Jamie, you're my hero!

Jamie Oliver has brought over from the UK a notion that I strongly believe in. I remember reading a position paper by the American Dietetics Association that spoke about three key ways that one can have a healthy diet. These were variety, moderation, and balance. Jamie's idea of healthy eating follows this notion. On his website he talks about how food is too often seen as an evil thing that people tend to shy away from. Jamie argues that with proper cooking skills, and a general knowledge of nutrition, one can easily have a well balanced diet that will allow room for the occasional sweets.

Ever since first year FNN 100 I have been preaching this notion that a healthy, well BALANCED diet does not have to be bland. It does not mean that eating a few chocolates is wrong. I admit, I have the occasional cravings for McDonald's fries, coca-cola, and Kit Kat Chunky, and when I do, I MUST have it. If not, I'll think about it until I can get my hands on the "bad" food item I am craving. People are sometimes shocked when they look at the foods that I sometimes choose to eat. The other day I bough a bag of chips from the vending machine at work. My coworkers were all confused because they all know that I am currently in a nutrition program. The way I see it tho, is that the food I consume must be good for the body as well as the mind. After all, it was my love for food that brought me to Ryerson.

Last month I wrote about the importance of shrinking the gap between those with nutrition knowledge, and those with cooking skills. Jamie Oliver, although not formally educated in nutrition, was able to see a problem in the UK school food system and used his status as a celebrity chef to address these issues. Jamie is someone who has an excellent idea as to how to implement a new health promotion program in a community.

In a new TV show called "Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution", Jamie visits American cities in hope of educating Americans on making healthy food choices, especially in the school system. In the first episode, Jamie spents some time in Huntington, West Virginia, that was recently called America's unhealthiest city. He was faced with a lot of criticism and hate. People didn't want him there, and they couldn't wait to see him fail. So far I have only seen the first episode of "Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution", so I don't know what will end up happening, but I hope that he has the ability to create the kind of change in America as he did in the UK. I know that my view on the people of Huntington is biased, as very agreeable, easy to get along with people don't make for high TV ratings, but I will continue to watch this show to see how Jamie is able to cause a change in a city full of people who seem stubborn and unwilling to change.

Jamie's idea of going into the community that you are trying to help is a fundamental concept in program planning. One must spend time getting to know and understand the community in order to create programs that has relevance to them. I hope that by giving people the knowledge and skills in healthy cooking, they will feel empowered to cook healthy, tasty meals. In my previous blog I mentioned that healthy cooking doesn't have to taste bad, but what I didn't realize is that I do not have the cooking skills to create healthy, tasty meals.

Last month my friend baked my aunt an apple pie. It ended up being one of the worst pies I ever tasted, not because my friend was a bad chef, but because of the changes that I asked him to make. I basically butchered his recipe so that it was "healthy". While he was making it, we had many arguments. I told him to cut the sugar, he argued that it wouldn't taste good. I secretly think that he eventually became tired of arguing and purposely made the pie taste bad so that I would stop nagging. I don't know whether or not this is true, but I hope programs such as family studies (which some know as Home Economics) is incorporated back into the school system. I learned of my love for food and nutrition through my family studies classes that began in grade 7. One of my classmates from middle school told me that ever since she could remember, I wanted to do something with nutrition. I would talk about it, and I would write about it. I would hate to hear of a young adolescent never learning about their passion for food and nutrition because they never had the opportunity to learn about what nutiriton and food has to offer.

Loneliness the newest form of depression?

I was getting my monthly fix of Elle Magazine, and I came across an article that introduced the notion that loneliness should be seen as a form of depression. I began to think about how I feel when I get lonely. Even when I am surrounded with friends and family who love and care about me, there have been times in my life where I have felt lonely. Until this article, it never occurred to me just how depressed I can get when I feel lonely. Last semester I took a course called "Homelessness in Canadian Society", where I got to meet a lot of homeless people. Practically every week there was a guest speaker who was either homeless, has experienced homelessness, or who have worked with homeless people.

After reading the article I began to think about the things that some of those guest speakers talked about. One homeless speaker spoke about how lonely he felt sometimes, and it doesn't help that society tends to ignore, or is scared of him. Interestingly enough, more than half of the guest speakers who have experienced, or was currently experiencing homelessness, spoke about mental health and addiction issues that they have. It is exciting that Ontario's health promotion's strategic framework includes mental health and addiction as a priority issue. I hope that a program that encompasses Rosenkranz and Dzewaltowski's (2008) framework, that looks at how one can create a healthy built environment to help positively influence a child's dietary intake, can be created to help those with mental health and addiction issues.

