Canadians May Not Be As Healthy As They Think
Misperceptions about personal eating and exercise habits may be putting Canadians at risk for chronic disease -

TORONTO, April 14 /CNW/ - Spring is in the air, and instead of cleaning the house, a new survey shows Canadians should be thinking about sprucing up their daily routine. The survey, conducted on behalf of the Canadian Diabetes Association, shows Canadians may not be as healthy as they think, and could be leaving themselves at risk for chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes. The survey reveals a gap between Canadians' knowledge about healthy lifestyle behaviours and their willingness to adopt such behaviours. While Canadians recognize a healthy lifestyle as attributable to several factors - including physical exercise (97 per cent), healthy eating (95 per cent), and reducing stress (93 per cent) - they are not putting this knowledge into
action. Disturbingly, fewer than four-in-ten Canadians (37 per cent) said the threat of a serious illness would motivate them to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

"The good news is that a majority of Canadians would be more motivated to make healthy changes by learning the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, rather than the risks of an unhealthy lifestyle," says Sharon Zeiler, Senior Manager, Nutrition Initiatives and Strategies, Canadian Diabetes Association. "It's time for Canadians to take a serious look at their habits and determine where they can improve; small changes to diet and exercise today can mean a healthier future for themselves and their families."

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT

According to the survey, Canadians understand the importance of eating well for overall health, with more than half (52 per cent) acknowledging that they should eat five to 10 servings of vegetables and fruits (as listed in Canada's Food Guide) each day. However, only one-in-five (22 per cent) are actually getting this many servings. Interestingly, more than a quarter of Canadians think their diet is as healthy as it needs to be. Of those who thought they could improve their diet, lack of willpower and lack of time were the top two reasons for not doing so.

MOVE IT OR LOSE IT

The survey reveals that Canadians believe it's necessary to have an average of 20 minutes of exercise, at least five days per week, as opposed to the 30 to 60 minutes as recommended by Canada's Physical Activity Guide. However, when asked about their personal fitness habits, less than one-third (27 per cent) of Canadians are meeting the goal of five days per week. Although Canadians know what it takes to be fit and healthy, most are not willing to increase the amount of activity they are currently doing. Nearly one-in-five Canadians say they are already doing everything they can, and another 20 per cent claim they are too busy to get more exercise.

PREVENTING CHRONIC DISEASE

"Eating healthy and getting physical activity every day are an important part of staying healthy and preventing chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes," says Zeiler. "Canadians have some of the knowledge they need about healthy lifestyle behaviours - and now is the time to take action." Here are five easy tips that can help Canadians spring into action with a healthier lifestyle:

1. Eat Smart - Following Canada's Food Guide for healthy eating is a sure-fire way to ensure you're getting the necessary amount of vegetables, fruit, grains and other healthy foods that you need.

2. Get a Move On - Regular physical activity can help lower blood glucose levels, promote weight loss, reduce stress and enhance your overall level of fitness and health.

3. Stress Less - Try to avoid stressful situations as much as possible, and take time for activities that help you relax.

4. Ask for Help - Visit your doctor or dietician and ask how you can improve your health through simple lifestyle modifications.

5. Go Beyond the Basics- Visit diabetes.ca to access the Canadian Diabetes Association's new Beyond the Basics resource - a tool that can help you get on track to implement healthy lifestyle behaviours and prevent chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes.

Body Fat Location Indicates Serious Health Risk
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/April2008/21/c7797.html?view=print

Discovering where people can 'pinch an inch' means the difference between long, healthy lives and life-threatening disease

VANCOUVER, April 21 /CNW/ - Recent studies published in The Scientific American and The New England Journal of Medicine show a very high correlation between certain body shapes and debilitating health afflictions. Depending on where the largest concentration of body fat is found, patients are susceptible to everything from heart attacks, to dementia, to infertility.

"Belly fat in midlife can mean a higher risk of dementia in later life, and an apple-shape can mean a higher risk of heart disease and high-cholesterol," says Bodycomp Imaging Owner Peter Schwagly. "This is important information for people to know. Post-menopausal women should also be measuring their fat distribution to make sure they're counteracting the dangers of muscle loss and fat gain."

Bodycomp Imaging - a Vancouver firm specializing in DXA scanning - is able to determine how much fat, bone and muscle mass is distributed throughout the body. The scanner takes a 'low energy x-ray' of patients' limbs and torsos; providing information necessary to reduce the risk of disease, diabetes, high-blood pressure and obesity.

Patients are then provided with a readout showing exactly where the highest concentration of fat can be found. "We've always known that fat causes health concerns, but we never realized so much can be learned from where that fat is," says Schwagly.

