Michelle Obama and the Let's Move Initiative

On Tuesday, February 9, 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama appeared on Larry King Live to discuss her Let's Move Initiative, which is the same day that her Let's Move task force on childhood obesity was launched. The Let's Move Initiative has an ambitious, but critically important goal to "solve the epidemic of childhood obesity within a generation."

Let's Move says that "Childhood obesity or excess weight threatens the healthy future of one third of American children. We spend $150 billion every year to treat obesity-related conditions, and that number is growing. Obesity rates tripled in the past 30 years, a trend that means, for the first time in our history, American children may face a shorter expected lifespan than their parents."

As far as I'm concerned, this is a problem of epic proportions with drastic consequences. Especially when it is concerning so many quality of life issues. But this initiative is definitely a step in the right direction, and I am anxious to see where it will go from here. Let's Move has identified 4 ways in which to accomplish the goal to "Raise a Healthier Generation of Kids"

1. Helping parents make healthy family choices;
2. Creating healthier schools;
3. Encouraging physical activity; and
4. Widening access to healthy and affordable food.

There is more information on the Let's Move website about how the task force will be moving on these steps for combating childhood obesity. For now, check out the First Lady's interview with Larry King about childhood obesity:

Winter Inversion Blues

Here in good ol' Salt Lake City, as well as other surrounding valleys in Northern Utah, we have been suffering from an inversion for a while now. I have received Red Air Quality alerts from the Department of Environmental Quality for the past seven days in a row. The air is soupy, and you can smell the muck and pollution in the air.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Smart, Deseret Morning News

The air quality system is based on red, yellow, and green burn days. Green means wood burning is allowed, yellow means a voluntary no burn, and a red light means no burning at all. You are also asked to drive as little as possible during yellow and red air quality days because cars contribute significantly to the area's air pollution. The health implications of Red Air Quality days are also significant. Health advisories go out saying that "sensitive people with respiratory disease or heart disease, the elderly, and children should avoid heavy or prolonged exertion. Everyone else should reduce heavy or prolonged exertion."

Does this sound really bad to anyone else? There are several areas in the state of Utah (Utah, Salt Lake, Davis, and Cache counties being some of them) that do not meet the current federal health standards for fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution, but it doesn't take a scientist with fancy recording tools to know that the air outside is unhealthy. Just take a look out your window, or go outside: it's pretty difficult to not notice the smell of the smoggy air. So what exactly is an inversion?

Several factors contribute to what are known as "surface inversions." Lower angles of sunlight that are present in the winter time do not heat up the earth's surface as well as they do in the summer. When the sun goes down, the air that is closest to the ground gets cooler than the air that is higher above the ground (which is opposite of normal air flows and weather conditions because generally the higher into the atmosphere air goes the colder it becomes, hence the name "inversion"). Since air is a poor conductor of heat, the air that is closer to the ground stays colder during the day time as the air that is further away warms with the rising of the sun. Also, since cold air is heavier than warm air, it stays down in the valley and the warm air floats on top, acting as a lid to the cold air. Then, in a valley that is surrounded my mountains like many of the valleys in Utah, air flow is prevented by the mountains and the hot air "lid" which traps not only cold air but also the pollutants that we emit.

Photo Credit

Right now, an atmospheric high pressure is parked right over many of the Western states, including Utah. As long as this atmospheric high pressure is around, storms are thrust around the high pressure. Storms are useful for pushing out inversions as the air flow and wind that they bring with them disrupt the inversion and clean out the valley of the cold/warm air dichotomy as well as the trapped pollutants.

Surface inversions cannot be prevented, however the pollution that is trapped in them can be, or at least greatly reduced. Carpooling with coworkers, combining trips, avoiding unnecessary driving, and maintaining you vehicle are easy ways in which to reduce the pollution that is caused by cars, a major contributor to inversion pollution. For other ideas on how to improve air quality in both your car and other ways, check out the Utah DAQ webpage.

Day 9

So I have been trying to get a little more exercise, get back into shape, and all that jazz. I was talking with a friend of mine who helps out coaching some high school teams around the valley. With beginning athletes he always challenges them to the 100 Day Challenge. And he challenged me. Before even thinking about it, I said, "Sure, okay."

Well, I just completed Day 9. For 100 Days I have to get some type of exercise on my feet. (Running, Elliptical, and I'll probably throw some x-country skiing when there's more snow.) I can't skip any days, or the challenge is over. So today was Day 9 and I'm doing really well. The nice thing about the challenge is that the amount of time doesn't matter. It could be 15 minutes or 4 hours. Every day can't be 15 minutes, but there will be those days where time just doesn't allow for more than that. And if you do a crazy 3 hour work out the day before, it doesn't carry over. The point of the challenge is to teach you that some exercise is always better than none, and that you can always fit in a work out, no matter how busy you are. More often than not, once you get started you will keep on going.

Anyway, the day I complete my 100 Day challenge is February the 22. Awesome! Completely doable and I am very excited to be in better shape so I can crank harder on my bike and pull harder on the rocks up in the mountains next spring and I can't even wait. Anyone else want to join me?

Keeping Fresh Air During Winter

The snow has already flown here in Salt Lake City. Though I missed out on the winter wonderland while I was on vacation in New Hampshire experiencing some chilly weather of my own, it's still time that we all start thinking about and making those preparations to start winterizing our homes. While keeping all of the cold air out by sealing up our houses, we are also keeping keeping air in and not allowing for much fresh air to come in. This can lead to a very unhealthy environment. Here are some great tips of how to keep the air in your home a little fresher and freer of unhealthy indoor particles that I found on Seventh Generation's blog.

