Tag: university

COLUMBIA, Mo. — More than one-third of children in the United States ages 6 to 19 years old are overweight or obese. Over the past 30 years, the number of obese adolescents has more than quadrupled, which also has led to an increase in children diagnosed with diabetes. To combat this trend, Aneesh Tosh, M.D., adolescent medicine physician at University of Missouri Health Care and associate professor of clinical child health at the MU School of Medicine, recommends that sugary drinks be removed from adolescents’ diets.

 

“The sharp rise in childhood and adolescent obesity is alarming,” Tosh said. “Being overweight is the biggest risk factor for Type 2 diabetes. We want to prevent diabetes in adolescents to avoid the serious medical problems associated with the disease. One very important step to preventing these complications is to stop drinking sugary drinks.”

 

Through clinical experience and research, Tosh has found that eliminating sugar-sweetened beverages is the most significant lifestyle change that children and adolescents can make to lose weight and improve health. Sugary beverages can add up to 200 empty calories per serving to an adolescent’s diet that provide no nutritional benefits. Sugary beverages include juice, soda, sweet tea, sports drinks, energy drinks and coffee drinks, all of which can be high in calories.

 

“It is very important that a developing body gets plenty of water and milk,” Tosh said. “We realize those can get boring for some of our patients, so adding zero- or low-calorie flavorings to water is fine every once in a while.”

 

As adolescents progress toward adulthood, they become increasingly responsible for their own beverage choices. Many of the beverages adolescents have available at school, home and social gatherings contain significant amounts of sugar.

 

Sports drinks have become the drink of choice for many teenagers because they incorrectly assume the drinks are healthier than soda. Tosh said most children and adolescents, even when involved in athletics, do not actually need the electrolytes in sports drinks, and some of these sports drinks have more calories than regular soda. Energy drinks, which also are rising in popularity, not only contain sugar but also caffeine. Energy drinks can lead to other health problems, such as poor sleep, headaches and heart irregularities.

 

“It really is about education, because many parents and young patients just don’t realize how many calories there are in sugary drinks,” Tosh said. “My patients who cut sugary beverages are the ones losing weight. Conversely, I’ve found that patients who struggle to switch to water and milk are the ones who have not been successful in losing weight.”

 

One successful patient is Andrew Roberts. At age 13, Roberts weighed 307 pounds and was in and out of the hospital because of obesity-related health complications.

 

“It was not uncommon for me to drink 2 liters of soda a day,” said Roberts, who is now a 23-year-old personal trainer. “I lost 115 pounds in about a year and a half by cutting out sugary drinks, junk foods and sweets, and getting exercise.”

 

Roberts said it was easy to see where excess calories were coming from once Tosh had him keep a food log that included drinks.

 

“Limiting consumption of sugary drinks to once a week for special events rather than daily is a significant step toward healthy weight loss for many children and teens,” Tosh said. “When children and teens spend time hanging out with their friends — not just when they’re at school — it’s important that sugary drinks aren’t their go-to beverage.”

 

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About the MU School of Medicine

The MU School of Medicine has improved health, education and research in Missouri and beyond for more than 165 years. MU physicians treat patients from every county in the state, and more Missouri physicians received their medical degrees from MU than from any other university. For more information, visit http://medicine.missouri.edu/.

11 Suggestions To Avoid The Spring Break Hangovers

We have all had those nights that last until 5am or 6am in the morning and have had to be up at 8:30am for an important meeting at the office with a pounding headache, churning stomach, the room feeling like it’s spinning and smelling like a bottle of patron.

As we all know going to work with a hangover is never a positive outcome and can reflect badly upon your professionalism. The following are some suggestions that you can follow to prevent hangovers so you can enjoy the next day after a wild night, rather than dreading it.

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Suggestion#1
Take vitamins on a regular basis.

Alcohol depletes the body of important nutrients. So you are doing yourself a favor, especially if you are regularly taking Vitamin B and C. The depletion of Vitamin B in the human body can lead to hangovers. Vitamins are particularly good to take because some are antioxidants that rid the body of free radicals. Which are the little buggers that cause damage at a cellular level. Some work directly on he liver which will help you fight off that hangover.

Suggestion #2
Make sure to eat before heading out for a big night on the town.

When you stomach is full the alcohol that you consume won’t be absorbed as fast into your blood stream. Also sometimes when you drink on an empty stomach your body can’t handle it and wants to expell the toxins. Vomitting at the club is never a good look.

Suggestion #3
Try to avoid mixing different types of alcohols at all costs.

When you drink different types of alcohol at once such as liquor, wine, champagne and beer you are usually concocting a mixture of disaster. Some people have sensitive stomachs. So remember that each type of alcohol is made differently and sometimes your own body can’t handle all of that at once.

Suggestion  #4
Try and avoid sweet drinks containing sugars or cocktails with a sweet juice base such as having too many red bull vodka, patron and pineapple, Rum and Cokes, Daiquiris, Margaritas or mojitos.

Sugar causes a spike in your insulin levels. You may feel great for a minute with lots of energy but your body will quickly crash. This is what is known as a high HIGH followed by a low LOW. This can cause the dreaded hangover so I suggest you stick to diet or sugar free mixes.

Suggestion #5
Keep your body hydrated during the day and while you are out at night.

I know we all hate running to the bathroom every five minutes but it is important to keep your body hydrated. Especially when you drink. H20 is the best thing one can take. Particularly PH water. I know when you’re out all you want to drink is alcohol but try and slip in a few glasses of water here and there it helps. Also try and down a glass or two before hitting the sheets when you get home. I guess Vodka waters kind of count in this department but don’t go overboard.

Suggestion #6
Eat Something when you get home before you go to sleep.

Just like rule #2 When you stomach is full the alcohol that you consume won’t be absorbed as fast into your blood stream. I find when you eat something before going to bed after a hard night of drinking it also helps. Something like a few soda crackers or a slice of bread to help absorb the alcohol helps.

Suggestion #7
Try to get a good sleep. 2hrs won’t cut it.

Sleep is when your body regenerates and recovers. Therefore the less sleep you get, the harder it is for you body to recover. A good amount is between 5 and 8 hours. Any less than that and you aren’t getting the proper sleep to help your body recover properly.

Suggestion #8
The next day, try to avoid caffeine.

A lot of caffeine will continue to dehydrate you, the opposite of what you want if you are trying to do to cure a hang over. So try and reach for some water instead of that regular cup of joe.

Suggestion #9
Take a Contrast Bath or a Shower.

Taking a shower always helps. Try switching between cold and hot water. This will help with sore muscles from a night of dancing and also help to wake you up. Plus it will help you not smell like the bar, the booze and the brauds that you encountered the night before.

Suggestion #10
Get some exercise.

Try doing some sort of physical activity when you wake up. Try anything that will keep you sweating. It takes a bit of willpower to move like that when standing seems like a challenge, but trust me sweat it out and get the endorphins going and you’ll feel 1000x better.

Suggestion #11
Call in Sick to Work if non of the above remedies works.

No one wants to tarnish their reputation or professionalism at their place of work. So It is best to stay in bed. Tell them that you think that you have the flu. You will already be In rough shape and most likely sound horrible on the phone so they will believe you. Just make sure that none of them saw you at the bar, and that you didn’t do anything to make the news or tmz the next day.

GOOD LUCK and happy hangover free partying!