Promoting your Health Through Sporting Activities

The fundamental right to health articulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946 remains integral to development today. This right is strongly reflected in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs ), the guiding international development framework adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2000, and the Human Development Index used to measure the progress of all nations against universal human development goals. Healthy human development is a necessary foundation for all development progress.
Without healthy populations, the achievement of development objectives will be out of reach. Good health is fundamental to the ability of individuals to realize their full human potential. It is also a crucially important economic asset. Low levels of health impede people’s ability to work and earn a living for themselves and their families. When someone becomes ill, an entire family can become trapped in a downward spiral of lost income and high health-care costs. 2 On a national scale, poor population health diminishes productivity and impedes economic growth, while investment in better health outcomes is generally seen as an investment in economic growth.
1.1 HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT : Fight for Peace participants receive training in boxing, wrestling and capoeira (a Brazilian martial art). These sports contribute to the health of young people and provide them with opportunities to earn respect from their peers in a safe and constructive environment, discouraging them from becoming involved in street gangs. Fight for Peace, Brazil Previous page: School girls participate in a stretching game designed to ensure physical activity is healthy, safe and enjoyable.
PREVENTING DISEASE AND PROMOTING HEALTH The close relationship between health and development is responsible for the prominence given to health in the MDGs
. Health is represented in three of the eight MDGs
: • MDG 4: Reduce child mortality; • MDG 5: Improve maternal health; and • MDG 6: Combat HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Health is also understood to be a contributing factor to achieving the remaining five MDGs , particularly those related to education, gender equality and the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.
Achieving the MDGs, however, remains a daunting challenge. If the trends observed since 2000 continue, most low-income countries will require additional resources and assistance to meet their health-related MDGs
. As Table 2.1 shows, the key health issues affecting low- and middle-income countries include, but also extend beyond, those set out in the MDGs . Efforts to address non-communicable diseases, violence, and injuries — and their determinants — are also urgently needed.

HOW SPORT T PREVENTING INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN THE BODY

The role of sport in preventing infectious disease Sport’s universal popularity, its power and reach as a communication platform, and its particular appeal to children and youth make it an ideal vehicle to inform, educate and mobilize populations to fight disease. While research has not yet caught up with current practice, and while evidence of sport’s impacts on health outcomes is only just emerging, sport’s capacity to attract and engage is undisputed, as is its communication power.
While sport is equally well-positioned to inform and educate people about infectious and non-infectious disease, it is currently used most often in connection with infectious disease. The discussion that follows highlights the different ways in which sport is being used to this end and some early lessons emerging from the field. Using elite sport as an educational platform Moving beyond its traditional entertainment role, sport is now recognized as having enormous potential as an informational and educational platform for health and development messages targeted to youth and adults alike.
Sport is unusually powerful in this regard. No other activity approaches the popularity sport enjoys, receives more intense media attention, or reaches more people on a global, regional or local level.
Sport’s advantages as a communication medium stem from the fact that it appeals to people on an emotional and personal level in a largely positive way (there are exceptions — sport-based racism, hooliganism and violence). 96 Sport also possesses an unsurpassed ability to reach broad sectors of populations, including marginalized groups which are difficult to reach by other means.
High-performance sport events have the ability to attract huge audiences. In 2002, more than one billion people worldwide were transfixed by a live broadcast of the final match of the FIFA World Cup between Brazil and Germany — the largest audience for a single event at that point in time. 98 Because of their global celebrity, high-performance athletes also wield enormous influence. Celebrated football player, Pélé, middle-distance runners Maria Mutola and HaileGebrselassie , tennis stars Roger Federer and Boris Becker, and many other athletes are increasingly using their popularity to advance development causes, as goodwill ambassadors or through their own aid activities. Regardless of where they live — in Brazil, Kenya, Bhutan or the Ukraine — children, in particular, identify with local and national sport heroes and strive to be like international stars such as Ronaldinho , David Beck ham and Michael Jordan, whose popularity transcends cultural and political borders.
The potential health impact of involving such athletes is perhaps best illustrated by the case of Earvin “Magic” Johnson, one of the world’s top basketball players and a hero to millions of youth worldwide. On November 7, 1991, Johnson told a news conference in Los Angeles that he had HIV and that he was withdrawing from active sport. Johnson’s announcement was a milestone in the fight against HIV and AIDS because it was the first time a sport superstar admitted openly to having HIV. The effects of Johnson’s announcement were profound.
He helped break the taboo in sport against speaking openly about HIV and AIDS. He also helped to challenge the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS, which can feed discrimination and impede prevention efforts. 100 Perhaps most importantly, his actions changed peoples’ perceptions about HIV and its prevention. As a result of Johnson’s announcement, awareness and accurate knowledge of HIV increased, 100,102,103 as did people’s desire to obtain more information about HIV and AIDS 104,105 Calls to AIDS hotlines , 106 and the number of people getting tested for HIV also increased. 107,108,109 In addition, studies showed an increased understanding of vulnerability to HIV among adults 110 and changes in high-risk behaviors.
In a survey administered to adolescent clinic attendees aged 12–19 in four U.S. cities, 60% of respondents reported that Magic Johnson’s announcement had increased their awareness of AIDS, 65.4% reported increased self-efficacy in a sexual situation, 37.2% reported that they had changed their perceptions around AIDS risks, and 37.8% described increased resistance to peer pressure for sexual intercourse. 112 This is just one example of the potential impact of celebrity athletes who serve as health spokespeople and role models. Fortunately, many athletes today are participating in international and national programs to help communicate health messages and combat stigma.

