Does good nutrition prevent crime?

The Economist refers to

. . . a study carried out by Natural Justice, a British charity, and published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2002. Then, 231 volunteers were given either capsules containing their official daily requirements of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s) or placebos. The trial lasted for nine months and during that time the number of offences committed by each prisoner was recorded. Those who received the extra nutrients committed an average of 26.3% fewer offences than those who got the placebo. For violent offences, the reduction was 37%.

Two years later a study in the Netherlands reached similar conclusions. Indeed, the number of disciplinary offences fell by almost half. Supplements were deemed so cost-effective that they would allow prison services to be improved at the same time as saving money.

Another study on a larger number of subjects is being launched in the UK. Could the links between poverty and criminality be the consequence of a poor diet? Could the fact America has the largest portion of its citizens imprisoned be related to observations that many low-income Americans consume diets consisting largely of processed and junk food?*

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Update: Others have noted that some twenty percent of American youngsters live in poverty --The United States has, by far, the highest childhood poverty rate of any rich country. Processed foods may be the only food poor Americans can afford. Parents of poor children in the US are likely to be less educated and more influenced by marketers and advertisers of junk foods.

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It's confirmed: The runner's high is for real

Researchers in Germany, using advances in neuroscience, report in the current issue of the journal Cerebral Cortex that the folk belief is true: Running does elicit a flood of endorphins in the brain. The endorphins are associated with mood changes, and the more endorphins a runner's body pumps out, the greater the effect.

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NY Times

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Only one group of Americans is living longer

A recent study by Ellen R. Meara, a health economist at Harvard Medical School, found that in the 1980s and 1990s, "virtually all gains in life expectancy occurred among highly educated groups."

This from a NY TImes article.  Education makes a huge difference to longevity in the US because the obstacles to good health are systemic. Of course, the educated are also more likely to question whether this or that physician knows what he is talking about, to through these drug marketers' whims.  But mostly, the mass consumer culture is destructive of health and well-being.  In such an environment, in which traditional foods and physical labor uncommon, knowledge is the one thing that will save you. It takes an educated mind to cut through mass marketers' exhortations to buy junk food, and spend all your free time in front of the TV snacking.  

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Men prefer meats, women vegetables

The study of eating habits of adults — called the most extensive of its kind — was a telephone survey of 14,000 Americans. It confirmed conventional wisdom that most men eat more meat than women, and women eat more fruits and vegetables.

Comment:  Women are also far more likely to practice vegetatarian eating or be vegans than men.   This probably relates to our evolutionary roots.  Prior to the invention of agriculture, humans were "hunter-gatherers."  Men hunted, women gathered.

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AP

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Does stretching prevent injuries?

The NY Times reports that stretching has "been oversold as a way to prevent injury or improve performance."  The studies are inconclusive, and those that report benefits combined stretching with warm-ups. 

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Doing push-ups prevents injuries

. . . push-ups can provide the strength and muscle memory to reach out and break a fall. When people fall forward, they typically reach out to catch themselves, ending in a move that mimics the push-up. The hands hit the ground, the wrists and arms absorb much of the impact, and the elbows bend slightly to reduce the force.

The article continues:

The push-up is the ultimate barometer of fitness. It tests the whole body, engaging muscle groups in the arms, chest, abdomen, hips and legs. It requires the body to be taut like a plank with toes and palms on the floor. The act of lifting and lowering one's entire weight is taxing even for the very fit.

While I agree with the first point, there are various ways to do push-ups. For example, I don't do push-ups with my "palms on the floor."  I only do knuckle push-ups.   That's because if I bend my writs it exacerbates a longstanding carpal-tunnel-type weakness there.  Variations of the standard stance can help you to train different muscle group: try doing push-ups with your hands by your waist, or hands close together under your chest.
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NY Times

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Just ten minutes a day

Just 10 minutes to 30 minutes of exercise a day can improve the quality of life for sedentary, overweight or obese women, American researchers suggest.

Specifically, after six months of exercise, the women improved almost 7 percent in physical function and general health, 16.6 percent in vitality, 11.5 percent in performing work or other activities, 11.6 percent in emotional health, and more than 5 percent in social functioning.

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Washington Post

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Pi Day Resolutions

Friday is Pi Day.

Because a circle is the symbol for completeness and renewal, Friday presents a golden opportunity to take stock of your New Year's Resolutions, or make some new ones. Why not call them your "Pi Resolutions" and then begin to jot away your stress?
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Why Pi Day is meaningful to me.

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Television makes you sick

Studies show that up to half of American children have a television in their bedroom. And these television cause harm to their health:

Children with bedroom TVs score lower on school tests and are more likely to have sleep problems. Having a television in the bedroom is strongly associated with being overweight and a higher risk for smoking.

Obviously, kids with their own television sets are not going to be big readers. If it does this to kids, there is no reason to think TV is harmless to adults. Parents would be well advised to lead by example.

This finding was also interesting:

Another October study, published in Pediatrics, showed that kindergartners with bedroom TVs had more sleep problems.

Kindergartners with bedroom TVs? What parent would put a TV in a kindergarntners' room? These studies seem even more an incitement of American parenting than television. Anyway, the paragraph continues:

Those kids were also less “emotionally reactive,” meaning that they weren’t as moody or as bothered by changes in routine. While that sounds like a good thing, the researchers speculated that having a TV in the bedroom dampened the intensity with which a child responded to stimulation.

So basically TV turns your little Tommy into a compliant zombie. Put a TV in Tommy's bedroom and there will be no need for the parents to drug him with Ritalin to treat his hyperactivity (caused by the poor diet of TV-promoted fast food).
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NY Times

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Eat breakfast and lose weight

The BBC reports:

In a five year study of more than 2,000 youngsters, those who skipped breakfast weighed on average 5lbs (2.3kg) more than those who ate first thing. This was despite the fact that the breakfast-eaters consumed more calories in the course of the day. But the study in Pediatrics found they were likely to be much more active.

The University of Minnesota research adds weight to a growing body of evidence that those who eat breakfast - whether young or old - are leaner than those who do not.

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Vitamin E increases lung cancer risk

A recent study has linked Vitamin E and lung cancer. The study suggests that the risk of lung cancer increases by seven per cent for every additional 100 mg/day of vitamin E, with the risk being particularly noticeable among smokers. A researcher explains, "This risk translates into a 28 per cent increased risk of lung cancer at a dose of 400 mg/day for ten years."

Vitamin E is the subject of other worrisome findings. Recent studies have shown it shortens lifespan, increases risk of new cancer, skin cancer, and stroke.

Vitamin E is a mainstay of multivitamins. There is enough evidence that many of the constituent ingredients in a multivitamin pose a hazard to some people -- copper, iron (for men), betacaritine -- that mulivitamins are probably best avoided unless you have a compelling justification to take one.

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