sugar

Here's some health news that is sure to horrify parents of sugar-loving kids: Teens who consumed the highest levels of added sugar (mostly from sugary drinks and processed foods) were found to have worse cholesterol and triglyceride levels than those who consumed the least. That's according to a new study published in the Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association. The findings could spell heart trouble down the road.
 
"This is the first study to assess the association of added sugars and the indicators of heart disease risk in adolescents," said study author Jean Welsh, MPH, PhD, R.N "The concern is long-term exposure would place them at risk for heart disease later in adulthood."
 
Welsh, a post-doctoral fellow at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) of 2,157 teenagers (ages 12 to 18) and found the average daily consumption of added sugars was 119 grams (28.3 tsp or 476 calories), accounting for 21.4 percent of their total energy. (The teens' average daily consumption was roughly four times the American Heart Association's recommended upper limit for added sugars, which is between 100 to 150 calories, depending on energy requirements, age and gender.)
 
Those teens who consumed the highest amounts of added sugar—where added sugar made up 30 percent of the day's calories—had lower good cholesterol (HDL), and higher bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides than those who consumed the least (less than 10 percent of total calories).

The study also found that overweight or obese teens with the highest levels of added sugar intake had increased signs of insulin resistance, often a precursor to diabetes.
 
Welsh said she was surprised to see deteriorating lipid levels in teens, even though experimental studies have shown the same effect in adults. "It is incredible that we did see this in kids."
 
Welsh is not sure what causes lipid levels to deteriorate. One theory, she said, is that when people consume high levels of fructose, which is metabolized by the liver, it is more easily converted into fatty acids which raises triglyceride levels. "If that mechanism is what happens, then it makes sense," she says. "But no one had ever shown it, so we were surprised."
 
She warned that more studies are needed since this was a cross-sectional study— essentially a snapshot in time— and not a longitudinal study. For example, can exercise mitigate the effect? Do lipid levels go back to normal if added sugar is cut? Will the shift in cholesterol levels result in cardiovascular disease in the future?
 
It could be a while before those questions are answered. In the mean time, Welsh, a mother of four, has some suggestions.

"The first thing we as parents can do is to help kids be aware of how much sugar they are consuming, and make them aware that there may be health consequences down the line, like obesity. Educates the kids about this and help them to know how to make better choices; teach them how to read nutritional labels."

Fast Food Slow to Decompose
Here's a slow food project guaranteed to boggle the mind: How long does it take for a McDonald's Happy Meal to decay? New York artist Sally Davies is trying to figure that out. After six months, she still doesn't know the answer.

Davies' burger and fries combo sits on a shelf in her apartment where it has resisted decomposition for half a year, a fact documented daily by Davies on Flikr. No word yet on how long the toy lasted.

Waiter, I Don't Want What He's Having
Food photographer Neil Setchfield has made a living out of photographing the food that other people really DON'T want to eat. The British-based photographer has a new book out, profiled here, called Yuck! The Things People Eat. Crickets? Check. Hog eyes? You betcha. Fried sparrow? Well, you get the picture.

The book may work great as coffee table fare, but you probably want to keep it off the dinner table.

Halloween Candy Survival Guide
As a kid-focused holiday, Halloween is supposed to be fun. So why do people like Men's Health Editor David Zinczenko have to spoil all the fun? Seriously, before you have to squeeze your kid into king-sized white sheet ghost costume, review his high-calorie Halloween candy no-nos.

Kids Know Best
Quick riddle: A father and his son are involved in a bad traffic accident. The man dies, but the son is rushed to surgery. His surgeon looks down at him and says, "I can't operate on this child. He's my son." Who's the surgeon?

It's an old riddle that frequently stumps adults. Kids? Not so much--at least that's what ABC News found out when it wanted to see if children might have fewer biases than adults when presented with the riddle. See if you know the answer.

A Physician's Myth Debunking Quest
Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier isn't your average researcher or physician. He's part myth buster, part statistician and complete unconventional thinker. And you're probably even familiar with his work. His studies are like a best-sellers list of practical health advice. Equating cell phone use and driving to drunk driving? He was the first to do that. The New York Times has a great profile of this healthy skeptic.

High Fructose Corn Syrup's New Name
These days it's hard not to feel sorry for the corn industry, especially considering all the bad press it gets for high fructose corn syrup. Even some food safety advocates think the sugary substance has gotten a bad rap for probably being no worse than sugar (see what our Healthy Skeptic had to say about HFCS). That's why the corn industry's effort to rename HFCS "corn sugar" may get traction.

Thanks to processed food, most of us get too much sugar. Here’s how to spot added sugar on food labels.

As H1N1 flu marches across college campuses this fall, students are hearing a simple message about how to protect themselves: Wash your hands. But getting them to comply may be far more complicated.

During an infectious disease outbreak at a Canadian university in 2006, researchers found that students frequently failed to clean their hands before going into the cafeteria--even though there was a hand sanitizer and poster by the door instructing them not to enter unless they washed up. According to the study, which appears in the current issue of the Journal of Environmental Health, 83% of the students said they practiced proper hand hygiene. Yet they actually did so less than 20% of the time.

The researchers say one problem is that the "wash your hands" messages posted on campus weren't compelling enough. So how do you get students' attention? Gross them out. At least that's what another study on hand-washing found. As this video shows, when messages such as, "You just peed, wash your hands," were posted in bathrooms at the University of Denver, hand-washing rates went up.

This kind of in-your-face approach isn't limited to hygiene messages. It's also being used in Great Britain to warn kids about the dangers of texting while driving. Police in Wales have produced a gory video, which has become a YouTube sensation, showing a deadly accident caused by a teen texter.

Health officials in New York City are also trying to shock people--
in this case adults -- with posters on subways. A picture shows disgusting globs of fat pouring from a soda bottle, along with the message "Don't drink yourself fat." The campaign, which will run through the fall, aims to get people to cut back on soda and other sugary beverages.

Not all health educators agree that provoking shock and disgust is an effective way to change behavior. But if the result is that even a few more students wash their hands or put away their cell phones in the car, it's worth the effort. At the very least, it makes those health messages a lot more entertaining.