Category Archives: Diet And Food

If you are already overweight, the idea that you can eat everything in moderation is a fallacy at best, and a pervasive marketing tactic, at worst, served to you by the food industry.

Most overweight people are carbohydrate intolerant. This means that their bodies are unable to process sugar (carbs) safely and effectively. You would not advise a person with a gluten allergy to eat bread in moderation. Neither would you advise a person with lactose intolerance to consume dairy in moderation. It is, therefore, illogical to advise an overweight, carb-sensitive individual to eat carbs in moderation.

A peanut allergy can kill quickly, but a carb allergy can still kill, albeit slowly, via the diseases we have now come to recognise as metabolic diseases, such as diabetes. The trajectory of diabesity can be traced back to the introduction of national dietary guidelines in the western world. These guidelines eventually trickled down to and were absorbed by middle and low-income countries.

The demonisation of animal-based fat, saturated fat, in particular, led to the explosion of dietary carbohydrates, specifically refined grain and sugar. Natural fat was substituted for industrially manufactured fats and oils. Our food environment changed drastically, and so did our waistlines.

I was surprised to discover that there was no robust scientific evidence behind the launch and dissemination of the dietary guidelines. They are not fit for purpose, particularly for diabetics.

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Eating in moderation a fallacy - The Star, Kenya

An odd contradiction has snuck into public view. Many people feel free to criticize anyone in the public eye (or out) who is seemingly above a certain BMI (even though thats a poor stand-in for health) just look at anything from President Trump publicly fat-shaming one of his own supporters at a rally to Jillian Michaels concern trolling Lizzos health because of her weight. But at the same time, we are all making goo-goo eyes at pictures of obese animals.

Cats, dogs, hamsters, raccoons, penguins and even a small owl so fat that she couldnt fly have hundreds of thousands of followers on social media sites. So what makes us love looking at fat animals but so hostile to bigger humans? And is there a connection between the two?

Psychotherapists have long recognized that one of the reasons that humans derive such comfort from pets is that we attribute to them many of the loving, gentle and kind emotions we long for but dont always receive from other humans. We call dogs our best friends, we see puppies and kittens seen as innocent and loving and we assure ourselves that the love of an animal is both pure and unselfish.

Even when we put an animal on a diet, we feel sympathy for them. Poor thing, one friend said about her dog, who was under a veterinarians order to lose weight. She looks at me with such sad eyes, I feel like Im being cruel when I dont feed her more. She doesnt understand. We identify with a kind of sweet innocence in our pets even when theyre trying to manipulate us into giving them more food.

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When I asked Cynthia Medalie, a fellow psychotherapist and dog-lover in New York City, about the phenomenon, she said, We tend to project our best selves onto our animals. We see in them the love and goodness that we dont always allow ourselves to put out into the world.

And, she added, since we see that in them, we can be our best selves with them in return: We can give them the love and tenderness that we sometimes cant give to other people.

Meanwhile, fatness has been given many external meanings in our culture. Great Barrington, Massachusetts psychotherapist Claire Rosenberg reminded me that, in common vernacular, a fat cat is a wealthy, powerful person with everything going for them a holdover from a time when only the wealthy could afford to be obese, whereas, in the modern age, our food system and tertiary economy increasingly mean that only the well-to-do can truly afford to be thin. So maybe we imagine these overly chubby animals as representing wealth, contentment and self-satisfaction qualities we might long for and, even somewhere deep inside, secretly believe that we, too, feel.

But in our culture, we also have many negative feelings about the causes of peoples weight and obesity, which we project onto fat animals owners. Even on sites intended to allow people to coo at chubby cats, some viewers have expressed outrage at the owners who they believe overfeed their darlings even though the causes of a pets obesity might be as complex as a humans.

And, of course, there are sites specifically dedicated to the effort to help pet owners with weight reduction-plans for their pets, since, as numerous concerned pet owners and vets tell us, fat animals may not be healthy animals.

So theres a conflict between what one writer calls two competing truths: on the one hand, we think fat cats are adorable and, on the other, we worry that their excess weight might be harming them and we look for someone to blame for being insufficiently disciplined in a fat animal's care, just as we tend to make moral judgments about overweight people.

