Health Check's Highly Processed Hypocrisy

Recently I read a nutrition column by Heart and Stroke Dietitian Alyssa Rolnick about how to help your child consume less salt.

Amazingly, despite the Heart and Stroke Foundation's endorsement of lower levels of salt in children (the National Sodium Policy Statement the Heart and Stroke Foundation signed off on recommends children under the age of 8 consume no more than 1,200mg daily) Alyssa stuck to Health Check's party line of adopting the far less stringent Health Canada recommendations of the nearly double 2,300mg.

But I'm not blogging today about the inanity of the Heart and Stroke Foundation's lack of adherence to sodium level recommendations that they themselves state are too high (I've done that before here) - no, today I'm blogging about these 3 lines from Alyssa's piece,

"Cook fresh foods One of the best ways to control salt intake is to prepare more home cooked meals."

"A lot of the excess sodium that we consume is hidden in processed, convenience and fast foods."

and finally,

"When shopping, look for food items that have the Health Check™ symbol."

So first off let me say I agree with Alyssa in that we need to cook our own meals more frequently and that highly processed foods are not only often laden with salt, they're often devoid of the health benefits of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and healthy oils.

So can you guess which statement I disagree with?

Yup, you guessed it - her call to use Health Check to guide your choices in kid food shopping.

Why do I disagree?

Because Health Check'ed options are generally highly processed foods with far too much salt.

Don't believe me?

Well how about just asking Health Check folks?

You see just a few weeks ago they released a call for proposals to assess the impact of Health Check on the marketplace after 10 years of operation. One of the areas they want input on is one which they've labeled, "unintended consequences".

Any guesses as to the unintended consequence that they offered up as an example of what they're talking about? Here it is:

"Are Health Check products encouraging the purchase of processed foods over fresh foods?"

The answer of course is along the lines of, "Duh", for as Bill Jeffery from the Centre for Science in the Public Interest pointed out in the Canadian Medical Association Journal,

"of the 257 fruit and vegetable products enrolled in the program, 194 are juices, fruit leather and french fries — hardly nutritional superstars — and only 14 are fresh fruits and vegetables."

I'll also be happy to continue to explain why the answer is, "Duh" pictorially:


[Hat tip to loyal blog reader Dana for passing along the call for proposals]

Clean Your Plate Club Members Eat 35% More!

Mindless Eating's and USDA's Brian Wansink, one of my favourite researchers, has released some preliminary results from a study he's been working on.

He's been looking at kids who belong to the so-called Clean Your Plate Club and has found that preschool aged members ate 35% more fruit loops than non-club members when given an unlimited portion.

35% more is a lot!

Think maybe the Clean Your Plate Club might play a role in childhood obesity?

The study will be published down the road in the journal Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.

His advice?

Same as mine. If your kids aren't cleaning their plates perhaps you ought to be offering them smaller portions, or better yet - ensure your child tastes all the foods you offer and then allow them to determine how much they want.

Disband the Clean Your Plate Club!!!

MadTV's Kevin Trudeau Infomercial

Remember Kevin? I blogged about him a few days ago - he's the infomercial king who's been banned from making infomercials and fined over $5 million for being misleading.

Want to see one of his infomercials?

I've seen a few on late night television over the years and this version from MadTV is today's Funny Friday!

Have a great weekend!

Don't Walk to Work, Walk AT Work

Treadmill desks hit the big time (the New York Times).

Promoted by Dr. James Levine and his NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) team as an easy means to combat obesity and adopted by world famous bloggers like bookofjoe's Joe (check out the picture down below to see Joe on his desk) now you can buy one from office furniture maker Steelcase for the not-so-low price of $4,000.

The way it works is pretty straight forward. Instead of sitting, you walk. Apparently walking at up to 1.5 miles an hour generally doesn't cause you to break a sweat and still allows you to type, mouse and talk normally.

My advice?

If you're interested, instead of forking out the big bucks pick up a used treadmill with arms on your local Kijiji or Craig's List and jerry-rig your own version on the cheap.

Here's Joe on his:

Meat Slammed by Yet Another Major Study

This time it was with regards to its contribution to the risk of heart disease.

The study, run out of Canada's McMaster University by Dr. Salim Yusuf, was not a small study. It analyzed the dietary patterns of 16,000 individuals in 52 different countries and concluded that what we've been saying for years is still true - diets higher in fruits and vegetables and lower in fried foods and animal meat are healthier for you, and in this study specifically healthier for your heart.

Dr. Yusuf, in one of his many interviews with the press had this to say,

"What we've shown is if you eat a healthy diet you can actually reduce the risk of heart attack by about 30 to 40 per cent. That is bigger than most drugs we have for protecting against heart disease. It's even bigger than an angioplasty or bypass"

The study was funded in part by the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Foundation spokesperson Dr. Beth Abramson Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of Toronto and Director, Cardiac Prevention Center and Women’s Cardiovascular Health at St. Michael’s Hospital commented,

"It's a large international study that I would say reconfirms what is suggested in the literature in smaller studies that we are what we eat"

I'd agree. It does "reconfirm" what we already know to be true. Here we've "reconfirmed" that meat's in fact bad for your health whereupon folks who ate the most meat (by quartile) had an increased risk of heart attack.

Take this new data and add it to that which concluded that diets higher in red meat are associated with dramatically increased risks of multiple cancers, (colon was the strongest where every 48 grams of red meat consumption beyond a weekly limit of 500grams increased colon cancer risk by 15 per cent) and diabetes (for every increase in the number of daily servings of red meat there was a 26% increase in the risk of developing diabetes), and you've got to wonder how any credible medical or public health organization can actually recommend its consumption.

As I always say, while I think red meat's absolutely delicious I don't kid myself (and more importantly anybody else) into thinking it's good for me. Along those lines, can someone please explain why the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Health Check program, a program they report,

"makes healthy choices easier by helping you quickly identify products that can contribute to a healthy diet"

still includes red meat?

So for the scorekeepers out there - here's more evidence, this time from a Heart and Stroke Foundation funded study, "reconfirming" what we already knew about red meat consumption, evidence that states that meat consumption raises the risk of heart disease, and yet here we also have a Heart and Stroke Foundation who happily stamps its Health Check logo all over it and Health Canada who publish a "Food Guide" that doesn't caution against its consumption.

