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Health Watch
Few children in U.S. get their shots on time
 

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Only 9 percent of U.S. children receive all vaccines at the recommended ages, according to a new study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Immunization Survey.

Timing of immunizations is important in preventing disease outbreaks, protecting the health of young children and minimizing the need to repeat doses.

The survey, which included more than 16,000 children, showed that households with multiple children, mothers under age 30 and the use of public-health services and multiple vaccine providers all increase the risk of missed or untimely vaccinations.

Go to www.aap.org and type in "immunization schedule" in the search field to see the American Academy of Pediatrics' Recommended Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule.

At the same location, you can see the academy's "Catch-Up Schedule" for infants, children or adolescents who started immunization late or who are at least one month behind schedule. Your child's doctor also can provide both schedules.

Students choose fats over fruits

Students in schools that sell high-fat foods in the lunchroom eat fewer fruits and vegetables than students in schools without those foods, according to a new study.

At middle schools where cafeterias sold fatty a la carte foods such as pizza as well as a nutritionally balanced lunch, students consumed more fat and nearly a serving a day less of fruits and vegetables, according to a study published June30 in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study of 16 schools in Minneapolis-St.Paul also found that children ate less fruit if their campus had snack vending machines.

To encourage students to make healthier food choices, the study's authors recommended policy changes and also charging less for healthy snacks than for fatty or sugary foods. Engaging parents, teachers, administrators and food-service workers in regular discussions about school food is important, they said.

On the Web: www.ajph.org, the American Journal of Public Health.

Tropical oils beat fat, researchers say

A blend of tropical oils used for cooking can fight fat and cholesterol, say researchers at McGill University in Montreal.

They've completed two studies on a cooking oil blend that includes 67 percent tropical oils, 13 percent olive oil, 6 percent coconut oil and 5percent flaxseed oil. Called Functional Oil, it was developed by McGill scientists.

The Functional Oil is composed of medium-chain triglycerides, while vegetable cooking oils have long-chain triglycerides. When a person consumes Functional Oil, it's directed toward the liver, where it's burned for energy. It heightens a person's metabolism.

The two studies included men and women about 25 pounds overweight. They ate a normal diet but used Functional Oil instead of other cooking oils.

The studies found that men using Functional Oil lost an average of 1 pound over a month. Women in the studies didn't lose weight but did experience heightened metabolic rates. Cholesterol levels in both the men and women dropped by an average of 13 percent.

On the Web: www.mcgill.ca/releases/ 2003/june/oil/.Campaign warns kids about sunburn dangers

What do kids know about sunburn? Not much. So the Sun Safety Alliance has launched a nationwide crusade to reach 10 million children by 2006.

Here's a chilling statistic: Eighty percent of lifetime sun exposure occurs before the age of 18. And another: One bad burn in childhood can double the risk of skin cancer decades later.

For more information, visit www.sunsafetyalliance.org.

— Jana John, The Courier-Journal

Sources: Health and Fitness News Service, HealthDay, Cox News Service, Newsday