KNOW HOW TO USE SPORT TO REDUCE HEALTH RISK BEHAVIOURS

Using sport to reduce health risk behaviors Sport can be an effective way to reach out to people, especially youth, and to encourage healthy lifestyle behaviors that will help protect them against HIV and other diseases.
Sport can be used to empower children and youth by conveying appropriate prevention messages, teaching the skills necessary to establish and sustain healthy behavior patterns, and increasing their resilience in the face of life challenges. Prominent athletes and local coaches can be powerful role models in this respect, exerting a strong positive influence on the children and youth they reach.
Research has shown that regular interaction with a caring, non-related adult can help to protect youth against risk factors that might otherwise negatively influence their health and their future. 118 This is particularly important in communities where war, disease, or the need for parents to leave to find work, have left few positive adult role models in place. Caring, well-trained coaches can help fill a critical gap in this respect. Well-designed sport programs that educate, support and empower youth can also encourage positive behavior change by enhancing self-perception, imparting self-esteem, 119 and promoting more conscious care and respect among youth for their own bodies.
These critical dimensions of properly designed sport programs with health education components can help reduce the vulnerability of young people to substance abuse; premature, unprotected, or unwanted sexual activity; and the transmission of infectious disease through these activities. For more than ten years, the Center for Communication Programs at Johns Hopkins Bloom berg School of Public Health has designed, implemented, and evaluated behavior change interventions centred around soccer programs, first under the Caring Understanding Partners (CUP) initiative and now under the Sports for Life program. 121 Sports for Life has been implemented in various communities in Ethiopia, Namibia, Lesotho, and the Ivory Coast with exciting outcomes. Program administrators report success in breaking down barriers between generations, enhancing youth self-efficacy with regard to safe sex, developing leadership among youth, and challenging social norms. For instance, while soccer was once considered “boys’ business,” girls are also now participating — even in more traditional communities in rural Africa where girls are expected to remain in the home. While empirical research pertaining to behavior change is limited, in general, youth who are active in sports are less susceptible to the consumption of legal and illegal drugs, although this varies by sport activity. 123 US research on the links between sport participation and adolescent sexual activity and pregnancy shows that adolescent girls who participate in sport are less likely than their non-athletic peers to participate in sexual activity and/or report a pregnancy.
In a broader study of health risk behaviors of adolescents in organized sports, athletes and non-athletes differed in specific health risk behaviors. 125 While athletes were more likely to put themselves at risk for accidental injuries, they were less likely to smoke cigarettes or marijuana, more likely to eat a healthy diet, and less likely to feel bored or hopeless.
At a psychological level, young people’s confidence levels and their tendency to behave in more sexually responsible 43 ways are closely linked. Sport may, therefore, be used as a tool to build confidence, thereby helping to reduce sexual risk behavior. 126 These results cannot automatically be generalized across cultures and development contexts, but they do indicate the potential for sport to have a positive effect in reducing youth health risk behavior. This is important because there is strong evidence to suggest that, where the spread of HIV and AIDS is subsiding or even declining, it is primarily because young people are becoming equipped with the information and skills they need to adopt safer behaviors. 127 In designing programs and interventions to maximize sport’s potential in this respect, governments can draw on more general lessons from the broader research literature on health behavior change and building resilience in youth.
Resilience is the inner strength, responsiveness, and flexibility that individuals possess that enables them to withstand stress and to recover quickly to a healthy level of functioning after a traumatic event. 128 Research on resilience has identified key protective factors that help to reduce the effects of risk factors in the lives of children and youth. These protective factors include: 129 • Community support in the form of caring interactions between adults and children who are not related; • Unconditional acceptance of a young person by an older person; • The development and promotion of healthy peer relationships; and • Youth opportunities to help others and make a contribution to their community. Organizations using sport to advance child and youth health should seek ways to build these dimensions into their programs to further reduce health risk behavior. This can be done through the coach-child relationship, peer-to-peer teaching and support, youth leadership and coach training, and child-centred approaches that place the development needs of participating children and youth ahead of winning.

