Saturday, August 23, 2008

More Honest Living Based On Experience - "Don't believe everything you think."

Living With Radical Honesty
--Brad Blanton

Listen To Audio!
 http://tow.charityfocus.org/audio.php?op=play&tid=580

I learned that the primary cause of most human stress, the primary cause of most conflict between couples and the primary cause of most both psychological and physical illness is being trapped in your mind and removed from your experience. What keeps you trapped in your mind and removed from your experience is lying and we all lie […] all the time. We're taught systematically to lie, to pretend, to maintain a pretense because we're taught that who we are is our performance. Our schools teach us to lie, our parents teach us to lie. We're all suffering from mistaken identity.

We think that who we are is our reputation, what the teacher thinks of us, what kind of grades we make, what kind of job we have. We're constantly spinning our presentation of self, which is a constant process of lying and being trapped in the anticipation of imagining about what other people might think.

Our actual identity is as a present tense noticing (and acting) being. I'm someone sitting here talking on the telephone right now and you're sitting there talking on the telephone and writing or doing whatever you're doing.

That's your current identity and this is my current identity and when you start identifying with your current present-tense identity you discover all kinds of things about life that you can't even see or notice when you're trapped in the spin doctoring machine of your mind.

So radical honesty is about delivering yourself from that constant worrisome preoccupation of, "Oh my god. How am I doing? How am I doing? How am I doing? How am I doing?" Then you can pay attention to what's going on in your body and in the world and even pay attention to what's going on in your mind.  […]

Just look at what you notice in front of you right now, your environment, wherever you are in an office or wherever it is. Noticing is an entirely different function than thinking and what we do all the time is that we confuse thinking with noticing.

When we think something we act as though it has the same validity as something that we see.

(From actual experience, using imagination to act to co-create better, more useful experiences, for a better world for everyone - people and nature.)

I've got a bumper sticker on my truck that says, "Don't believe everything you think." It's like your thinking just goes on and on and on and on.

(Experience - Think & Act On It)

--Brad Blanton, Center For Radical Honesty

Listen!



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Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Ways To Encourage Children To Be Healthier By Eating Lots Of Fruit And Vegetables

Parents Shape Whether Their Children Learn To Eat Fruits And Vegetables

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080811200425.htm

ScienceDaily (Aug. 13, 2008) — Providing fruits for snacks and serving vegetables at dinner can shape a preschooler's eating patterns for his or her lifetime.

To combat the increasing problem of childhood obesity, researchers are studying how to get preschoolers to eat more fruits and vegetables. According to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, one way is early home interventions — teaching parents how to create an environment where children reach for a banana instead of potato chips.

"We know that parents have tremendous influence over how many fruits and vegetables their children eat," says Debra Haire-Joshu, Ph.D., a professor at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. "When parents eat more fruits and vegetables, so do their children. When parents eat and give their children high fat snacks or soft drinks, children learn these eating patterns instead."

Haire-Joshu and researchers at Saint Louis University School of Public Health tested a program that taught parents in their homes how to provide preschool children easy access to more fruits and vegetables and examined whether changes in what the parents ate affected what their children consumed. The study was published in the July issue of the journal Preventive Medicine.

"This research shows that it's important to communicate with parents in real world settings," Haire-Joshu says. "They control the food environment for their young child. This environment is key to not only what children eat today but how they will eat in the future."

Past research has shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of obesity. Previous studies also have established that children learn to like and eat vegetables at a young age — before they turn five years old.

In this five-year study in rural, southeast Missouri, 1,306 parents and children between the ages of two and five participating in Parents As Teachers, a national parent education program, were randomly assigned to two groups. One group enrolled in the High 5 for Kids program, and the other group received standard visits from Parents as Teachers. In the High 5 for Kids group, parents first completed a pretest interview about fruit and vegetable consumption.

Parent educators then visited the home four times, providing examples of parent-child activities designed around nutrition, such as teaching the child the names and colors of various fruits and vegetables and having the child select a variety of fruits and vegetables for breakfast. At each visit, parents also received materials and informational handouts with suggestions for improving feeding practices and the food environment in the home. Many of these materials were tailored to the individual patterns of that parent, with suggestions for how to improve his or her specific intake and that of their child.

Additionally, children were given four High 5 for Kids sing-along-stories with audiocassettes and coloring books.

The same parent interviewed before the intervention completed a telephone survey to determine changes in the number of fruits and vegetables eaten and behaviors of both the preschool children and parent. The average time between the before and after intervention survey was seven months.

Parents in the High 5 for Kids group ate significantly more fruits and vegetables, and a change in the parent's servings of fruits and vegetables predicted a change in the child's diet, too. An increase of one fruit or vegetable serving per day in a parent was associated with an increase of half a fruit or vegetable serving per day in his or her child. These parents also reported an increase in fruit and vegetable knowledge and availability of fruits and vegetables in the home.

Although the High 5 for Kids program was effective in improving fruit and vegetable intake in children of normal weight, overweight children in this group did not eat more of these foods. "Overweight children have already been exposed to salty, sweet foods and learned to like them," says Haire-Joshu, who also holds an appointment at the School of Medicine as a professor. "To keep a child from becoming overweight, parents need to expose them early to a variety of healthy foods and offer the foods many times."

Haire-Joshu says many children today are taught patterns that lead to obesity. "We want families to provide their child with an environment in which they not only learn how to eat healthy but have the opportunity to practice what they learn," she says. "And by partnering with Parents As Teachers, we now can disseminate this program to their sites nationwide. This further impacts healthy eating patterns in parents and their preschool children."


Adapted from materials provided by Washington University in St. Louis.


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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

School Lunches Get Failing Grades

Cafeteria Menus Get Failing Grades


Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, July 24, 2008; Page B03
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/23/AR2008072303578.html

A District-based nonprofit organization, affiliated with a group that promotes a vegan diet, issued a report card today on school lunches that gives two local school systems failing grades for the amount of processed meat they serve to students.

D.C. and Montgomery County public schools received the low grades in the Cancer Project's evaluation because they offer processed meats for breakfast and/or lunch more than 20 percent of the time. Two other systems evaluated in the study, those in Fairfax and Prince George's counties, received "poor" ratings; they offer processed meat products more than 15 percent but less than 20 percent of the time, the study says.

The Cancer Project looked at a month's worth of breakfast and lunch menus at 28 of the country's largest school systems. The group is affiliated with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which evaluates school lunch menus yearly, focusing on the number of vegetarian and vegan (excluding all animal products) menu items offered.

The Cancer Project is urging school systems to stop serving hot dogs, deli meats, pepperoni and other processed meats because some studies have linked consumption of such foods to colon and rectal cancer.