Any guesses when either will change their tunes?

Calories on Menus All Across America?

I've certainly blogged before that it's not a matter of if but rather a matter of when the posting of calories on menu boards becomes a country-wide federal law.

Well as of a few weeks ago, the United States are a few steps closer with the introduction of the LEAN (Labeling Education and Nutrition) act by Delaware Senator Tom Carper and Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. This bipartisan bill would require that,

"restaurants and grocery stores that serve prepared foods and have 20 or more locations to disclose calories for each menu item so that consumers can see such information before they order their meal. Under the bill, calories will be posted directly on the menu, menu board or in one of the approved alternative ways, such as a menu insert or a sign directly next to the menu board."

Good luck Senators!

UPDATE:Sorry I didn't notice it sooner. The reason the Food Industry is supporting this bill is that it would not in fact require calories to be posted directly on menus or menuboards and if passed it would pre-empt more stringent local, county and state labeling laws. Consequently I can't recommend or endorse it.

Poor luck Senators!

$5 Million Fine for Bogus Weight Loss Claims

Ever hear of Kevin Trudeau?

He's the author of many fantastical books that purport the medical establishment is hiding cures from the general public.

He purports the same to be true about weight management and wrote a book entitled, "The Weight Loss Cure They Don't Want You to Know About".

Apparently what we don't want you to know is that the cure includes weekly injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) which certainly to date has never been demonstrated to be either safe or effective for weight loss in any well designed randomized trial.

Oh, and there's also a complicated diet plan to follow.

His infomercials certainly make it seem effortless but the Federal Trade Commission, shockingly, felt differently.

So much differently in fact that they fined Kevin over $5 million and have banned him from making infomercials for 3 years.

20/20 had a kick at Kevin a while back and thanks to Youtube, here's their piece on his remarkable "cures":

A Time Capsule Video of a Young Gordon Ramsay

You know, the Hell's Kitchen chef.

For today's Funny Friday is his take on school lunches from back when he used to eat them.

Have a great weekend!

Can you Eat like an Antarctic Explorer?

Well if you're in London, England anytime soon you could give it a try.

Just head over to the Green Door Bar and Grill where you can take the "Shackleton Centenary Meal Challenge" which allows you to consume a 6,000 calorie meal that current Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition team members may be consuming in their quest to follow in Shackleton's famous boot-steps.

So what will your $150 buy you?

Appetiser
Pork Scratching with a sticky Sweet Chilli Dip 1030 cal
Bottle of Stella 242 cal

Hoosh
A Stew originally prepared by Ernest Shackleton over a methylated spirit burner and consisting of Goose (as a substitute for Penguin) Corned Beef, Oats, Potato and Seasoning 1030 cal
Bottle of Stella 242 cal

Main Course
20oz Aberdeen Angus Rib Eye on the bone 1040 cal
Cauliflower Gratin 300 cal
Mushrooms and Creamed Spinach 300 cal
French Fries 200 cal
250 ml Glass of Red Wine 160 cal
Coke 150 cal

Dessert
Chocolate Fondant with 2 scoops Vanilla Ice Cream 1000 cal
Coconut Vanilla Ice Cream Shake 500 cal

The bellyache of "pride"?

Priceless?

[Hat tip to loyal blog reader Stefan!]

Aspartame Doesn't Affect Appetite

The internet's an interesting place providing soapboxes for me and anyone else with an axe to grind.

One of the axes that gets ground regularly is that asparatame is an especially bad and dangerous molecule that is responsible for a myriad of health concerns.

One of the claims made by those who like to vilify sweeteners (including aspartame) is that consuming them causes appetite to increase and so I was pleased to see a talk at the most recent Obesity Society Scientific Assembly on that very matter.

The talk was on an as yet unpublished study that looked at the effects of aspartame, stevia and sucrose (plain old sugar) on food intake, satiety and post meal blood glucose and insulin levels. Basically folks were given standardized breakfasts and before their lunch and dinner meals they were given a blind "preload" of tea and crackers sweetened with aspartame, stevia or sucrose. Participants then reported on their hunger and satiety levels before and after each meal as well as 30 minutes and every hour after lunch throughout the afternoon. They also gave multiple afternoon based blood samples.

The results?

Both stevia and aspartame use reduced food intake over the entire day compared with sugar, and hunger and satiety levels did not differ.

Translation?

Zero-calorie sweeteners did not affect hunger and when used to replace calories from sugar led to a reduction in total daily caloric intake.

Shocker?

Jamie Oliver's Latest Great Idea (Must See TV)!

Right now it's only airing across the pond (in the UK) but thanks to the magic of the internet, with a bit of effort, you can watch it in North America.

It's Jamie Oliver's new social experiment, The Ministry of Food.

So what's his big new idea?

Go to a city of 250,000 people in Northern England, a city with one of the highest obesity rates in the nation. Once there harness the power of social networking to try to teach the city to cook.

Teach 8 cooks 10 recipes in return for a promise that they each teach two people and each of them two people and so on and in less than 6 months, all of Rotherham ought to be able to cook.

The show provides a fascinating snapshot into the lives of some working class folks out in Rotherham and the pressures surrounding making home cooked meals (do you spend your welfare check on the bus tickets it takes to travel with your two under 6 year old kids to purchase fresh produce or do you save yourself the time and energy and go to a "take-away"?) and it's also a fascinating social experiment.

So far I'm completely captivated by the first two episodes and can't wait to see more.

For a sneak peak, here's a youtube clip of the show's first 10 minutes (sorry, can't embed it).

Find it, watch it, you won't regret it and until then, head over to his website and you 'll find that already his social experiment has sprouted wings as there are 612 bloggers currently blogging about their newest cooking escapades and literally thousands of posts in the forums.

Great job Jamie! Wish you were Canadian!

The Loot Bag Manifesto

My 4 year old came home from a birthday party the other day with a loot-bag that save for one small trinket, contained solely candy.

She's 4.