HOW TO IMPROVING BRAIN FUNCTIONALITY

Improving brain function While sport and exercise have long been linked to improved mental health, only recently have researchers realized that the mental effects of exercise are far more profound and complex than they once thought.
Aerobic exercise helps the heart pump more blood to the brain, increasing the flow of oxygen and nourishment to brain cells. At the same time, as muscles work, they send chemical signals to the brain that trigger the production of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). With regular exercise, the body builds up BDNF and the brain’s nerve cells start to branch out, join together and communicate with each other in new ways. This is the fundamental physiological process underlying all learning — every added connection between brain cells signifies a new fact or skill that has been learned and saved for future use. BDNF makes this learning process possible. Consequently, brains with more BDNF have a greater capacity for knowledge, while brains that are low in BDNF have difficulty absorbing new information.
BDNF levels remain fairly constant in adulthood but, as people begin to age, their individual neurons slowly start to die off. Scientists used to think this loss was permanent, but animal studies over the last decade have shown that the replacement of nerve cells can be triggered quite easily by exercise. A study published in March 2007 in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, extended this finding to humans for the first time, showing that it is possible to grow new nerve cells in the brain through exercise. After placing participants on a three-month aerobic exercise program, researchers found that all the subjects appeared to grow new neurons in the brain, with those who experienced the greatest cardiovascular fitness gains showing the most nerve cell growth.
Other experiments have shown that this growth is concentrated in the brain’s hippo campus, in the area that controls learning and memory, as well as the frontal lobes where executive functioning — higher-order thought such as decision-making, multitasking, and planning — resides.
Exercise has been found to restore the hippo campus to “a healthier, younger state” and to cause the frontal lobes of the brain to increase in size. In numerous studies of men and women in their 60s and 70s, brisk walking and other aerobic workouts have yielded improvements in executive functioning. Subjects have fared better on psychological tests, answering questions more accurately and quickly. According to one study, “It’s not just a matter of slowing down the aging process. It’s a matter of reversing it.”Early studies also suggest that people who exercise at least a few times a week tend to develop Alzheimer’s less often, and later in life, than their more sedentary counterparts.
As far as scientists know, new neurons cannot grow in other parts of the brain, but these regions benefit from exercise in other ways. Blood volume, like brain volume, increases with exercise. As a result, active adults have less inflammation in the brain. They also have fewer small, barely perceptible cardiovascular strokes that can impair cognition without the person even knowing. Dopamine , serotonin, and nor epinephrine levels in the brain are also all elevated after exercise, creating greater focus and calm and reducing impulsivity . The effects of physical exertion on the brain are even more potent when it comes to children, because their brains are still developing. Until about the age of 20, children and youth don’t have fully developed frontal lobes, so they engage other parts of the brain to perform necessary functions, including those involved in learning. In a study of third- and fifth-grade physical education students, exercise accelerated not just executive functioning, but a broad variety of skills ranging from math to logic to reading.
Based on this research, many educators are now advocating for strengthened physical education in public schools, arguing that longer physical education classes can help to ensure students’ success in other subjects. This is consistent with a number of studies conducted over the past half century that show that significant periods of daily physical activity in school do not impair academic achievement and, in fact, can improve it. Questions remain about why some forms of exercise affect the brain far more than others. Most researchers have focused on aerobic exercise. The few studies that have examined stretching, toning and weightlifting have found little or no effect on cognition.
Researchers also don’t have a clear idea of how much exercise is too much. Caution is recommended with children, because they are generally not developmentally ready to engage in extended periods of high-intensity exercise. ( For more information on exercise guidelines for children and youth.