Jean Petrucelli, the director of the Eating Disorders, Compulsions & Addictions Service of The William Alanson White Institute in New York City, told me that we do attribute (sometimes without thinking about it) a dark side to obese animals. She said that people gawk at things they feel horrified about and often cant look away our society has new rules for what is considered scandalous and what is normative and the ante keeps getting upped. We dont just think fat animals are cute even if they are but part of the attraction to stories about them is that we are scandalized by the humans who allowed them to get that way.

It seems like, in the end, our attraction to stories about fat pets is just another facet of our outrage and public shaming of the people who we consider to be fat, based on our projections about fatness. As fatness has increasingly been attainable by the middle class and then the poor, we have increasingly attached negative qualities to first fatness and then to the people who are fat, eventually criticizing them for being something we either ignore or dont like (or wouldnt like) in ourselves.

And, increasingly, we fat-shame out of so-called concern for another persons health, as fitness guru Michaels did with Lizzo and as people do with fat animals, in part because we feel like were safely discussing our negative feelings about someone elses body rather than projecting bad feelings about ourselves.

But whether youre in love with pictures of fat animals or repelled by them, whether you think its good to celebrate all of our bodies or think its only okay to like thin ones, remember the old maxim that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Its not what you see that causes your feelings; its what the images represent to you.

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Why do we love fat cats and dogs but discriminate against fat people? - NBC News

Although I cant complain weve had a rough winter, it is nearing the point in February when Im ready for the cheerful pop of daffodils.

The days are gradually getting longer and the zany cats at my house are ready for frolicking once again in the great outdoors. They roam from door to door inside the house hoping that one of them is the door to summer.

I met a lady named Connie at the grocery store and she requested another column about the cats. Since they are a gold mine for funny column material, Im obliging Connies request especially since we both know and like Shirley Scott.

Weve all been accomplishing a few things that are best tolerated in the dreary days of winter: tedious tax preparation, overdue cleaning and stewing in our own juices.

Sadie has gained a little bit of weight after spending the past year neurotically fretting and fussing over the addition of Camouflage and Mulligan into the main portion of the house. I call them the nemesisters because they all hate each other so much, yet they must co-exist in order to stay warm and fed under my roof. Like my Dad always used to say when we kids were giving him back-talk, Its my way or the highway!

Mulligan, previously a skinny kitten full of worms, has officially grown into her huge, haunting eyes of starved youth. They are now lively and devilish, peering through the spindles from a lofty hallway that overlooks the main living area of the house. The refrigerator door rarely opens without Mulligans eyes opening right along with it, sizing up her chances of snagging a piece of 3-day-old chicken that Sadie has been given for weight gain.

Camouflage generally doesnt stake out the kitchen or eat anything but dry cat food. However, one night I inadvertently found her weak spot when she insisted on inspecting and raiding a bag that previously held an Arbys sandwich. Apparently Arbys is Camos addiction. Upon careful consideration, Im not sure how I feel about this, to be honest.

But Camo is the good girl. She likes to watch me do odd jobs around the house in the hopes of getting her head scratched and her nose rubbed while Im fixing the toilet flapper, folding laundry or working on the computer. Ive deputized her as the Special Feline Assisting Editor for the Urbana Daily Citizen.

From my bay window overlooking the picturesque rural neighborhood, I see the children celebrating snow days while pulling their sleds together down the road and toward each others houses. Some of the luckier kids have exhilarating hills in their back yards. In the summer, other kids on the road host outdoor parties where their parents project movies onto large screens in the yards. One parent told me she thinks the road is like Disneyworld because of how the kids can have fun together safely in the shady shelter of a little forest.

Oh summer, where are you? I have three nemesisters and two of them need to go outside in your warm sunrays. Camo wants to sleep on the back deck all afternoon. Mulligan wants to hide in the woodpile and watch the neighbors ducks and chickens. Sadie wants Camo and Mulligan to go back outside and stay there all day so she can sleep in peace once again on the sofa. Sadie is so rattled by Mulligan stealing all of her food that she nearly caught her own tail on fire standing for too long in front of the wood stove.