"Cancer risk starts early,'' said Neal Barnard, president of the Cancer Project in a statement that accompanied the report. "If we don't protect our kids by removing hot dogs, sausages, deli slices and pepperoni slices from our schools, we're stacking the cards against them."

The American Meat Association called the Cancer Project's efforts to banned processed meats "outrageous," noting that manufacturers offer options that meet many dietary needs, including low-fat, low-sodium and uncured processed meats.

School nutrition officials said that, given fiscal constraints and logistics, it is difficult to avoid serving processed meats. Although many systems, including those in the study, have focused on serving fresher, low-fat meals, they say processed food is included in their offerings.

They argue, however, that education, not bans, is the answer.

"We are trying to move to a less-processed environment," said Mydina Thabet, dietician and food specialist for the Prince George's schools. "But what we try to tell people is everything in moderation."

In the District, schools officials said they plan to expand a program designed to bring more fresh foods, including salad bars, into cafeterias, after a pilot program at two high schools and two elementary campuses last school year was successful.

Mafara Hobson, spokeswoman for D.C. public schools, said officials think the school system has leaned too heavily on processed foods and have decided to revamp menus because students were not eating what was offered.

Susan Levin, senior dietician for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, said this is the first time a group has examined the use of processed meat in school lunches.

School lunch programs, which serve almost 30 million children a year, have long been a target of health advocates, who criticize them for being laden with salt and fat. Efforts to overhaul the programs have taken root, but many food service officials say they are hampered by shrinking budgets and finicky students. But with the prevalence of overweight among children tripling since the 1980s, health advocacy groups say more must be done.

Levin said her group understands that food service directors face daunting challenges. She also noted that many systems are trying.

Although Montgomery received a failing grade for its dependence on processed meats, she praised the system for trying to offer healthful menu items, citing its recent effort to introduce soy burgers and other non-meat alternatives on its menus. But she said all systems need to do more.



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Monday, August 11, 2008

Better Nutrition Without Meat - Nutrition Information For Doctors & Health Care Providers

Here are two good nutrition resources-

NutritionCME is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians, nutritionists, and other health care providers interested in how nutrition can be used for health promotion and disease prevention.

http://www.nutritioncme.org/

PCRM
http://www.pcrm.org/about/index.html
---


Doctors are encouraged to make use of these useful websites.

They came from an interview of a doctor that grew up in North Dakota on a cattle ranch who now does not recommend meat since there are many significant health issues and also mounting environmental issues due to meat - including salmonella in tomatoes from meat farms contaminating water used on tomatoes.


From PCRM

The new Four Food Groups are:

Whole Grains (5 or more servings a day)
Vegetables (4 or more servings a day)
Fruit (3 or more servings a day)
Beans - Legumes (2 or more servings a day)

The major killers of Americans—heart disease, cancer, and stroke—have a dramatically lower incidence among people consuming primarily plant-based diets.

Weight problems—a contributor to a host of health problems—can also be brought under control by following the New Four Food Group recommendations.

Try the New Four Food Groups and discover a healthier way to live!
---

Preventive Medicine & Nutrition Vegetarian Diets

Explore nutrition’s role in combating specific illnesses, including arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and mad cow disease. go>

New: Reversing Diabetes With a Low-Fat Vegan Diet

 

 

Discover the benefits of a vegetarian diet - for children and adults - and find answers to your questions. go>

Nuevo: Guía de Iniciación para una Dieta Vegetariana

Nutrition Department Reports   PCRM's Clinical Research

PCRM’S in-depth analysis of current health and nutrition related issues such as high-protein diets, airline food, and fast food salads. go>

New Report: 2007 School Lunch Report Card

 

 

PCRM's research projects on diabetes, weight-loss, and PMS and premenstrual pain. go>

Diabetes: Targeting Diabetes: PCRM Study Shows the Dramatic Impact of a Low-Fat Vegan Diet

The Cancer Project  

Lifesaving information on reducing cancer risk, and how diet and other factors may help improve survival. go>

Where to Start?
The Cancer Project web site

 

Enjoy these low-fat, heart-healthy, vegetarian delights. Here’s to your health! go>

Where to start? Recipe of the week

---



Here's information on Vegetarian and Vegan Diets
http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/index.html

A good place to begin is the Vegetarian Starter Kit
also available in Spanish-language Guía de Iniciación una Dieta Vegetariana

and our fact sheet Vegetarian Foods: Powerful for Health
also available in Spanish-language La Comida Vegetariana: Poderosa para la Salud

For additional information, check out
FAQs About Vegetarian Diets
Find answers about issues such as protein, milk, eggs, athletic performance, essential fatty acids, lactose intolerance, calcium absorption rates in foods, vitamin B12, vegetarian diets for correctional facilities, and incorporating vegetarian meals on college campuses.

FAQs About General Nutrition Issues

The New Four Food Groups

Information About Diabetes

If you're pregnant, be sure to read
Vegetarian Diets For Pregnancy

To raise vegan children, read our fact sheets:
Vegetarian Diets for Children: Right from the Start
Vegetarian Diets: Advantages for Children
a comprehensive report by PCRM's Nutrition Panel

Healthy Snacks for Kids

Restaurant Vegetarian Starter Kit



NutritionCME is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, dietitians, nutritionists, and other health care providers interested in how nutrition can be used for health promotion and disease prevention.

http://www.nutritioncme.org/


PCRM
http://www.pcrm.org/about/index.html

Doctors and laypersons working together for compassionate and effective medical practice, research, and health promotion.

Prevention
PCRM promotes preventive medicine through innovative programs:

  • PCRM has led the way for reforms of federal nutrition policies.
  • Our clinical research programs are breaking new ground in diabetes, cancer, and other serious conditions.
  • PCRM’s Cancer Project has provided vital information to tens of thousands of people.
  • The New Four Food Groups is PCRM’s innovative proposal for a federal nutrition policy that puts a new priority on health.
  • Our public service announcement series features medical experts on prevention and health.

Research Advocacy
We encourage higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research:

  • We oppose unethical human experiments. While great strides have been made in eliminating such experiments, problems remain. For example, children are still given synthetic growth hormone in experiments to make them taller, and both children and adults are exposed to unnecessary new drugs which have toxic effects.
  • We promote alternatives to animal research. We have worked to put a stop to gruesome experiments, such as the military’s cat-shooting studies, DEA narcotics experiments, and monkey self-mutilation projects. We also promote non-animal methods in medical education. Currently, more than three-quarters of all U.S. medical schools have dropped their animal labs for medical students.

Organization
Founded in 1985, PCRM is a nonprofit organization supported by physicians and laypersons who receive Good Medicine each quarter. PCRM programs combine the efforts of medical experts and grassroots individuals.

Leadership
PCRM Board of Directors: Neal D. Barnard, M.D., President; Mark Sklar, M.D., Secretary; Russell Bunai, M.D., Director.