• Open a window every once in a while and let in a good dose of fresh air. While it's not the most energy-efficient action, it means a big difference for indoor air quality.
• Consider getting some houseplants, which excel at removing airborne chemicals. Particularly effective varieties include Boston fern, areca palm, lady palm, bamboo palm, rubber plant, English Ivy, ficus, and peace lily.
• Place large mats at all your entrances to remove particles and other pollutants tracked indoors on shoes. Clean and vacuum these mats frequently so they don't become a source of trouble themselves. And encourage guests to remove their shoes when entering your house. A basket of slippers kept by the door can ensure that everyone's feet stay cozy.
• Conventional cleaners create a barrage of chemical fumes and invisible aerosol particles when used, all of which can be easily inhaled. So if you haven't already, stock up on cleaning products made from natural and non-toxic ingredients and use them instead.
• Use a chlorine-free dishwasher detergent. Dishwashers vent about six liters of air into your home per minute during certain cycles, and the very hot water they use can turn as much as 100% of a detergent's chlorine into a vapor that's released as they work.
• Use warm rather than hot water when you clean so that whatever you're removing from household floors and surfaces doesn't volatize into the air your family is breathing.
• During warmer months, don't use mildewcides or fungicides, poisons it will be hard to rinse out of your home during winter. Instead, eradicate mold and mildew with a solution of two tablespoons of tea tree oil in two cups of water. Spray on the affected area, let sit for half an hour, and then wipe clean.
• If air seems stale or malodorous and it's just too cold to open a window, resist the temptation to use commercial air fresheners, deodorizers, and other similar products. Instead make your own by adding 5-10 drops of your favorite essential oil to a spray bottle filled with two cups of water.
• If you've stored clothing or other items in mothballs, give them a thorough airing out followed by laundering to remove toxic paradichlorobenzene residues. In the future, use natural cedar to protect your vulnerable textiles instead. By the same token, let dry cleaned items air out in the garage before you bring them inside. They, too, can emit unhealthy fumes.
• Although winter's many idle hours may seem like a good time to do some annual maintenance cleaning, resist the temptation until spring. Without open windows and an ability to clean things outdoors, you'll just be stirring back into the air a lot of the dirt and contaminants you're trying to banish.

Photo: Mallory Platt

Food Irradiation

There is always two sides to every story. That is what I've been telling myself as I have been reading articles about the latest piece of news that I have unearthed. Now this may be old-news to some people, but for me, it was one more blow to my already skeptical view of this nation's food suppliers. Did you know that the FDA just ruled to allow spinach and iceberg lettuce to be treated with irradiation? This new treatment of some of our leafy greens is to prevent e. coli. My initial instinct is to be incredibly worried about this new legislation, and I think I remain in a state of alarm about the whole thing. However, I looked up some other articles about the issue, following a stream of links leading from one question to another, and I came up with some interesting discoveries.

The first side of this story comes from the standpoint that food irradiation is bad. Chemicals called furans, which are often toxic and may be carcinogenic, are found in food that has been irradiated. Another chemical family called the 2-alkylcyclobutanones are not found naturally in foods, but are found in food that has been irradiated. This is alarming if 2-alkylcyclobutanones are not found in our food naturally, and therefore not part of our digestion processes and immune defense mechanisms, then the side effects of exposure are relatively unknown. I can't help thinking about Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the impacts that the world is slowly recovering, but still suffering, from DDT. There are also labeling issues about food that has been irradiated. For instance, spinach and iceberg lettuce that is unpackaged and fresh in the produce section must say "Treated with Irradiation" or be marked with the Radura symbol:
On the other hand, some say food irradiation is okay, as it provides a necessary service that is the only way in the production process to ensure a "pathogen-free" product. Strains of E. coli and Salmonella can usually be washed clean off of the surfaces of fruits and veggies. So unless you never wash the produce you are eating, you usually should be okay. That isn't where the problem lies, however. Food irradiation is being used to get rid of "internalized bacteria," or bacteria that can't be washed off. The irradiation breaks up water molecules housed in the plant's cells, releasing free-radicals that damage cell walls and any nearby bacteria DNA. Other defenses of food irradiation include the points that furans naturally occur when food is cooked and studies of 2-alkylcylcobutanones are found in very low levels and have produced different results. Some studies have found that 2-alkylcylcobutanones damage DNA, while others have found they do nothing of the sort.

In all of the information that I read about this issue, not one shred of evidence, either for or agains food irradiation, was done by independent analysts. One thing that all articles were in agreement on, however, was the knowledge that irraditing food destroys vitamins and minerals in the vegetables we eat, especially Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Thiamine, and Folate. Though irriadiating our food could significantly cut down on internalized bacteria, there is no way that 100% of E. coli and Salmonella strains would be destroyed. An important point to also realize is that while it takes thousands and thousand of E. coli bacterium to make a person sick, it only takes a handful for a person to become ill from Salmonella. Is this treatment really even effective? What are we sacrificing?

The largest problem of all that concerns me the most is the fact that none of the arguments presented thus far are addressing the main issue. What is the main issue? E. coli and Salmonella strains are bacteriums that are classically defined by their presence in raw meats. What on earth are they doing showing up in the flesh of our fruits and veggies? The agricultural industry, FDA, and food porduction agencies should not be looking for substututes for CLEAN FARMING PRACTICES. If bacteriums are causing health crises in industries where shouldn't even be present, then the logical answer would be to take a serious look at the food industry and clean up our farming, processing, packaging, and handling practices.

So how do we even go about changing this? Especially as citizens? What are your thoughts on this matter?