Should 8 year olds be taking cholesterol lowering drugs?? The
American
Academy of Pediatrics made just this very recommendation yesterday. To say the least it has stirred up a hornet's nest of controversy. In
addition, the academy recommended that children who have a family
history of heart disease should be screened as early as the age of 2. Yes you read that right the age of two... and no later than the age of 10.
Obviously
the readers of this newsletter know that I do not take care of children
so I cannot say if these recommendations are reasonable or not. If you have young children I thought you should be aware and ask your pediatrician about it.
My
point in bringing it up is what it says about where our society is
going, and how when recommendations such as this are made, there is
almost know mention of the real underlying
cause... childhood obesity! Why is it even necessary to think of giving
cholesterol lowering drugs to children as young as 8, because of
obesity and diabetes ("diabesity") which is spreading rapidly among our
nations children. Childhood obesity in our
country is rampant, last month "Time" Magazine had a cover article
about the issue of childhood obesity.
The real problem with childhood obesity is that it isn't "baby fat" that the child will outgrow. The statistics show that a child who is obese when they graduate high school has an over eighty percent
chance of being obese throughout their adult life, a virtual certain,
and sad life sentence of obesity and all the problems that go along
with it. I would say that if you or someone you
know is in this situation... don't miss the window of opportunity, lose
the weight before you develop all the problems of long term obesity.
Walk This Way
The following walking tips are from the May 2008 "University of
California, Wellness Letter". I repeat them here as I think they are quite useful.
1) Walk briskly at least half an hour per day
2) Walk as much as possible. Skip elevators and escalators and take stairs
3) Use a pedometer (measures how many steps you take). Aim for 3000 steps per day and try to work up to 5000
4) Swing your arms. This can burn an extra 5-10% more calories.
5) Speed up for a minute two every five minutes (interval training)
6) Choose varied terrains. Walking on grass and gravel helps burn more calories.
7) Choose the right shoes. Avoid stiff soled shoes that don't bend, particularly if you are diabetic. "Walking Shoes" have flexible soles and fixed backs to prevent motion side to side motion, and are generally better.
Support Group:
I mentioned in the last newsletter that in July we are combining all of the support groups into one meeting on July 16th (next Wednesday). Our guest speaker will be Dr. Sanjay Lalla a plastic surgeon. There
is usually a great deal of interest in seeing and hearing our plastic
surgeons so I wanted to give everyone enough notice to arrange to be
there. It will be Wednesday July 16th starting
6 pm. It will be held at the Ambulatory Care Center (ACC), the address is
200 South Orange Ave,
Livingston,
NJ, the building is across the street from the Livingston Mall.
End quote: (this week two for the price of one)
"Ninety Percent of baseball is half mental"
"When you come to a fork in the road... take it"
--Yogi Berra
Thanks for reading and trusting me with your healthcare
Michael Bilof
drbilof@gsbwc.com
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