PCRM’s advisory board includes 11 health care professionals from a broad range of specialties:

T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. Cornell University
Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., M.D. The Cleveland Clinic
Suzanne Havala Hobbs, Dr.PH., M.S., R.D. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Henry J. Heimlich, M.D., Sc.D. The Heimlich Institute
Lawrence Kushi, Sc.D. Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente
Virginia Messina, M.P.H., R.D. Nutrition Matters, Inc.
John McDougall, M.D. McDougall Program, St. Helena Hospital
Milton Mills, M.D. Gilead Medical Group
Myriam Parham, R.D., L.D., C.D.E. East Pasco Medical Center
William Roberts, M.D. Baylor Cardiovascular Institute
Andrew Weil, M.D. University of Arizona

Affiliations are listed for identification only.




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Monday, August 4, 2008

High dose vitamin C injections slash tumor growth in mice - No Adverse Effects

High dose vitamin C injections slash tumor growth in mice

http://www.lef.org/newsletter/2008/0805_High-Dose-Vitamin-C-Injections-Slash-Tumor-Growth-in-Mice.htm?source=eNewsLetter2008Wk32-1&key=Article&l=0#article

An article published in the August 5, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reported that injections of ascorbate (vitamin C) reduce the weight and growth rate of tumors by half in mouse models of ovarian, pancreatic and brain cancer,

while leaving normal cells unharmed.

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tested ascorbate in 43 tumor and 5 normal cell lines to determine a concentration that decreases cell survival in cancerous cells without resulting in toxicity to healthy cells. They subsequently injected a dose of 4 grams ascorbate (neutralized with sodium hydroxide) per kilogram body weight once or twice per day into immune-deficient mice with implanted ovarian, pancreatic and glioblastoma (brain) tumors. "At these high injected doses, we hoped to see drug-like activity that might be useful in cancer,” explained lead author Mark Levine, MD, who is the chief of the Molecular and Clinical Nutrition Section of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at the NIH.

Dr Levine’s team found that injecting the animals with ascorbate decreased tumor growth and weight by 41 to 53 percent.
While metastases occurred in 30 percent of the mice with brain tumors, none appeared in animals injected with vitamin C.

No adverse effects of vitamin C treatment
were noted.

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Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral

Children Are Naturally Prone To Be Empathic And Moral

ScienceDaily (July 12, 2008) — Children between the ages of seven and 12 appear to be naturally inclined to feel empathy for others in pain, according to researchers at the University of Chicago, who used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) scans to study responses in children.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080711080957.htm


When children see an image of a person in pain, portions of their brain register that pain on a fMRI scan. When the children see a person intentionally hurt, portions of the brain associated with moral reasoning are also activated. (Credit: University of Chicago)

The responses on the scans were similar to those found in studies of adults. Researchers found that children, like adults, show responses to pain in the same areas of their brains. The research also found additional aspects of the brain activated in children, when youngsters saw another person intentionally hurt by another individual.

"This study is the first to examine in young children both the neural response to pain in others and the impact of someone causing pain to someone else," said Jean Decety, Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at the University of Chicago.

The programming for empathy is something that is "hard-wired" into the brains of normal children, and not entirely the product of parental guidance or other nurturing, said Decety. Understanding the brain's role in responding to pain can help researchers understand how brain impairments influence anti-social behavior, such as bullying, he explained.

For their research, the team showed 17 typically developed children, ages seven to 12, animated photos of people experiencing pain, either received accidentally or inflicted intentionally. The group included nine girls and eight boys.

While undergoing fMRI scans, children where shown animations using three photographs of two people whose right hands or right feet only were visible.

The photographs showed people in pain accidently caused, such as when a heavy bowl was dropped on their hands, and situations in which the people were hurt, such as when a person stepped intentionally on someone's foot. They were also shown pictures without pain and animations in which people helped someone alleviate pain.

The scans showed that the parts of the brain activated when adults see pain were also triggered in children.

"Consistent with previous functional MRI studies of pain empathy with adults, the perception of other people in pain in children was associated with increased hemodymamic activity in the neural circuits involved in the processing of first-hand experience of pain, including the insula, somatosensory cortex, anterior midcigulate cortex, periaqueductal gray and supplementary motor area," Decety wrote.

However, when the children saw animations of someone intentionally hurt, the regions of the brain engaged in social interaction and moral reasoning (the temporo-parietal junction, the paracigulate, orital medial frontal cortices and amygdala) also were activated.

The study, which was supported by the National Science Foundation, provides new insights for children between childrens' perceptions of right and wrong and how their brains process information, Decety said. "Although our study did not tap into explicit moral judgment, perceiving an individual intentionally harming another person is likely to elicit the awareness of moral wrongdoing in the observer," he wrote.

Subsequent interviews with the children showed they were aware of wrong-doing in the animations in which someone was hurt. "Thirteen of the children thought that the situations were unfair, and they asked about the reason that could explain this behavior," Decety said.



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Friday, June 20, 2008

Positive Lifestyles Improve Gene Expression ('Deathstyles' Harm Gene Expression)

Lifestyle changes alter gene expression in men with prostate cancer

link


A study conducted by Dean Ornish, MD, of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, California, along with researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, found that lifestyle improvements have a beneficial effect on gene expression in men with prostate cancer. The finding was reported in the June 17, 2008 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The investigation involved 30 participants in the Gene Expression Modulation by Intervention with Nutrition and Lifestyle (GEMINAL) study of men with low-risk prostate cancer. For reasons not related to the study, the men had opted for active surveillance of their disease in lieu of surgery or radiation treatment. For a three month period, participants were ask to limit dietary fat to 10 percent of daily calorie intake, adopt a whole food, plant-based diet, engage in 30 minutes per day of walking for six days per week, and practice stress management in the form of stretching, breathing, meditation, imagery and relaxation for 60 minutes per day in addition to a one hour per week group session.

Diets were supplemented daily with tofu (from soy), soy protein, 3 grams fish oil, 200 micrograms selenium, 2 grams vitamin C and 100 international units vitamin E.
Cardiovascular disease risk factors, including weight, body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids, and C-reactive protein, were measured before and after the intervention.

Gene expression in initial prostate biopsies was compared with prostate tissue samples obtained after three months of the lifestyle changes. Forty-eight genes, including those that have disease-preventive effects, were found to be up-regulated, and 453 genes, including oncogenes involved in breast and prostate cancer and other disease-promoting genes, were down-regulated following the intervention.

Body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, lipids and waist circumference significantly improved. Benefits of the regimen were also observable in the participants’ mental health-related quality of life and levels of cancer-associated mental distress.

“Intensive nutrition and lifestyle changes may modulate gene expression in the prostate,” the authors conclude. “Understanding the prostate molecular response to comprehensive lifestyle changes may strengthen efforts to develop effective prevention and treatment. Larger clinical trials are warranted to confirm the results of this pilot study.”

