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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Snakebite victims absent in health system as most consult traditional healers
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Public release date: 5-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Preeti Singh
301-280-5722
psingh@burnesscommunications.com
ASTMH
Global problem of fatal snakebites and promising solutions such as motorcycle ambulances, rapid diagnostic tests and new antivenoms highlighted at ASTMH meeting
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Fatal snakebites are a bigger-than-acknowledged global health problem that has been vastly under-reported, according to research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) annual meeting.
A key reason for the low count is that many snakebite victims are treated or die without seeking or reaching health facilities. A Bangladeshi study, for example, found that only 3 percent of those treated went directly to a physician or hospital. Rather, 86 percent saw a "snake charmer." Snakebite victims often do not go to hospitals because they have to travel too far, antivenom is scarce in many regions, or the treatment can be too expensive.
"People are dying in their villages without 'bothering' the health system," said Ulrich Kuch, head of the Emerging and Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit at the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt, Germany. "They simply don't show up in the statistics."
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 5 million people suffer from snakebites each year, resulting in 300,000 cases of permanent disability and about 100,000 deaths. But two recent studies reveal that the magnitude of the problem is far greater than official statistics show. One survey, published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2011, found that 46,000 people die every year in India from snakebites, compared to the official figure of 2,000. A second survey found 700,000 snakebites and 6,000 deaths annually in Bangladesh alone, far higher than previous estimates.
"In the 21st century, snakebite is the most neglected of all the neglected tropical diseases," said David Warrell, emeritus professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and one of the study's authors. "The deaths and suffering from venomous snakebites remain largely invisible to the global health community."
While just a handful of people in the United States die each year from snakebites, venomous snakebites greatly afflict the most impoverished people in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries. As many people die from snakebites as from several recognized neglected tropical diseases, and, similarly, snakebites also lack the support of major foundations, development agencies and global leaders, according to Warrell. If the bitten survive, they often are permanently disabled by the effect of the toxins in the venom.
"Neglected tropical diseases too often hold people and their families and communities hostage to poverty," said Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, president of ASTMH and a noted tropical disease expert. "Investing in research for answers that will bring an end to needless suffering, through adequate cures and life-saving health programs, is a smart investment for funders, both private and public."
Volunteer Motorcycle Ambulances, Rapid Diagnostic Tests, New Antivenoms
In the absence of significant global initiatives, scientists, research institutions and community-based organizations are taking it upon themselves to develop solutions in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the world's most-affected regions. These latest developments were presented at the symposium.
One successful program uses volunteer motorcycle drivers to rush victims in southeastern Nepal to a community-based snakebite treatment center. Data presented at the conference showed that the program substantially reduced the snakebite death-ratefrom 10.5 percent to 0.5 percent, compared to no decrease in other villages surveyed. "It actually seemed too good to be true," said Franois Chappuis, Associate Professor in the Division of International and Humanitarian Medicine at Geneva University Hospitals.
The program began in 2003 after a study found that 80 percent of deaths due to snakebites in villages surveyed occurred outside a medical center and that half of those victims died on the way to the health facility. So researchers established a program where volunteer motorbike owners race snakebite victims 24-hours-a-day to the Damak Red Cross Health Center for fast medical care. They also launched an educational campaign where Nepalese residents met with villagers and community health workers and distributed leaflets in the most affected villages. "The message was extremely straightforward: you get bitten, you call a motorcycle volunteer and you go as fast as possible to the medical center," Chappuis said. The program was expanded to 40 villages and in 2011 began in south central Nepal with hopes of it being replicated in India.
Scientists also presented promising data on rapid diagnostic tests being developed to allow physicians to make fast decisions on whether to give antivenom and which type to use. Currently, standard practice is to wait until symptoms of envenomation appear before giving antivenom because it can have serious side effects and supply is scarce. This is reasonable in many cases. However, the venom of certain species irreversibly destroys parts of the nervous system before envenomation becomes clinically apparent, making the resulting life-threatening paralysis resistant to antivenom treatment. With a 20-minute strip test that shows if venom was injected and by which species, doctors can give antivenom immediately after such bites, before patients become severely ill or die. The tests are easy to use in rural, poor settings.
