Top 20 Fitness Trends for 2011

• Author: Health Informer
• Filed under: Health News
• Date: Oct 28,2010

This year’s emphasis on nationwide health care reform has cemented the health and fitness industry’s emphasis on the need for proper accreditation and certification, according to an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) survey of fitness trends published in the November/December issue of ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal. The growing demand for educated and experienced fitness professionals claimed the top spot in the survey for the fourth consecutive year.

“As the market in this sluggish economy becomes even more crowded and competitive, the need for regulation, either from within the industry or from external sources, is growing,” said the lead author of the survey, Walter R. Thompson, Ph.D., FACSM. “For example, a number of states and the District of Columbia are considering legislation to regulate personal trainers just as it does physicians, lawyers and pharmacists.” Thompson, an exercise physiologist at Georgia State University and a Fellow of ACSM, is also spokesperson for the ACSM American Fitness IndexTM.

The survey, now in its fifth year, was distributed to ACSM-certified health and fitness professionals worldwide and was designed to reveal trends in various fitness environments. Respondents around the world returned more than 2,200 completed surveys. Thirty-one potential trends were given as choices, and the top 20 were ranked and published by ACSM.

The most surprising findings, experts say, are the trends that have fallen off the list for 2011 – balance training, stability balls and Pilates. Pilates suffered the worst fall, disappearing after a ninth place ranking in 2010.

“It appears from this survey that Pilates may not have been a trend at all but may be considered a fad in the health and fitness industry,” said Thompson. “Next year’s survey will either embrace Pilates as a trend or will answer this question.” Read the rest of this entry »

Africa seizes chance against polio

• Author: Health Informer
• Filed under: Health News
• Date: Oct 27,2010

This week, Africa seizes an unprecedented chance to drive out polio when 15 countries across the continent launch a synchronized mass immunization campaign to reach

72 million children, capitalizing on gains made this year. A total of some 290,000 vaccinators have been mobilized to go door-to-door to deliver two drops of oral polio vaccine (OPV) to every child under five in areas considered at “highest risk” of polio transmission.

Africa’s leaders demonstrated unprecedented cooperation and commitment to carry out a series of synchronized immunization activities in 2009 and in March and April, 2010, following the spread of the disease from Nigeria which came to infect 24 countries across west and central Africa and in the Horn of Africa. As a direct result of these immunization campaigns, the polio outbreaks have slowed to a trickle. Across west Africa, only Liberia and Mali have recorded any cases in the past five months, while Nigeria – the only country in Africa never to have stopped polio transmission – has slashed polio by 98% in the past year.

However, recent weeks have shown the very real risks of not completing eradication, with a September case in Liberia confirming residual transmission, a new importation of type 3 wild poliovirus into Mali (the first since 2001), and a case in Uganda, which had been polio-free for more than a year. In all countries, rapid assessments are being conducted to formulate an emergency response plan in which two additional mop-up rounds will be held. All countries in the West Africa sub-region will again conduct two full campaigns in February and March, 2011, but high-quality immunization campaigns must be complemented by enhanced routine immunization and strong disease surveillance. Read the rest of this entry »

Heavy Smoking Doubles Alzheimer’s Disease, Dementia Risk

• Author: Health Informer
• Filed under: Health News
• Date: Oct 26,2010

Electronic Health Records Used to Study 21,000 Men & Women for 20 Years

Heavy smoking in midlife is associated with a 157 percent increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease and a 172 percent increased risk of developing vascular dementia, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

This is the first study to look at the long-term consequences of heavy smoking on dementia.

Researchers followed an ethnically diverse population of 21,123 men and women from midlife onward for an average of 23 years. Compared with non-smokers, those who had smoked more than two packs of cigarettes a day had more than a 157 percent increased in risk of Alzheimer’s disease and 172 percent increased risk of vascular dementia during the mean follow-up period of 23 years.  Vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s disease, is a group of dementia syndromes caused by conditions affecting the blood supply to the brain.

“This study shows that the brain is not immune to the long-term consequences of heavy smoking,” said the study’s principal investigator, Rachel A. Whitmer, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. “We know smoking compromises the vascular system by affecting blood pressure and elevates blood clotting factors, and we know vascular health plays a role in risk of Alzheimer’s disease.” Read the rest of this entry »

Nestle Prepared Foods Company to Decrease Sodium by Another 10% by 2015

• Author: Health Informer
• Filed under: Health News
• Date: Oct 25,2010

Nestle Prepared Foods Company announced a comprehensive plan to decrease the sodium content in its products by another 10 percent from reductions made earlier this decade.

This major initiative will carry through 2015 and includes the company’s popular STOUFFER’S, LEAN CUISINE, BUITONI, HOT POCKETS and LEAN POCKETS brands which will undergo gradual but steady recipe changes in order to bring down sodium levels without impacting taste.

“We are dedicated to helping people improve their overall wellness by providing convenient, wholesome and delicious foods. That’s what we mean by “Good Food, Good Life,” the statement that appears on a number of our consumer communications,” said Brad Alford, Chairman & CEO of Nestle USA.  ”Adjusting our sodium levels is part of our broader effort to create delicious and nutritious options that contribute to healthier lifestyles.” Read the rest of this entry »