Mental health and addiction is an issue that needs support from a micro as well as a macro level. In the political and economical environments, governments can create affordable housing units that allow lower income individuals to get a grasp on their ability to afford a nice and safe place to live. Individuals can also build community groups that encourage the participation of those with mental health and addiction issues. At the socio-cultural environment, people can become more open to the idea of incorporating those with mental health and addiction issues into society. The government can make it mandatory that teenagers are taught about issues that those with mental health and addiction problems face. However, it is the responsibility of the individual to change their frame of mind on people with mental health and addiction issues. In terms of the build environment, people need to stop shying away from those with mental health and addiction issues. After all, they are still human beings. Do they not deserve the same amount of care, respect and love as any one else? One homeless man spoke about the fustration and isolation he felt when people refused to let him move into the apartment complex because he had mental health and addiction issues. I think people need to be more accepting of the idea of including people with mental health and addiction issues in their community. In terms of how the government can help at the built environment, governments can be more strategic at advertising support programs for people with mental health and addiction issues. While researching for my Homeless in Canadian Society class, I had a difficult time trying to find information on the resources that people with mental health and addiction issues can access. Imagine someone who didn't have the resources to access this information.

Many things can be done to help empower, engage, and educate those with mental health and addiction issues, Rosenkranz and Dzewaltowski's (2008) framework is just one.

God Bless America

Two things I hate the most are business and politics. I understand that the world revolves around business and politics, but if I lived in a perfect little world, these two things wouldn't exist. I recently joined a student group at Ryerson called AIESEC. Traditionally it was a student group that was made up of mainly business students. I usually surround myself with either nutrition, fashion, or engineer students, so it's nice to be able to hear the different prespectives of how business students think and feel. Every time I tell them that I absolutely hate business, they stare at me in disbelief. They then proceed to tell me that it's impossible to ignore business because the world runs on money and business (which I know). After hearing the same type of comments for the past 2 months (on a day where I had little patience), I couldn't take it and more and so I began to rant about why I hate business and politics. I am usually a soft-spoken individual, so when I began ranting, the room fell silent.

I hate how medical/health-related decisions are always based on the politics, policies, and money. It kills me that the well being of another is dependent on how much money will be saved, or how much prestige one can get out of doing something. It angers me to know that some hospitals view human life as profit. My rant wasn't specifically about Canada's Health Care (however, I'm not saying that Canada's health care is the best, there's always going to be room to grow), it was more about the American health care system. I do not claim to be an expert on American health care, the little that I do know about America's health care comes from American TV shows and the media's portrayal. The well being of human beings should not depend on how much money they have. I know that there are many problems with Canada's health care, however, compared to America's health care, Canada's health care is kind of awesome.

I think it's great that President Obama, and the democrats have fought this past year to reform America's health care system. It makes me so angry that many conservatives have lashed out at the decision to extend health care coverage for 94% of all Americans. Some radio hosts have been so extreme as to say that they'll move out of the country if the Health Care Reform was to happen. Health care should be the right of every human being, especially in a country such as America that is seen by some as rich and powerful.

As noted by Darmon and Drewnowski (2008), income affects what we can afford to eat. One can argue that food as well as exercise plays a role in the prevention of diseases, which is why it is especially important to create programs that focus on educating people on eating a well balanced diet and physical activity. I applaud Michelle Obama for her work on the "Let's Move" campaign designed to battle the childhood obesity epidemic in America. It is amazing to see that programs such as "Let's Move" are being implemented in a country that is the centre of fat jokes. It shows that there is hope that this obesity epidemic currently used to describe America has the possibility of getting under control. Some see this as being a waste of money because these programs often take a long time to see results, but I see it as a sign of hope for North America's little ones.

Rosenkranz and Dzewaltowski's (2008) framework on how to create a healthy built environment to help combat the childhood obesity epidemic. It is a framework that looks at both what the government as well as the individual can do to create an environment that encourages healthier dietary intake patterns of young children. It incorporates societal, political, economic, as well as the physical environments of Americans. I think this framework is excellent in providing a way to enable people to feel empowered to take control of their own health. This framework should be implemented in North America to ensure the health of our little ones.

Vogue

Disclaimer: This entry may offend some of you, so before you read this, consider yourself warned.

Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe is the actress who received an Oscar nomination for her role as Claireece Jones in "Precious". Sidibe was also recently left out of Vanity Fair's 2010 edition of "Young Hollywood". VF's Young Hollywood is often criticized for including a specific kind of young actress, specifically those who have an "all-American" look, are beautiful, white, and skinny. This criticism can be seen in the actresses that VF decided to include in this year's "Young Hollywood" edition.

American Vogue has been under some criticism lately for some of the comments made by some editors. When asked whether or not Vogue would consider using Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe as a model on the cover of Vogue in the future. One editor had this to say: "Vogue is venue where designers debut their best new pieces. All of which are one of a kind and sample size. It would be impossible to get a regular-sized girl in those clothes, let alone Gabby".

There are many powerful people in the fashion industry who have many things to say about the obesity epidemic that North America is currently experiencing. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, was quoted as saying: "There’s such an epidemic of obesity in the United States, and for some reason, everybody focuses on Anorexia. We need to spend money, time and education on teaching people to eat, exercise and take care of themselves in a healthier way".

