Food for Thought:

Here’s another reason to turn off the boob tube: a study in the April issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that a staggering number of food ads that run during kids’ programming promote foods high in fat, sodium or added sugars or low in nutrients.

The researchers reported that during 27.5 hours of programming in May 2005, 49% of ads were for food or beverages geared toward children. The most common ads were for ready-to-eat cereal and cereal bars (27%), restaurants (19%) and snack foods (18%). A whopping 91% of the food ads run during kids’ shows hawked foods or beverages low in nutrients and high in fat, sodium or added sugars. Cartoon characters were featured in 74% of the ads, whereas 26% teased their young, impressionable viewers with promises of toys or other “giveaways.”

Parents and teachers: know thy enemy and pull the plug on your TV.

By Diane Lofshult

Food for Thought:

How many mornings have you thought you would die for a cup of coffee? According to a study in the June 17 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, that cup o’ Joe may actually reduce your mortality risk!

To assess the association between coffee consumption and all-cause mortality, researchers studied more than 41,000 men and 86,000 women enrolled in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study. Coffee consumption was assessed at baseline and then again every 2–4 years during the study period, which lasted more than two decades.

At the end of the study, regular coffee consumption (up to 6 cups per day) was not associated with an increased mortality rate in either the men or the women who participated. Interestingly, the authors of the study suggested that there might be a modest benefit to drinking either caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee when it comes to decreasing the risk of all-cause or CVD mortality.