Until then, I must work up the courage to make an appointment to take Mulligan to the veterinarian. Im sure to receive a lecture about her double chin and her terrible attitude when she is grasped by the scruff for vaccinations. My guess is a hawk or a falcon tried to snag her when she was tiny, but she fought her way free and lived to harbor an entrenched phobia about anything that causes flapping motions, whooshing sounds or grasping moves on her neck. Ceiling fans terrify her. She terrifies the veterinarian. I see a one-day prescription for kitty nerve pills in her near future, then maybe a diet.

Mostly she needs to get outside and play again, just like the rest of us.

Reach Brenda Burns via email: bburns@aimmediamidwest.com.

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The 'nemesisters' of winter need summer - Urbana Daily Citizen

A study in mice has shown that a change in diet may slow diseases that involve the activation of the immune system, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Could the findings lead to improved treatments in humans?

In the United States, nearly 1 million people over the age of 18 are living with a diagnosis of MS, according to estimates.

MS is the most common of the inflammatory disorders with an autoimmune component, which refers to the immune system attacking and damaging healthy tissue.

In MS, the immune system attacks the myelin sheaths that protect the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, disrupting nerves messages to and from the brain.

The result can involve muscle weakness, numbness, trouble with balance and coordination, and cognitive decline, all of which get worse over time.

Doctors most frequently diagnose MS in young adults, although the diagnosis can be made at any age.

At present, no medical treatment can prevent or slow MS without greatly increasing the risk of infection or cancer. But what if dietary changes could delay the diseases onset and progression in high risk individuals?

Researchers have recently explored the role of methionine, an amino acid, in the overactive inflammatory response of conditions such as MS.

The teams results now appear in the journal Cell Metabolism.

While methionine is essential to a healthy immune system, it has an adverse effect on people at risk of autoimmune disease.

Russell Jones, Ph.D., of the Van Andel Institute, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is the studys senior author. He comments on the findings, explaining:

Our results suggest [that] for people predisposed to inflammatory and autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis, reducing methionine intake can actually dampen the immune cells that cause disease, leading to better outcomes.

Many types of cell throughout the body produce methionine, a building block of protein and a form of fuel.

Defensive immune cells that respond to threats called T cells do not produce their own methionine and instead rely on dietary sources.

Certain animal products, such as meat and eggs, have especially high amounts of methionine.

One of the ways that the body defends itself against threats such as pathogens, or germs, is by flooding the affected area with T cells.

The researchers found that ingested methionine added fuel to this process by helping the T cells replicate and branch into specialized subtypes quicker.

However, once boosted by methionine, some of these reprogrammed T cells caused inflammation or swelling.

This is usually a healthy immune response, but if the swelling persists, it can cause damage such as that which characterizes MS.

The scientists found that dramatically lowering the amount of methionine in the diet of mice with induced MS changed the reprogramming of their T cells and limited the cells ability to cause swelling in the brain and spinal cord.

This, in turn, slowed the diseases progression.

These findings provide further basis for dietary interventions as future treatments for these disorders, Jones notes.

By restricting methionine in the diet, youre essentially removing the fuel for this overactive inflammatory response without compromising the rest of the immune system. Russell Jones, Ph.D.

However, before dietary guidelines can be established, researchers must prove that humans also experience these effects.

At present, there is no comprehensive understanding of the cause of MS, although genes related to the immune system play a role, as do environmental and metabolic factors, such as obesity.

The fact that metabolic factors like obesity increase the risk of developing multiple sclerosis makes the idea of dietary intervention to calm down the immune system particularly appealing, says co-author Catherine Larochelle, Ph.D., of the University of Montreal, in Canada.

The researchers will also investigate the possibility of creating new medications to target methionine metabolism.

The present study is only the latest to explore the role of dietary methionine limitation in disease treatment.

In 2019, a study from the Locasale Lab, at Duke University, in Durham, NC, showed that the cancer-fighting effects of chemotherapy and radiation could be improved by reducing methionine intake.