The tests discussed at the forum would detect bites from two deadly snakesthe Russell's viper and the krait. The krait test is in preliminary stages for potential use in South Asia. The Russell's viper test successfully completed preclinical testing with a clinical trial expected in 2012. It has been designed for Burma with plans to adapt it for wider use throughout South and Southeast Asia.
In addition, researchers discussed their progress on the development of cheaper, effective antivenoms, which are scarce or nonexistent in some parts of the world, or are too expensive.
The nonprofit Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP) of the University of Costa Rica has teamed up with governments, manufacturers and world-renowned universities and research institutionsincluding Oxford, the University of Melbourne, Instituto de Biomedicina of Valencia, Spain, and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicineto develop new antivenoms for sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
One is for the taipan of Papua New Guinea, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Though a good Australian antivenom exists, it is scarce in Papua New Guinea because of its very high price. The new antivenom for Papua New Guinea, at a fraction of the cost, successfully completed laboratory and animal testing, with the results published in 2011 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. A clinical trial will start this year.
This comes on the heels of two new effective antivenoms panelists worked on that are starting to be distributed in Nigeriaone for the saw-scaled viper and a "polyspecific" antivenom that works for three snakes. One is being manufactured in the UK and the other at ICP in Costa Rica, which would also produce the antivenom for Papua New Guinea.
But a new project presented at the ASTMH forum takes a different approach. The ICP will help formulate a polyspecific antivenom for five snakes in Sri Lanka and then transfer the technology to Sri Lanka for local production. The ICP is collaborating with the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and a US-based non-profit, Animal Venom Research International, said Jos Mara Gutirrez, PhD, head of the Research Division of ICP and Professor at the University of Costa Rica.
"These new antivenoms show how international partnerships between organizations that have different strengths can work together and solve problems in diverse parts of the world," he said.
The December 5th symposium, Snakebite Envenomation: From Global Awareness to Best Practice Implementation, will feature leading snakebite authorities from Bangladesh, Germany, the UK, Nepal, Nigeria and Costa Rica.
On December 6th, Warrell will present findings on new medical symptoms documented in people bitten by certain snake species in his talk, Newly Recognized Clinical Syndromes of Snakebite Envenoming.
###
About ASTMH
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, founded in 1903, is a worldwide organization of scientists, clinicians and program professionals whose mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 5-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Preeti Singh
301-280-5722
psingh@burnesscommunications.com
ASTMH
Global problem of fatal snakebites and promising solutions such as motorcycle ambulances, rapid diagnostic tests and new antivenoms highlighted at ASTMH meeting
Philadelphia, Pa. -- Fatal snakebites are a bigger-than-acknowledged global health problem that has been vastly under-reported, according to research presented today at the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene's (ASTMH) annual meeting.
A key reason for the low count is that many snakebite victims are treated or die without seeking or reaching health facilities. A Bangladeshi study, for example, found that only 3 percent of those treated went directly to a physician or hospital. Rather, 86 percent saw a "snake charmer." Snakebite victims often do not go to hospitals because they have to travel too far, antivenom is scarce in many regions, or the treatment can be too expensive.
"People are dying in their villages without 'bothering' the health system," said Ulrich Kuch, head of the Emerging and Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit at the Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre in Frankfurt, Germany. "They simply don't show up in the statistics."
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 5 million people suffer from snakebites each year, resulting in 300,000 cases of permanent disability and about 100,000 deaths. But two recent studies reveal that the magnitude of the problem is far greater than official statistics show. One survey, published in the journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases in 2011, found that 46,000 people die every year in India from snakebites, compared to the official figure of 2,000. A second survey found 700,000 snakebites and 6,000 deaths annually in Bangladesh alone, far higher than previous estimates.
"In the 21st century, snakebite is the most neglected of all the neglected tropical diseases," said David Warrell, emeritus professor of Tropical Medicine at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and one of the study's authors. "The deaths and suffering from venomous snakebites remain largely invisible to the global health community."
