U.S children scored low on heart health

Studies showed that U.S children scored low on heart health. The American Heart Association (AHA) report found that fewer children are having healthy habits or taking care of their heart health.

Less than 1 percent of American children are achieving the organization’s definition of ideal cardiovascular health.

Babies are usually born with healthy hearts but during their childhood, they should attend their cardiovascular health in order to live a healthy life.

Seven standards of good heart health must be followed, AHA states. The standards include sustaining healthy blood pressure, blood sugar levels and cholesterol. Also having a healthy weight in relation to height (BMI – body mass index), not smoking and getting enough physical activity.

The lead author, Dr. Julia Steinberger, mentioned that the main reasons why kids fail to maintain their cardiovascular health are unhealthy diets and lack of physical activity. Because their meals are mostly based on sugary foods and drinks, 91 percent of U.S. children have poor diets.

When it comes to meeting the minimum recommended amount of physical activity, only half of the American boys aged six to eleven managed to achieve it and only a third of American young girls with the same age.

Children aged 16 to 19 are even less likely to complete the minimum recommended physical activity.
Moreover, around one-third of the American population has admitted at least trying cigarettes. The rates among boys were slightly higher than girls, the study showed.

Researchers believe that schools should be more involved in promoting a healthy lifestyle for children because the obesity rates are around 10 to 27 percent in U.S kids, depending on their age category.

According to the study, blood pressure is normal for around 90 percent of the American children. However, 37 percent of boys and 20 percent of girls have increased blood sugar levels. Moreover, a third of adolescents and children have high cholesterol levels.

Unhealthy behaviors are demonstrated to continue even when children get older. Studies showed that less than 60 percent of adolescents have an ideal MBI level, while more than a third of the teens admitted smoking cigarettes in the last 30 days.

Studies proved that more research is needed as well as improved surveillance in order to better track the cardiovascular health in children.

Image source: Flickr

red meat shortens your life

New studies have shown that red meat shortens your life. It appears that this protein source is not a very healthy one.

Health fitness instructors and dietitians warn people of the consequences that red meat can have on our health.

Studies have been conducted on individuals who get their proteins mostly from red meat and on people who have a more plant based diet and get their proteins from fish and chicken. The risk of getting heart disease increases with the consumption of unprocessed red meat.

Moreover, it was proved that changing your lifestyle with a plant-based diet can lower the risk of premature death, depending on the type of meat that you substitute it with.

The probability of premature death decreased by 34 percent when people tried to replace red processed meat, 12 percent if people ate fewer eggs, and 12 percent if people ate less unprocessed meat. Interestingly, these effects have been proved to be more intense on individuals who already had obesity problems or that were heavy drinkers or smokers.

The results of these studies revealed that processed meat contains loads of nitrates and sodium that for decades have been associated with cancer and heart problems. Moreover, red meat contains a high quantity of cholesterol and saturated fats that translate into extra calories. These additional calories are related to weight problems that lead to heart diseases.

The studies have also concluded that the consumption of dairy and eggs is not as bad as eating red meat or processed foods.

Nobody says to give up entirely the consumption of processed meat, but if one has three meals a day based on red meat protein, it is highly recommended to at least try and substitute the processed red meat with chicken, fish or a plant based diet at least for a while.

Plant proteins have been proved to be healthier because they are full of antioxidants, fibers, B-vitamins, and extra healthy nutrients that, of course, have fewer calories, thus being associated with a healthier way of living. One can get plant proteins from nuts, legumes, beans, bread, and pasta, so these various sources will help obtain all the nutrients and vitamins needed for the organism.

Image source: public domain pictures

Conchita Wurst is one of the few well-seen celebrities with a transgender identity.

The World Health Organization has decided to remove transgender identity from the list of mental illnesses. This is the first time in many years that the official list is being updated.

The United Nations decided to revise the categorization of behavioral and mental disorders. The new and improved list will be released sometime in 2018.

The change comes in the nick of time as the Lance Psychiatry magazine just published a new article that brings compelling arguments on why transgender identity should not be classified as a mental illness.

Geoffrey Reed, the lead researcher in the case, stated that transgender identity was classified as a mental illness in order for doctors to be able to deny health care to transgender individuals.

“Stigma associated with both mental disorder and transgender identity has contributed to the precarious legal status, human rights violations, and barriers to appropriate care among transgender people,” the lead researcher declared.

Reed also stated that the proposal did not meet any opposition from the other members of the organization.

Reed and his team interviewed a sample of 250 transgender individuals with ages between 18 and 65. The researchers found that even though most participants experienced some level of distress during their lives, in the majority of cases the suffering was generated by violence and social rejection, not negative feelings or confusion.

The next step in the process is for other studies from different countries to confirm the thesis of Dr. Reed and his associates.

Unfortunately, even if the classification is changed, most negative opinions will linger, and the violent behavior towards transgender individuals will not change suddenly. However, researchers are hopeful that by removing transgender identity from the list of mental illness, stigmatization may be reduced in the long term.

Dr. Robles, the co-author of the paper, declared that among the participants, there was a surprisingly high number of individuals who received backlash from their own families.

The authors of the cited study were also aware of the limitations of their paper. The participation in the survey was volunteer-based, so there is a possibility that they interacted with only one kind of transgender individuals.

The scientists believe that the doubts can be removed if other scientists from around the world would conduct the same study, leading to a broader understanding of how transgender individuals see themselves.

Image source: Wikipedia