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MS: Dietary interventions may calm down the immune system - Medical News Today

Not many 18 years old players get to the semifinals of a Grand Slam, mainly because of the lack of experience and physical power, but Amanda Anisimova is one of the few exceptions, so taking a look at the diet that helped her outperform top 10 players like Petra Kvitova and Simona Halep is a smart way to update the eventual flaws in your eating habits.

Anisimova took part in Athletes Cookbook, a video series sponsored by Nike and hosted by American comedian James Davis. Amanda helped Davis, who is on a mission to learn how the best athletes in the world fuel their training with healthy, simple food, by sharing her diet guidelines.

I've been eating a lot of plant-based recently. I sometimes have chicken, but mostly fish or just plant-based. Anisimova pointed out after admitting sushi is one of her favorite meals. Do not make the mistake of thinking that Anisimova was forced to turn to a healthy diet with no hamburgers, french fries and coke of a nutritionist appointment.

Amanda told James Davis how the change happened. When I was 14, I started feeling sluggish and then I started to change my diet and I felt better in tournaments. It was just finding things that felt right for me and what foods I liked.

Anisimova said. Besides the above, Amanda Anisimova satisfied one of the curiosities of the comedian. He asked her about carrots and their nutrients. My parents used to tell me that its good for my eyesight when I was younger and I think it is actually true. Anisimova said.

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The healthy diet of Amanda Anisimova, the 18 years old French Open semifinalist - Tennis World USA

Facebook/The Wild Animal Sanctuary

When Dillan first arrived at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, the large moon bear lumbered into his enclosure hesitantly. He soon discovered a bowl overflowing with fresh fruit and vegetables and realized everything was about to change.

Up until he was rescued at the end of January, Dillan had spent his life inside a small concrete pen at a Pennsylvania roadside zoo. Without space to exercise, the bear quickly gained weight leaving him twice as big as he should be.Hes literally 100 pounds overweight, Kent Drotar, public relations director at the sanctuary, told The Dodo. His belly hangs to the ground.

The extra weight has taken a toll on Dillans health, putting stress on his ankles and feet and making it difficult for him to move around. But his rescuers are determined to help him drop the extra pounds.

Dillan isnt too excited about exercise instead, hes taking the opportunity to relax in his new space. Unlike his old home located next to a shooting range, the sanctuary is the perfect place for Dillan to take a much-deserved nap.

[He] just seems to enjoy the peace and quiet and in a very relaxed way slumbers off and on throughout the day, Drotar said. He has fallen in love with the firehose hammocks that we use for our animals.

At the sanctuary, Dillan is no longer showing signs of stress and when he is awake, his personality is starting to come out.

Dillan is turning out to be a bit of a ham, Drotar said. He seems to enjoy mugging for the camera and likes the positive attention he receives. Facebook/The Wild Animal Sanctuary There's even more fun stuff in store for Dillan. Soon, he'll get a bigger home wherehe will be able to romp around amultiple-acre habitat with another rescued moon bear. His caretakers are hopeful that getting outdoors will help kick-start the weight loss, transforming him into a whole new bear.

But, for now, Dillan couldn't be happier: He is enjoying and learning how to live a life of luxury, Drotar said.

RELATED VIDEO: Zookeepers hope their matchmaking will lead to new babies (provided by WUSA-TV Washington, D.C.)

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Overweight Bear Is Less Than Thrilled With His New Diet - msnNOW

Children and classrooms go hand-in-hand, but when places of learning become breeding grounds for contagious germs and airborne illnesses, one may want to think twice before hand-to-hand exposure.

With flu season at its peak, young children find themselves at a heightened risk of developing complications from the flu. Many people in child care try to protect the kids from the flu, but find themselves in need of protection as well. Child care professionals have to make sure they can safely navigate the flu season to protect themselves, and the children they care for, from illness.

Chanelle Camello is currently a part-time preschool teacher and CSUN student studying public health. She has been a preschool teacher for a little over a year.

Preschoolers are so young, its hard to gauge whether or not they fully grasp why covering their coughs and sneezes are necessary.

