A TV Star's Battle with Autism

It's amazing how certain health conditions become more prominent in the news when a celebrity is experiencing a health condition, such as Jenny McCarthy. Her 5 year old son was diagnosed with autism at the age of 2. Within the past 2 weeks I've seen Jenny McCarthy on magazine covers, Larry King Live, entertainment news shows, and numerous news report about her son's condition. The power of a celebrity can truly raise awareness within the public and I think Jenny is using her star status in a positive light; promoting autism awareness and also giving parents who's children are living with autism the hope that there are treatments, ways to cope, and still being able to live a happy normal life. This is a great example of shaping a health campaign for autism awareness.

Niners Win...Again 2-0

San Francisco defeats Seattle 09-16-07

Get Active: TV-campaign to get out of your chair

Soccer for Couch Potatoes

Week 4 - Formative Research Reviews

Week 4 of Health Communication....learned about "Wrong Reason" concept, which caught my attention since it basically means people change their health behavior not to directly improve their health, but for other reasons (i.e. Men going to the gym to show-off their "guns" aka biceps or six packs and women going to the gym not just to exercise, but to strut their stuff in skimpy little outfits looking as if they stepped out of a MAC store. HAHA. I guess it's a good thing, regardless of what they're wearing or how they chose to present themselves, but at least these people are actually at the gym. That's the first step right? I guess, but why do people have to try and prove so much to each other; can't they see that going to the gym, and really concentrating on their exercise routines are what is actually going to make them look and feel better than what they're wearing? I have to admit, when I actually did go to the gym (see I'm being truthful because I know my friends are going to read this and say "you haven't been to the gym in months") it was almost a nuisance to see people like that at the gym because it became more of a social hang-out. Guess Starbucks got too crowded. =)

This should make you think twice about eating fast food

Britney's So Called "Weight Problem"

Recently Britney Spears opened for the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas and was harshly criticized for her lack luster performance but also for her so called "weight problem". Apparently people actually think she's fat! What kind of message are we sending to our kids, especially girls who look up to the tween star who they've grown to love since her days as a Mousekateer. This leads to girls developing self image problems because society views women, such as Britney, as being fat and overweight. The outcome leads to developing bulemia, anorexia, abusing weight loss pills, or excessive exercising to loss the weight so girls can try and resemble their teen idols.

In honesty, I'm not a Britney Spears fan and she has had her recent ups and downs in her personal life, but to say she also has a weight problem is going overboard. I thought she looked great and I would love to look like her after having two kids. Hopefully young girls will realize images of skinny models and celebrities are just "images" and that there is a huge difference between television and reality.

You looked great Britney, but that performance...well that's a different story. Guess what happened in Vegas isn't going to stay in Vegas this time. It's ok Brit.....hey, at least she had enough common sense to dump K-Fed.

Week 2 - How Theory Shapes Health Campaigns

Week 2....so much information and articles to read for class it's no wonder I feel a little overwhelmed with my studies. Alas....I shall overcome my reading slump blues and truck on through.

What I found interesting in Monday's class was the group exercise on how to promote nutrition or physical activity to seniors or teens. Each group had a lot of interesting and different approaches to getting their target audience involved. I realized that a lot of the same channels can be used to promote messages to both high and low level participants of a potential program. As a health communicator, you've really got to be creative and think "outside the box" to grab your audience's attention. I think that's a huge challenge in trying to promote health programs. There are so many great community programs for the public, but too often they go unheard or underutilized because it's being directed to the wrong population, lack of promotion, not enough money, culture and language barriers, and/or insufficient funds to spread the word about health programs. How can we possibley fill in these gaps to make health programs successful? Guess the answer lies within us and how "we" can think "outside the box" to work together and fill in the missing pieces.

Remebering 9/11

I remember this day so well. At the time I lived in Long Beach, CA and my older brother worked in Wall Street right across the street from the 2 towers. It occurred when he was on his way to work and was riding the subway. It suddenly stopped and the passengers were told to evacuate. He and the other passengers ran outside to witness clouds of smoke and dust filling the air and took cover in a small convenience store. After both the towers collapsed, he along with everyone else had to walk back home. Like I said he worked in Wall Street but lived on 73rd Ave which was in the other side of town. There was no public transportation, no phone service, and no electricity for a few hours. Unlike many families who lost a loved one during that day, I am so thankful that my brother, as well as my friends and family members who lived in NY were safe from harm.

Niners Win 1st Game of the Season!!!

49ers beat Cardinals 20 to 17 at Monster Park.

Drunk Driving Prevention - Crashing Glasses

Hard to believe, but I was 6 yrs old when this ad first came out in 1983.

Entourage

This is one of my favorite commercials from Kaiser.

Funny video commercial - Smoking can damage your health

One more bite won't hurt.....or will it???

US News & World Report recently posted a study from the University of Sydney in Australia on their findings after 14 trial participants, all healthy and between the ages of 18 and 40, ate just one piece of high-fat carrot cake and drank a milkshake. That fat-laden feast compromised the ability of the participants' arteries to expand to increased blood flow. The sudden boost in the saturated fat reduced the effects of "good" cholesterol, aka HDL, from protecting the inner lining of the arteries from the build-up of fatty plaques. We've always known this in the back of our minds that fatty meals do have an immediate, negative effect of our heart health, but will we ever change our ways? Each time we sit with our families at dinner or co-workers during lunch and notice there is only one piece left of that juicy hamburger, steak, or fries; we want to eat it in order to not waste food. Unfortunately we tend to give in to our tendancies of "thinking we're still hungrey" after 2 servings. Where is the self control? Where are the little voices in our head telling us not to eat anymore? Apparently they're also on a break during snack time, lunch, and dinner. So what can we do to reduce our risks of heart disease?

The American Dietetic Association suggests cutting down on meat, full-fat milk and full-fat dairy products as a way to reduce saturated fat. Those foods are all major sources of saturated fat, as well as processed foods and snacks. The American Heart Association sets the bar for saturated fat at less than 7% of daily calories. Therefore, if your total calorie goal is 2,000/day (reasonable for moderately active adults) you should aim for no more than 20 g of saturated fat to keep your intake to 10%. While few people will take the time to add up their fat grams, doing so for a day or two can give you an idea of how you are doing.

Switching to low-fat or non-fat dairy products can minimize total saturated fat intake. It's important to read the Nutrition Facts labels.

Here are examples of good alternatives:
1 cup vanilla soft serve ice cream - 13.5g of saturated fat
Low fat ice cream bars - 1.5g of saturated fat

1 ounce of cheddar chess - 6g of saturated fat
1 ounce of part-skim mozzarella - 2.9g of saturated fat

3 oz Regular ground beef cooked (25% fat) - 6.1g of saturated fat
3 oz Extra lean ground beef cooked (5% fat) - 2.6g of saturated fat

1 cup whole milk (3.35%) - 4.6g of saturated fat
1 up low-fat milk (1%) - 1.5g of saturated fat

Learn more about saturated fats, visit the USDA Dietary Guidelines site.

Maybe these suggestions as well as the USDA Guidelines will help prevent us from eating that last piece of cake!