identical Twins” published in final form in the April 2009 issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, suggests that despite genetic make-up, certain environmental factors can add years to a person’s perceived age. In this study, divorce and antidepressant use associated with a significantly older appearance. Interestingly in twins who were less than 40 years old, the heavier twin was perceived as being older, while in those groups over 40 years old, the heavier twin appeared younger.

Watch the video clip (after the ad) from the LA Station about this new study, factors such as smoking, sun exposure, stress and dieting play a role in the aging process.

Factors affecting Aging:

• Divorce
• Stress
• Sun Exposure
• Smoking
• Alcohol use
• Weight Gain – varies depending on the age

You can watch another report from ABC news at their website.

Resources

Salamone G. October 2009. Study of identical twins reveals how habits like smoking and tanning can dramatically age skin. NY Daily News.
Cloud J. February 2009. Twins and Aging: How Not to Look Old. Time.com
Press Release. February 2009. Divorce, Antidepressants, or Weight Gain/Loss Can Add Years to Your Face: ASPS Twins Study Finds Environmental Factors Trump Genetics in Facial Aging. Press Release. American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

Concerned citizens have even drafted a petition on change.org “Don’t Let Kellogg’s Buy Scientists: Froot Loops Aren’t a Healthy Breakfast” to encourage Smart Choices Board Members to remove their support for the Smart Choice Program.

See more about Froot Loops in the blog post on Watch Out for High Sugar and Poor Nutrient Content in Many Children’s Cereals. In the study released by Consumer Reports, Froot Loops ended up with a “fair” rating, with a low fiber amount and 12 grams of sugar. It does appear that Froot Loops has changed their formula lately, adding in more fiber to the popular sugar cereal for a total of 3 grams of fiber in a serving. You can read what Marion Nelson, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University has to say about this change of formula at the Huffington Post.

It will be interesting to see what happens and what the manufactures response will be to the public outcry about their program.

About Smart Spot

The Smart Spot program is a program created by PepsiCo’s to make it “easier for people to identify food and beverage choices that contribute to healthy lifestyles.” The Smart Spot logo appears on more than 250 products across all of PepsiCo’s brands including Tropicana®, Gatorade®, Baked! Lay’s®, Quaker® and Diet Pepsi®.

The Smart Choice Program was motivated by the need for a single, trusted and reliable front-of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers could voluntarily adopt to help guide consumers in making smarter food and beverage choices.

According to their website to qualify for the Smart Choices Program, a product must meet a comprehensive set of nutrition criteria based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans and other sources of nutrition science and authoritative dietary guidance.

The Smart Choices program was designed to replace the other health labels that have been seen on foods such as “Sensible Solution and “Smart Spot.”

Sources:

Neuman W. September 2009. For Your Health, Froot Loops. NY Times.

MacVean M. September 2009. ‘Smart Choices’ food label: a sign of nutrition or marketing? LA Times.

Hernandez L. October 2009. Parents Question New ‘Smart Choices’ Food Labeling System. The Denver Channel.

Nestle M. July 2009. ‘Better’ junk food about marketing, not health. SF Gate.

Image Source: Carolyn Coles. Fruit Loops Donut. Some rights Reserved.

This fall San Francisco’s Mayor Gavin Newsom plans to introduce legislation that would charge retailers who sell sugary beverages a fee—levying a soda sales fee. The hope is that the extra fees will financially discourage people from consuming a lot of extra, empty calories.

According to the SF Gate article, Newsom only needs approval from the Board of Supervisors to levy a fee on retailers.  A tax on individual cans of soda and sugary juice would require voters’ approval.

Motivation Behind the Soda Fees

According to Newsom, he was  motivated to move forward with legislation for a soda fee after a new study on the relationship between soda and obesity was released.  Researchers from UCLA demonstrated a link between soda and obesity in California. In this study researchers reported:

Adults who drink at least one soft drink a day are 27 percent more likely to be obese than those who do not.

The study, Commissioned by CCPHA (California Center for Public Health Advocacy),  provides scientific evidence of the direct contribution of sugar-sweetened beverages to California’s $41 billion obesity epidemic.

Opposing the Fees

Understandably, the American Beverage Association has fought attempts to implement soda taxes. They released a statement about the new study.

If our goal is to address obesity, then educating consumers about the importance of balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with the calories expended through physical activity is what matters – not demonizing any one particular food.

Another soda fee opponent is Jim Lazarus, vice president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. His group wonders:

Does this mean there’s a fee on candy bars, on ice cream, on potato chips? Where do you draw the line?