While just a handful of people in the United States die each year from snakebites, venomous snakebites greatly afflict the most impoverished people in rural areas in low- and middle-income countries. As many people die from snakebites as from several recognized neglected tropical diseases, and, similarly, snakebites also lack the support of major foundations, development agencies and global leaders, according to Warrell. If the bitten survive, they often are permanently disabled by the effect of the toxins in the venom.
"Neglected tropical diseases too often hold people and their families and communities hostage to poverty," said Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, president of ASTMH and a noted tropical disease expert. "Investing in research for answers that will bring an end to needless suffering, through adequate cures and life-saving health programs, is a smart investment for funders, both private and public."
Volunteer Motorcycle Ambulances, Rapid Diagnostic Tests, New Antivenoms
In the absence of significant global initiatives, scientists, research institutions and community-based organizations are taking it upon themselves to develop solutions in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the world's most-affected regions. These latest developments were presented at the symposium.
One successful program uses volunteer motorcycle drivers to rush victims in southeastern Nepal to a community-based snakebite treatment center. Data presented at the conference showed that the program substantially reduced the snakebite death-ratefrom 10.5 percent to 0.5 percent, compared to no decrease in other villages surveyed. "It actually seemed too good to be true," said Franois Chappuis, Associate Professor in the Division of International and Humanitarian Medicine at Geneva University Hospitals.
The program began in 2003 after a study found that 80 percent of deaths due to snakebites in villages surveyed occurred outside a medical center and that half of those victims died on the way to the health facility. So researchers established a program where volunteer motorbike owners race snakebite victims 24-hours-a-day to the Damak Red Cross Health Center for fast medical care. They also launched an educational campaign where Nepalese residents met with villagers and community health workers and distributed leaflets in the most affected villages. "The message was extremely straightforward: you get bitten, you call a motorcycle volunteer and you go as fast as possible to the medical center," Chappuis said. The program was expanded to 40 villages and in 2011 began in south central Nepal with hopes of it being replicated in India.
Scientists also presented promising data on rapid diagnostic tests being developed to allow physicians to make fast decisions on whether to give antivenom and which type to use. Currently, standard practice is to wait until symptoms of envenomation appear before giving antivenom because it can have serious side effects and supply is scarce. This is reasonable in many cases. However, the venom of certain species irreversibly destroys parts of the nervous system before envenomation becomes clinically apparent, making the resulting life-threatening paralysis resistant to antivenom treatment. With a 20-minute strip test that shows if venom was injected and by which species, doctors can give antivenom immediately after such bites, before patients become severely ill or die. The tests are easy to use in rural, poor settings.
The tests discussed at the forum would detect bites from two deadly snakesthe Russell's viper and the krait. The krait test is in preliminary stages for potential use in South Asia. The Russell's viper test successfully completed preclinical testing with a clinical trial expected in 2012. It has been designed for Burma with plans to adapt it for wider use throughout South and Southeast Asia.
In addition, researchers discussed their progress on the development of cheaper, effective antivenoms, which are scarce or nonexistent in some parts of the world, or are too expensive.
The nonprofit Instituto Clodomiro Picado (ICP) of the University of Costa Rica has teamed up with governments, manufacturers and world-renowned universities and research institutionsincluding Oxford, the University of Melbourne, Instituto de Biomedicina of Valencia, Spain, and Liverpool School of Tropical Medicineto develop new antivenoms for sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
One is for the taipan of Papua New Guinea, one of the most venomous snakes in the world. Though a good Australian antivenom exists, it is scarce in Papua New Guinea because of its very high price. The new antivenom for Papua New Guinea, at a fraction of the cost, successfully completed laboratory and animal testing, with the results published in 2011 in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. A clinical trial will start this year.
This comes on the heels of two new effective antivenoms panelists worked on that are starting to be distributed in Nigeriaone for the saw-scaled viper and a "polyspecific" antivenom that works for three snakes. One is being manufactured in the UK and the other at ICP in Costa Rica, which would also produce the antivenom for Papua New Guinea.
