 Health Front
News that's good for you
September 2007
Reprinted with permission from Taste For Life
Heavy Load?
Back to school means back to homework—and a big stack of textbooks to lug home. Shouldering the burden of heavy textbooks may be too much for a growing frame. According to a Backpack Safety America survey of 200 chiropractors, 89 percent say they’ve seen patients ages 5 to 18 reporting back, neck, or shoulder pain from heavy backpacks.
“A backpack can range anywhere from 20 to 50 pounds—more added weight than the average pregnant woman may have to carry,” says Phil Witt, PT, PhD. The American Physical Therapy Association offers these tips for wearing a backpack properly:
- Wear both straps. Slinging a backpack over one shoulder can cause curvature of the spine over time.
- Don’t carry too much. Even if a child wears the backpack properly with both straps, a heavy pack still causes her to lean forward to compensate for the extra weight. This can affect the natural curve in the back. Dr. Witt recommends carrying no more than 15 to 20 percent of one’s body weight. So if a child weighs 60 pounds, his backpack should weigh no more than 12 pounds.
- Choose a backpack with wide straps. “Narrow straps dig painfully into the shoulders, and our nerves are very close to the surface,” explains Dr. Witt.
selected sources
- Backpack Safety America, www.backpacksafe.com
- Backpacks: Do It Right, American Council on Exercise, www.acefitness.org
B6 for a Healthy Baby
Planning a family? Be sure to get enough B6. A new study links high levels of B6 prior to pregnancy with a 40 percent better chance of conception and a 30 percent reduced risk of early pregnancy loss. Along with folic acid, calcium, vitamin D, and omega 3s, B6 may be among the most crucial nutrients for a healthy pregnancy. Talk to your healthcare practitioner about optimal levels, and have your B6 level checked if you’re thinking about starting a family.
selected sources
- “Better B6 Status Linked to Better Pregnancy Outcomes” by Stephen Daniells, www.nutraingredients-usa.com, 7/16/07
- “Preconception B-Vitamin and Homocysteine Status, Conception, and Early Pregnancy Loss” by A. G. Ronnenberg et al., Am J Epidemiol, 8/07
By Organic: Think Globally
A new study from the University of Michigan finds that organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on individual farms in developing countries. Challenging the longstanding view that organic farming methods don’t produce enough food to feed the global population, these new findings are good news for developing countries, where many farmers don’t have access to expensive fertilizers and pesticides so use existing organic fertilizers. “My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can’t produce enough food through organic agriculture,” says lead researcher Ivette Perfecto, PhD.
Adding to evidence that organic foods are higher in antioxidants as well as some vitamins and minerals, this new research gives us even more reasons to feel good about choosing organic. Organic farming is less harmful to the environment than conventional methods and can potentially produce more than enough food, says Dr. Perfecto.
selected sources
- “Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply” by C. Badgley et al., Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 7/07
- “Organic Farming Supply Can Meet Demand—Study,” www.nutraingredients-usa.com, 7/16/07
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