Healthbeat by Deirdre Cox Baker

The local TV news a few weeks ago included a story about a woman who got a large French fry in a drive-through restaurant and saved it because it had a heart-shaped burn on it. I had to agree with a subsequent comment, which was along the lines of, “People, if you have a goofy food story, share it with family or friends, and nobody else.”

This week I got an e-mail about some funny foods, and had to laugh as I took a look at them. The message points out how fruits and veggies, cut or found in various shapes, resemble the body parts that they help keep healthy when consumed.

Carrots, cut into nickel-shaped pieces, looks a little like a orange eye. Eating carrots is said to help keep eyes healthy, or so my mother always said. (Didn’t work in my case. I love to eat carrots, but I’ve had eyeglasses and contacts for 41 years.)

Kidney beans help human kidneys operate smoothly and yep, they also look like kidneys. Grapes, hung in a bunch, resemble the human heart and … you know what happens when a person regularly eats grapes.

Got any other examples?

“Obesity costs U.S. companies as much as $45 billion a year,” reads one headline.

“Half of overweight adults may be heart-healthy,” was news yesterday.

One truism of health and medicine these days is if you believe in one “fact,” there is sure to be another which either suggests or proves that the opposite is true.

Normal-weight adults are probably in better shape than those who are overweight, but let’s not get on any pedestals here. Big-build adults can be perfectly healthy and there are plenty of skinny folks who have medical issues like heart disease.

To the anti-obesity side:

The Conference Board, of New York, recently released a report that showed obesity is associated with a 36 percent increase in spending on healthcare services. “Weights and Measures, What employers should know about obesity,” also stated that wellness programs average zero to $5 per $1 invested by a business. While the financial benefit is in question, the report said it could aid in recruiting and retaining desirable employees.

However, others suggest in the report that it may be more effective to award employees cash and prizes for weight loss rather than to devote resources to long-term programs.

To the pro side:

The study released this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows: 51 percent of overweight adults, or roughly 36 million people nationwide, had mostly normal levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, blood fats called triglycerides and blood sugar. Almost one-third of obese adults, or nearly 20 million people, also were in this healthy range, meaning that none or only one of those measures was abnormal.

Yet about a fourth of adults in the healthy-weight range had unhealthy levels of at least two of the measures. That means some 16 million of them are at risk for heart problems.

See what I mean? Just believe one fact for a minute, and the opposite will be proved by the next.

The path to the University of Iowa football games leads from a parking lot, to a busy sidewalk, up a pedestrian bridge across the Iowa River, up a hill past the Hillcrest dormitories, through the recreational center and around the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics before we reach Kinnick Stadium.

I’ve traveled that route for the last decade or so, and can’t help but notice the thousands of students who walk with me. Some of them carry cases of beer as they travel to their tailgating position. A few of them are very tipsy as they walk, hours before the actual game.

The issue of alcohol on our college campuses has been well documented over the years and it remains news. The University of Iowa has recently been ranked as one of the top “party” schools in the U.S., getting an overall ranking of 12^th highest, according to the Princeton Review. The Review interviewed 120,000 students to compile its rankings, and Iowa was slightly ahead of No. 16, the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana.

Iowa is the largest college in the state but underage drinking is a fact all over. Last year in Davenport, for instance, neighbors to St. Ambrose University came out with complaints about excessive partying in this community.

I grew up when the legal drinking age was 18, and I do have a problem with a law that allows young men and women to go off to Iraq and Afghanistan to fight for our country, to vote for the president of the United States, and not receive full adult privileges until age 21.

On the other hand, the law was changed mainly because too many kids died in alcohol-related vehicle accidents when the legal age was 18, and I certainly do understand this side of the issue.

My 18-year-old is just about ready to move to Cedar Falls to attend the University of Northern Iowa. That’s one reason why I took notice of recent news items from the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. The council, based in Washington, D.C., issued five tips to parents who wish to discuss this issue with their children:

1. Be clear in your expectations about your son or daughter’s decisions about drinking. If your son or daughter is under 21, tell them you expect them to obey the law. If children are 21 or older, tell them you expect them to drink responsibly and in moderation, if they choose to drink.

2. Talk about alcohol facts, reasons not to drink and ways to avoid drinking in difficult situations.

3. Address how to get help on campus for themselves or a friend.

4. Keep in close contact to determine if your son or daughter is feeling overwhelmed, making friends, getting involved with activities and enjoying classes. 

5. Make sure they know you are there to support and help them through this transition period.

Parents can receive additional advice and information from the “Parents, you’re not done yet,” brochure developed by the distilled spirits industry’s not-for-profit organization, The Century Council.  The brochure can be downloaded at The Century Council’s website.