Some people may think this a snobby, conceited, and arrogant comment, but I kind of agree with Wintour. Don't get me wrong, I do agree that it is important that one loves themselves. I also think that one needs to be as satisfied as one can get with their body type, however, I agree that North America focuses too much on eating disorders such as Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa. People often forget (or don't realize) that overeating can also be seen an eating disorder. Programs need to be created to educate people with the importance of healthy eating and exercise. This is why I really like the idea of the HEAL program in Ontario, because it looks at using a holistic approach, which includes communities, institutions, and including youth as well as adults, to health promotion. It also includes empowerment, engagement, and education. Maybe what America needs is a program that looks at educating people on healthy eating and exercise. I also think that people need to look at their audience.

Karl Lagerfeld, a German designer who heads his own line as well as the House of Chanel and the House of Fendi, has lashed out at the media for blaming the fashion industry for their negative influence on young women. In 2004, Lagerfeld designed a one-off line for Swedish retailer H & M. When the company asked him to create his pieces so that they can be made available in larger sized, he was livid. His response was "What I created was fashion for slim, slender people".

If the above comment didn't anger you, what I have to say next will probably piss you off. I am a average sized North American woman. I have body issues, I know people who have battled eating disorders, and I also come from a family with a history of Syndrome X. I won't be surprised if people think that I am a mean, cold-hearted person, but I genuinely agree with Lagerfeld. High-end fashion has always been about having a tall slender body. If you walk into a Chanel boutique, you'll notice that the clothing will only fit those with a specific body figure. If America wants to get angry with American Vogue, then so be it, but people need to realize that human beings are stubborn. How does American expect to change the mind of the most influential fashion insiders, when fashion has always been (and will probably forever be) about fantasy?

Don't get me wrong, I do not agree with all of the comments made by fashion editors regarding bigger body frames. I usually think that their view point is too narrow minded. Not everyone has the ability to eat properly. Not everyone has the time to exercise. That is why I like Wintour's comment on educating America on healthy eating and exercising. If people have the knowledge, they'll have the ability to make the right choices. Even if they have the right knowledge, but they don't care, regardless of how much medical attention/advice is given to them, they won't follow through with it.

If media wants to focus on preserving the self esteem of America, maybe they should focus on highlighting famous figures who promote healthy eating and exercise. Don't point fingers at fashion, because really, that's not what they are there for. Some people that are excellent role models for healthy eating and exercise are Kate Winslet, Michelle Obama, and Scarlett Johansson.

I would like to end off with a positive quote from Scarlett Johansson that sums up everything HEAL promotes:

"People come in all shapes and sizes and everyone has the capability to meet their maximum potential. Once filming is completed, I’ll no longer need to rehash the 50 ways to lift a dumbbell, but I’ll commit to working out at least 30 minutes a day and eating a balanced diet of fruit, vegetables and lean proteins. Pull ups, crunches, lunges, squats, jumping jacks, planks, walking, jogging and push ups are all exercises that can be performed without fancy trainers or gym memberships. I’ve realized through this process that no matter how busy my life may be, I feel better when I take a little time to focus on staying active. We can all pledge to have healthy bodies no matter how diverse our lifestyles may be.”










Resources:
http://www.hollyscoop.com/style/vogue/vogue-on-precious-star-shes-too-fat_1718.aspx#axzz0jRGlrAlt

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4785154,00.html

http://www.accesshollywood.com/_article_29064

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/04/13/scarlett-johansson-talks-weight-issues/

Canada Owns the Podium

For the past two weeks I have cheered, laughed, and cried with Canada's Winter Olympic athletes. Watching Alexandre Bilodeau win Canada's first gold on Canadian soil was touching. Watching and appreciating four years of hard work to make a dream come true was inspirational. I must admit...I cried at practically all the medal ceremonies regardless of which country won medals. I loved watching the athlete interviews because it allowed me to share in their happiness. Something that all athletes thanked was the "Own the Podium" program. While some argue that "Own the Podium" was only put in place because the 2010 Olympics was on Canadian soil, but I think (or hope) that it is a step in the right direction.

When people think of Canada they think of igloos, beavers, lumberjacks, or peace keeping missions (as reinforced in the Closing Ceremonies, which, by the way, I though was hilarious). Canada has never really been at the top of the game in terms of sports. I know that it's stereotypical, but it's true. Just compare the amount of time and effort put into American high school sports programs, and Canadian high school sports programs. I thought it was surprising that Canada invested money into their athletes. To be honest, I'm not 100% sure how much money other countries invests in their athletes, but I get the impression that the amount of money that Canada has spent in the last decade or so does not compare to the large sum of money other countries continually invest in their athletes.

The reason why I am so excited, and happy about the excellent performance of Canada's athletes, regardless of what number they placed or how well/poorly they performed (because really, if you're good enough to make it to the Olympics, that's an accomplishment in itself), because of the amazing accomplishments made by Canada's Olympic athletes. My hope is that the record-breaking performances of our athletes will raise awareness for the excellent things that funding can do for Canadians regarding physical activity. It looks as if the "Own the Podium" program will continue on at least until the 2012 Summer Olympic games in London, England, but I hope that this program light the way towards more emphasis (and therefore more funding) being put into physical activity.