If you are thinking about going vegetarian, here is a list of things that should help you to actually do it,… and to stick to it once you’ve started.

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So what’s the big deal? They’re endocrine disruptors, which means they interfere with the normal functions of hormones. Phthalates have been linked to early onset of puberty in girls, obesity, lower sperm count and testosterone level, under-virilized boys, and male genital deformities such as hypospadias (in which the urinary opening is located somewhere besides the head of the penis, like the underside). Whee!

And now they’ve been linked to preterm birth. Makes you wonder if we should kick the chemical out of all products, doesn’t it?

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We all know someone who was thrilled when they learned they were pregnant. Yes, because they were bringing life into this world. But also because they could finally “eat for two” and let their diet go.

All of us with sense know that this is a pregnancy myth. You can’t actually eat for two and expect to lose the baby weight anytime in the next decade.

The eating “extra” may not be the best choice for every pregnant woman.

Pregnancy is not a time to eat twice as much, but twice as well.

Women who are already obese when they become pregnant may not need to gain “baby weight” as long as they and their care provider focus on a healthy diet.

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Think a romantic meal of beef tenderloin with a side of potatoes sounds delicious? Maybe with a nice Bordeaux?  Perhaps it does (especially if it’s grass-fed beef!), but it may decrease your chances of conception.

A new study shows that men who want to be fathers should increase their intake of fruits and veggies and decrease their consumption of fatty foods like red meat and creamy dishes.

Men who ate healthy diets not only had faster sperm, they had more sperm in their semen. It was both a quality and quantity effect.

Dr. Jaime Mendiola of the University of Murcia, Spain said of his research:

In this study, we have found that people who consume more fruits and vegetables are ingesting more anti-oxidants and this is the important point.

We saw that, among the couples with fertility problems coming to the clinic, the men with good semen quality ate more vegetables and fruit than those men with low seminal quality.

There are obviously many factors that influence fertility, and this is only one.

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But if living a greener life isn’t a good enough reason for you and your family to avoid the junk, perhaps this is: kids who regularly eat fast food score lower on tests. Some kids had their test scored drop on literacy and mathematical tests by 16 percent compared to the average.

Kerri Tobin, who oversaw the research, said,

It is possible that the types of food served at fast food restaurants cause cognitive difficulties that result in lower test scores.

Wow. Just can’t picture Mickey D’s using that in a marketing campaign anytime soon. But the corporate giant isn’t the only culprit…

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Over the last couple of years the term ‘carbon footprint’ has become commonplace in our culture. A growing number of people now have at the very least a general understanding of what a carbon footprint is, and for the most part this is a good thing. This has begun to translate into a greater awareness of the life cycle of the products we consume, which is an important step towards becoming a more energy-efficient nation.

But with increased understanding of a concept like carbon footprints comes the likelihood that it will be abused and mis-used. With greater frequency we are seeing reports that pervert the concept, such as the pointless ‘carbon footprint smackdown’ that compares the footprint of one cheeseburger being equivalent to that of 15,000 Google searches.

The climate change finger-pointing hit a new level of insanity when a paper was published recently that links overweight people to increased greenhouse gas emissions. Surprisingly this report did not appear in a sensationalist tabloid or newspaper, but was an article in the respected International Journal of Epidemiology. The logic of the study is relatively simple: compared to the average population, obese people eat more and use their cars more for everyday chores. Since both driving and the production of food create greenhouse gas emissions, overweight people contribute more to global warming than the average population.

It is shocking that this article was able to successfully pass the journal’s peer-review process, as there are a large number of flaws with its simplistic theory. Peter Gorrie of the Toronto Star has done an excellent job of reviewing several reasons why this report can’t be taken seriously.

Of greater concern than the lack of scientific rigor in the study is the precedent that this report sets in labeling a subset of the population as the cause of increasing greenhouse gas emissions. The data and logic can be spun in a countless number of ways such that just about any subset of the population can be made to blame for climate change. As opposed to investing time and energy into questionable and discriminatory studies like the one described here, future efforts should be allocated towards developing solutions to the climate change problem.

Image: Victius at flickr under a CC License

Stephen Boles is co-founder of Kuzuka, a marketplace website that brings a new level of convenience and confidence to carbon offset customers and provide consulting services to organizations that want to assess and reduce their carbon footprint.

Researchers aren’t sure yet whether the heaviness is the cause of allergies. But further study is clearly needed, as the asthma and allergy rates for kids is higher than in the past.

Altogether, 4,000 kids were surveyed through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Said director Dr. Darryl Zeldin,

While the results from this study are interesting, they do not prove that obesity causes allergies. More research is needed to further investigate this potential link.

So what defines “obese”? And what can we do for these kiddos?