It is his belief that the additional small fee, which will probably be passed on from the retailer to the consumer, would not be enough to dramatically change people’s habits. Lazarus believes the the soda fee is just another revenue source for the city.

What do you think? Do you think adding a fee to sodas, in the current economic climate, where people are already counting their pennies, may make a difference in decreasing the amount of soda consumed?

Do you think other empty calorie foods should be taxed as well?

Source:

Knight H. September 2009.  Newsom wants to charge stores that sell sodas. SF Gate.
Dyer K. September 2009. New Research Links Soda to Obesity. Nutrition & Wellness Edublog.

Image: Foxumon. Coins. Royalty Free Use.

Ellen featured several “plus” sized models on her show from an upcoming Glamour Magazine will feature a pictorial for October on plus-sized (anything over a size 6) models. Ellen Tweeted about the interview:

These girls are considered “plus sized”, which is crazy.

I think a better term is “normal sized.” Or just “beautiful.”

This move towards featuring more normal sized women is very welcome, considering that the average sized woman is a closer to a size 12 – 14, not a size 0 – 4 seen in the fashion magazines.  These plus-size models are proving that not all models have to be super skinny to be super sexy.

In addition Glamour Magazine Editor, Cindi Lieve, pledged that they will be featuring a wider range of women in their pages than has traditionally been featured.

Let’s hope the trend continues.

More info:

Glamour Magazine’s Normal-Sized Models. October 2009. The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Field. G. September 2009. These Bodies are Beautiful at Every Size. Glamour.
Odell A. October 2009. Glamour Delivers More Plus-Size Nude Models. N.Y. Magazine.

More about Hungry Girl
Hungry Girl, a.k.a. Lisa Lillien is not a nutritionist, she’s just hungry and the founder of Hungry-girl.com. Her daily emails filled with containing guilt-free recipes, food and product reviews, dieting news and nutrition shockers are received by over half a million subscribers fans.

In this case, unretouched photos of reality star Kim Kardashian were released by mistake, before the ‘official’ photoshopped version. According to Momlogic, “Women everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.”

You can see the before (left) and after (right) pictures below:

This is Ms. Karsashian’s response from her blog:

So what: I have a little cellulite. What curvy girl doesn’t!?

How many people do you think are photoshopped? It happens all the time!

I’m proud of my body and my curves and this picture coming out is probably helpful for everyone to see that just because I am on the cover of a magazine doesn’t mean I’m perfect.

She used the pictures as motivation to work out in the gym and get into better shape.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the unphotoshopped pic had been the one used on the cover of the magazine. Now that would have been sending a real message that being curvy and having cellulite is o.k.

Sources:

Breaking News! Kim Kardashian Has Cellulite! March 2009. Momlogic.com (See links to more before and after photoshopped images)
Karsashian K. 2009. Yes, I am complex! Kim Kardashian Official Site.
Park M. 2009. Kim Kardashian: ‘So What! I Have Cellulite!‘ People.com
Kim Kardashian Blogs About Complex Magazine Photoshop Fiasco “so What I Have Cellulite.” March 2009. The Insider.com

According to reports for Tyra Banks, what began as a game, a a three month “get fit, get healthy challenge” with seven of her friends has turned into a new lifestyle for her. As noted in the Video clip below, she felt conflicted and decided to say something about her weight loss after the media started to notice:

“The media started taking notice and showing pictures of before and after of me losing weight, and I felt kind of exposed because I wasn’t trying to proclaim to the world, ‘I got fit and I got healthy and I got in shape,’ because I felt kind of conflicted especially after the ‘Kiss my fat ass’ thing,” she says. “It’s still fat by the way.”

As part of the change, Tyra bought an elliptical machine and started exercising while watching Sex and the City. According to People.com Tyra says she:

“…got rid of one of my couches in my living room and I watched Sex and The City episodes on the treadmill or the elliptical. “o Sex and the City lasts 30 minutes – that’s how long I’m on the elliptical.

In addition the started writing down every single thing she ate making her more aware of the calories she consumed especially while eating out.

Key Points to her lifestyle changes:

• Getting off the couch, by getting rid of it
• Exercising
• Tracking calories
• Having fun doing it
• Being accountable to friends about getting healthy

Congratulations on the weight loss and for also setting a healthy example.

Sources:

Parks M. September 2009. Sex and the City Helped Tyra Banks Lose Weight. People.com
Tyra Sheds Pounds — and Furniture! September 2009. Extra TV.
SATC Helped Tyra Banks Shape Up. September 2009. FitSugar.com
Tyra Banks Shows Off Buff New Arms. US Magazine.

More:

Dyer KA. 2008. Tyra Banks Retort on “Fat” Comments. Nutrition and Wellness Blog.