4 year olds are thrilled with anything. You could put coloured popsicle sticks and cotton balls in a loot bag and they'd be happy - why do you need to send home sugar?

For guests of our daughters we generally raid our local dollar store and buy things like little fairy skirts, wooden puzzles or cars that can be put together and painted with parents, felt doorknockers where we included lettering for kids' names, small dolls, stickers, beading kits for personalized bracelets, pirate hats, squishy balls and play-doh.

Thankfully, my loot bag manifesto is a short one:

I hereby proclaim that an enlightened loot bag contains no candy!

All the Rocky Movies in 5 Seconds Flat!

Better late than never!

Today for Funny Friday are all the Rocky movies in 5 seconds flat. It's not the best Funny Friday video I've ever posted, but hey, it's 5 seconds of your life and worth a quick chuckle!

Have a great weekend!

Dr. Sharma and I have Single Bypasses!

What you see above is a picture of me and my friend and colleague Dr. Arya Sharma (The guy on the left. The guy with the stethoscope? That’s the Grill’s owner “Dr.” Jon) at the Heart Attack Grill (blogged about previously here), but really what you're seeing is a picture of Arya and me practicing what we preach.

You might think that my statement above doesn't make sense, after all, the Canadian Medical Association Journal labeled me a "nutritional watchdog" and I run a behavioural weight management program and Arya, well Arya's the head of Capital Health's Weight Wise - the country's largest tertiary care bariatric centre and the scientific director of the Canadian Obesity Network, how could us eating - "flatliner" fries and "single bypass" burgers reflect our practices?

Simple - we preach that food and calories, while worth monitoring for nutrition and weight, are also used in life for comfort and celebration, and if you can't use food for comfort and celebration from time to time, you're probably on a diet and long-term, it's probably going to fail.

In terms of my lifestyle, excluding vacations and conferences I probably eat out a maximum of twice a month and just like most folks, I enjoy the taste of some foods that are let's say less than optimally nutritious, and sometimes I'll indulge. However what I don't do is give myself a carte blanche during those meals out - instead I choose the healthiest option that I think I'll enjoy so for instance at the Heart Attack Grill I had the single bypass (rather than the double, triple or quadruple), shared a fries with Arya and had water to drink.

As I regularly say weight management and healthy eating - they're about living the healthiest lives you can enjoy, not the healthiest lives you can tolerate. The former's a liveable lifestyle, the latter's just another short-term diet.

So if you're in Phoenix and you're so inclined, the Heart Attack Grill might well be worth a visit, but as the posting on their door states in big, bold, red writing,

"Caution! This Establishment is BAD for your Health!"

[Hat tip to Joe from Active Living magazine who inadvertently reminded me that the Heart Attack Grill was in Phoenix]

An APPEAL to end exercise-only obesity interventions!

(Or why it's not about exercise)

The study is entitled, "A Program Promoting Exercise and Active Lifestyle". In it, 196 overweight (average BMI nearly 30) carefully selected for motivation and affinity to start exercising individuals were asked to exercise at moderate to vigorous intensity for 60 minutes a day, 6 days a week, for a year! To ensure objectivity, subjects were provided with logbooks and heart rate monitors and adherence was excellent. Men in the study averaged 370 weekly minutes of exercise, and women 295.

Subjects were not instructed to make dietary changes.

So if weight loss were about exercise, certainly you would expect that after a year of an hour a day, 6 days of week of exercise, that weight would be lost in a dramatic manner.

The results?

Over the course of the year, men lost an average of 3.5lbs and women 2.6lbs.

Readers of my blog will know that I'm all for exercise - reason being is that it's one of the single most important determinants of health and that doing it psychologically bolsters patients who've lost weight and helps them keep their focus on their weight loss behaviours (including dietary changes).

Clearly what it won't do is by itself lead to dramatic weight loss.

Therefore I would argue that studies and public health interventions for obesity that focus exclusively on exercise or increasing day to day activity can no longer be considered ethical as we know that the outcomes will be dismal. My other concern of course is that since we know these interventions are doomed to failure, by throwing public health care dollars at interventions whose success will be measured on the basis of weight, we're going to drain the pot of public health dollars for obesity treatment and potentially make it less likely to receive funding in the future from once burned, twice shy stretched federal, provincial and municipal governments.

How TVs in Kids' Rooms Raise Obesity Risk

Mea culpa - thanks to the Canadian contingent at this year's Obesity Society conference, I've probably had too many drinks (Thanks to Arya, Dawn, Tara and Danielle) and someone told me once that I shouldn't drink and blog. Of course if you have a daily blog, sometimes you might not have as much choice as you'd want.

Life of course includes occasional indulgences and given that I've got two beautiful little girls and a busy office, my once a month or so nights out are certainly welcome.

The conference was wonderful as always and certainly got me thinking.

I heard a talk the other day regarding childhood obesity and it recounted how dramatically the risk of childhood obesity rises when a child has a television set in their room.

It's such a dramatic increase in risk (I believe in the neighbourhood of a 61% increase in relative risk) that I was never able to understand the mechanism behind it as the studies will generally control for dietary intake and some lifestyle factors suggesting an almost magical response to advertising.

I'm not sure anyone knows the answer but this conference made me wonder, could it simply be that kids with TVs in their bedrooms sleep far less because they're busy watching TV all night long?

Stay tuned this week for some debriefing from the conference, including my review of the Heart Attack Grill.

Scariest Fries Ever?

Came across these beauties on the blog Supersized Foods.

For just $8 you can start a slow death by fries....but oh, the cheesy, potato-y goodness.

For more fried foods available at the LA County Fair (where this shot was taken), head over to the blog that dropped this fry bomb - LAist where they have the photo evidence of deep fried pretty much everything you could imagine from frog legs, to twinkies to of course bricks of cheese fries.

Anyone care to take a guess at the calories?

My guess?

3,500 or so.

Do you think they serve a kids' size?

Are Pink Mohawks an Effective Form of Contraception?

This Sunday is the annual CIBC Run for the Cure.

Over the past 4 years our office has raised over $100,000 to support breast cancer research and programs and this year's no exception - with offline donations we're well over $25,000.