But a new project presented at the ASTMH forum takes a different approach. The ICP will help formulate a polyspecific antivenom for five snakes in Sri Lanka and then transfer the technology to Sri Lanka for local production. The ICP is collaborating with the University of Peradeniya in Sri Lanka and a US-based non-profit, Animal Venom Research International, said Jos Mara Gutirrez, PhD, head of the Research Division of ICP and Professor at the University of Costa Rica.
"These new antivenoms show how international partnerships between organizations that have different strengths can work together and solve problems in diverse parts of the world," he said.
The December 5th symposium, Snakebite Envenomation: From Global Awareness to Best Practice Implementation, will feature leading snakebite authorities from Bangladesh, Germany, the UK, Nepal, Nigeria and Costa Rica.
On December 6th, Warrell will present findings on new medical symptoms documented in people bitten by certain snake species in his talk, Newly Recognized Clinical Syndromes of Snakebite Envenoming.
###
About ASTMH
American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, founded in 1903, is a worldwide organization of scientists, clinicians and program professionals whose mission is to promote global health through the prevention and control of infectious and other diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/bc-sva120111.php
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Video: Get hired for the holidays
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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45534402#45534402
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Sunday, December 4, 2011
In or out? Cain to say whether he'll stay in race (AP)
ATLANTA ? Does he stay or does he go?
Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain is keeping supporters in suspense ahead of his expected announcement Saturday about whether he will quit the race in after a string of sexual harassment allegations and a claim of an extramarital affair.
The Georgia businessman planned to announce his decision at what was supposed to be a festive opening of a new headquarters in Atlanta. The space was rented when Cain sat surprisingly atop the GOP pack.
With the candidate's poll numbers plummeting and fundraising stalled, some campaign aides said privately they expected him to drop out. But Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon said late Friday that no decision had been made.
A meeting with top staff members was expected early Saturday.
Cain returned to his suburban Atlanta home Friday and met with his wife, Gloria. It was the first time they have seen each other face to face since 46-year-old Ginger White came forward on Monday, and said she and Herman Cain had carried on a 13-year relationship.
Cain has denied having an affair with White. He said the concern over the toll the allegations were having on his family as well as a candid assessment of whether his campaign could still attract the needed support would inform his decision on whether to press ahead.
Campaign volunteers were keeping busy Friday night, tacking up signs at his headquarters. A contingent of Secret Service agents inspected the site in advance of Cain's arrival.
"We are moving ahead," said Cain's Georgia director David McCleary, who said he had talked to the candidate earlier in the day and describe him as "upbeat."
Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza chief executive who has never held elected office, rose to become an unexpected front-runner in the volatile Republican race just weeks ago. A self-styled outsider, Cain enjoyed strong tea party support from conservatives who viewed him as an alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
But once in the national spotlight, Cain fumbled policy questions, leaving some to wonder whether he was ready for the presidency. Then it was revealed at the end of October that the National Restaurant Association had paid settlements to two women who claimed Cain sexually harassed them while he was president of the organization.
A third woman told The Associated Press that Cain made inappropriate sexual advances but that she didn't file a complaint. A fourth woman also stepped forward to accuse Cain of groping her in a car in 1997.
Cain has denied wrongdoing in all cases.
Polls suggest his popularity has suffered. A Des Moines Register poll released Friday showed Cain's support plunging, with backing from 8 percent of Republican caucus-goers in Iowa, compared with 23 percent a month ago.
Fundraising has also fallen off. He issued an email appeal to supporters on Friday asking for donations, in an attempt to gauge whether his financial support has dried up.
"I need to know that you are behind me 100 percent," Cain told backers. "In today's political environment, the only way we can gauge true support is by the willingness of our supporters to invest in this effort."
On Friday, Cain urged backers in South Carolina to look past the allegations.
"There's a lot of garbage on the Internet. There's a lot of garbage out there on the TV. There's a lot of garbage out there about me, don't you know? There's a lot of misinformation out there. You have to stay informed and check out the facts for yourself," Cain said.
He added: "I'm on this journey for a reason. I don't look back."
___
Associated Press writers Philip Elliott in South Carolina and Steve Peoples in New Hampshire contributed to this report.