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Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Wild Salmon Much Better Than 'Farm' Salmon

Is there any nutritional difference between wild-caught and farm-raised fish? Is one type better for me than the other?

Overview

From both a nutritional and environmental impact perspective, farmed fish are far inferior to their wild counterparts:

  • Despite being much fattier, farmed fish provide less usable beneficial omega 3 fats than wild fish.
  • Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin. Farmed salmon, in addition, are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed, without which, their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.
  • Aquafarming also raises a number of environmental concerns, the most important of which may be its negative impact on wild salmon. It has now been established that sea lice from farms kill up to 95% of juvenile wild salmon that migrate past them.(Krkosek M, Lewis MA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.)

Nutritional Differences

FDA statistics on the nutritional content (protein and fat-ratios) of farm versus wild salmon show that:

  • The fat content of farmed salmon is excessively high--30-35% by weight.
  • Wild salmon have a 20% higher protein content and a 20% lower fat content than farm-raised salmon.
  • Farm-raised fish contain much higher amounts of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats than wild fish.

Flame Retardants: Another Reason to Avoid Farmed Salmon

+++





Is there any nutritional difference between wild-caught and farm-raised fish? Is one type better for me than the other?

Overview

From both a nutritional and environmental impact perspective, farmed fish are far inferior to their wild counterparts:

  • Despite being much fattier, farmed fish provide less usable beneficial omega 3 fats than wild fish.
  • Due to the feedlot conditions of aquafarming, farm-raised fish are doused with antibiotics and exposed to more concentrated pesticides than their wild kin. Farmed salmon, in addition, are given a salmon-colored dye in their feed, without which, their flesh would be an unappetizing grey color.
  • Aquafarming also raises a number of environmental concerns, the most important of which may be its negative impact on wild salmon. It has now been established that sea lice from farms kill up to 95% of juvenile wild salmon that migrate past them.(Krkosek M, Lewis MA. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.)

Nutritional Differences

Omega 3 Fat Content

FDA statistics on the nutritional content (protein and fat-ratios) of farm versus wild salmon show that:

  • The fat content of farmed salmon is excessively high--30-35% by weight.
  • Wild salmon have a 20% higher protein content and a 20% lower fat content than farm-raised salmon.
  • Farm-raised fish contain much higher amounts of pro-inflammatory omega 6 fats than wild fish.

These unfortunate statistics are confirmed in a recent (1988-1990) study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to compare the nutrient profiles of the leading species of wild and cultivated fish and shellfish. Three species of fish that contain beneficial omega 3 fats were included: catfish, rainbow trout, and coho salmon.

Farm-raised Fish are Fattier

In all three species, the farm-raised fish were fattier. Not surprising since farm-raised fish do not spend their lives vigorously swimming through cold ocean waters or leaping up rocky streams. Marine couch potatoes, they circle lazily in crowded pens fattening up on pellets of fish chow.

In each of the species evaluated by the USDA, the farm-raised fish were found to contain more total fat than their wild counterparts. For rainbow trout, the difference in total fat (5.4g/100g in wild trout vs. 4.6 g/100g in cultivated trout) was the smallest, while cultivated catfish had nearly five times as much fat as wild (11.3g/100 g in cultivated vs. 2.3 g/100g in wild). Farm-raised coho salmon had approximately 2.7 times the total fat as wild samples.

Cultivated catfish were the worst, with 5 times the fat content of their wild counterparts. Plus, although the farm-raised catfish, rainbow trout and coho salmon contained as much or even more omega-3 fatty acids as their wild equivalents, in proportion to the amount of omega-6 fats they also contained, they actually provided less usable omega-3s.

Farm-raised Fish Provide Less Usable Omega-3 Fats

The reason for this apparent discrepancy is that both omega 3 and omega 6 fats use the same enzymes for conversion into the forms in which they are active in the body. The same elongase and desaturase enzymes that convert omega-3 fats into their beneficial anti-inflammatory forms (the series 3 prostaglandins and the less inflammatory thromboxanesand leukotriennes) also convert omega-6 fats into their pro-inflammatory forms (the series 2 prostaglandins and the pro-inflammatory thromboxanes and leukotrienes). So, when a food is eaten that contains high amounts of omega 6s in proportion to its content of omega 3s, the omega-6 fats use up the available conversion enzymes to produce pro-inflammatory compounds while preventing the manufacture of anti-inflammatory substances from omega-3s, even when these beneficial fats are present.

Farm-raised Fish Contain More Pro-inflammatory Omega-6 Fats

In all three types of fish, the amount of omega 6 fats was substantially higher in farm-raised compared to wild fish. Cultivated trout, in particular, had much higher levels of one type of omega 6 fat called linoleic acid than wild trout (14% in farm-raised compared to 5% in wild samples). The total of all types of omega 6 fats found in cultivated fish was twice the level found in the wild samples (14% vs 7%, respectively).

Wild Fish Provide More Omega-3 Fats

In all three species evaluated, the wild fish were found to have a higher proportion of omega-3 fats in comparison to omega 6 fats than the cultivated fish. The wild coho were not only much lower in overall fat content, but also were found to have 33% more omega 3 fatty acids than their farm-raised counterparts. Omega 3s accounted for 29% of the fats in wild coho versus 19% of the fats in cultivated coho. Rainbow trout showed similar proportions in fatty acid content; wild trout contained approximately 33% more omega 3s than cultivated trout, however both cultivated and wild trout did have much lower amounts of omega 6 fats than the other types of fish.

Antibiotic and Pesticide Use

Disease and parasites, which would normally exist in relatively low levels in fish scattered around the oceans, can run rampant in densely packed oceanic feedlots. To survive, farmed fish are vaccinated as small fry. Later, they are given antibiotics or pesticides to ward off infection.

Sea lice, in particular, are a problem. In a recent L.A. Times story, Alexandra Morton, an independent biologist and critic of salmon farms, is quoted as beginning to see sea lice in 2001 when a fisherman brought her two baby pink salmon covered with them. Examining more than 700 baby pink salmon around farms, she found that 78 percent were covered with a fatal load of sea lice while juvenile salmon she netted farther from the farms were largely lice-free.

While salmon farmers have discounted Morton's concerns saying that sea lice are also found in the wild, at the first sign of an outbreak, they add the pesticide emamectin benzoate to the feed. According to officials, the use of pesticides should pose no problem for consumers since Canadian rules demand that pesticide use be stopped 25 days before harvest to ensure all residues are flushed from the fish.

Scientists in the United States are far more concerned about two preliminary studies-one in British Columbia and one in Great Britain-both of which showed farmed salmon accumulate more cancer-causing PCBs and toxic dioxins than wild salmon.