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Now, a long term study of girls living in Harlem has linked exposure to the chemicals in plastics to childhood obesity.

Yes, plastics make kids fat, well at least there is a correlation.

Researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center discovered that when phthalates are absorbed into the body and act as endocrine disruptors, obesity levels rise in mice.  The East Harlem study is the first one to link endocrine disruptors ro human obesity.  Dr. Philip J. Landrigan, a professor of pediatrics at Mount Sinai, explains:

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A study of about 3000 children in 32 schools in Germany found that installing water fountains, giving the children refillable water bottles, and using teaching lessons promoting the health benefits of water consumption reduced the risk of being overweight by 31%.

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Or are they?

In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that really aren’t.  They may be useful in certain situations, but if money or space is tight, or if you’re just looking to simplify and reduce consumerism and waste, here’s how to get along just fine without these so-called “essentials.“

In Part 1, we questioned the crib.   Part 2 bemoaned the bucket.  Part 3 scrutinized the stroller.  Part 4 ditched the diapers.  Part 5 scrubbed the tub.  Part 6 busted the brain boosters.  This week, we banish the baby food!

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In the first law of its kind in the States, the Suffolk County Legislature voted Tuesday to ban polycarbonate baby bottles. BPA would have to be removed from sippys and bottles intended for children under 3, or those products would have to be removed from store shelves.

Says bill sponsor Legis. Steve Stern,

There are plenty of viable, cost-effective and safe alternatives.

The county now says they’re evaluating the impact of the law pending an upcoming public hearing.

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Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without.  While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.

Or are they?

In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that really aren’t.  They may be useful in certain situations, but if money or space is tight, or if you’re just looking to simplify and reduce consumerism and waste, here’s how to get along just fine without these so-called “essentials.“

In Part 1, we questioned the crib.   Part 2 bemoaned the bucket.  This week, let’s scrutinize the stroller.

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A letter from health experts to President-elect Obama urges bold action to stem the obesity epidemic in America, warning that increased rates of obesity could lead to the first generation of Americans with shorter life spans than their parents.

“What is lacking is not well-conceived ideas for policies and programs, but a national commitment to wage a comprehensive campaign to prevent and reverse overweight and obesity, a war that should begin in the womb and infancy, extend to schools, then include workplaces, doctors’ offices, and the general community.”

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The Coca-Cola Company has been served notice of a class action lawsuit filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) over the deceptive and unsubstantiated claims on its VitaminWater line of beverages.

“Coke fears, probably correctly, that they’ll sell less soda as Americans become increasingly concerned with obesity, diabetes, and other conditions linked to diets too high in sugar. VitaminWater is Coke’s attempt to dress up soda in a physician’s white coat. Underneath, it’s still sugar water, albeit sugar water that costs about ten bucks a gallon.” - Steve Gardner, CSPI litigation director

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In a study of 131 children, British researchers think they might have isolated a gene that affects obesity.  Okay, so it’s not called the “cookie” gene.  But the FTO gene may play a role in whether someone is satiated, or knows she is full. Lead author Jane Wardle says the results show:

Some children don’t know when to stop, which could lead to the onset of obesity and a lifetime of health problems.

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David Bassett of the University of Texas and John Pucher of Rutgers University present their findings in “Walking, Cycling and Obesity Rates in Europe, North America and Australia”; they conclude that “Countries with the highest levels of active transportation generally had the lowest obesity rates. Walking and biking are far more common in European countries than in the United States, Australia and Canada. Active transportation is inversely related to obesity rates in these countries.” Nowhere is this more apparent than in the United States, where less than 12% of the population walks, rides a bike or takes mass transit, and one in three of us is obese.

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Several recent studies point to the possible origination of both obesity and diabetes in the womb.

An article in the LA Times last year had a quote from Beverly Muhlhausler, a researcher at the University of South Australia and an authority on fetal diet and adult disease:

“What research is now showing is that consuming an excessive amount of high-fat, high-sugar foods during pregnancy can alter the development of the baby in such a way that predisposes that individual to becoming obese later in life.”

If we continue to wait until middle age to treat societal health issues like obesity and diabetes, we may not ever address the causes, which might already be treatable by changing the mother’s diet or addressing maternal weight gain.

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80% of the studies reviewed link greater exposure to media with negative health effects for kids and adolescents.

Common Sense Media published the report, Media and Child and Adolescent Health: A Systematic Review, which reviewed 173 of the best studies from the last 30 years which examine the connection between media exposure and negative health effects on children.

The average modern child spends nearly 45 hours a week with television, movies, magazines, music, the Internet, cellphones and video games, the study reported. By comparison, children spend 17 hours a week with their parents on average and 30 hours a week in school, the study said.

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