Health Front (Congress and Junk Food)

By Dr. Jerry DeCapua, Two Rivers Tribune Contributing Writer

The U.S. House of Representatives is fighting the Obama’s administration efforts to take unhealthy foods out of the schools.

The final version of a spending bill released last week would unravel school lunch standards the Agricultural Department proposed earlier this year. Congress wants pizza and french fries to stay on the school lunch lines while reducing leafy greens and carrots. While the Department of Agriculture wishes to improve school meals by including more whole grains and reducing sodium content, the congressional bill would allow a little tomato paste to be counted as a vegetable.

Nutritionists say that reversing the effort toward healthier food is reminiscent of the Reagan administration’s effort to classify ketchup as a vegetable to cut costs. Apparently, food companies that make frozen pizza and french fries lobbied Congress and requested changes to today’s standards.

Congress wants to use the excuse that the less nutrient foods would “prevent overly burdensome and costly regulations” to school districts. The proposed retreat from today’s nutritional standards, recommended in 2009 by the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, “would not be consistent with the nation’s goal of reducing childhood obesity and future health care costs,” states Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The U.S.D.A. said “it will continue efforts to make school lunches healthy while remaining committed to practical, science-based standards for school meals,” and that it is “unfortunate that some members of congress put special interests ahead of the health of American’s children.”

A group of retired generals advocating for healthier school lunches also criticized the congressional bill. The group, called Mission Readiness, has called poor nutrition in school lunches a national security issue because obesity is the leading disqualifier for military service.

Americans Living Longer

More Americans are living to  age 90 and beyond, and by 2050 their ranks could reach almost 9 million, a new census bureau report finds. The number of people at 90-plus years has tripled in 30 years to nearly two million. Most of them are women who live alone or in nursing homes. Women 90 and older outnumber men by almost three to one.

Teen Birth Rate Decreases

The birth rate for U.S. teens (aged 15-19 years) hit a record low in 2010, according to a report by the Centers for Disease and Prevention. The birth rate has declined for the last three years, falling to 34.3 births per 1,000 teens. The recent report also documented the first decline in the rate of cesarean deliveries since 1996.

Birthrates have fallen for unwed mothers as well as women in their 20s and 30s. The birth rate for women in their early 40s increased.

Newborns Hooked on Prescription Painkillers

Doctors and medical authorities are witnessing an explosive surge in the number of newborn babies hooked on prescription painkillers.

Prescription drug abuse, the nation’s fastest-growing drug problem, is now classified as an epidemic by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Evidence  is showing that the number of newborn victims of a mother addicted to drugs like OxyContin, has doubled or tripled in the last decade, reports the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Drugs Smuggled in From Canada

Americans desperate for a heroin-like high are turning to a version of the popular pain killer OxyContin smuggled in from Canada, which is easier to abuse than the an updated formula available in the U.S.

In April of 2010, the drug’s manufacturer … got approval  from the FDA to replace its pills in the U.S. with a tamper-proof version. This safer format is not on the market in Canada until 2012.

Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Among Professionals

Experts are calling for urgent action to tackle the challenge of rising levels of alcoholism and substance abuse among professionals, including doctors, dentists, and lawyers.

Research suggest that 15 to 24 percent of lawyers suffer from alcoholism during their careers. The British Medical Association estimates that one in 15 healthcare professionals will develop an addiction problem. Doctors are three times more likely to develop cirrhosis of the liver than the general population.

One indicator of the growing addiction problem is the rise in the popularity of ‘rehab tourism.’ There is a growing number of ‘mental health tourists’ who may be professionals seeking treatment abroad.