Rudd Sound Bites

Teaching Nutrition in 40 Minutes

by Marjie Galler

If you had forty minutes to impart all the nutritional information and advice that a high school student might ever be formally exposed to, what would you include in your presentation? This is the question that the Nutrition group of Community Health Educators, a Yale student organization that provides health education to over 1200 students in the New Haven public schools, has been tackling these past few weeks.

As we reviewed and revised the nutrition curriculum from last year, our group debated about the objectives of the workshop and the methods that we would use to present this crucial information. Should we emphasize nutrition label reading or the balanced plate tactic? Are portion sizes important to talk about or just a confusing topic? Is it okay to suggest diet cola as a ‘healthier’ alternative to regular soda? What proactive tips can we suggest so that the students can make real changes?

Sleeplessness and the School Year

by Marjie Galler

Over the last few weeks, approximately fifteen million American college students returned to campus to begin fall classes. Though the early days of the semester may be filled with orientations, parties and afternoon naps, it won’t be long before reading assignments, papers and exams inundate even the most conscientious scholar. And so, with that deluge of work, all hopes of getting a decent night’s sleep go down the proverbial drain.

A Fat By Any Other Name

by Marjie Galler

The Question: What’s worse for your health than devouring a Snicker’s bar, two Oreos and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in one sitting? The Answer: Snacking on those same foods after they’ve been battered and deep fried. This decadent combination, known as the Combo Plate, is an Indiana state fair speciality and is estimated to contain over 700 calories. Luckily for the Hoosier patrons, this year the Combo Platters – along with all the other fair offerings – were fried in trans fat free oil!  Question: How many calories does a trans fat free Combo Platter contain? The Answer: 700. No difference.

Fruit juice and tooth decay

by Marjie Galler

There can always be too much of a good thing. Fruit juice, which is widely hailed as a healthy alternative beverage to sugary sodas, has been branded by dentists “the worst culprit for eroding the teeth,” according to this article from BBC Health News. Acidic juices destroy children’s baby teeth in the same way as soft drinks, eating away at the enamel of the tooth. Dentists now recommend that children only drink one glass of juice a day.

The Insidious FourthMeal

by Marjie Galler

As a college student, I’m familiar with the predicament of warding off hunger during late night study sessions while battling the Freshman Fifteen. Of all the obstacles to healthy eating on college campuses – buffet-style dining, unbalanced menus, innumerable caffeine fixes from creamy-mocha-frappa-whippy drinks etc. – the FourthMeal is the most insidious of all.

The Simple Life Goes to Fat Camp

by Marjie Galler

If you watch TV, chances are you have seen Paris Hilton’s image flashed across every station for the past twenty-four hours following the sudden end of her brief incarceration at the county jail. If by some miracle you haven’t found yourself watching a once reputable talk-news host sink to the level of a nasty gossip columnist, just steer your remote to the E! Entertainment Television station. Here, you will find constant airings of the newest season of Paris’ infamous ‘reality’ show, The Simple Life. This time, unfortunately, they’re taking on fat camp.

Pediatric Negligence

by Marjie Galler

In elementary school, the highlight of my annual visit to the pediatrician was watching the doctor plot how much I had grown since the year before on a pink chart. I felt very accomplished as I made my way across the chart, gliding upwards through the percentiles and aging across the page. What wasn’t recorded, however, was my BMI (Body Mass Index), a simple calculation using height and weight that can indicate obesity and risk-for-obesity in both children and adults. Although BMI calculation and tracking was not the standard of care at the time, since then the American Academy of Pediatrics has made it such – but still today, few BMI’s are measured.