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A number of teens have a beef with meat

18 Jan 2009 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Saint Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians reminds readers that the body is a "temple of the Holy Spirit" in this Sunday's second reading. Apparently a growing number of teens--at least one in 20 in a recent survey--have decided that meat does not belong in the temple of their own bodies and have become vegetarian. Some attribute the rising popularity of the practice to graphic online videos on YouTube of animals being slaughtered for meat. According to a survey from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 367,000 teens, or one in 20, follow a diet that is either vegetarian or vegan. Vegetarian diets exclude meat, but the name is sometimes loosely applied. Some self-described vegetarians eat fish or poultry on occasion. Vegans cut out animal products of any kind, including eggs and dairy products. Other surveys suggest the rate could be four to six times as high among older teens who have more control over what they eat than younger teens do. Anecdotally, adolescent vegetarianism seems to be rising in part due to YouTube animal slaughter videos that shock the developing sensibilities of many U.S. children. But there isn't enough long-term data to prove that, according to government researchers. Information on children's diet habits in the CDC survey was gleaned from about 9,000 parents and other adults speaking on behalf of those under 18. "I don't think we've done a good job of counting the number of vegetarian youth, but I think this is reasonable," Amy Lanou, a nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina-Asheville, said of the government estimate. She works with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a vegan advocacy group. Vegetarians say it's animal welfare, not health, that most often causes kids to stop eating meat. "Compassion for animals is the major, major reason," said Richard Schwartz, president of Jewish Vegetarians of North America, an organization with a newsletter mailing list of about 800. "When kids find out the things they are eating are living animals-and if they have a pet . . . ." Source: An article by Mike Stobbe for the Associated Press

Children jewish vegetarians of north america physicians committee for responsible medicine amy lanou vegan cdc centers for disease control youtube meat vegetarians teenagers richard schwartz

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Is there a doctor in the house?

25 Apr 2010 - Preaching the News for Sunday

In this Sunday's gospel Jesus promises to his followers that he will "give them eternal life." In the meantime medical doctors do what they can to keep our earthly lives as healthy as possible. But with the ranks of the newly insured expanding as a result of the new healthcare law, experts warn that the U.S. will soon face a severe shortage of doctors. At current graduation and training rates the nation could face a shortfall of as many as 150,000 doctors in the next 15 years, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. That shortage is predicted despite a push by teaching hospitals and medical schools to boost the number of U.S. doctors, which now totals about 954,000. The greatest demand will be for primary-care physicians. These general practitioners, internists, family physicians, and pediatricians will have a larger role under the new law, coordinating care for each patient. A shortage could lead to more limited access to health care and longer wait times for patients. The U.S. has 352,908 primary-care doctors now and the college association estimates that 45,000 more will be needed by 2020. But the number of medical school students entering family medicine fell more than a quarter between 2002 and 2007, largely because of the lower pay primary-care doctors receive relative to specialists. Proponents of the new healthcare law say it does attempt to address the physician shortage. The law offers sweeteners to encourage more people to enter medical professions and a 10-percent Medicare pay boost for primary-care doctors. But medical colleges and hospitals warn that these efforts will hit a big bottleneck: A shortage of medical resident positions. The residency is the minimum three-year period when medical school graduates train in hospitals and clinics. While doctors trained in other countries could theoretically help the primary-care shortage, they hit the same obstacle with resident slots because they must still complete a U.S. residency in order to get a license to practice medicine independently in the U.S. "It will probably take 10 years to even make a dent into the number of doctors that we need out there," said Atul Grover, the AAMC's chief advocacy officer. Source: An article by Susanne Sataline and Shirley S. Wang for the Wall Street Journal

united states doctors shortage association of american medical colleges primary care physicians medical residency atul grover

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Which doctors will weigh in with obese patients?

05 Feb 2012 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jesus healed many people during his public ministry, and this Sunday’s gospel is a prime example. Even though a third of Americans classified as obese by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need medical care, receiving the proper diagnosis and treatment for their condition may depend on what kind of shape their doctor is in. Physicians with a normal body-mass index (BMI) or weight-to-height ratios are more likely to discuss weight loss with patients than overweight doctors, said researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Physicians were about nine times more likely to diagnose a patient as obese if they thought the patient's BMI was equal to or higher than their own. Researchers surveyed about 500 primary-care doctors during the study. They also found physicians of normal weight had more confidence in giving diet and exercise counseling and were more likely to feel patients would trust their advice. Obesity costs nearly $150 billion every year because of health problems that severely overweight people can develop such as heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure. Source: An article by Newsroom Solutions via OzarksFirst.com

obesity centers for disease control and prevention doctors physicians

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