Category Archives: Health

Health

Hand sanitizer now more common than the cold

Since the recent pandemic of swine flu, I’ve started to notice that hand sanitizer dispensers popping up everywhere: malls (like he one shown here recently installed at Queen K mall in Kahului), airports, train stations, restrooms, schools and even gas stations around the world.

Once found only in hospitals, hand sanitizer dispensed from plastic orbs of various colors now almost as common as the cold. The idea for people to clean their hands more often than washing alone in order to break the transmission of contagious diseases, such as cold and flu. The alcohol-based gel kills most bacteria and viruses on contact, thereby preventing the spread of illness.

But viruses and bacteria are smart and highly successful. In response to doctors giving out antiobiotics to treat viral infections, we created super drug-resistant bacteria that now plague hospitals and clinics.

Is it possible that we are making the same mistake again with hand sanitizer in our quest to live germ-free and helping to create super strains of these critters?

Health

F as in Fat in 2009: Hawaii ranks 5th lowest in nation for adult obesity

The Trust for America’s Health released its annual report of obesity and overweight rankings of US states. In F as in Fat: 2009, Hawaii fared well at 5th lowest in the nation for adult obesity at 21.8%. But the news is not so good for Hawaii’s children. Hawaii ranks 37th in nation for overweight kids, at 28.5%. Worryingly across the US, the percentage of obese and overweight children is at or above 30 percent in 30 states, according to the report. Adult obesity rates now exceed 25 percent in 31 states. Rates are highest among Baby Boomers, suggesting this trend may worsen with age.

Belly fat (or abdominal or central obesity) is the most dangerous kind of fat

The report cites three main reasons for the crisis: Continue reading F as in Fat in 2009: Hawaii ranks 5th lowest in nation for adult obesity →

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Fat and Happy Together?

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A  study published recently in the journal Obesity shows that people in romantic relationships are more likely to become fat. The researchers analyzed two large sets of data to spot the correlation. They found that couples who lived together for two or more years were more likely to overeat at meal times, exercise less and plop down on the couch more than singles or people not living with a romantic partner. So is there now hard evidence to back up the cliche of being fat and happy?

Fat and happy together?

There’s certainly data showing we’re getting fatter as a state and nation. Hawaii has one of the highest rates of obesity in the US. In 2004 (the latest State data), the State Department of Health reports that 49.5% of people living in Hawaii are either overweight or obese. In case you weren’t following, that’s half the population here. Worse, obesity rates in Hawaii have been increasing over the past ten years, just like those on the Mainland. The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that in 2007, 21.7% of Hawaii residents were obese (excluding those who are overweight).

There’s also data to suggest that people may be happier with their relationships. CDC divorce statistics show that the divorce rate has decreased over the past ten years, down to 3.6 per 1,000 people in 2007 from 4.0 per 1,000 people in 2000 — just as the obesity rate has increased.

In Hawaii, divorce trends are equally rosy, with the rates declining to under 3.7 per 1,000 people in 2002 (The last year reported — Hawaii and a few other states no longer report divorce data to the CDC.) However, marriage rates are also declining, making it slightly more complicated to tease out why there are now fewer divorces in the US. But recent data suggest that when couples move in and get fat, they tend to stay together — right there on the couch in front of the TV with some ice cream.