The reason for this pesticide concentration is the salmon feed. Pesticides, including those now outlawed in the United States, have circulated into the ocean where they are absorbed by marine life and accumulate in their fat, which is distilled into the concentrated fish oil that is a major ingredient in salmon feed. Salmon feed contains higher concentrations of fish oil-extracted from sardines, anchovies and other ground-up fish-than wild salmon normally consume. Scientists in the U.S. are currently trying to determine the extent of the pesticide contamination in farmed salmon and what levels are safe for human consumption.

Research on this issue published July 30, 2003, by the Environmental Working Group, indicates that levels of carcinogenic chemicals called polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in farmed salmon purchased from U.S. grocery stores are so much higher than levels of PCBs found in wild salmon that they pose an increased risk for cancer. PCBs have been banned in the US for use in all but completely closed areas since 1979, but they persist in the environment and end up in animal fat.

When farmed salmon from U.S. grocery stores was tested, the farmed salmon, which contains up to twice the fat of wild salmon, was found to contain 16 times the PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the levels found in other seafood. Other studies done in Canada, Ireland and Britain have produced similar findings.(September 8, 2003)

Flame Retardants: Another Reason to Avoid Farmed Salmon

Flame-retardant additives used widely in electronics and furniture are appearing in increasing amounts in fish, and farmed salmon contain significantly higher levels of these polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) compounds than wild salmon, according to research published in the August 11, 2004 issue of Environmental Science and Technology.

PBDEs are endocrine disrupters that have been shown to have reproductive toxicity, and are also suspected to play a role in cancer formation. As with other toxins, it is thought that farm-raised salmon contain higher PBDE levels than wild due to the "salmon chow," a mixture of ground fish and oil, they are fed.

The authors of this new study, Ronald Hites of Indiana University and colleagues, analyzed the same group of 700 wild and farmed salmon collected from around the world from which the data was drawn for their initial research on other contaminants in salmon, which was published in Science in January 2004.

As was the case with the 14 contaminants described in the earlier report-which included pesticides such as toxaphene and dieldrin-the researchers found the highest levels of PBDEs, on average, in farm-raised salmon from Europe. But while European farmed salmon had the highest levels, farmed North American salmon came next with significantly higher amounts of PBDEs than were found in farmed salmon from Chile, which, in turn, were higher than the average levels seen in wild salmon.

In both farmed and wild salmon, approximately 50% of the total PBDEs were in the form of one compound: brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) 47. This chemical is associated with the Penta formulation used in polyurethane foam in furniture, which, together with another formulation known as Octa, has been banned in Europe and is being discontinued in the United States. Unfortunately, (BDE) 47 can also be derived from the breakdown of the Deca formulation, which is extensively used in Europe with no plans to discontinue its use either there or in the U.S.

Researchers both in Europe and the U.S. think the problem is not just in the "salmon chow", but the environment as a whole and that PBDEs are probably reaching the open ocean and getting into the marine food web through atmospheric deposition.

To underscore this point, Ake Bergman of Stockholm University's department of environmental chemistry, one of the first scientists to present evidence that PBDEs were bioaccumulating in humans, says he has found the PBDE levels in wild European salmon are on a par with those Hites has reported for farmed European salmon.

And the environmental contamination is not limited to Europe. Wild chinook salmon from British Columbia were found to have the highest levels of PBDE contamination of any of the salmon Hites tested. He thinks this may be due to the chinooks' tendency to feed higher in the food chain throughout their adult life, eating mainly fish, unlike other salmon species that tend to consume more invertebrates and plankton.

On the other hand, wild Alaskan Chinook tested in Hites' study contained significantly lower PBDE levels, suggesting that the waters the wild chinook inhabit are more contaminated.

Surprisingly, the PBDE content patterns seen in the world's salmon do not match up with the levels found in people; samples of blood and fat from North Americans contain levels 10 times higher, on average, than Europeans, another reason to think some other source of exposure is also at work. Bergman thinks the high U.S. levels are due to inhalation of these substances.

What you can do: Beginning September 2004, U.S. supermarkets are required to label salmon as farmed or wild. We suggest that you choose wild, rather than farmed salmon, and if purchasing chinook salmon, choose Alaskan chinook.(October 10, 2004)

Synthetic Pigment Colors Flesh Pink

In the wild, salmon absorb carotenoids from eating pink krill. On the aquafarm, their rich pink hue is supplied by canthaxanthin, a synthetic pigment manufactured by Hoffman-La Roche. Fish farmers can choose just what shade of peach their fish will display from the pharmaceutical company's trademarked SalmoFan, a color swatch similar to those you'd find in a paint store. Without help from Hoffman LaRoche, the flesh of farmed salmon would be a pale halibut grey.

European health officials have debated whether the canthaxanthin added to the feed to give farmed salmon their pink hue poses any human health risk. Canthaxanthin was linked to retinal damage in people when taken as a sunless tanning pill, leading the British to ban its use as a tanning agent. (In the U.S., it's still available.)

As for its use in animal feed, European health officials have debated whether the canthaxanthin added to the feed to give farmed salmon their pink hue poses any human health risk. The European Commission Scientific Committee on Animal Nutrition (SCAN) issued a warning several years ago about the pigment and urged the industry to find an alternative. In 2002, SCAN reviewed the maximum levels of canthaxanthin in fish feeds and determined that the allowable level of 80 milligrams of canthaxanthin per kilogram in feed was too high, and that consumers who ate large amounts of salmon were likely to exceed the Acceptable Daily Intake of 0.03 milligrams per kilogram human body weight. In 1997, the EU's Scientific Committee on Food recognized a link between canthaxanthin intake and retinal problems, so in April 2002, SCAN suggested lowering the level of canthaxanthin to 25 milligrams per kilogram in feed for salmonids (baby salmon). To date, no government has banned canthaxanthin from animal feed.

Canthaxanthin was linked to retinal damage in people when taken as a sunless tanning pill, leading the British to ban its use as a tanning agent. (In the U.S., it's still available.) Consumed In high amounts, canthaxanthin can produce an accumulation of pigments in the retina of the eye and adversely affect sight.

Environmental Impact of Farm-raised Fish

A Threat to Small Commercial Fisheries

Salmon farmed in open pen nets are now the source of 50% of the world's salmon (hatchery fish account for about 30%, and wild fish provide the remaining 20%). Flooding the market with fish-farm salmon has resulted in a drop in the fisherman's asking price for wild salmon-a price decrease that has forced many small fishing boats off the water.

Polluting the Immediate Environment

Aquafarms, called "floating pig farms," by Daniel Pauly, professor of fisheries at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, put a significant strain upon their surrounding environment. According to Pauly, "They consume a tremendous amount of highly concentrated protein pellets and they make a terrific mess."

