Recent Articles

Mexico’s NAFTA Generation Faces Morbid Obesity

McDonald’s Aims for a Low Pesticide for its French Fries

Ebryonmic Stem Cell Research- The Power to Cure Millions of Latinos

Helping Hispanics With Diabetes Enjoy Healthy, Traditional Foods

Low-Carbohydrate Diets Recommended for Hispanics

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Mexico’s NAFTA Generation Faces Morbid Obesity

MERIDA, Mexico -– In less than a generation, Mexicans have gone from a nation of relatively healthy people to a nation confronting an unprecedented health crisis: morbid obesity. The culprit? The NAFTA diet. Before the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, in 1994, Mexicans had a wholesome diet consisting of beans, tortillas, chicken and fruits and vegetables. These were prepared at home or in small restaurants called “fondas” (market stalls) by street vendors. Almost always, these meals were “slow food” -– soups, tacos, sauces and regional dishes were made from fresh ingredients, and prepared over the course of several hours. In the 15 years since NAFTA, however, Mexico has been “invaded” by globalized, highly processed foods served by such fast-food conglomerates as McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.

The health crisis confronting Mexico is the rapid escalation in morbid obesity throughout society, affecting every demographic group in the nation, even the poorest. A survey by Mexico’s health ministry revealed that one in four Mexican children between the ages of five and 11 is morbidly obese. In a recent study, “Obesity: The Epidemic of the 21st Century,” health researcher Federico Siguero argues that “obesity is the most frequent illness among (Mexican) children, followed by diabetes. “If this trend continues, there will be no government (administration) that will have the resources to treat all of the obese (Mexicans), who will suffer from diabetes, hypertension or another complication,” he stated. This is reaffirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO), which now labels Mexico the nation with the second highest incidence of morbid obesity in the world, behind the United States. “Risk factors such as being overweight and obesity have increased (in Mexico) in all groups of society, mainly in urban areas, affecting 51.8 percent of women between the ages of 12 and 49 (60 percent in the northern part of the country) and 5.5 percent of children under five,” the WHO reported in its current country profile for Mexico.

The public health crisis precipitated by the change in the Mexican diet is causing alarm among politicians. Mexico is confronting an unprecedented strain on its national health system.  According to the WHO, 67.9 percent of Mexican men and 68.4 percent of Mexican women are overweight.  By comparison, 72.6 percent of American men and 75.6 percent of American women are overweight.

“In many rural communities,” Salazar added, “the government does not provide potable drinking water in the schools, and as a result, children end up drinking soft drinks instead.” Mexicans drink more soft drinks per capita than any other people in the world, except for Americans. “We must reduce the number of soft drinks consumed by children and at-risk adults,” added Jorge Quintero Bello, a legislator from the conservative PAN party. “IMSS (Mexico’s Health Ministry) must launch a comprehensive public education campaign.”

The change in the Mexican diet, however, is only one part of a complicated equation. In the course of implementing NAFTA, Mexico has sought greater coordination with both the United States and Canada. This has meant, among other things, aligning Mexican hours to the U.S. daylight and saving time changes, which, for a nation that lies closer to the equator, means more hours in school and at work. More importantly, Mexico, after a heated debate, officially abolished the siesta -– the traditional midday closing of businesses for three or four hours to allow people to go home and share meals with their families. As a consequence, working “9 to 5” means that home-prepared meals are for the majority of Mexicans a thing of the past, and the “super-sized” fast-food alternative is just around the corner.

Louis Nevaer is a contributor to NAM whose new book, “Managing Hispanic and Latino Employees,” will be published in December 2009.

To read the whole article click here.

Source: New America Media

Author: Louis E.V. Nevaer

McDonald’s Aims for a Low Pesticide for its French Fries

“You want fries with that?” It’s safe to say that most of the 47 million customers that McDonald’s serves every day answer “Yes.”

But those customers, it’s safe to say, did not know they were ordering up pesticides with that, too.

McDonald’s, the largest fast-food chain the world and the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States, is under pressure from shareholders to do something about pesticide use on the potatoes it buys.

Potatoes have been on or near the list of the Environmental Working Group’s dirty dozen foods with the most pesticide residue for years. That means, according to a government analysis, that after a typical person buys a typical potato and prepares it in a typical way, it’s among the fruits and vegetables most likely to be laced with pesticides.

The spud is the No. 1 most popular veggie in the U.S. The average American eats 130 pounds of potatoes every year — that’s 44% more than the next veggie on the list, the tomato.

The bigger concern with pesticide use, typically, is the health of farm workers, farm soils and the wildlife and people living on or near farms. Potatoes are the largest vegetable crop in the U.S., accounting for 15% of farm sales receipts, according to the Department of Agriculture. Roughly 50% of the U.S. potato crop goes to French fries, potato chips and other potato products.

 ”Potatoes … use more pounds of pesticides per acre than most crops,” according to Beyond Pesticides:

Most of these pesticides are linked to serious chronic effects such as cancer, endocrine disruption and reproductive/developmental effects. Many leach to groundwater and contaminate surface waters. Intensive potato cultivation and pesticides usage have been implicated in the high rates of rare cancers in young children in rural western Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada.

McDonald’s, for agreeing to survey its potato suppliers — which include two of the largest U.S. potato businesses, ConAgra Foods Inc.’s Lamb Weston unit, and J.R. Simplot Co. — deserves credit for working to reduce the use of toxic pesticides on food crops. The shareholder groups that pressured McDonald’s to make this move — the Bard College Endowment, Newground Social Investment and the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund — deserve even more. That’s what socially responsible investing is all about.