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Gumming Up Appetite to Treat Obesity
News |
Health
Researchers plan to create chewing gum that sneaks an appetite-suppressing hormone through the gut and into the blood
?| December 1, 2011?|
CHEMICAL COUPLE: The appetite-suppressing hormone hPYY hitches a ride with vitamin B-12 from the stomach to the bloodstream.
Image: Damian Allis, Syracuse University
Losing weight is not always about anticipating swimsuit season or squeezing into skinny jeans?for the clinically obese, losing weight is about fighting serious illness and reclaiming health. But the primal part of the brain that regulates appetite will not place a moratorium on hunger just because someone and their doctor acknowledge the need to lose weight. Researchers at Syracuse University are working toward a unique solution: a stick of chewing gum that suppresses appetite.
There are many appetite-suppressing drugs on the market, a large number of which are based on stimulating amphetamines that carry the risk of serious side effects such as high blood pressure and heart failure. Syracuse Chemist Robert Doyle's research focuses on a hormone called human peptide YY (hPYY), which is released from cells that line the intestine whenever you eat and exercise. The more calories consumed, the more hPYY travels from intestinal cells into the bloodstream, eventually reaching the hypothalamus?an almond-size, evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that helps to regulate hunger, thirst, body temperature and sleep cycles.
Previous studies have shown that injections of hPYY suppress appetite in rodents, monkeys and people. In one study, both obese and lean people consumed about 30 percent fewer calories than usual at a buffet lunch only two hours after receiving a dose of hPYY.
Doyle wanted to know if hPYY still works when taken orally because pills and tablets are easy and painless compared with injections. The problem is that if you ingest pure hPYY, the caustic soup of acids and digestive enzymes in your stomach and intestine will destroy the hormone before it reaches your blood. In the body, intestinal cells secrete a precursor to hPYY that is transported into the blood and sliced into the right molecular shape in ways that are not well understood.
Doyle knew exactly how to protect hPYY in the stomach and gut. In earlier work, he found a way to safely ferry the hormone insulin through the digestive system by chemically linking insulin to vitamin B12. Since we do not produce B12 on our own, we have evolved a complex bucket brigade of molecules that ushers the essential vitamin on a journey from the food in our mouth to the bloodstream, where it nourishes all our cells. Doyle used this same trick with hPYY.
After bonding hPYY to vitamin B12, Doyle pumped a stream of the chemical couple directly into the stomachs of healthy rats. When he sampled the rats' blood for several hours after the feeding, he found levels of hPYY high enough to suppress appetite in a human adult. The findings show that B12 grants hPYY safe passage from the stomach to the bloodstream, as discussed online in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry in November. Next, Doyle hopes to show that hPYY pumped into the stomachs of obese rats reduces their appetite and how many calories they consume.
The ultimate goal is hPYY medication that obese people can take orally in pill or tablet form?or even as chewing gum. Because recent research suggests there are PYY receptors in the tongue, hPYY chewing gum could promote feelings of satiety even sooner than hPYY pills.
Gregory Russell-Jones of Mentor Pharmaceutical Consulting in Sydney, who has saddled vitamin B12 with all kinds of peptides in the hopes of devising new drugs, says the new study "adds quite a bit of good work to the area. I think we are very close to oral delivery of peptides." Peptides are chains of amino acids, typically smaller than proteins, that function as hormones and signaling molecules in people and animals. They are small and chemically fragile enough to be destroyed by the stomach and gut but too large to pass into the blood unaided.
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=e9ff98577a1c9ffb9adf11c3984cab72
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Food served in children's hospitals rated largely unhealthy
Public release date: 1-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Enrique Rivero
erivero@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2273
University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Given the obesity epidemic among the nation's young, one would hope that children's hospitals would serve as a role model for healthy eating. But hospitals in California fall short, with only 7 percent of entrees classified as "healthy" according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.
Researchers from UCLA and the RAND Corporation assessed 14 food venues at the state's 12 major children's hospitals and found there was a lot of room for improvement in their offerings and practices.
"As health professionals, we understand the connection between healthy eating and good health, and our hospitals should be role models in this regard," said Dr. Lenard Lesser, primary investigator and a physician in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program in the Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Unfortunately, the food in many hospitals is no better and in some cases worse than what you would find in a fast food restaurant."