Caring For Each Other Will Save Environment
Friday, 18 April 2008
http://www.catholicregister.org/content/view/1749/856/
Written by Kimberly Stinson, Catholic Register Special,

Fr. Pier Giorgio di Cicco
TORONTO - The Earth needs to be treated as a sacrament given to each other because “time is running out,” said Fr. Pier Giorgio di Cicco.

“Time is running out... We cannot save the environment until we have returned to the ecology of the heart,” said di Cicco, the former Poet Laureate of Toronto who was keynote speaker at the Greening Sacred Spaces Forum April 12 on the campus of the University of Toronto. “Human nature has been re-engineered away from civic care. Our task is to restore this situation,” said di Cicco. Environmental restoration gains momentum not just through greening buildings, but through building community, he said. At the heart of communities are sacred spaces.

Faith and the Common Good hosted the one-day forum, which included speeches by di Cicco and Green Party leader Elizabeth May, as well as a number of workshops. Faith and the Common Good is a national interfaith network affiliated with the Toronto School of Theology. Its Greening Sacred Spaces program provides guidance to communities who want to make their space green and sustainable.

“All sacred spaces have an eco-footprint whether we like to think about it or not. Energy efficiency has not traditionally been on the list in parishes when discussing priorities,” said May. Katharine Vansittart of Faith and the Common Good pointed out how Scarboro Missions has worked hard to become a sustainable space, doing a retrofit for which it won a 2008 Greening Sacred Spaces award.

“Scarboro Mission has been one of the most effective at retrofitting their space,” said Vansittart. Questions were raised at the workshops about practical energy efficiency, better land use practices, green renovations with limited funding and grant applications. In some cases, the church building is more than 100 years old and sustainability has also become a matter of survival.

“Most communities want to save money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said Tim Christie, program manager of GreenSaver, Toronto’s only independent non-profit dedicated to environmental energy efficiency.

When churches consider how to upgrade space, Christie opts for retro-fits. “As much as I love green energy, it is not as cost effective as upgrading right now. Lighting is the biggest electrical load and the easiest upgrade opportunity.”

He pointed out that, for one of his projects, after replacing the two 15-volt incandescent bulbs in each of the church’s 25 exit signs with LED bulbs, the church saved $550 of the $600 spent on the signs each year.

Christie encouraged faith communities to start tracking their utilities and pursue grant funding. While grant applications are time consuming to fill out, he believes it is well worth the effort.

Di Cicco believes that survival, sustainability and community go hand in hand. “My gospel is simply the gospel of civil encounter. Anonymity is as toxic to the human heart as carbon is to the atmosphere,” he said.

(Stinson is a freelance writer in Belleville, Ont.)

Washing Produce Doesn't Remove Bacteria: Report
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080410
Thu. Apr. 10 2008
CTV.ca News Staff

Washing fruits and vegetables with water is not enough to remove common bacteria that can cause severe illness, a new report says. The researchers injected food-borne bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella into vegetables and then tried various common ways to clean them, including water and a sodium hypochlorite treatment. Both the water and the chemical solution did not significantly reduce the bacteria levels. Only irradiation killed 99.9 per cent of harmful bacteria. Irradiation is an electron beam that alters a cell's genetic material, thereby killing harmful parasites, germs and insects.

The research, conducted by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said that bacteria can sometimes be hard to wash away. "When bacteria are protected -- whether they're inside a leaf or inside a biofilm -- they're not going to be as easy to kill," Brendan A. Niemira, the study director and a microbiologist with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, said in a statement.

"This is the first study to look at the use of irradiation on bacteria that reside inside the inner spaces of a leaf or buried within a biofilm." However, irradiation is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and there is some concern that it compromises nutritional values.

But advocates say that using irradiation on fresh fruits and vegetables could help reduce incidence rates of food-borne illnesses. Salmonella and E. coli can cause severe vomiting and diarrhea. Fruits and vegetables can become contaminated because they are usually grown outdoors, where they can be exposed to germs from animals, soil, manure and irrigation water.

The study was presented Thursday at an American Chemical Society meeting in New Orleans.

Hand Gels Alone May Not Curb Infections
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080130
The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. -- Doctors and nurses on the go often skip soap and water in favor of an alcohol-based hand gel, thinking the quick-acting goo will kill bacteria on their hands and curb the spread of infection. It turns out that's not enough. In a Nebraska hospital, medical workers nearly doubled their use of the alcohol-based gel, but their generally cleaner hands had no bearing on the rate of infections among patients.

The doctor who studied the problem pointed to many villains: Rings and fingernails that are too long and hard to clean, poor handling of catheters and treatment areas that aren't sanitized. "Hand hygiene is still important, but it's not a panacea," said Dr. Mark Rupp, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He led the study at the adjoining Nebraska Medical Center.

The results of his study appear to contradict hospital guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that say better hand hygiene -- through frequent washing or use of hand gels -- has been shown to cut the spread of hospital infections.