THE FACTS ABOUT SPREADS AND OILS AND ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Both the amount and type of fat you eat is important. 1 teaspoon of oil contains 5g of fat. 1 heaped teaspoon of margarine or butter has almost 6g of fat, while low fat spread or low fat butter have almost 3g fat. Reduced fats spreads contain different amounts so check the label. All oils are the most concentrated source of fat (100%) followed by margarines and butter (80%), which contain the same amount of calories and fat but have different types of fat. Low fat margarine or low fat butter has less fat (about 40%). Saturated, hydrogenated (hardened) and trans fats are the ‘bad’ fats because they raise the amount of harmful cholesterol in your blood and increase your risk of heart disease. They include the white fat you see on meat, and are also in sausages, puddings and meat pies and in butter, hard margarines, lard and some dairy products like hard cheese and cream. Saturated fats are also in pastries, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, confectionery and salty snacks like crisps.
Reduce intake of saturated fats by limiting these foods to special occasions. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are the ‘good‘ fats because they lower the harmful cholesterol in your blood and are good for your heart. They are found in most pure vegetable oils like sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil and the spreads made from these. They are also found in seeds and nuts. Oily fish is the best source of an essential fat called Omega 3.
EU guidelines on nutrition labels to tell you if a food is high in fat: Total fat • High is more than 20g of fat per 100g • Low is 3g of fat or less per 100g Saturated fat • High is more than 5g of saturated fat per 100g • Low is 1.5g of saturated fat or less per 100g If you are trying to cut down on fat, you should limit your consumption of foods and drinks that have more than 3g/100g of total fat and more than 1.5g/100g of saturated fat.
ALCOHOL For low risk drinking the weekly limits are • Up to 11 standard drinks a week for women (112 grams of pure alcohol) • Up to 17 standard drinks a week for men (168 grams of pure alcohol) Alcohol is high in calories but does not provide any nourishment.
One standard drink contains about 100-150 calories. Drinking more than the weekly limit can increase your weight and your blood pressure, putting you at risk of heart disease and stroke. It can damage your liver and can increase your chances of getting cancer, including breast cancer. Stick to recommended upper limits and spread drinks out over the week. Do not take more than 5 standard drinks in one sitting and have 3 alcohol free days during the week.
A man who drinks up to 17 drinks per week, consumes more than 1700 extra calories each week. This can lead to weight gain of about 1.5 stone in 1 year. A woman who drinks up to 11 drinks per week can gain about 1 stone in a year

THE BEST WAY TO EAT SOME STARCHY FOODS

Starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are a really important part of a healthy diet. Try to choose wholegrain varieties whenever you can.
Starchy foods should make up about a third of the food we eat. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, these foods contain fibre, calcium, iron and B vitamins.
Most of us should eat more starchy foods – try to include at least one starchy food with each of your main meals. So you could start the day with a wholegrain breakfast cereal, have a sandwich for lunch, and potatoes, pasta or rice with your evening meal.
Some people think starchy foods are fattening, but gram for gram they contain less than half the calories of fat. You just need to watch the fats you add when cooking and serving these foods, because this is what increases the calorie content.
Why choose wholegrain? Wholegrain foods contain more fibre and other nutrients than white or refined starchy foods. We also digest wholegrain foods more slowly so they can help make us feel full for longer. Wholegrain foods include:
• wholemeal and wholegrain bread, pitta and chapatti
• wholewheat pasta and brown rice
• wholegrain breakfast cereals