The study authors developed a modified version of the Nutrition Environment Measures Scale for Restaurants (NEMS-R) as an assessment tool for rating the food offerings in hospital cafeterias. This measurement system takes into account pricing, availability of vegetables, nutrition labeling, combo promotions and healthy beverages.
Overall the average score for the 14 hospital food venues was 19.1, out of a range of 0 (least healthy) to 37 (most healthy). Of the total 359 entrees the hospitals served, only 7 percent were classified as healthy according to the NEMS criteria. And while nearly all the hospitals offered healthy alternatives such as fruit, less than one third had nutrition information at the point of sale or signs to promote healthy eating.
Among the other key findings:
- All 14 food venues offered low-fat or skim milk and diet soda
- 81 percent offered high-calorie, high-sugar items such as cookies and ice cream near the cash register
- 25 percent sold whole wheat bread
- Half the hospitals did not provide any indication that they carried healthy entrees
- 44 percent did not have low calorie salad dressings
Since no one has previously documented the health of food in these hospitals, researchers provided hospital administrators with their scores to encourage improvement. Since the study was conducted in July 2010, some of the hospitals surveyed have taken steps to either improve their fare and/or reduce unhealthy offerings. For example, some have eliminated fried food, lowered the price of salads, and increased the price of sugary beverages or eliminated them altogether from their cafeterias.
"The steps some hospitals are already taking to improve nutrition and reduce junk food are encouraging," Lesser said. "We plan to make this nutritional quality measurement tool available to hospitals around the country to help them assess and improve their food offerings."
Researchers said hospitals can improve the health of their food offerings by providing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and smaller portions; shrink the amount of low-nutrient choices, and utilize low-cost options to promote healthy eating such as signage and keeping unhealthy impulse items away from the checkout stand.
"If we can't improve the food environment in our hospitals, how do we expect to improve the health of food in our community?" Lesser said. "By serving as role models for healthy eating, we can make a small step toward helping children prevent the onset of dietary-related chronic diseases."
###
Hospitals the researchers surveyed were: Children's Hospital Central California; Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Children's Hospital of Orange County; Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland; Loma Linda University Children's Hospital; Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford; Miller Children's Hospital; Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego; Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA; University Children's Hospital at University of California, Irvine; University of California, Davis Children's Hospital; University of California, San Diego Children's Hospital; University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital; Children's Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded this study. In addition to Lesser, researchers on this study were Dana E. Hunnes, Phedellee Reyes, Robert H. Brook and Lenore Arab of UCLA; and Gery W. Ryan and Deborah A. Cohen of the RAND Corporation.
The research findings presented here are those of the researcher and are not necessarily the views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The UCLA Department of Family Medicine provides comprehensive primary care to entire families, from newborns to seniors. The department also provides low-risk obstetrical services and prenatal and in-patient care at Santa MonicaUCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital and out-patient care at the Les Kelley Family Health Center in Santa Monica and the Mid-Valley Family Health Center, located in a Los Angeles County Health Center in Van Nuys, Calif. The department is also a leader in family medicine education, for both medical students and residents, and houses a significant research unit focusing on geriatric issues and health care disparities among immigrant families and minority communities in Los Angeles and California.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program has fostered the development of physicians who are leading the transformation of health care in the United States through positions in academic medicine, public health and other leadership roles for three decades. Through this program, future leaders learn to conduct innovative research and to work with communities, organizations, practitioners and policy-makers on issues important to the health and well-being of all Americans. For more information, visit http://www.rwjcsp.unc.edu.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.
[ | E-mail | Share ] ?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Public release date: 1-Dec-2011[ | E-mail |
Share ] Contact: Enrique Rivero
erivero@mednet.ucla.edu
310-794-2273
University of California - Los Angeles Health Sciences
Given the obesity epidemic among the nation's young, one would hope that children's hospitals would serve as a role model for healthy eating. But hospitals in California fall short, with only 7 percent of entrees classified as "healthy" according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.
Researchers from UCLA and the RAND Corporation assessed 14 food venues at the state's 12 major children's hospitals and found there was a lot of room for improvement in their offerings and practices.
