Thursday, August 9, 2007

Crazy Lives

A couple of thoughts for the day:

Most people spend the first half of their lives sacrificing their health in order to make money, and then in the second half of their lives they spend small fortunes trying to get healthy again.

From a Malaysian friend:
'We borrow money we don't have, to buy things that we don't need, to impress people that we don't like!

Crazy Lives

A couple of thoughts for the day:

Most people spend the first half of their lives sacrificing their health in order to make money, and then in the second half of their lives they spend small fortunes trying to get healthy again.

From a Malaysian friend:
'We borrow money we don't have, to buy things that we don't need, to impress people that we don't like!'

Gender Bender Chemicals Exposure Widespread

Most people are exposed to a wide variety of 'gender bender' chemicals which mimic the female hormones and cause a variety of health problems. In recent years there has been an unexpected drop in the ratio of male births in the USA and Japan - up to a quarter of a million less boys over the last 30 years. Now scientists are linking this to our exposure to hormone-mimicing chemicals in food and cleaning products.

These pollutants include pesticides, dioxin, methyl mercury and bisphenol A. Seafood and fish oil is particular problem because pollutants dumped into rivers and the sea are accumulated and concentrated in fish - especially those nearer the top of the food chain. Food containers are another problem. Bisphenol A is used in food and drink cans, as well as in dental cements. Levels of Bisphenol A were found to be three times higher in women who suffered miscarriages and disfunctino of the ovaries than in other women.

Another group of chemicals, nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), are widespread in detergents and cleaning products. These are potent endocrine disruptors and are thought to be responsible for the phenomenon of male fish turning into female fish which is observed in waterways throughout the world. European and Canadian regulators have banned NPEs in domestic laundry detergents and other cleaning agents, but they are still widespread elsewhere.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Children aged 3-5 Brainwashed by Fast Food Advertizing

A study of 63 children aged 3-5 in California has revealed the power of advertizing to affect young minds. When presented with identical foods, most children said that it tasted better when presented in a McDonalds wrapper.

"This study demonstrates simply and elegantly that advertising literally brainwashes young children into a baseless preference for certain food products," said Dr. David Katz, the director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.

Although children this young don't have pocket money, the marketing world still targets them recognizing the impact of 'pester power' on parental decisions. This research, reported in Forbes.com, indicated that a third of the children ate at McDonalds at least once a week. More than half the kids had a TV in their rooms.

Lessons to learn:
  • Don't give young kids a TV in their bedroom
  • If they are already brainwashed, try wrapping their fresh fruit and veggies in McDonalds wrappers