"One in Six: Act Now!"

Oct. 29 is World Stroke Day

In 72 hours… the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association will join the World Stroke Organization to spread the message about the global threat of stroke. As it stands, stroke is the #3 killer of all Americans. The theme for this year's World Stroke Day is "One in Six: Act Now!"

· One of every six people worldwide will have a stroke in their lifetime
· Someone has a stroke every 40 seconds…

To raise stroke awareness, the American Heart and Houston DINEs are encouraging people to take action at 1:06 p.m. on October 29th by taking the My Life Check assessment and sharing the site with six people. That could be six family members, six players on your flag football team, six ladies under the drier at the beauty salon, six Texans fans, or even six Cowboys fans. Find out what you can do to Act Now by using American Stroke Association tools at our website, and then add these messages to your Facebook and Twitter accounts.

It’s so simple even a cave man can do it.

Grow the Grassroots at the Heart Walk

The Houston Heart Walk is coming up and we want to see you out there! Help the Houston DINEs team grow the grassroots as we fight obesity in Houston.

We are looking for volunteers that will help us talk to Heart Walk participants, discuss the Houston DINEs campaign, and get sign-ups for our cause.

Houston Start! Heart Walk
Sam Houston Park, Downtown (1100 Bagby St. Houston, TX 77002).
Saturday, November 6th
7:15 AM

Please get to the Park at 7:15 am and look for theYou're the Cure table. A brief training will be held at 7:30 am to get you up to speed on Houston DINEs and your activity for the day.

To RSVP or for more information please contact:
Ar’Sheil Sinclair at (713) 610-5000 or t-arsheill.sinclair@heart.org

A Teen With Passion For Health

Meet Jordan Hudson, a 17 year-old Junior at The Woodlands Christian Academy and pageant winner. She stays fit because she is a Varsity Cheerleader and active in several other student leadership groups Not only is Jordan Hudson, the reigning Miss Woodlands Teen USS, is also a teen spokesperson for the Houston D.I.N.E.’s initiative. Jordan works to help consumers make wiser choices in their daily nutrition habits and not only lends her voice to this worthy cause, but puts those concepts into daily practice on her own. Jordan plans to bring additional attention to these worthy causes through her year of service as Miss Woodlands Teen USS.

To follow Jordan during her year as Miss Woodlands Teen USS, visit her blog at http://www.jordan-hudson.blogspot.com/.

Royal Flush…

As we all know, we are living in a fast food nation. American’s are constantly on the go so we like everything quick and convenient. We like or songs in an mp3 format, our cell phones to be smart and our meals prepared in less than 45 seconds possibly while in our car. Houstonians are eating out in increasing numbers; many families eat fast food on a daily basis. From a survey in 1977-98 to 1994-95 Americans increased their purchases of food eaten outside the home from 26 percent of their total food budget to 46 percent.

According to an October 11, 2010 article in Time Magazine titled Supersize Me, the Burger King Pizza Burger made its debut on Broadway this past summer. It is currently only sold in New York City at the BK Whopper Bar. It’s a good thing we live in Houston because the Pizza Burger which is 9.5 inches in diameter has over 2,500 calories, 144 grams of fat, 59 grams of saturated fat, 380 milligrams of cholesterol and 3,780 milligrams of salt! That is nearly a day and half supply of calories. This Pizza Burger gives new meaning to the phrase “eat your heart out”. The American Heart Association has now documented research that shows the link between this trend in eating out and obesity. The meals eaten out have begun to parallel negative health outcomes such as Type II Diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Menu labeling is necessary to reduce these preventable morbidity factors. How else would you have known that this “pizza” contributes to the nearly 27% nationwide obesity rate that is constantly growing?

Now the good news-- November 2, 2010 is Eat Healthy Day. You can choose to take charge of the health and well being of you and your family.

Not So Happy Meal...

While San Francisco is considering a ban on toys in the popular McDonald’s Happy Meal, Houston has a hometown “hero” pediatrician who has succeeded in improving the nutrition of Happy Meals at McDonald’s restaurant located in Texas Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Sanjiv (Sonny) Harpavat preserved through three years of tough negotiations to improve Happy meals and post calorie counts at the McDonald’s in Texas Children’s Hospital. Happy Meals at TCH now have milk and fruit instead of soft drinks and french fries.

Our DINEs team has been advised by physicians and nutrition experts that labeling menus is a first step in fighting the complex issues related to obesity, it is a critical one. Houstonians are eating out in increasing numbers and by all accounts will continue to do so over the coming decades. Houston has great restaurants and fast food on almost every block. To address our obesity crises among adults and children in Houston, we need to know the calorie content before we choose among all those tempting meals.

