An interesting article from the University of Sydney highlights what we at Caveman Power have been advocating for some time now.

From the article:

The global epidemic of Type 2 diabetes is an indicator of serious underlying issues in our society, says a University medical expert.

“People think of this as an issue of individual responsibility - you’re overweight, you’ve got diabetes, it’s your fault. But it just isn’t,” said Associate Professor Bruce Neal.

“You are overweight because you live in a society that make it easy for you to be overweight, that bombards you with advertising about the wrong kinds of foods, that doesn’t make it easy for you to lose weight,” said Professor Neal.

More than 250 million people worldwide have Type 2 diabetes, and the numbers are growing rapidly. Most will eventually die or be disabled by the complications.

“Diabetes is an indicator of serious underlying issues in our society,” he added. “We have to get governments much more engaged in addressing the reasons why we have this epidemic. Unless they take a more active role it is not going to go away. It is not going to get better. In fact it is going to get much worse.”

The global study followed 11,140 people for four and a half years. They were recruited from more 200 centres in 20 countries around the world.

“Type 2 diabetes is a massive problem around the world, and on average, someone with diabetes lives 5 to 10 years less than someone who doesn’t have Type 2 diabetes. It causes a huge economic burden, and in particular the complications that we were preventing in this study are a major cost to the health system.

And now for my opinion:

Firstly, we need to educate people about Diabetes prevention.  This however, is no small task - considering it’s at direct opposition to multi-million dollar corporations who have the best marketing (propaganda) tools at their disposal.

Additionally, the grain industry is massively subsidised by the government (which is of little surprise considering the export dollars garnished) and grains are a big part of the diabetes equation.

Some people may ask; Why should we educate the people?  Aren’t they already aware they’re eating junk, it’s just a willpower thing?

The answer is NO!  Junk food is being heavily marketed as health food.  For example; Cereal, Low-Fat Yoghurt, Muesli Bars etc.

This is not a case of willpower, it’s a case of deliberate profiteering by large corporations who absolutely refuse to acknowledge any link with Diabetes.

So how do we educate the people?  The answer lays somewhere between “guerilla media” and ”tell a friend”.

To educate yourself, search diabetes on Google.  Learn to think for yourself - do not automatically give trust to whatever the billboards or TV ads are telling you.

I’m not even asking you to trust me - that’s up to you.  Do the research and find out for yourself… empower yourself.

Feel free to challenge me or ask me questions in the comments section below - we may all learn something.

Link to full article: The University of Sydney

Recent research by the NSW Centre for Overweight & Obesity COO discovered this advertisement by Mainland.

“It  appears  to  us  that Mainland’s  compliance with  advertising restrictions is as dubious as the nutritional content of their snack!” stated Bridget Kelly in her article in the Prevention Research Centres Newsletter.

I agree with Bridget, and although I am not in favour of excessive government restrictions on advertising, I am in favour of creating awareness about the deceitful nature of some food corporations.

I would like to see a day were consumers are empowered with enough knowledge about health, that it renders unscrupulous food advertising impotent.  And I believe the starting point is you and me, right now… vote with your wallet, and put these advertising tricks out of commission.

Source: COO Prevention Research Centres Newsletter

The NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition have released a report outlining the recent rends in obesity related behaviors.  It clearly shows that children’s intake of high-sugar foods and drinks have risen sharply.

What is particularly interesting is that the consumption of high-sugar foods and drinks has risen substantially for children, and not for adults.

So what could cause an increase for children, and not for adults? Well to me the answer is dreadfully clear; marketing.

The article supports this assertion;

“Similarly, advertising pressures, access to appropriate food choices, school food policies, nutrition information and labelling all potentially influence food selection.

In Australian society today there is also a large commercial drive to promote products that contribute to obesogenic behaviours (food is the most advertised product on television). The economic imperative (ie profits) behind these promotions creates a challenge…”

Remember this every time you go shopping;  Food corporations do NOT care about you or your children’s health.  They exist for one reason only; to make money.

Full Report is here: NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition

A recent study by the NSW Centre for Overweight & Obesity has revealed an alarming trend in their comparison of children’s viewing hours versus non-children’s viewing hours.

<< Click on the image (left) to see a detailed view.

Here are more disturbing facts from the report;

• The frequency of advertisements for sugared drinks was more than twice as high during children’s viewing hours compared with non-children’s viewing hours.
• The viewing period with the highest proportion of food advertisements for high fat/high sugar foods was during weekend children’s viewing times. During this time, high fat/high sugar advertisements comprised 52.7% of all food advertisements.

Food corporations are profiting at the expense of children’s health.  And the government guidelines for regulation clearly lack efficacy. But we can fight back by hurting unscrupulous food corporations where it hurts most; their net profit.  Every time we choose a healthy product over a non-healthy product - we take the power back.

Sources: The NSW Centre for Overweight and Obesity

According to Professor Kathryn North from the University of Sydney, a gene variation commonly found in endurance athletes most likely evolved as humans moved out of warm, food-rich environments to colder and harsher conditions, new research shows.