To help the cause Rob Matthews, our fitness director, challenged our team that if anyone raised over $2,500 he'd allow them to shave him a mohawk and dye it pink.

Today for Funny Friday is video evidence that he's a man of his word.

If you like this blog and you haven't done so already, please consider sponsoring Rob in his Run for the Cure effort - anyone willing to get a pink mohawk to support breast cancer research deserves support in my book. Tax receipts are issued and the online run website (run out of CIBC - a major Canadian bank) is encrypted, safe and takes credit cards.

If you'd like to donate to his fundraising efforts, simply click here!

Have a great weekend and good on ya Rob.

I Say Something Nice about KFC!

Perhaps in his old age the Colonel's getting soft, or maybe he's just seeing the writing on the wall?

Yesterday YUM Brands, KFC's parent company, announced that their restaurants (which also include Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W) will be voluntarily placing calorie counts on menus at ALL American locations!

This announcement came a day after the State of California passed legislation requiring all chain restaurants (more than 20 locations statewide) to do the same.

Great job Colonel, and frankly smart as given that eventually it's going to be a federal law so why not score some good press by doing it now voluntarily?

Hey Colonel, why not Canadian locations?

[Hat tip to BMI's Lorne]

Disband the Clean Your Plate Club!

What's one of the worst clubs your kid can join?

The clean your plate club - a club likely born out of war rationing back during WWII.

Here's a thought - if your kids aren't cleaning their plates perhaps you're serving them too much?

Or maybe it's that they've grown accustomed to trying to save their appetites for the tastier stuff offered to them after the meal.....but does dessert really need to be served nightly?

Are there risks to not forcing your child to clean your plate?

None that I can think of - emotionally well-adjusted children won't let themselves starve.

My recommendation?

Lose the club - you can spell "waste" two ways.

Your choice.

A Citizen's Petition to Ban Weight Loss Supplement Claims

You've all seen them. They line the shelves of even reputable pharmacies (guess the owners care more about dollars than providing quality care) - the umpteen miracle pills, potions and lotions that promise to cause your body to disobey the laws of thermodynamics and lose weight with no effort.

Unfortunately the FDA and its Canadian counterpart have done virtually nothing to reign in these ridiculous products.

Well at least in the States perhaps there's change in the air as the American Dietetic Association, the Obesity Society, Shaping America's Health and GlaxoSmithKline have all teamed up and submitted a, "Citizen's Petition" to the FDA to determine that dietary supplements claiming to in any way shape or form assist in weight loss, be subject to the same rules and regulations that govern disease claims on supplements.

The petition would therefore apply to the usual suspects, "fat-burning", "cellulite reduction", "increases metabolism", "reduces appetite", "increases satiety", and "blocks absorption" of dietary carbohydrate or fat.

It would require the nutraceutical companies, before being allowed to print their over-the-top ludicrous labels, to in fact provide scientific evidence as to the safety and efficacy of their products.

While I'm not holding my breath, I am willing to keep my fingers crossed (proverbially of course - after all I'm Jewish and it's almost Yom Kippur).

As the video below extols, "Don't Buy the Lie"

Consumers Sue Applebees, Chilis, Macaroni Grill and On the Border for Calorie Fraud

One of the main arguments that restaurant associations use with politicians when trying to dissuade them from supporting bills making menu posted calories mandatory is that it'll cost a fortune to police.

Well, at least in the States (where I'm told there are more lawyers than in the rest of the world combined), perhaps it'll be policed by the people.

Witness the new class action lawsuits being launched against Applebee's, Chili's, On the Border and Macaroni Grill for calorie and nutritional fraud.

The suits state,

"Defendant's actions and practices, including misrepresenting nutritional content of menu items, facilitating the menu inaccuracies, and/or allowing the food to be prepared in a manner which changes the nutritional content without adequate disclosure, is an unfair, unlawful and deceptive business practice in violation of the California Civil Legal Remedies Act, Civil Code section 1750, et seq.; the California Unfair Competition Law, Business and Professions Code section 17200 et seq.; the California False Advertising Law, Business and Professions Code section 17500, et seq.; and have resulted in the Defendant's unjust enrichment"

I've got to say, I think it's great that someone's standing up for themselves. Certainly the only folks who care about calorie counts are folks trying to lower them and if Big Food has been willful in their deception, they should not only be ashamed of themselves, they should pay.

I've also got to say that the description of the consequences of eating more calories than you'd planned as, "unjust enrichment", is an absolutely delightful use of the English language.

UPDATE: A kind lawyer who reads my blog has let me know that "unjust enrichment" actually refers to the unjust enrichment of the pockets of the restaurant due to the misleading representations of the food.

I like my interpretation better.

Darth Vader eats at the Death Star

Even galactic overlords get hungry.

Today for Funny Friday is British comedian Eddie Izzard's interpretation of Darth Vader hitting the death star cafeteria - re-enacted with Lego of course (warning, some strong language).



[Hat tip to my friend and colleague Arya of Edmonton's Weight Wise and the blog Obesity Notes]

A Million Dollar Idea?

I hope so.

And while it doesn't belong to me, certainly I've thought about doing just what Mark Bakker, an Edmonton electrician did - set up a healthy fast food restaurant.

Now I'm not just talking about serving healthy foods.

I'm also talking about providing point of purchase, smack on the menu calorie counts for all foods sold, and of course using foods that themselves have more evidence for health.

Mark's restaurant takes many fast food staples and improves upon the intrinsic quality of their ingredients while trimming away their calories.

While not every item's terrifically low in calories (and Mark, you really need to work on lower calorie kid options), none are left up to the imagination.

Take a gander at their menu by clicking here.

If you live in Edmonton, why not pop on by. It's called Healthfare and it's located at 10865 - 23 Avenue, and if you want to read more about it, click here (maybe he'll sell you a franchise).

Good luck Mark!

I Get Mail (but not answers) From Sobey's!

Last week I emailed Sobey's what I thought to be a lucid argument as to why their advertising campaign that suggests eating Compliments Balance products will lower calories, salt, cholesterol and fat is misleading.

So either I was wrong in thinking my arguments were lucid, or Sobey's is avoiding directly addressing my concerns.