The San Francisco proposal is designed to improve the nutritional content of Happy Meals by lowering the sugar, sodium and fat content in the Happy Meal and add a half-cup serving of fruit and vegetables. While the proposal will be placed before the full board on October 19^th, Mayor Gavin Newsom has threatened to veto the ban, opting to insure healthy choices are made available. Newsom has been a leader in promoting healthy foods and lifestyles and has planted a garden at city hall with fresh food guru Alice Waters.

Houston’s Dr. Harpavat sees the impact of fast foods on his patients each day and is working with other physicians across the country to improve foods available in hospital restaurants. Diseases unheard of in previous generations of children now include hypertension, type 2 diabetes and even fatty liver an are linked to obesity.

For more on San Francisco Happy meals, see the story on NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130303321

Written by: N. Thorne

Menu Labeling? Huh?

It’s Wednesday afternoon, you and your favorite coworker are next in line at your favorite taco eatery ready to order your tortilla soup and a salad and you notice something is different. Right next to the menu item are the price and calories per serving. This my friend is called a Menu Label and was designed in an effort to combat obesity. In March 2010, the federal government enacted the Health Care Reform Act. In the Health Care Reform Act was a section on menu labling that mandate that food establishments with 20 or more location must post the caloric content next to the entrée item. By having this information readily available consumers such as you, are able to make informed choices about the food and beverages you purchase.

This piece of legislation is monumental in the prevention of the obesity especially in Texas-- a state that ranks 14 in the nation in terms of obesity. Locally, Harris County has an obesity rate of over 30% and it is constantly on the rise. With the new mandate in place consumers will be able to better gauge their energy needs. Take that information and pair it with exercise and Houston could quite possible become one of the healthiest cities in America in due time.

The next time you are at a restaurant prepared to order and you don’t see the amount of calories per serving make sure you ask your server. You have a right to know. Check please!!

Bridging Science with the Community

Tonight the Texas Research and Obesity Center will host the final series of Science and Community Opportunity Reception. The Houston DINEs team will speak at the reception about our campaign and the importance of working together to help end obesity. The event takes place tonight from 5:30-7:30pm at the University of Houston’s M.D. Anderson Library in the Pavilion Area (3855 Holman Road, Houston, TX 77004).

The series is led by Dr. Rebecca Lee who is an expert in obesity in the city of Houston. This project seeks to reduce and prevent obesity among members of the African American and Hispanic or Latino communities by capitalizing on unique opportunities presented in the City of Houston. The Texas Research and Obesity Center needs your help with the following:

• Developing partnerships between the community and our scientists

• Determining a collaborative agenda

• Educating each other about health in our community

• Evaluating the success of Science and Community

RSVP to ScienceAndCommunity@yahoo.com! Refreshments will be served
For more information please visit: www.hhp.uh.edu/obesity

How Does Your Garden Grow??

On Saturday, October 2, 2010, Houston DINEs lent a helping hand to Recipe For Success and CAN DO Houston at Lyons Elementary to build a food garden for the school. CAN DO Houston added the Northside Village Community in 2010 as beneficiaries of its outreach services.


Lyons Elementary was selected as the site school because of the willingness of school staff to prioritize and tackle childhood obesity. The community garden at Lyons Elementary is the first of many initiatives that CAN DO will launch this school year.

Obesity prevention takes team work much like building a garden!! “The work that we seek to do goes beyond the construction of a community garden, what’s important is the education and awareness that comes from the presence of the garden, that is why CAN DO Houston is unique and our work is sustainable”.

Recipe for Success is dedicated to combating childhood obesity by changing the way children understand, appreciate and eat their food. Houston DINEs encourages consumers to ask questions about the foods they eat. Eating the right foods is extremely important component to healthy living. All children deserve access to healthy choices and good nutrition. After all healthy kids become healthy adults and healthy adults become healthy Houstonians!!

For more information about how to become involved in the battle of th bulge visit our advocacy network You’re the Cure at www.yourethecure.org.

Childhood Obesity Prevention...365

September was Childhood Obesity Prevention month. For 30 days we focused our advocacy efforts on asking legislators to make sure our children have healthy meals options in school in addition to maintain physical education standards. Currently, 25% of the nation’s children are showing early warning signs of heart diseases, but this can be undone. The battle on obesity is totally winnable!! We know how important healthy food and exercise are to the development of our kid’s brains and bodies…so why stop now? The month of October grants us 31 additional days to continue our obesity prevention endeavors. After all, health is 365!!

Over 94% of the top 25 fast food restaurants children’s menus are extremely high in calories even after making substitutions for supposedly better options. This is because kid menus are dominated by burgers, chicken nuggets, fries and sugary sodas. Add sedentary lifestyles to this picture and you have a recipe for adverse effects on health.

As parents you are the gatekeeper to your family’s health. For the month of October focus on healthy eating at home instead of fast food places. Let’s continue our obesity prevention for another 31 days!!