Uneaten feed and fish waste blankets the sea floor beneath these farms, a breeding ground for bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. A good sized salmon farm produces an amount of excrement equivalent to the sewage of a city of 10,000 people.

Polluting the Food Chain

Sulfa drugs and tetracycline are used to prevent infectious disease epidemics in the dense aquafarm populations are added to food pellet mixes along with, in farm-raised salmon, the orange dye canthaxanthin, to color their otherwise grey flesh. These food additives drift to the ocean bottom below the open net pens where they are invariably recycled into our food stream.

A Threat to Wild Fish

Pesticides fed to the fish and toxic copper sulfate used to keep nets free of algae are building up in sea-floor sediments. Antibiotic use has resulted in the development of resistant strains that can infect not only farm-raised but wild fish as they swim past. Sea lice that infest captive fish beset wild salmon as they swim past on their migration to the ocean.

Perhaps the most serious concern is a problem fish farms were meant to alleviate: the depletion of marine life from over-fishing. Salmon aquafarming increases the depletion because captive salmon, unlike vegetarian catfish which thrive on grains, are carnivores and must be fed fish during the 2-3 year period when they are raised to a marketable size. To produce one pound of farmed salmon, 2.4 to 4 pounds of wild sardines, anchovies, mackerel, herring and other fish must be ground up to render the oil and meal that is compressed into pellets of salmon chow.

Similar to the raising of cattle, farming fish creates a problematic redistribution of protein in the food system. Removing such immense amounts of small prey fish from an ecosystem can significantly upset its balance. According to Rosamond L. Naylor, an agricultural economist at Stanford's Center for Environmental Science and Policy, "We are not taking strain off wild fisheries. We are adding to it. This cannot be sustained forever."

Salmon Farms Kill Wild Salmon

New research, conducted by PhD. student Martin Krkosek and colleagues from the University of Alberta, Canada, has established that sea lice from farms kill up to 95% of juvenile wild salmon that migrate past them.

Adult salmon are the primary hosts of sea lice. In natural conditions, adults are located far offshore when the juveniles are migrating out to sea, but fish farms put adult salmon in pens along the migration routes of juveniles, producing a cloud of sea lice through which the juveniles must migrate. Since juveniles are only one to two inches long, it takes just one or two sea lice to kill a juvenile pink or chum salmon.

The University of Alberta team concentrated on 3 migration routes along the Broughton Archipelago in British Columbia, counting sea lice on 14,000 juvenile salmon as they migrated past 7 farms along the 80 km route, and conducted mortality experiments with more than 3,000 fish.

They found an increasing number of salmon were killed over the migration season, from 9% in early spring when the sea lice population was low to 95% cent in late spring when the sea lice population was higher.

"The work is of an impeccably high standard, and will be very difficult to refute," said Dr. Andy Dobson, a Princeton University epidemiologist specializing in wildlife diseases.

"Everyone knows that only a small fraction of juvenile salmon survive to return as adults," said study co-author Dr. Mark Lewis. "The fish-farm sea lice are reducing that fraction even more."

The study's implications may be severe for wild salmon. "Even the best case scenario of an additional 10% mortality from farm-origin sea lice could push a fish stock into the red zone," said biologist Dr. John Volpe, a study co-author at the University of Victoria.

"The debate is over," said study co-author Alexandra Morton, a biologist with the Raincoast Research Society. "This paper brings our understanding of farm-origin sea lice and Pacific wild salmon to the point where we know there is a clear severe impact."

Although the study was conducted in British Columbia, the results apply globally. "This study really raises the question of whether we can have native salmon and large scale aquaculture -- as it is currently practiced -- in the same place," said Dr. Ransom Myers, a fisheries biologist at Dalhousie University. The Alberta scientists are concerned that many people may be consuming farmed fish under the false impression that they are conserving wild fish, which they say is not the case.

A Threat to Other Marine Life

Other reported environmental impacts from salmon aquaculture include seabirds ensnared in protective netting and sea lions shot for preying on penned fish. Penned salmon also directly threaten their wild counterparts, preying on migrating smolts (immature wild salmon) as they journey to the sea and competing for the krill and herring that nourish wild fish before their final journey home to their spawning grounds. Escapes of farm fish also create problems by competing with wild fish for habitat, spawning grounds and food sources. (About 1 million Atlantic's have escaped through holes in nets from storm-wracked farms in the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound)

A Threat to Biodiversity

The interbreeding of wild and farm stocks also poses a threat of dilution to the wild salmon gene pool.

Biologists fear these invaders will out-compete Pacific salmon and trout for food and territory, hastening the demise of the native fish. An Atlantic salmon takeover could knock nature's balance out of whack and turn a healthy, diverse marine habitat into one dominated by a single invasive species.

Recently, Aqua Bounty Farms Inc., of Waltham, Mass., has begun seeking U.S. and Canadian approval to alter genes to produce a growth hormone that could shave a year off the usual 2.5 to three years it takes to raise a market-size fish. The prospect of genetically modified salmon that can grow six times faster than normal fish has heightened anxiety that these "frankenfish" will escape and pose an even greater danger to native species than do the Atlantic salmon.

A Possible Contributor to Antibiotic Resistance

Rearing fish in such high densities present problems. Infectious disease outbreaks pose financial threats to operators so vaccines and antibiotics are often used to prevent potential epidemics. Sulfa drugs and tetracycline are often added to food pellet mixes as well as canthaxanthin (an orange dye) to impart a rich red-orange color to an otherwise pale gray flesh. Antibiotics are also given to speed growth and increase profits.

In some of the more progressive salmon-rearing operations, fish farmers are raising their Chinook and other species in closed, floating pens so that antibiotics and other wastes can be filtered from the water before it's released back into the environment.

In the majority of aquafarms, however, these drugs and additives, which quickly build up in the sediment, -will invariably find their way into our food stream. In a paper published in 2002, Bent Halling-Sørensen and his colleagues at the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy noted that one such growth-promoting antibiotic-oxytetracycline-has been found in the sediment of fish-farming sites at concentrations of up to 4.9 milligrams per kilogram. These scientists are concerned that "Antibiotic resistance in sediment bacteria are often found in locations with fish farms"-and may play a growing role in the development of antibiotic resistant germs generally. Should their fears be true, aquafaming may be eroding the efficacy of life-saving drugs, argues Stuart Levy, the director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance at the Tufts Medical School in Boston.

Which type of wild salmon should I purchase? Which is best, both for me and for the environment?

When buying salmon, we suggest that you ask for line-caught Alaskan fish first. The healthiest populations and habitats exist in Alaska. In fact, due to the successful efforts of conserving and protecting wild salmon habitats, the Alaska Salmon Fishery recently received the Marine Stewardship Council's label for sustainability.