THE MOST UNCOMMON BENEFITS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLE AND FISH THAT THE BODY NEEDS

Most people know we should be eating more fruit and veg. But most of us still aren’t eating enough of food
Eat lots of fruit and veg 7 What is a portion?
One portion of fruit and veg = 80g, or any of these:
• 1 apple, banana, pear, orange or other similar size fruit
• 2 plums or similar size fruit • ½ a grapefruit or avocado
• 1 slice of large fruit, such as melon or pineapple
• 3 heaped tablespoons of vegetables (raw, cooked, frozen or tinned)
• 3 heaped tablespoons of fruit salad (fresh or tinned in fruit juice) or stewed fruit
• 1 heaped tablespoon of dried fruit (such as raisins and apricots)
• a dessert bowl of salad
• a glass (150ml) of fruit juice (counts as a maximum of one portion a day)
• 1 cupful of grapes, cherries or berries Try to eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and veg every day. It might be easier than you think.
You could try adding up your portions during the day.
For example, you could have: • a glass of juice and a sliced banana with your cereal at breakfast
• a side salad at lunch
• a pear as an afternoon snack
• a portion of peas or other
vegetables with your evening meal Choose from fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced, but remember potatoes count as a starchy food, not as portions of fruit and veg.
EATING MORE FISH
Most of us should be eating more fish. It’s an excellent source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals.
Eat more fish 9 Aim for at least two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish. You can choose from fresh, frozen or canned – but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt. Also, try to eat a wide variety of fish and fish from sustainable sources. This means they’re produced in a way that will help protect the number of fish available to eat in the future.
What are oily fish?
Some fish are called oily fish because they are rich in certain types of fats, called omega 3 fatty acids, which might help prevent heart disease.
How much oily fish?
Although most of us should be eating more oily fish, women who might have a baby one day should eat no more than two portions of oily fish a week (a portion is about 140g).
Other adults should eat no more than four portions. Examples of oily fish Salmon, mackerel, trout, herring, fresh tuna, sardines, pilchards.
Examples of non-oily fish Haddock, plaice, pollock, coley, tinned tuna, halibut, skate, sea bass, hake or cod. Shark, swordfish and marlin Don’t have more than one portion a week of these types of fish.
This is because of the high levels of mercury in these fish. For more information on fish and for advice – including recommended limits – for children, women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or trying for a baby

WHO TO CUT DOWN ON SATURATED FAT AND SUGAR IN THE BODY

To stay healthy we need some fat in our diets. What is important is the kind of fat we are eating.
Cut down on saturated fat 11 There are two main types of fat – saturated and unsaturated.
Saturated fat
Having too much saturated fat can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease. Unsaturated fat Having unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat can help lower blood cholesterol.
Try to cut down on food that is high in saturated fat and have foods that are rich in unsaturated fat instead, such as vegetable oils (including sunflower, rapeseed and olive oil), oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds.
Foods high in saturated fat Try to eat these sorts of foods less often or in small amounts: • meat pies, sausages, meat with visible white fat
• hard cheese
• butter and lard
• pastry
• cakes and biscuits
• cream, soured cream and crème fraîche
• coconut oil, coconut cream and palm oil For a healthy choice, use just a small amount of vegetable oil or a reduced-fat spread instead of butter, lard or ghee. And when you are having meat, try to choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat How do I know if a food is high in fat?
Look at the label to see how much fat a food contains.
Generally the label will say how many grams (g) of fat there are in 100g of the food.
Fat This is how you can tell if a food is high or low in fat: High is more than 20g fat per 100g Low is 3g fat or less per 100g If the amount of fat per 100g is in between these figures, then that is a medium level of fat.
Saturated fat
Some labels also give a figure for saturated fat, or ‘saturates’. This is how you can tell if a food is high or low in saturates: High is more than 5g saturates per 100g Low is 1.5g saturates or less per 100g If the amount of saturates per 100g is in between these figures, then that is a medium level of saturated fat.
Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much fat you will get from it. Most people in the UK are eating too much sugar. We should all be trying to eat fewer foods containing added sugars, such as sweets, cakes and biscuits, and drinking fewer sugary soft and fizzy drinks.
Cut down on sugar 13 Having sugary foods and drinks too often can cause tooth decay, especially if you have them between meals.
Many foods that contain added sugars can also be high in calories, so cutting down could help you control your weight. How do I know if a food is high in sugar? Look at the ‘Carbohydrates (of which sugars)’ figure on the label. High is more than 15g sugars per 100g Low is 5g sugars or less per 100g If the amount of sugars per 100g is in between these figures, then that is a medium level of sugars. This figure doesn’t tell you how much of the sugars are added sugars (which are the type we should try to cut down on), rather than sugars that are found naturally in some foods, such as fruit and milk.
But you can spot added sugars by looking at the ingredients list. It always starts with the biggest ingredient first. So if ‘sugar’ is near the top of the list, you know that the food is likely to be high in added sugars. Watch out for other words used to describe added sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolysed starch, invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much sugar you will get from it.