The variant form of the gene ACTN3, commonly found in endurance athletes, is also associated with more efficient muscle metabolism. Authors conclude that ACTN3, the original “sprinters” gene, has evolved over millions of years to equip humans to cope with changing and more hostile environments.

“There is a fascinating link between factors that influence survival in ancient humans and the factors that contribute to athletic abilities in modern man,” said Professor North.

Her discovery was that variations of the gene provided an important guide to whether an elite athlete has ability to be a power sprinter or an endurance performer.

In its most common variation, which accounts for about 80% of the Australian population, ACTN3 encodes for a protein called alpha-actinin-3. This is the protein which is found only in fast-twitch muscle fibres and is responsible for the explosive bursts of power necessary for successful sprinters or track cyclists. Among elite power athletes the alpha-actinin-3 protein is nearly always present.

Those with the variant form of the gene, about 20 per cent of the population, do not make the alpha-actinin-3 protein. Among elite endurance athletes - marathon runners and rowers - the variant form of the gene is more common.

Researchers developed a strain of mice that were completely deficient in alpha-actinin-3. They found the muscle metabolism of the mice without the actinin protein was more efficient: the mice were able to run, on average, 33 per cent further before reaching exhaustion than mice with the normal ACTN3 gene.

To answer the question as to why the variation occurred they looked at DNA samples from 96 individuals from around the world.

“Most Africans have alpha-actinin-3, it’s the normal ancestral state. But as you move into European and Asian populations there is a marked increase in the number of people without the protein. In some Asian populations that number reaches 40 per cent, or even higher in some isolated populations,” she said.

She believes the switch to more efficient metabolism is likely to have occurred due to natural selection during the last Ice Age, when humans began moving out of the food-rich areas of Africa into colder, harsher environments.

Source: University of Sydney

Not long after writing my previous post about food labelling andlow-fat Vs high-sugar food, comes this article;

“Health experts have joined forces to lobby political parties on childhood obesity in the lead-up to the federal election.

VicHealth, the Cancer Council, and Diabetes Victoria have launched the Obesity Policy Coalition.

Its election agenda includes calls for a GST on high-sugar breakfast cereals, an overhaul of food labelling laws, and a ban on the marketing of unhealthy food to children.

Spokeswoman Jane Martin says they want to see a “traffic light” labelling system on all foods that shows green, orange or red symbols to indicate the levels of sugar, salt and saturated fat.

“Often products which are say 98 per cent fat free - which might be seen on confectionery - are very high in sugar, so we think it’s useful for people to see the whole story about the key nutrients,” she said.

“What consumers want to know about is fat, salt and sugar, often things that aren’t highlighted on the front of packs, particularly if they’re in high levels.”

The group is also calling for a mandatory “traffic light” colour coding system in place on food packages in Australia.

Red labels on a package would indicate a high level of fat, salt or sugar, yellow would indicate medium levels and green labels would be for low levels.  A similar system is being trialled by some supermarkets and manufacturers in Britain.

Ms Martin said the colour code system would make it easy for people to put the fat, sugar and salt in a food into context.

“We want to see a mandatory simple scheme that consumers understand that outlines the key elements of products including sugar, salt and fat,” she said.

“It gives them a better understanding of what’s in the food. If it’s 90 per cent fat free they will know it’s high in sugar. And that’s the kind of information that’s currently missing.”

But a spokeswoman for Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott said the Government did not have any plans to impose new taxes.

The head of Diabetes Australia (Victoria), Greg Johnson, said thousands of Australian children were growing fat on “junk food dressed up as breakfast cereals”.

Sources: www.abc.net.au - canberra.yourguide.com.au - www.theage.com.au

A survey of 18,486 secondary school students at 322 schools across all Australian states except Western Australia has found that a significant proportion of students fall short of current, national dietary and physical activity recommendations for teenagers.

Study author Dr Victoria White, from the Centre for Behavioural Research in Cancer at The Cancer Council Victoria, said the survey found that only 20% of students were meeting the daily requirement of four serves of vegetables while 39% were eating the recommended three daily serves of fruit.

“Our survey found consumption of unhealthy/non-core foods was high, with 46% of students having fast food meals at least twice a week, 51% eating snack foods four or more times per week, and 44% having high-energy drinks four or more times per week.

“We found that only 14% of students engaged in recommended levels of physical activity and about 70% exceeded recommended levels of sedentary behaviour,” she said.

The Cancer Council Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Professor Ian Olver, said the survey was an important new piece of evidence showing why obesity levels in Australia more than doubled between the mid-1980s and the mid-’90s.

“Obesity and overweight are important causes of cancer and, unless current trends in child and adolescent obesity are turned around, will have an unprecedented impact on future cancer incidence and mortality in Australia,” Professor Olver said.

“Government-backed measures to better research the problem of obesity and encourage healthier eating and more physical activity are likely to be far more effective if they are not competing with multimillion dollar advertising campaigns promoting unhealthy food,” he said.