To read the full article click here.

Author: Lisa Baertlein

Source: Reuters

Ebryonmic Stem Cell Research- The Power to Cure Millions of Latinos

 

Embryonic stem cell research has the potential to cure diseases and injuries that affect millions of Americans, including Latinos who are the fastest growing segment of our population.  Every day, Latinos struggle disproportionately from chronic health conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, lupus and diabetes, and it is clear that we must provide scientists the resources needed to potentially save millions of lives.  Stem cell research holds great promise in finding new and better treatments for debilitating diseases.   72 percent of Americans and more than half of all Latinos (including 71 percent of Hispanic Catholics) support embryonic stem cell research.

Potentially Eliminates Health Disparities Among Latinos:

Latinos are disproportionately threatened by life-threatening illnesses, such as diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimer’s, and the promise of embryonic stem cell research could mean the difference between life and death.  Compared to whites, Latinos are almost twice as likely to have Type 2 diabetes, and nearly half of Latino children born in the year 2000 are likely to develop diabetes in their lifetime.  Heart disease is also the leading cause of death for all Latinos, responsible for almost 30 percent of all Latino deaths and Latinos have a higher risk for lupus and certain cancers, such as stomach and cervical cancers.  As well, the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on the Latino population will increase six-fold by 2050.  

Embryonic stem cell research holds the key to unlocking the door to finding cures and treatments for the most debilitating diseases of our time, including those that disproportionately impact Latinos. 

Federal support of this research is also critical to keeping our nation competitive in a global economy.  President Obama’s overturning of the ban on stem cell research will ensure our government provides adequate resources for research that has the vast potential for curing diseases, alleviating suffering and saving lives.

Source: Sentor Robert Menedez’s Latino Leadership Links

Helping Hispanics With Diabetes Enjoy Healthy, Traditional Foods

New tools are available to help Hispanics enjoy healthy versions of their favorite recipes and control portion sizes, all designed to reduce their risk of developing diabetes. The recipes and other materials are part of a campaign called “Más Que Comida, Es Vida“, which means “It′s more than food. It′s life.”

The campaign was developed by the National Diabetes Education Program, a joint program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.

“Más que comida, es vida” provides new tools to Hispanics to prepare traditional foods in a more healthy way. A few simple adjustments can make these dishes healthier and lower in fat and calories,” said Betsy Rodríguez, public health advisor of the National Diabetes Education Program′s Hispanic/Latino Work Group.

“Más que comida, es vida” features materials written in English and Spanish, including a recipe booklet called Ricas recetas para personas con diabetes y sus familiares (Tasty Recipes for People with Diabetes and Their Families), that offers food ideas specifically designed for the Hispanic palate. Among the delicious and healthy recipes included in the booklet are: Spanish omelet (tortilla Espanola), turkey stew (carne guisada de res o pavo), Caribbean red snapper (pargo rojo caribeno), two cheese pizza (pizza de dos quesos), and avocado tacos (tacos de aguacate).

Read more…

Source: www.emaxhealth.com

Low-Carbohydrate Diets Recommended for Hispanics

DALLAS, TX. (ConCienciaNews) – Dr. Jeffrey Browning decided to carry out a study on how to prevent fatty liver disease, after noticing that the majority of Hispanic women encountered while he was working at the Dallas Public Hospital, suffered from the disease.

A fatty liver is not only the result of alcohol consumption, but may be caused by obesity and is often aggravated by diabetes.  It is the second most frequent chronic hepatic disease diagnosed in outpatients.

Browning began to research ways to prevent fatty liver disease, which affects more and more obese young people each day. He found that those with fatty liver should concentrate on low-carbohydrates diets instead of low-calorie ones.

“Instead of looking for drugs to fight obesity and the diseases it brings, maybe the optimization of diet not only helps manage and treat this disease, but also to prevent it,” Browning said.

Although this study was not initially meant to determine which type of diet was most recommended for weight loss, on average subjects who monitored calorie consumption lost five pounds after two weeks, while subjects who monitoring carbohydrate intake lost an average of nine and a half pounds.

Glucose, a form of sugar and fat, is an energy source metabolized by the liver using the body’s energy.

“We saw a drastic change in how the liver produced glucose, depending on the diet,” Browning said.

The greatest finding in the study, which included the participation of 14 obese people, was that in the low-carbohydrate diets, more glucose was produced than in the low-calorie diet.

According to Browning, this is one way that the liver produces glucose under certain types of diets, thus regulating metabolic disorders and preventing fatty liver disease.  For example, people on low-calorie diets received 40% of their glucose from glycogen, which results from carbohydrate consumption and is stored in the liver while the body has a need for it.

Those on the low-carbohydrate diet obtained only 20% of their glucose from glycogen. Instead of looking in the glycogen reserves, this suggests that the fat stored in the liver is burned off to obtain energy.

Fatty liver disease is on the rise and is believed to affect at least one of every three adults in the United States. This condition is associated with metabolic disorders such as insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity, and consequences may include liver inflammation, cirrhosis or liver cancer.

“The energy produced is important to the liver,” Browing said. “This proves that the liver must burn off excess fat to meet the energy needs of people with a low-carbohydrate diet.”

For more information visit:  www.conciencianews.com