"As health professionals, we understand the connection between healthy eating and good health, and our hospitals should be role models in this regard," said Dr. Lenard Lesser, primary investigator and a physician in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program in the Department of Family Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. "Unfortunately, the food in many hospitals is no better and in some cases worse than what you would find in a fast food restaurant."
The study authors developed a modified version of the Nutrition Environment Measures Scale for Restaurants (NEMS-R) as an assessment tool for rating the food offerings in hospital cafeterias. This measurement system takes into account pricing, availability of vegetables, nutrition labeling, combo promotions and healthy beverages.
Overall the average score for the 14 hospital food venues was 19.1, out of a range of 0 (least healthy) to 37 (most healthy). Of the total 359 entrees the hospitals served, only 7 percent were classified as healthy according to the NEMS criteria. And while nearly all the hospitals offered healthy alternatives such as fruit, less than one third had nutrition information at the point of sale or signs to promote healthy eating.
Among the other key findings:
- All 14 food venues offered low-fat or skim milk and diet soda
- 81 percent offered high-calorie, high-sugar items such as cookies and ice cream near the cash register
- 25 percent sold whole wheat bread
- Half the hospitals did not provide any indication that they carried healthy entrees
- 44 percent did not have low calorie salad dressings
Since no one has previously documented the health of food in these hospitals, researchers provided hospital administrators with their scores to encourage improvement. Since the study was conducted in July 2010, some of the hospitals surveyed have taken steps to either improve their fare and/or reduce unhealthy offerings. For example, some have eliminated fried food, lowered the price of salads, and increased the price of sugary beverages or eliminated them altogether from their cafeterias.
"The steps some hospitals are already taking to improve nutrition and reduce junk food are encouraging," Lesser said. "We plan to make this nutritional quality measurement tool available to hospitals around the country to help them assess and improve their food offerings."
Researchers said hospitals can improve the health of their food offerings by providing more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and smaller portions; shrink the amount of low-nutrient choices, and utilize low-cost options to promote healthy eating such as signage and keeping unhealthy impulse items away from the checkout stand.
"If we can't improve the food environment in our hospitals, how do we expect to improve the health of food in our community?" Lesser said. "By serving as role models for healthy eating, we can make a small step toward helping children prevent the onset of dietary-related chronic diseases."
###
Hospitals the researchers surveyed were: Children's Hospital Central California; Children's Hospital Los Angeles; Children's Hospital of Orange County; Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland; Loma Linda University Children's Hospital; Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford; Miller Children's Hospital; Rady Children's Hospital - San Diego; Mattel Children's Hospital UCLA; University Children's Hospital at University of California, Irvine; University of California, Davis Children's Hospital; University of California, San Diego Children's Hospital; University of California, San Francisco Children's Hospital; Children's Center at Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funded this study. In addition to Lesser, researchers on this study were Dana E. Hunnes, Phedellee Reyes, Robert H. Brook and Lenore Arab of UCLA; and Gery W. Ryan and Deborah A. Cohen of the RAND Corporation.
The research findings presented here are those of the researcher and are not necessarily the views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The UCLA Department of Family Medicine provides comprehensive primary care to entire families, from newborns to seniors. The department also provides low-risk obstetrical services and prenatal and in-patient care at Santa MonicaUCLA Medical Center and Orthopedic Hospital and out-patient care at the Les Kelley Family Health Center in Santa Monica and the Mid-Valley Family Health Center, located in a Los Angeles County Health Center in Van Nuys, Calif. The department is also a leader in family medicine education, for both medical students and residents, and houses a significant research unit focusing on geriatric issues and health care disparities among immigrant families and minority communities in Los Angeles and California.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars program has fostered the development of physicians who are leading the transformation of health care in the United States through positions in academic medicine, public health and other leadership roles for three decades. Through this program, future leaders learn to conduct innovative research and to work with communities, organizations, practitioners and policy-makers on issues important to the health and well-being of all Americans. For more information, visit http://www.rwjcsp.unc.edu.
The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis.
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Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-12/uoc--fsi113011.php
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