“The results of this survey, combined with the growing evidence that food marketing reform is the most cost-effective intervention to reduce childhood and adolescent obesity, emphasise the need for government to restrict junk food advertising as part of a comprehensive approach to reducing tomorrow’s cancer burden through improved nutrition and physical activity in today’s 12 to 17 year olds.”

Source: http://www.cancervic.org.au/

My opinion:
A glaring point to be seen here is this; mass marketing has a lot to answer for.  Junk food advertising is a culprit but the real enemy is the food companies that advertise their products as being healthy, when they’re anything but healthy.

One example of the lie tactics food corporations use is the misleading labels found on breakfast cereal cartons, while another example is the use of low-fat labeling, which attempts to convince the consumer that the product is healthy because it contains little fat, when often the product is high in sugar, which is arguably more dangerous.

It is difficult (perhaps impossible) for a government to regulate advertising because marketing forces are able to execute their art with such diverse subtly i.e. suggestive advertising.  Quite often an advertisement for food doesn’t mention anything about ingredients, and instead focuses on the Freudian-like status that comes with purchasing the product.  So given this vague (but effective) style of marketing, it is clearly impossible for a government to regulate advertising - there’s simply too many grey areas.

I personally feel that regulation is not an ethical means anyway; who gets to say what information is withheld?

I propose a revolt against modern marketing forces, by individuals.  The first step being awareness; realising that food companies exist to make money, period.  Secondly, we need to educate ourselves about nutrition, learn about what we put in our mouth and how it effects us.  And thirdly; we need to vote with our wallet and NOT buy the junk that food companies are passing off as healthy food.

Each of us can take the fight into our own hands, and send a clear message to irresponsible food companies that says; “you won’t fool me again!”

Recent studies, published in Personality and Individual Differences, asked over 400 British men and women to judge digitally altered pictures of male faces made to look more masculine or feminine.

The participants were asked to predict personality traits including sexual behaviour and parenting skills based on what they saw.

The findings reported that women see ‘masculine’ men as unsuitable long-term partners.

Conversely, men with feminine facial features are seen as more committed and less likely to cheat on their partners.

Men with masculine faces, with features such as a square jaw, larger nose and smaller eyes, were classed as significantly more dominant, less faithful, worse parents and as having personalities that were less warm, compared to their ‘feminine’ counterparts, who had finer facial features with fuller lips, wide eyes and thinner, more curved eyebrows.

The scientists say the research backs up earlier research about masculinity and perceptions of personality and gives further insight into what people see in others when choosing potential partners.

The survey also found that faces which appeared healthier, for instance those with better complexion, were seen as more desirable in terms of all personality traits compared to those who looked unhealthy. Similarly, older faces were generally viewed more positively compared to younger ones.

Professor David Perrett from St Andrews University adds: “Our research also found that it is men’s health that conveys all round good qualities for partnership and personality. Our results contradict claims that machismo denotes fitness and disease immunity. Masculinity may buy you dominance but not necessarily tip top physical condition. Instead women see a healthy guy as the source of wealth, and fit for family life.”

The research in this topic continues through web sites and the public can both take part in experiments and find more information about ongoing research at: www.boothlab.org; www.Perceptionlab.com; http://www.faceresearch.org/

Source: http://www.dur.ac.uk/

From the article:
The number of Chinese children under 14 suffering from diabetes has almost tripled over the past 25 years, research has found.

A survey undertaken by the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai showed that between 1997 and 2000, the ratio of children suffering from the disease in the city was 1.7 per 100 thousand. A similar survey conducted in the 1980s put the ratio at just 0.61 per 100 thousand.

The causes of diabetes is complex. Medical experts believe an unbalanced diet, failure of the autoimmune system and environmental factors are involved.

My opinion:
It is little surprise that modern diseases such as Diabetes propagate in countries that adopt Modern Western lifestyles.  We hear a lot in the news about China’s emerging economy, but we hear very little about the health conditions that accompany this boom.

“Medical experts have theorised that the cause of the rising Diabetes epidemic is due to environmental and diet factors.”

If the inhabitants of China continue the adoption a sedentary lifestyle, rich in grains and sugars, it is very likely they’ll also experience the accompanying modern diseases.

One can only hope that China has the fortitude and wisdom to deal with Diabetes better than their western counterparts.

Source: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/

The Moats have stated:

We are walking for the American Diabetes Association. We are hoping to raise awareness of the following:

A.  The Dangers of Diabetes
      1.  High Blood Pressure
      2.  Heart Disease
      3.  Stroke
      4.  High Cholesterol
      5.  More Prone to Infections

B.  The Necessity of Good Exercise Habits
      1.  Walking Reduces Blood Glucose Levels
      2.  Proper Diet Helps Control Glucose Levels

We have two goals:
      1.  Raise $10,000 for the American Diabetes Assoc.
      2.  Raise $10,000 for our expenses on the walk

Our expenses will include gas for the motor home, food, and occasional lodging in motels to do laundry and just “recharge our batteries.”

Check out their website here http://www.c2c4ada.com/