THE BASIS OF ‘THE BALANCE OF GOOD HEALTH YOUR BODY NEED

Food provides nutrients to help the body work properly. No single food contains them in the amounts needed, so a mixture of foods has to be eaten. The Balance of Good Health makes healthy eating easier to understand by showing the types and proportion of foods needed to make a well-balanced and healthy diet.
The Balance of Good Health is based on the five commonly accepted food groups, which are:
• Bread, cereals and potatoes.
• Fruit and vegetables.
• Milk and dairy.
• Meat, fish and alternatives.
• Foods containing fat; foods and drinks containing sugar.
Encouraging people to choose a variety of foods from the first four groups every day will help ensure that they obtain the wide range of nutrients their bodies need to remain healthy and function properly. Choosing different foods from within each group adds to the range of nutrients consumed. Foods in the fifth group – foods containing fat and foods containing sugar – are not essential to a healthy diet, but add choice and palatability.
The main nutrients provided by each food group are shown in the table on the next page.
The key message of The Balance of Good Health is the balance of foods that should be consumed to achieve a good healthy diet. This is shown by the different area occupied by each of the food groups in The Balance of Good Health. Although aiming to achieve this balance every day is a sensible and practical approach, it is not necessary to achieve it at every meal. The balance could, however, also be achieved over the period of perhaps a week or two.
The table gives guidance on the food groups and on how to choose well from within them. How much food do people need?
People differ in the amount of energy (calories) they require and that is what affects the amount of food, in total, that individuals need. However much people need, the proportion of food from the different groups should remain the same as shown in The Balance of Good Health.
So, for example, someone with a low daily energy requirement of, say, 1200 calories would need the same proportions of food from the five food groups as someone with a high daily requirement of, say, 3000 calories.
Things that affect people’s overall energy needs are: • gender – women tend to need less energy than men • age – older adults need less energy than adolescents and young adults
• being overweight – being heavier than the healthy weight range for an individual’s height means less energy is required to achieve a healthy weight • being very physically active – the more active people are, the greater their energy needs

AVAILABILITY AND CONSUMPTION OF FISH YOU NEED

Despite fluctuations in supply and demand caused by the changing state of fisheries resources, the economic climate and environmental conditions, fisheries, including aquaculture, have traditionally been, and remain an important source of food, employment and revenue in many countries and communities .
After the remarkable increase in both marine and inland capture of fish during the 1950s and 1960s, world fisheries production has levelled off since the 1970s. This levelling off of the total catch follows the general trend of most of the world’s fishing areas, which have apparently reached their maximum potential for fisheries production, with the majority of stocks being fully exploited. It is therefore very unlikely that substantial increases in total catch will be obtained in the future. In contrast, aquaculture production has followed the opposite path. Starting from an insignificant total production, inland and marine aquaculture production has been growing at a remarkable rate, offsetting part of the reduction in the ocean catch of fish.
The total food fish supply and hence consumption has been growing at a rate of 3.6% per year since 1961, while the world’s population has been expanding at 1.8% per year. The proteins derived from fish, crustaceans and molluscs account for between 13.8% and 16.5% of the animal protein intake of the human population. The average apparent per capita consumption increased from about 9 kg per year in the early 1960s to 16 kg in 1997. The per capita availability of fish and fishery products has therefore nearly doubled in 40 years, outpacing population growth.
As well as income-related variations, the role of fish in nutrition shows marked continental, regional and national differences. In industrialized countries, where diets generally contain a more diversified range of animal proteins, a rise in per capita provision from 19.7 kg to 27.7 kg seems to have occurred. This represents a growth rate close to 1% per year. In this group of countries, fish contributed an increasing share of total protein intake until 1989 (accounting for between 6.5% and 8.5%), but since then its importance has gradually declined and, in 1997, its percentage contribution was back to the level prevailing in the mid-1980s. In the early 1960s, per capita fish supply in low-income food-deficit countries was, on average, only 30% of that of the richest countries. This gap has been gradually reduced, such that in 1997, average fish consumption in these countries was 70% of that of the more affluent economies. Despite the relatively low consumption by weight in low-income food-deficit countries, the contribution of fish to total animal protein intake is considerable (nearly 20%). Over the past four decades, however, the share of fish proteins in animal proteins has declined slightly, because of faster growth in the consumption of other animal products.
Currently, two-thirds of the total food fish supply is obtained from capture fisheries in marine and inland waters, while the remaining onethird is derived from aquaculture. The contribution of inland and marine capture fisheries to per capita food supply has stabilized, around 10 kg per capita in the period 1984--1998. Any recent increases in per capita availability have, therefore, been obtained from aquaculture production, from both traditional rural aquaculture and intensive commercial aquaculture of high-value species. Fish contributes up to 180 kcal per capita per day, but reaches such high levels only in a few countries where there is a lack of alternative protein foods grown locally or where there is a strong preference for fish (examples are Iceland, Japan and some small island states).
More typically, fish provides about 20--30 kcal per capita per day. Fish proteins are essential in the diet of some densely populated countries where the total protein intake level is low, and are very important in the diets of many other countries. Worldwide, about a billion people rely on fish as their main source of animal proteins. Dependence on fish is usually higher in coastal than in inland areas. About 20% of the world’s population derives at least one-fifth of its animal protein intake from fish, and some small island states depend almost exclusively on fish.
Recommending the increased consumption of fish is another area where the feasibility of dietary recommendations needs to be balanced against concerns for sustainability of marine stocks and the potential depletion of this important marine source of high quality nutritious food. Added to this is the concern that a significant proportion of the world fish catch is transformed into fish meal and used as animal feed in industrial livestock production and thus is not available for human consumption.