To reiterate my concerns - I'm concerned because Sobey's is making claims they cannot support - claims that to me certainly add up to health fraud.

To her credit, Belinda Youngs, Chief Marketing Officer of Sobey's does report that she will ensure that their, "marketing executions" are revisited. I of course will periodically report on whether or not this revisitation has resulted in removal of the ads promising undeliverable health miracles.

(As an aside - what do you think would happen to all of these programs that are now officially married to the Food Guide if someone or someones other than me came out and bashed it?)

Here's Ms. Young's response,

"Dear Dr. Freedhoff,

Thank you for your feedback on our Compliments Balance products and our partnership with Health Check.

Canadian consumers have different dietary needs depending on the end-goal they want to achieve, such as disease prevention, weight control or overall healthier dietary lifestyle. On this principle, the Compliments Balance program was developed in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Health Check program to provide consumers with healthier options for managing their personal diets.

Such dietary needs as defined by dietitians and physicians may require a higher intake of key nutrients such as fibre, vitamins or minerals like vitamin C and calcium, or lower levels of less desirable nutrients such as fat, sugar or sodium. It is for this reason that we stand by our Compliments Balance statement of "Find your healthy balance".

All our Compliments Balance products meet the nutrient criteria of the Health Check program. We stand by Health Check as the only independent and transparent food information program in our country that is based on Canada's Food Guide.
.
Healthy choices are a very personal matter depending on the overall goal that our customers want to achieve. Delivering this message through clear communication is our main objective and we will revisit our marketing executions to ensure that this is the case.

We are strong supporters of the recommendations established in Canada's Food Guide and other similar guidelines developed by Canadian health agencies that have been used to develop our Compliments Balance program.

Sincerely,
Belinda Youngs
Chief Marketing Officer"

A personal "jihad" on food

One of my patients has declared that her fight with weight is her own personal "jihad" and has started her own blog to detail her experiences while striving to change her lifestyle.

Of course in this day and age the word "jihad" is loaded with religious connotation - a point not lost on her and she eloquently describes on her blog her choice of nomenclature,

"According to information retrieved from Wikipedia today, the word jihad means "strive" or "struggle". Anyone who has weight issues, especially weight issues that they have had from childhood, knows that a "struggle" is just what it is.

Additionally, one of the four categories of jihad in Muslim teaching is the Jihad al-Nafs, or the jihad against oneself. It is believed in some of the more moderate circles that the prophet Muhammed taught that this form of jihad is greater than actual warfare. While it refers to the inner struggle by believers to keep the Muslim faith, I think almost every human being, regardless of the belief system to which they ascribe, has a daily internal struggle of some kind - for me, it is my weight. I struggle with temptations to over indulge and frustration when I face obstacles or criticism. I strive to stay motivated. I strive to stick to my plans for exercise and portion control."

Her blog is one part food diary, one part real diary.

She's an excellent writer and has been doing a remarkable job in chronicling her journey into learning to live a thoughtfully reduced (rather than blindly restricted) lifestyle.

For those of you who are interested, you can follow along on her "jihad" by heading over to her blog Why Weight?

Thanks to HvnSntRN for allowing us a peek into her life.

Super Mario meets with Reality

Seth MacFarlane is best known for his work on the television show the Family Guy, but recently he's been working on a whole slew of net-based cartoon shorts for Burger King.

Now I don't really know what this cartoon has to do with Burger King, but I do know it's today's Funny Friday and it tells the true story of just what happened after Nintendo's Super Mario beat the big boss to rescue the princess.

Have a great weekend!

(Oh, and be sure to scroll down on the blog to see a new picture sent to me from the Dietitians of Canada conference of a huge tray of PC miracle health brownies!)



[Hat tip to BMI's fitness director Rob]

President's Choice Miracle Health Brownies!

President's Choice Blue Menu Two-Bite Brownies!

According to the back,

"Good For You never tasted so good!

45% less fat than farmer's market two-bite brownies

High in fibre

No Hydrogenated oil, like all PC Blue Menu products

2.5g of prebiotic soluble fibre from chicory root inulin per 38g serving"

But it was when I read the side that I really got the scoop,

"A healthy diet low in saturated and trans fats may reduce the risk of heart disease. PC Blue Menu Two-Bite Brownies are low in saturated and trans fats"

So I of course immediately ate the whole bag - I don't want heart disease!

[Hat tip to Erica for kindly buying these heart disease busting brownies for me and click any picture to see them for yourselves]

UPDATE:Those PC guys are no dummies - they're expert marketers!

So who are they marketing the miracle health brownies too?

Well according to dietitic student and blogger Vincci (check out her blog Ceci n'est pas un food blog (Not a Food Blog)" there was a huge tray of them at the most recent Dietitians of Canada conference alerting everyone that these miracles have a GI index of just 39!

Thankfully we have Vincci out in McGill teaching her classmates how to think critically about the foods they're being asked to market.

Are you a Bad Parent?

"Their day. Made by Mom.

My kids are always on the go. That's why at breakfast it's important to give them food that helps keep them going throughout their busy day - like Nutella. Kids love the delicious taste of Nutella. And I love that it's made from natural ingredients, contains no preservatives or artificial colour and is a source of Vitamin E. I feel good about making Nutella part of my kids' nutritious breakfast."

I don't think you're a bad parent if you feed your kids Nutella - for many kids it's a sometimes food treat that they genuinely enjoy (go figure, it's spreadable candy).

I would however worry if you let yourself get duped by Nutella's advertising into thinking it's part of a "nutritious" breakfast, and that because it doesn't have preservatives or artificial colour and is a source of vitamin E it's a smart choice.

You might as well just spoon 100% natural, no preservatives added honey into your kids' mouths and call it "nutritious".

Of course, if you do choose to go the honey route, remember to spoon in 36% more honey than Nutella, because Nutella's got 36% more calories spoon per spoon than the honey.

Don't want to spoon in honey? How about 100% natural, no preservatives added pure white table sugar? Of course if you go the sugar route for every tablespoon of Nutella you'd planned on feeding the kids you'll have to give them 2 tablespoons of sugar to make sure they get the same amount of "nutritious energy" that the Nutella would have provided.