Fresh-caught, wild salmon is available nearly eight months of the year, with high quality "frozen at sea" (FAS) line-caught fish available during the interim. The Marine Stewardship Council's labels are designed to guide consumers to species that are not being over-harvested.

Plus, in a recent blind taste test hosted by Chefs Collaborative in May 2000, at the French Culinary Institute in New York City, wild Alaskan Coho salmon, frozen at sea, ranked first in flavor, texture and aroma.. Wild Oregon Chinook (also called King) salmon, fresh, came in a close second.

Fresh wild salmon too expensive for your tastes? A recent Newsweek article notes that canned salmon will not only cost you less, but is always wild.

One caveat: Fresh "Atlantic" salmon is generally farm-raised-the name refers to the species, not the fish's origin.

Essential Fatty Acid Ratios in Wild and Farmed Fish

100 grams (3.5 ounces fresh filet of: Total Omega 3 Fats Total Omega 6 Fats Ratio of Omega 3 to Omega 6 Fats*
Wild Coho Salmon 0.92 grams .06 grams 15.3
Farmed Coho Salmon 1.42 grams 0.46 grams 3.1
Wild Rainbow Trout .77 grams .33 grams 2.3
Farmed Rainbow Trout 1.00 grams .71 grams 1.4
Wild Channel Catfish .29 grams .24 grams 1.2
Farmed Channel Catfish .37 grams 1.56 grams .2

*The higher the ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats, the more able the body is to use the omega 3 fats. A lower ratio means that the enzymes that convert these fats into the forms in which they are active in the body are more likely to be used up by the omega 6 fats.

Table Reference:

Nettleton JA. (2000). Fatty Acids in Cultivated and Wild Fish. Presented paper, International Institute of Fisheries, Economics and Trade (IIFET), IIFET 2000 Conference: Microbehavior and Macroresults. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, July 10-14, 2000.

Some Differences in Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals between Wild and Farmed and Fish

Contaminant Farmed Wild Type of Fish
Tributyltin (pesticide, used to keep barnacles and algae off the paint used on hulls of ships 39 micrograms 28 micrograms mussels
Dibutyltin 26 micrograms (maximum observed amount) 4 micrograms (maximum observed amount mussels
PCBs (symthetic coolants 146-460 ppb
salmon

Table References:

Amodio-Cocchieri, R.; Cirillo, T.; Amorena, M.; Cavaliere, M.; Lucisano, A., and Del Prete, U. Alkyltins in farmed fish and shellfish. Int J Food Sci Nutr. 2000 May; 51(3):147-51.

Jacobs, M. N.; Covaci, A., and Schepens, P. Investigation of selected persistent organic pollutants in farmed Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar), salmon aquaculture feed, and fish oil components of the feed. Environ Sci Technol 2002 Jul 1; 36(13):2797-805.

Rueda, F. M.; Hernandez, M. D.; Egea, M. A.; Aguado, F.; Garcia, B., and Martinez, F. J. Differences in tissue fatty acid composition between reared and wild sharpsnout sea bream, Diplodus puntazzo (Cetti, 1777). Br J Nutr. 2001 Nov; 86(5):617-22.

REFERENCES

Adler J. The Great Salmon Debate, Newsweek, October 28, 2002

Nettleton JA. (2000). Fatty Acids in Cultivated and Wild Fish. Presented paper, International Institute of Fisheries, Economics and Trade (IIFET), IIFET 2000 Conference: Microbehavior and Macroresults. Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR, July 10-14, 2000.

Analysis of PCBs in Farmed versus Wild Salmon. Environmental Working Group, July 30, 2003.

Betts K. Salmon flame retardant research raises new questions. Science News Environmental Science and Technology, August 11, 2004.

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, US Department of Agriculture and US Department of Health and Human Services, Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2000.

George R, Bhopal R. Fat composition of free living and farmed sea species: implications for human diet and sea-farming techniques, Br. Food J. 97:19-22, 1995.

Harvey D., Aquaculture outlook, in Aquaculture Outlook, Economic Research Service, U.S. Dept. Agriculture: Washington, DC, October, 1999.

Hites RA, Foran JA, Carpenter DO, Hamilton MC, Knuth BA, Schwager SJ. Global assessment of organic contaminants in farmed salmon. Science. 2004 Jan 9;303(5655):226-9.

Krkosek M, Lewis MA, Morton A, Frazer LN, Volpe JP. Epizootics of wild fish induced by farm fish. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Oct 17;103(42):15506-10. Epub 2006 Oct 4.

Nettleton, J.A. and Exler, J., Nutrients in wild and farmed fish and shellfish, J. Food Sci. 57: 257-260, 1992.

Simopoulos, A.P., Leaf, A. and Salem, N. Jr., Essentiality of and Recommended Dietary Intakes for Omega-6 and Omega-3 Fatty Acids, Ann. Nutr. Metab. 43:127-130, 1999.

van Vliet T. and Katan M.B., Lower ratio of n-3 to n-6 fatty acids in cultured than wild fish, Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 51:1-2, 1990.

Weiss K. Fish farms become feedlots of the sea. L. A. Times, Dec. 9, 2002.

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

New PE - Better For Health Of Body & Mind

Gym: The Next Generation
By Melanie Wong
September 2007
Chicago Athlete
http://www.chicagoaa.com/features/sept07napervillepe.html

Gone are the days of dodgeball and embarrassing fitness tests. Naperville Schools teach students heart rate monitor training and let students choose from classes like kayaking, rollerblading and Pilates- fun activities they'll do as active adults. Obesity rates are down and test scores are way up.

The hallways surrounding the gymnasium of Naperville Central High School are crowded with clusters of students clicking and stamping their heels as the sounds of their tap dance shoes reverberate throughout the halls. Amidst trying out their moves and throwing around terms like "ball change" and "straight tap," the students are enthusiastically planning out their own dance routines.

It may be unorthodox, but for the students at Central High, this is phys ed class. The tap dance class is one of many P.E. electives students can take as part of Naperville District 203's curriculum. The program has gained national attention not only for their innovative fitness methods, but for linking fitness to improved learning in the classroom.

Elementary school kids hop around on Dance Dance Revolution games, junior high students weight train with heart rate monitors on specially sized machines, and high school students scale the rock climbing wall in the school gum.

A new class of P.E.
The district's program, part of an organization called PE4Life, leaves the old stereotype of dodge ball games and whistle-wielding coaches in the dust, instead focusing on teaching students how to live physically active lifestyles and emphasizing fitness and health instead of sports and athleticism.

The program developed 15 years ago when Naperville administrators started making small changes in their P.E. classes. Phil Lawler, PE4Life Instruction and Outreach Director and retired P.E. teacher, said they were aware that P.E. programs were being cut back or eliminated nationwide. He said they began to think about ways to teach sports skills to every student, not just those who were athletically inclined, in a way that would affect them beyond graduation.