AVAILABILITY AND CONSUMPTION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES YOU NEED TO EAT

Consumption of fruits and vegetables plays a vital role in providing a diversified and nutritious diet. A low consumption of fruits and vegetables in many regions of the developing world is, however, a persistent phenomenon, confirmed by the findings of food consumption surveys.
Nationally representative surveys in India , for example, indicate a steady level of consumption of only 120--140 g per capita per day, with about another 100 g per capita coming from roots and tubers, and some 40 g per capita from pulses. This may not be true for urban populations in India, who have rising incomes and greater access to a diverse and varied diet. In contrast, in China, --- a country that is undergoing rapid economic growth and transition --- the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed has increased to 369 g per capita per day by 1992.
At present, only a small and negligible minority of the world’s population consumes the generally recommended high average intake of fruits and vegetables. In 1998, only 6 of the 14 WHO regions had an availability of fruits and vegetables equal to or greater than the earlier recommended intake of 400 g per capita per day. The relatively favourable situation in 1998 appears to have evolved from a markedly less favourable position in previous years, as evidenced by the great increase in vegetable availability recorded between 1990 and 1998 for most of the regions. In contrast, the availability of fruit generally decreased between 1990 and 1998 in most regions of the world.
The increase in urbanization globally is another challenge. Increasing urbanization will distance more people from primary food production, and in turn have a negative impact on both the availability of a varied and nutritious diet with enough fruits and vegetables, and the access of the urban poor to such a diet. Nevertheless, it may facilitate the achievement of other goals, as those who can afford it can have better access to a diverse and varied diet. Investment in periurban horticulture may provide an opportunity to increase the availability and consumption of a healthy diet.
Global trends in the production and supply of vegetables indicate that the current production and consumption vary widely among regions, as indicated in Table 5. It should be noted that the production of wild and indigenous vegetables is not taken into account in production statistics and might therefore be underestimated in consumption statistics.
In 2000, the global annual average per capita vegetable supply was 102 kg, with the highest level in Asia (116 kg), and the lowest levels in South America (48 kg) and Africa (52 kg). These figures also include the large amount of horticultural produce that is consumed on the farm. Table 5 and Figure 3 illustrate the regional and temporal variations in the per capita availability of vegetables per capita over the past few decades.

HEALTH TIPS:- DIET, NUTRITION AND CHRONIC DISEASES IN CONTEXT IN THE WORLD

HEALTH TIPS

The diets people eat, in all their cultural variety, define to a large extent people’s health, growth and development. Risk behaviours, such as tobacco use and physical inactivity, modify the result for better or worse. All this takes place in a social, cultural, political and economic environment that can aggravate the health of populations unless active measures are taken to make the environment a health-promoting one.
Although this report has taken a disease approach for convenience, the Expert Consultation was mindful in all its discussions that diet, nutrition and physical activity do not take place in a vacuum. Since the publication of the earlier report in 1990 , there have been great advances in basic research, considerable expansion of knowledge, and much community and international experience in the prevention and control of chronic diseases. At the same time, the human genome has been mapped and must now enter any discussion of chronic disease.
Concurrently there has been a return to the concept of the basic life course, i.e. of the continuity of human lives from fetus to old age. The influences in the womb work differently from later influences, but clearly have a strong effect on the subsequent manifestation of chronic disease. The known risk factors are now recognized as being amenable to alleviation throughout life, even into old age. The continuity of the life course is seen in the way that both undernutrition and overnutrition (as well as a host of other factors) play a role in the development of chronic disease. The effects of man-made and natural environments (and the interaction between the two) on the development of chronic diseases are increasingly recognized. Such factors are also being recognized as happening further and further ‘‘upstream’’ in the chain of events predisposing humans to chronic disease. All these broadening perceptions not only give a clearer picture of what is happening in the current epidemic of chronic diseases, but also present many opportunities to address them. The identities of those affected are now better recognized: those most disadvantaged in more affluent countries, and --- in numerical terms far greater --- the populations of the developing and transitional worlds.
There is a continuity in the influences contributing to chronic disease development, and thus also to the opportunities for prevention. These influences include the life course; the microscopic environment of the gene to macroscopic urban and rural environments; the impact of social and political events in one sphere affecting the health and diet of populations far distant; and the way in which already stretched agriculture and oceanic systems will affect the choices available and
the recommendations that can be made. For chronic diseases, risks occur at all ages; conversely, all ages are part of the continuum of opportunities for their prevention and control. Both undernutrition and overnutrition are negative influences in terms of disease development, and possibly a combination is even worse; consequently the developing world needs additional targeting. Those with least power need different preventive approaches from the more affluent.Work has to start with the individual risk factors, but, critically, attempts at prevention and health promotion must also take account of the wider social, political and economic environment. Economics, industry, consumer groups and advertising all must be included in the prevention equation.