Trees - Nutritional Miracles!

Yup, it grows on trees so of course have "as much as you want".

You know trees were put on the planet by God to serve us and provide us with incontestably wonderful nutrition.

Nothing bad could ever come from a tree, right?

The BBC must have got it wrong when they suggested that eating the manchineel tree's fruit can be deadly, or that standing under the tree when it rains is a bad plan because if water drops off the tree onto your skin it'll cause blisters and burns, or that if you decide to cut down the tree and burn it the smoke that gets into your eyes can lead to blindness.

Who cares that the Sun Rype Rio Red Grapefruit Juice drop per drop has 15% more calories and 10% more sugar than Coca Cola? Certainly not the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Health Check program that happily sold them their logo! I guess it's because they're "natural" calories and "natural" sugars, that they magically won't contribute to obesity and consequently heart disease - right?

I'd also ignore the warnings of the American Academy of Pediatrics and nutrition professionals the world over that recommend strict limitations be put on juice drinking - because trees of course are smarter than them.

All hail the miraculous power of trees to bring only goodness and light to the world.

Oy vey.

I Send Mail

This week's going to be misleading ad week.

To kick it off I'm bringing you a new advertising campaign from Canadian supermarket chain Sobey's. Whether it was intentional or not I don't know (it may simply reflect ignorance), but at least superficially it appears as if they're trying to leverage consumer trust in Health Check, combined with unsubstantiated health claims, into sales (click the picture above to see the campaign).

I found the campaign to be so misleading that I've written a letter that I've sent this morning to Ms. Belinda Young, Sobey's Executive Vice President of corporate brands. I also copied the letter to the Canadian Competition Bureau.

Here's the letter:

Dear Ms. Young,

My name is Yoni Freedhoff and I’m a physician in Ottawa whose practice focuses exclusively on nutrition and weight management.

While shopping at one of my local Sobey’s the other day I was appalled to see what I felt was an incredibly misleading marketing of your partnership with Health Check (photo attached).

There were 3 separate advertisements (posters) that shared the same copy which reads,

“Find your healthy balance. Looking to lower your cholesterol (check) reduce fat (check) cut back on calories or sodium (check)? Every compliments balance product meets the criteria of the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Health Check program.”

Putting aside my well-known condemnation of what I feel to be the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s grossly underpowered, nutritionally short-sighted, misleading front-of-package Health Check program, they themselves state that, “Health Check is not a weight loss or calorie restriction program”. The program does not in fact possess any criterion that limits calories in Health Check items. Regarding calories and your Compliments Balance products, I’m sure your customers would be surprised to learn that despite Health Check having no formal criteria for calories, Sobey’s is comfortable suggesting these products will help, “cut back on calories”. They would surely be surprised to learn that items such as your Compliments Balance Original Granola cereal in fact contain bowl for bowl almost double the calories of most breakfast cereals including such sugary nutritional voids as Cocoa Puffs, Cap’n Crunch and Frosted Flakes.

As far as sodium levels go, the Heart and Stroke Foundation along with:

• The Canadian Medical Association
• The College of Family Physicians of Canada
• The Canadian Hypertension Society
• The Canadian Stroke Network
• The Canadian Diabetes Association
• The Canadian Pharmacist Association
• The Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses
• The Canadian Public Health Association
• The Canadian Heart Failure Network
• The Canadian Cardiovascular Society
• The Canadian Society of Internal Medicine
• The Canadian Nurses Association
• The Canadian Association of Cardiac Rehabilitation
• Dietitians of Canada; and
• Blood Pressure Canada

have all signed off on Canada’s National Sodium Policy Statement that recommends Canadians target 1500mg as their daily sodium maximum. Yet for reasons inexplicable to most health care professionals Health Check has not adopted those more stringent recommendations. What this means of course is that Health Check options such as your Compliments Balance Penne Bolognese with 900mg of sodium in fact contain more than 60% of the total daily recommended value endorsed by virtually every credible medical organization in Canada – an amount far higher than someone trying to “cut back on their sodium” should consume in one serving.

Regarding cholesterol – I fail to see how eating Health Check products or Compliments Balance products will lower one’s cholesterol. Health Check’s meagre nutritional criteria do not directly address cholesterol. There are no requirements that items awarded Health Checks are lower in contained cholesterol, nor are there requirements that Health Check items include ingredients that have in fact been shown to lower cholesterol. Certainly there are no published studies that would suggest that eating Health Check items or Compliments Balance items such as Compliments Balance Fudge Brownie Frozen Yogurt or Compliments Balance Lean Italian Meatballs will help “lower your cholesterol”.

Diet and weight related diseases in Canada have been estimated to kill 25,000 Canadians a year and obesity and nutrition are certainly among the most reported non-political topics in our media today. Consequently, improving weight and eating healthier are desires shared by many Canadians. Given the pace of our modern lifestyles and the average individual’s confusion surrounding nutrition, it’s quite disheartening to see claims in your advertisements that simply aren’t true – claims that could lead individuals with heart disease to consume far more sodium than their conditions would allow potentially endangering their health; claims that may lead people to believe that so long as they choose Compliments Balance products they’ll lower their cholesterol; and claims that suggest by choosing Compliments Balance products people will lose weight or maintain a healthy weight..

My blog, Weighty Matters, is read coast-to-coast and has had over 80,000 visitors this year. It is read by a large number of Canadian dietitians, physicians and other allied health professionals directly involved in the provision of one-on-one nutritional counseling as well as public health professionals involved in Canadian nutrition policy that I am sure will be curious as to your explanation for these misleading advertisements. Our alarm is that these advertisements clearly misinform your more vulnerable and impressionable customers – those concerned about their weights and their health.

I will be posting this letter on my blog and as well as sending a copy to the competition bureau. In the spirit of open communication and fairness, I will also post your reply on Weighty Matters.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff, MD CCFP Dip ABBM
Medical Director, Bariatric Medical Institute

[Hat tip to my wonderful wife who noticed the posters by the refund desk]

The Most Frighteningly Intense Child in America?