"We never stopped to look at kids in P.E. classes who aren't interested in sports. What about them?" Lawler said. Over the years the program has been incorporated into all 21 schools in the district from elementary to high school as Naperville's answer to increasing childhood obesity and diminishing P.E. requirements in schools across the country. PE4Life has also developed into a nationwide program that trains P.E. teachers and their communities to develop programs of their own. One of the program's six training academies is located at Naperville's Madison Jr. High.

At first the program was largely funded by supportive parents, but the district has also received grants and now is funded increasingly by corporate sponsors.

Lawler said he can see the effects of exercise on the students in a very tangible way. They are fitter, more enthusiastic about P.E. class and perform better in the classroom. He said that while the nationwide childhood obesity rate is about 20 percent, in Naperville schools it is only about three percent.

Naperville Central High School P.E. department chair and teacher Paul Zientarski said the key is giving students choices in their workouts and gym classes. There are a wide array of fitness and strength activities offered to students in all grades, he said, and all of them learn to use a heart rate monitor to ensure their workouts are done in their target heart rate zones.

At the high school level, the program's goal is to turn the responsibility of fitness over to students, said Lawler. Students, regardless of whether they play a school sport or not, are required to take 28 P.E. classes with requirements in fitness, team sports, individual sports, aquatic sports, gymnastics, dance and CPR training. They can choose from classes such as Pilates, bowling, self-defense, rollerblading and kayaking.

School sports cannot replace fitness instruction when it comes to preparing students to live healthy lives, said Zientarski. In fact, very few adults play team sports as their main form of exercise, he said.

He thinks that letting students choose their classes makes it more likely that they will be enthusiastic about the activities, Zientarski said. "We empower them. We give them a choice. They choose a class because they like the activity, or their friends are in it, or they like the teacher. As a result, fitness has really become a part of our school culture."

Freshmen begin with a fitness concepts class that teaches them what Lawler calls "life skills" - team building, basic cardiovascular fitness, core strength training, rhythm, and natural movements such as hopping or skipping. At the end of the course they create their own 6-week training plan.

"It's really about how to create a fitness plan to keep someone healthy. No one who graduates from here should ever have to hire a personal trainer," Zientarski said with pride.

A focus on fitness
But besides the wide array of activities Naperville's program offers, it is also unique in its focus. Heart rate monitors track individual improvement and activities are designed so that everyone participates in a non-threatening environment. Even games such as flag football are played four-on-four so that everyone touches the ball. What is important is not the score, but that students are in their optimal heart rate zone.

"We don't grade kids on their sports skills. We don't try to embarrass them. Fitness tests are all done in groups or individually in a separate room," Zientarski said. Gone are the days when the least- athletic kids stood shamefully against the bleachers waiting to be chosen for a team or the whole class watched as a student struggled to do pushups during a fitness test.

Zientarski said he used to be the mean coach blowing the whistle, but not anymore. For example, students still do the mile run, he said, but now his students go out on the track and start whenever they are ready. No one knows who is first or last, and they are graded based on their heart rate, not on their time.

"If a student runs a 15-minute mile, but their heart rate is 170 the whole time, then they're doing a pretty good job," he said. "Heart rate monitors have allowed us to assess kids and see what they were really doing, not what we as P.E. teachers thought they were doing. For some kids, walking is best. Some kids need to run. Some athletes need to run stairs at the stadium to get their heart rate up."

Lawler said they track students' fitness starting in the fourth grade. When they graduate, students will have a 25-page fitness record.

"I've seen kids in a fitness class a bit on the pudgy side, not what you would call athletic, and suddenly they get motivated," Zientarski said. "I've seen kids lose weight and start exercising."

He remembers a freshman who started the program slightly overweight and when he took his fitness tests, they showed he was very dehydrated. Zientarski talked to him about how hydration affects brain functions, and the next class the students started walking in with a water bottle.

"I never had to tell him. It was his choice to walk in with the bottle. Now a few years later he's slimmed down and looks better. He's made some big choices," Zientarski said.

Fit bodies, fit minds
However, Naperville's fitness program does not stop in the gym. The district's Learning Readiness program incorporates health and fitness in the classroom. The program is based on a Harvard Medical School psychiatry study showing that exercise stimulates the brain in ways that improves mood, attention span and readiness to learn.

"Sitting down does not increase brain function," Zientarski said. "Your body's made to be moving. When you sit down for long periods of time, part of your brain shut down."

Several high school classes took a workout course right before math and literacy classes. In the literacy classes, the students who worked out improved their reading level by a whole year over one semester. In algebra classes, students who took the P.E. course improved their scores by 20 percent compared to two percent improvement in the non- workout classes.

Central High school literacy teacher Deborah St. Vincent has her students engage in physical activity every 15 minutes. Sometimes they warm up on DDR machines or stair steppers she keeps in the back of the room. Sometimes it is as simple as asking the students to moves across the room to work with a friend of to do some stretching. "I've watched children for years. By the end of the day you know how tired you are. Common sense tells you that you need to get out of your seat. It's essential," said St. Vincent, who has taught for 32 years.

She said she has seen students benefit from the school's exercise program in grades as well as fitness. One student came in as a freshman without any athletic background and was inspired to join the track team. Now both her fitness and grades have improved, St. Vincent said.

Most teachers are on board with the program because they see its results, Zientarski said, and there are others besides St. Vincent who have adopted similar classroom methods. The school has even brought in a neurokinesiologist to talk to teachers about incorporating movement into the learning process.

Last year before the beginning of statewide testing, all the students marched to upbeat music before starting the test, and there were intervals of stretching and movement during the testing. While previous data is not available to compare, Naperville's test scores are among the highest in the state.

Not only does the program make for fitter kids and better grades, but less disciplinary problems too. Lawler said PE4Life did a study in an inner-city Kansas City school, increasing P.E. from one to five days a week. Consequently, the school had 63 percent less referrals and the students' cardiovascular health improved 200 percent.

Results like this are catching the attention of school administrators across the country, enabling such programs to get started and continue. Lawler said that in Naperville, the administration, the teachers, the parents and the community back the program.

"That's the key," he said. "You have to bring the community team in, not just the P.E. teacher."

Zientarski said the success of the program really shows that something old can evolve. Not only has the program revolutionized the traditional gym class and classroom methods, he said, but his own philosophy on fitness. He's changed his own workout program and keeps track of his activity throughout the day using a pedometer. He used to be one of the coaches that kids hated, he said.

"I truly believe most teachers get in education to make a difference in the life of kids," he said, "and I feel like in the last 10 to 12 years, I'm finally doing that."

Melanie Wong is a former Chicago-based cyclist and journalist who recently moved to Vail, Colorado, to work as a reporter (and enjoy some high altitude training).


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