Junk Food Companies Target Birthday Kids in Australia

In Australia, a disturbing new trend is emerging: fast-food companies like Taco Bell and Hungry Jack's are sending birthday vouchers direct to kids in the mail.

The Obesity Policy Coalition has been asking the Federal Government to ban direct mail to children, so far unsuccessfully.

The Obesity Policy Coalition includes organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO), and Diabetes Australia, and campaigns on various diet-related issues. Their site explains:

The OPC was established with the aim of influencing change in policy and regulation to support obesity prevention, particularly in Australian children.

In appealing to the Senate, the Obesity Policy Coalition said that kids were particularly swayed by advertising messages, and should be protected:

Children's susceptibility to commercial influence means that use of their personal information for direct marketing unfairly manipulates them, and is likely to harm them in other ways.

I agree. But, I was also struck that the kids being targeted in this way, in the case of Hungry Jack's at least, were members of the "Kids Club". At some stage, parents have presumably agreed to signing their kids up to a fast-foot outlet's membership program.

What do you think? Should direct mail advertising to kids be banned? And if so, how much impact would it have in the battle against childhood obesity?

Image Credit: ferret111

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Stress Only Slightly Impacts Weight Gain

I hate stress. And I'm a mental case, so I don't handle it very well. Lots of junk food, yelling at people, and watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles on loop.

Stress can wreak havoc on your body. Common symptoms of chronic stress include headache, insomnia, depression, high blood pressure, irritability, and I've always thought weight-gain was a risk too.

But a new study says stress has only a minor impact on weight-gain.

For the study, published in the journal Obesity, scientists examined data from 32 previous studies on bodyweight and stress, and discovered the majority of research revealed no association between people's stress levels and their weight-gain several years later.

Researchers assessed studies conducted between the 1990s and 2000s that examined individuals stress levels in relationship to weight-gain.

Among the studies, 69% found no clear association between stress levels and weight gain, 25% linked high stress levels to increased weight-gain, and 6% showed stress was related to less weight gain over time.

After pooling all the studies together, only a modest relationship was found between overall stress and weight-gain. But the researchers say the effect of stress on weight could vary from person to person, especially when considering different types of stress; such as work stress, compared to life stress.

To me, it's a personality thing. Some people are just unflappable. I'm high-strung and jumpy, but my brother is cool as a cucumber. Although, he ate his boogers as a kid, so I'm still better!

Image credit: South Park Studios

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Sesame Street Goes Healthy

The last few years have been a whirlwind for the Cookie Monster. From having to dispel tabloid rumors about his name being changed to the "Vegetable Monster," to his recent run in the limelight, which centered on an aggressive campaign to host Saturday Night Live.

Although the cookie monster will not be changing the name on his birth certificate, the Sesame Street executives are trying to do their part when it comes to promoting healthy eating, with a specific aim to nourish those who don't meet basic nutritional needs.

Jeanette Betancourt, vice president of content design for the education, research and outreach department of Sesame Workshop, said:

We found there were really very few resources engaging young children and helping them engage not only in healthy habits but also in knowing that as a family they're not alone in this.

The program provides families with an educational kit, including;

A video featuring four new Muppets, the "Super foods" - Banana, cheese, whole-grain roll and broccoli. Elmo and friends, including real families, as they try new foods, learn about healthy snacks and discover the importance of sharing a meal together.

The superfoods (although not official Sesame Street cast members) sing and dance, encouraging children to try new healthy foods. The 400,000 kits will be distributed to lower income families and segments will air on the show this month (December 2010). You can watch the video segments here.

While this latest campaign is more focal and extensive, Sesame Street and specifically the oft-criticized cookie glutton have actually been promoting healthier eating for a while. To wit, in 1987, the Cookie Monster rapped about healthy food.

More recently, "Hoots" the owl waxed poetic to the Cookie Monster about cookies being a "sometimes food".

The burning question remains, however, will campaigns like this have a noticeable impact on the foods children eat?

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The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

If you know how successful The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss was, you'll be excited about the release of his latest book, The 4-Hour Body.

It has been described as the result of an obsessive quest, spanning more than a decade, to hack the human body. And, it contains the collective wisdom of elite athletes, doctors, and thousands of hours of personal experimentation.

What I immediately like about The 4-Hour Body is that it promises to teach, in less than 30 minutes each, about habits most of us would like to improve. With so much going on in our lives, the idea of learning new skills in a short period of time appeals.

Tim makes a number of bold statements in his book, including how you can:

Lose those last 5-10 pounds (or 100+ pounds) with odd combinations of food and safe chemical cocktails.Prevent fat gain while bingeing.Increase fat-loss 300% with a few bags of ice. Sleep 2 hours per day and feel fully rested.Go from running 5 kilometers to 50 kilometers in 12 weeks.Add 150+ pounds to your lifts in 6 months.And, also how he gained 34 pounds of muscle in 28 days, without steroids, and in four hours of total gym time.

Do any of these sound farfetched to you?

As I said earlier, the book contains data from Tim's own personal experimentation, and also data from several hundred men and women who used these techniques over a two year period.

Some of the things that intrigue me about the content:

Ferriss claims that if you normally spend two hours at the gym, several times each week, you can get the same, or better results, in a very focused 80 seconds per muscle group.He also talks about his simple diet called "The Slow-Carb Diet," for anyone needing a simple plan to improve their health, and one that will yield fast results. According to Tim, many of his participants lost over 20 pounds within the first month.

I know, that seems like a lot of weight to lose in one month. But then again, we just heard about new research published in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, which suggests that fast weight loss has more short-term and long-term advantages, than slower weight loss.

Tim states,

Do not read this book from start to finish... Most people won't need more than 150 pages to reinvent themselves. Pick one appearance goal and one performance goal to start.

For most people, lifestyle change can be pretty daunting. So, the idea that you can change bad habits, one step at a time, makes this approach feel more doable.

Check out the 4-Hour Body - Official Movie Trailer:

The 4-Hour Body is available at Amazon for $15.

Does this book interest you?

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