Mea culpa to start - I stole the headline from Best Week Ever.

My other option was also on Best Week Ever and that was,

"AAAAAAaaaahhhhhhhhHHH, I'M TYLER WEAVER!!!!"

Without the headline, I'm not sure this clip would have made Funny Friday.

With the headline though, it sure made me laugh.

Tyler, if you're reading this, we're laughing with you - somehow I can envisage this clip playing at your wedding.

Please don't hurt me.

Have a great weekend!

Grading the Media on Health Reporting

Not sure how I found my way onto it, but stumbled upon a great website called, "Health News Reviews" that gives grades to the media in their reporting of health stories.

Yesterday they tackled the alarmist Associated Press piece on obesity leading to adolescent liver transplants for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

They graded the piece a 4/10 with points lost on:

Engaging in disease fear mongering

Not discussing the costs of liver transplants or routine liver testing in adolescents

Not discussing the potential harms of liver transplantation

Not quantifying the benefits of non-surgical management

Not comparing surgical approaches to non-surgical approaches

Not evaluating the quality of the evidence reported on in the story

Given that the mass media's job is to sell media and not to necessarily report accurately, fairly or responsibly, it's great to see a site help navigate the good stories from the bad.

Exercise is still not the answer

The media's a-buzz with reports out of Amish country that our "fat genes" can be beaten but that it's gonna take 3-4 hours of activity a day to beat them!

They're reporting on a study that 705 Amish who were then investigated for the possession of a gene known to be involved in obesity.

The study found that of those folks possessing two copies of the FTO gene, if they were active for 3-4 hours a day they were a whole 15lbs lighter than the least active folks.

Basically this study confirms what I've been saying over and over again - the amount of exercise necessary to dramatically affect weight is in an of itself exceedingly dramatic.

Good news?

Not really, not even for the Amish, as here we have a study that says even if you exercise 3-4 hours a day more than your sedentary buddy that's only going to make you 15lbs lighter than they are once the barns are built.

My advice?

As always, as far as energy balance goes I'd stack my chips on energy-in.

(That said, given the incredible splash in the press I wonder who's going to be the first to open a residential, "Live like the Amish" weight loss program?)

The iPhone Treadmill?

In the stupider than you could imagine category, today I'm bringing you the, "Fingermill".

It's an iPhone application that,

"turns your device into a treadmill for your fingers"

According to the product page,

"Fingermill is a fun game that will keep you amused and your fingers in good shape"

Want yours?

$0.99 on iTunes.

[Hat tip to loyal blog reader Rob (not fitness director Rob)]

28% of Doctors give Nutritional Advice?!

At least in California.

A survey of 46,000 residents revealed that 34% of residents said their doctors discussed exercise with them and 28% said their doctors discussed nutrition.

Not surprisingly, the media is painting this as a shockingly low number. I think it sounds shockingly high.

I think it's high because frankly most doctors simply aren't taught about nutrition and exercise.

I wonder if comments along the lines of,

"you should try to eat healthier"

"you should try to find more time to be active"

"you should try to eat less"

count?

They shouldn't you know.

Telling someone who's asking for advice on weight loss or healthy living that they should, "eat less and exercise more" is just about as useful as telling someone who's clinically depressed that they should simply, "buck up".

If we want to have doctors really be able to pull their weight in obesity prevention and healthy living promotion we're going to have to go back to the drawing boards in medical schools and residency programs and really teach doctors concrete useful tips that they can give their patients.

Until then I'm afraid, with rare exceptions, we're going to be stuck with most doctors giving vague to the point of useless nutritional and lifestyle advice.

Has your doctor ever given you any concrete, useful recommendations on diet or exercise?

Priorities

For today's Funny Friday I've got a great ad.

It's a great example of how no matter what the consequences, once you set your priorities, it sometimes takes real strength not to let circumstances lead you astray.

Lunch - Back to School Edition

I hope you don't live in Harrisonburg VA because if you do your poor children might find something looking a lot like that picture above on their plate this week for lunch.

Apparently the Harrisonburg VA school system decided it'd be a great idea to post pictures of their school lunches on their website.

I guess they didn't anticipate what would happen once the blogosphere grabbed hold of them.

Here are some of the descriptive commentaries found online on non-Harrisburg VA school system websites to accompany the photos,

"This might explain the increase in heart attacks among Harrisonburg sixth graders."

"It’s no coincidence that the abbreviation for this dish is “BM.”"

"If you cut white bread up into rectangles and give it a European name, it’s still slices of white bread."

"As you can see, the corn dog is such a complete nutritional package that it needs no sides."

"This sandwich used to be called the “Ebola Chicken Sandwich."

Do you know what your kids are being served?

If there are some intrepid kids or parents out there who come across any particularly egregious examples of non-nutritious fare at their schools, feel free to take some sleuthy photos and send them my way.

[Hat tip to Brad via HolyTaco (where you can see all the pics in all of their unholy glory]

Quobesity - Back to School Edition

Given that I've had a huge influx of readers since I originally coined the term "quobesity", I'll define it for you again:

Quobesities are quotes that in one way or another embody what's wrong and hopefully, occasionally, what's right with relation to our attitudes and knowledge about weight and weight related matters

Today's a what's wrong post.

So who's suggesting that childhood obesity is preventable by encouraging kids to play marbles and hide and seek?

It's the Local Government Association (LGA) of England of which represents more than 400 councils in England and Wales.

They went so far as to issue a top ten list of games for kids to play this coming school year. They called it the,

"Top Ten playground games to (hop)scotch obesity levels"

Want to know what made the top ten?

* British Bulldog
* Tag
* Stuck in the Mud
* Oranges and Lemons
* What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?
* Hopscotch
* Skipping
* French elastic
* Marbles
* Hide and Seek

I'll reiterate for newer readers. I'm all for exercise. It's perhaps one of the single most important determinants of health and we should be doing all we can to promote more of it. The issue I've got is suggesting that exercise is going to have an impact on childhood obesity rates.

Case in point?

A press release that suggests that a spirited, rip-roaring game of marbles is going to help stem the tide of childhood obesity.

Good grief.

