UK, ARH planning efforts against high rate of heart-disease deaths and limited availability of proper food in Perry County

The death rate from heart disease is nearly twice as high in Perry County (Wikipedia map) as in Kentucky as a whole, so there's no better time than now to announce that the University of Kentucky Medical Center is close to finalizing a three-year agreement with Hazard Appalachian Regional Healthcare Medical Center to provide continuing care, outreach and education to local physicians and county residents, including more and better information about heart-healthy food choices. Bailey Richards of the Hazard Herald reports that this last task is daunting, particularly since availability of good food is an issue in remote parts of the county.

Richards writes that a 2011 study of the heart-healthy food options in Perry County "showed that the area severely lacks low-fat and low-sodium options." Kevin Luley, a registered nurse at the UK Medical Center and winner of the "Heart Health in Rural Kentucky" grant, surveyed all of the restaurants and grocery stores in Perry County and found that most do not have many off-the-shelf options for a healthy diet. Of all of the items available at the restaurants in Perry County, fewer than 6 percent were considered healthy. (Residents can consult their own smartphones for that information. It should also be posted or available upon request.) Of a standard list of produce items, on average only 60 percent were found at the local grocery stores, Luley found. (Read more)

The death rate from heart disease is nearly twice as high in Perry County (Wikipedia map) as in Kentucky as a whole, so there's no better time than now to announce that the University of Kentucky Medical Center is close to finalizing a three-year agreement with Hazard Appalachian Regional Healthcare Medical Center to provide continuing care, outreach and education to local physicians and county residents, including more and better information about heart-healthy food choices. Bailey Richards of the Hazard Herald reports that this last task is daunting, particularly since availability of good food is an issue in remote parts of the county.

Richards writes that a 2011 study of the heart-healthy food options in Perry County "showed that the area severely lacks low-fat and low-sodium options." Kevin Luley, a registered nurse at the UK Medical Center and winner of the "Heart Health in Rural Kentucky" grant, surveyed all of the restaurants and grocery stores in Perry County and found that most do not have many off-the-shelf options for a healthy diet. Of all of the items available at the restaurants in Perry County, fewer than 6 percent were considered healthy. (Residents can consult their own smartphones for that information. It should also be posted or available upon request.) Of a standard list of produce items, on average only 60 percent were found at the local grocery stores, Luley found. (Read more)

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Study finds kids get more fat and calories when they eat out

Nobody's surprised to hear what researchers have now quantified: When children eat out, they take in more calories and fat than they would have at home. It doesn't matter if they're sitting down or driving through, at a fancy restaurant or at a McDonald's, we're not doing them any nutritional favors when we get in the car to go eat.

Jon Bardin of the Los Angeles Times reports that a study, published Monday in the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that 2- to 11-year olds average an extra 126 calories when they eat a fast-food meal and 12- to 19-year-olds add an average of 309 calories. Full-service restaurants could added an average of 160 and 267 for the two age groups, respectively. And a lot of those calories were of the empty-nutrition kind that come from sugary drinks; kids in the study drank significantly more of those while dining out than when eating at home. (Getty Images photo)

In their report, writes Bardin, the authors argue that government intervention likely will be required to see any improvement: “Public policies that aim to reduce restaurant consumption -- such as increasing the relative costs of these purchases; limiting access through zoning, particularly around schools; limiting portion sizes; and limiting exposure to marketing -- deserve serious consideration.” (Read more)

Nobody's surprised to hear what researchers have now quantified: When children eat out, they take in more calories and fat than they would have at home. It doesn't matter if they're sitting down or driving through, at a fancy restaurant or at a McDonald's, we're not doing them any nutritional favors when we get in the car to go eat.

Jon Bardin of the Los Angeles Times reports that a study, published Monday in the medical journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, found that 2- to 11-year olds average an extra 126 calories when they eat a fast-food meal and 12- to 19-year-olds add an average of 309 calories. Full-service restaurants could added an average of 160 and 267 for the two age groups, respectively. And a lot of those calories were of the empty-nutrition kind that come from sugary drinks; kids in the study drank significantly more of those while dining out than when eating at home. (Getty Images photo)

In their report, writes Bardin, the authors argue that government intervention likely will be required to see any improvement: “Public policies that aim to reduce restaurant consumption -- such as increasing the relative costs of these purchases; limiting access through zoning, particularly around schools; limiting portion sizes; and limiting exposure to marketing -- deserve serious consideration.” (Read more)

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