GENE:- NUTRIENT INTERACTIONS AND GENETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY

NUTRIENT INTERACTIONS

There is good evidence that nutrients and physical activity influence gene expression and have shaped the genome over several million years of human evolution.
Genes define opportunities for health and susceptibility to disease, while environmental factors determine which susceptible individuals will develop illness. In view of changing socioeconomic conditions in developing countries, such added stress may result in exposure of underlying genetic predisposition to chronic diseases. Gene--nutrient interactions also involve the environment. The dynamics of the relationships are becoming better understood but there is still a long way to go in this area, and also in other aspects, such as
disease prevention and control. Studies continue on the role of nutrients in gene expression; for example, researchers are currently trying to understand why omega-3 fatty acids suppress or decrease the mRNA of interleukin, which is elevated in atherosclerosis, arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, whereas the omega-6 fatty acids do not .
Studies on genetic variability to dietary response indicate that specific genotypes raise cholesterol levels more than others. The need for targeted diets for individuals and subgroups to prevent chronic diseases was acknowledged as being part of an overall approach to prevention at the population level.
However, the practical implications of this issue for public health policy have only begun to be addressed. For example, a recent study of the relationship between folate and cardiovascular disease revealed that a common single genemutation that reduces the activity of an enzyme involved in folate metabolism (MTHFR) is associated with a moderate (30%) increase in serum homocysteine and higher risk of both ischaemic heart disease and deep vein thrombosis .
Although humans have evolved being able to feed on a variety of foods and to adapt to them, certain genetic adaptations and limitations have occurred in relation to diet. Understanding the evolutionary aspects of diet and its composition might suggest a diet that would be consistent with the diet to which our genes were programmed to respond.
However, the early diet was presumably one which gave evolutionary advantage to reproduction in the early part of life, and so may be less indicative of guidance for healthy eating, in terms of lifelong health and prevention of chronic disease after reproduction has been achieved. Because there are genetic variations among individuals, changes in dietary patterns have a differential impact on a genetically heterogeneous population, although populations with a similar evolutionary background have more similar genotypes.
While targeted dietary advice for susceptible populations, subgroups or individuals is desirable, it is not feasible at present for the important chronic diseases considered in this report. Most are polygenic in nature and rapidly escalating rates suggest the importance of environmental change rather than change in genetic susceptibility.

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Police stop mum from jumping in front of train with her 9 year old daughter

A suicidal mom, 43 year old Gabriella Georgescu, holding her 9-year-old daughter threatened to jump in front of an oncoming subway train in Midtown, New York on Friday. According to the Police, Georgesc was raving and ranting about killing herself and her child as she stood close to the edge of the platform at 59th St. and Lexington Ave. just before 5 p.m.
Alarmed passengers and an MTA worker who heard her threats alerted the police. A plainclothes police officer arrived to find Georgescu leaning near the gap as a northbound 6 train rolled into the station, according to cops.


The officer quickly slapped cuffs on her before she could jump, an NYPD spokesman said.

Another officer grabbed the little girl, who had bruises on her back was later taken into the custody of the city Administration for Child’s Services. The bruises on the little girl's back, led cops to suspect that she had been abused.

Georgescu, who is believed to have been visiting a relative in the city at the time of her suicide attempt was taken to Bellevue Hospital in New York to be evaluated, authorities said.

Police say she will be charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.


Source: NY Daily News