Frankenfood - Back to School Edition

Cause nothing says "nutritious" like Fruit Loops and Corn Pops!

You know I do realize that scarfing down sugary cereals is a rite of childhood, but come on now,

"And you can feel good about giving them a nutritious snack"

Perhaps when compared with a bag of pure white table sugar.

Speaking of a comparison with pure white table sugar....44% of the calories of each "loop" comes from pure white table sugar.

What could be more nutritious than sugar?

[Hat tip to my friend Julie from Dinner with Julie]

Meatatarianism?

One thing Big Food's great for are great ads.

Designed to help roll out their Meatatarianism concept, the new viral video from Wendy's is no exception and it's today's Funny Friday.

Have a great weekend!

Family Doctor Wait Times?!

For those of us who live in Canada we're used to the concept of physician wait times. 6 months to see a specialist is far from uncommon but wait times to see your own family doctor?

I saw a patient yesterday who kindly gave me permission to anonymously discuss her story.

Over the weekend she developed acute pancreatitis. She's not a drinker (most common cause) and really the docs in the ER were stumped as to what was going on and concerned about whether or not things were going to get worse.

In terms of my patient, she was in a great deal of pain but not so much that she would require admission to hospital and therefore she was instructed to follow up with her family doctor within 2 days for further blood tests and to see how she was doing.

My patient, a health professional herself, called her doctor's office to make an appointment and explained the situation.

She was told that the earliest available appointment was 3 weeks away.

I don't understand that.

When I was training to be a family physician I was taught always to leave some emergency slots in my schedule to accommodate the unexpected. When I was a practicing family physician I had those slots and frankly even if they were full if there was a true emergency, I'd see the patient regardless. Even now in my specialized practice if a patient calls for a non-weight related emergency I'm happy to find time for them.

Why?

Not because I'm an exceptional doctor or human being, but rather simply because that's what doctors are supposed to do.

Shockingly the story I've recounted above is far from an isolated one.

What's happening to health care in Canada? Have you had similar experiences?

Tell Time with Chocolate

Seen by me first on Gizmodo I bring you the "Chococlock".

Who doesn't need a clock that every hour on the hour spits out a ball of chocolate to the tune of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy?

If that's not enough you can hit bypass and it'll spit them out every second.



From the product page,

"Despite its silly premise, this kooky clock can actually assist in the workplace (stick with us here). Simply use your hourly chocolate treat as an incentive and that annual report will be finished in no time. "

Ingenious?

Want one?

$37 by clicking here.

Calorie Counting's For the Dogs

Literally.

In one heck of a sign of the times I bring you Pup-peroni's new 50 Calorie snack pouch for pooches.

You see it's not just people who are gaining weight.

According to the organization Stop Canine Obesity,

"The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) has estimated that there are 41.2 million pet dogs in the United States. Other sources estimate 40 percent of those dogs, approximately 17 million, are overweight or obese."

I find this canine obesity epidemic fascinating.

Should we blame lack of gym class? Fast-food? Less walkable neighbourhoods? Maternal imprinting? Air conditioners? Big food advertisements? Celebrity product endorsements? Not fidgeting enough? TVs in their rooms? XBOXs? The internet? Their transition from a manual labour workforce to holding desk jobs? Over-protective parents? Human adenoviruses? High-fructose corn syrup? Artificial sweeteners? MSG? Social networks? Early weaning? Pesticides and industrial chemicals? Sleep deprivation?

Or could it simply be that we're feeding them too much food?

[FYI: One of my favourite authors on the subject of food, politics and nutrition, Marion Nestle, has just released her latest work Pet Food Politics. Not having read it, I can't formally review it, but I can tell you that my copy is en route from Amazon.]

Did Michael Phelps Sell Out?

There's been a lot of uproar in obesity circles over Michael Phelps' endorsement deals with Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and McDonald's. Some folks have even forwarded me the articles figuring I'll take out my mallet and hammer Micheal good.

Well folks, sorry to disappoint.

While I certainly don't think that Mr. Phelps' choice of partners belies a healthy lifestyle, where in the Olympic rulebook does it say he's only allowed to endorse healthy products?

Sure, in an ideal world Mr. Phelps might have turned down those endorsements but in place of what? Does someone have millions of dollars to throw at him to endorse broccoli?

Mr. Phelps isn't a doctor, a dietitian or public health advocate. He's a swimmer. If you really want to pick on someone for their inappropriate McDonald's endorsement try dietitian Dr. Rovenia Brock (aka Dr. Ro) or physician Dr. Dean Ornish.

Stephanie, one of my office's front-desk administrators had this to say,

"Although he has the opportunity, he isn't required to set a wonderful example. Working hard and winning a bunch of gold medals in sports... I guess that just isn't a good enough example.

Putting his face on something kids are already eating and possibly inspiring them to try swimming or sports in general, now that's awful!"

I couldn't have written it better myself.

Demitri Martin's Flip Chart Comedy

Folks who watch the Daily Show will immediately recognize the name Demetri Martin.

Those who don't, prepare to meet him.

He's a young comedian with a very unique approach to humour and so today for Funny Friday I bring you Mr. Martin and his flip chart.

Have a great weekend!

Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide at McDonald's!

Ever wonder how many, "Canada's Food Guide" servings you'll get from a Happy Meal?

Well wonder no more!

On McDonald's website is a handy dandy page called Canada's Food Guide Facts.

It'll help teach you how the juice you order for breakfast at McDonald's is really 2.5 servings of fruit; how their refined white flour, processed cheese, red meat based cheeseburger counts as 2 servings of grain, 1/4 serving of milk and 1/2 a serving of meat; and how consuming Newman's own caesar salad dressing (with 480mg of sodium per tablespoon) helps you to get the recommended daily servings of unsaturated fats.

Of course it'll also help teach you just how nutritionally weak our Food Guide is given how easily McDonald's can describe how well their food fits into it.

Certainly were there in fact stringent and evidence-based guidelines backing up the Food Guide, there'd be explicit limitations on such things as juice consumption, refined grains, red and processed meats and high calorie, high sodium salad dressings and likely no McDonald's hearts Canada's Food Guide webpage.