Its a hit or miss depending on their developmental skills and if theyre understanding that when they cough its going to spread, Camello said. Some of them do, I can think of a handful that do and some that I have to give a reminder to. Sometimes its easier to teach them to cough into their shirts rather than cough out into the open, because I would prefer anything else.

Hillary Lomas is a camp counselor during the school year, working with first graders after school helping them with homework, projects, arts and crafts, and games. Shes been a camp counselor for three years.

Lomas said it can be difficult to teach children to be mindful of germs, because she finds that they dont want to wash their hands or blow their nose when its runny. She said being consistent with children about washing hands and covering their mouth when coughing or sneezing is an effective route.

Some parents dont take the time to teach their children these small steps to prevent others from getting sick, Lomas said. The parents that do explain the reasons why to their children make it easier for everyone else because they are conscious and it becomes a good habit.When parents dont teach, that is when camp counselors and teachers are needed to remind them and explain that germs shouldnt spread and it isnt proper to cough in other peoples space.

Camello said she often sends kids home when they arrive sick, especially during flu season.

If they go to school when theyre sick, yes theyll be at school, but they wont be performing their best because theyll be coughing or not feeling well, Camello said. And theres the risk of getting their teachers sick and then having their teachers miss work or getting other kids sick and just spreading germs. In general, kids are very germy so its kind of often that it happens, but with the flu it has to be taken much more seriously.

The flu is more dangerous than the common cold for children, causing more hospitalizations among young children than any other vaccine-preventable disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Lomas believes sickness can spread faster in a classroom setting, as children often dont wash their hands after using the bathroom or cover up their mouth when they cough and sneeze. The areas around them need to be cleaned constantly in order to prevent the spread of germs.

Despite attempts at cleanliness, Lomas said the children she works with get her sick quite often.

I get sick three to five times a year, I usually have colds, Lomas said. I get the flu maybe once or twice depending on how fast it spreads.

Although Camello has never had the flu, she tries to boost her immune health as a precautionary measure.

Combating the flu season for me is trying to keep up my immune system, Camello said. I try to go with a more homeopathic or a more holistic approach, I dont really take over-the-counter medications. I take elderberry syrup about a teaspoon before bed for immunity support. Some people tend to change their diet during this time, eat bone broth or things that will aid their immune health. Thats so important for teachers, because were surrounded by so many germs.

There are many precautions a household or institution can take to stay more hygenic, one way to keep the flu from spreading is through air purification.

We have diffusers in each classroom and in the lobby that we use, Camello said. Its like an antibacterial for the air.

Along with washing her hands with soap and water, disinfectant wipes are an essential tool Lomas uses to ensure cleanliness. She always wipes down tables and chairs after activities at the end of the day to cut down on the spread of germs.

When it comes to prevention, Camello said she believes vaccinations are in the best interest of the most vulnerable.

I think its a big problem that we have anti-vaxxers, Camello said. As a parent youre entitled to take care of your child the way you want to, but when youre compromising or putting other kids at risk who might have certain diseases (they) wont have a built up defense system from people who are anti-vaxxers.

Although there is some debate on vaccinations and whether or not theyre harmful, she said shes a supporter of vaccinations.

I dont think theres enough scientific evidence for people to not get vaccinations, Camello said. Im vaccinated, my whole family is vaccinated, and weve never had a problem.

Camello finds it funny that people worry more about catching the coronavirus than taking precautions to prevent the flu. The coronavirus is rare, she said, but social media and word of mouth have turned it into a bigger thing despite the fact that more people are susceptible to the flu every year.

Some people question the success of the flu shot and as a result, opt out of getting one. This is a common occurrence among many that share this belief. However, the CDC says those that get vaccinated are half as likely to get sick compared to the ones that dont.

I personally do not get the flu shot, Lomas said. I never got it growing up. I never really got the flu until I started working with kids. I dont believe that it is effective. This year I have learned that many children and adults that have gotten the flu shot have gotten sick.

The spread of misinformation is a major reason why people avoid getting the flu shot. And because people misjudge the science of the shot, they overlook the fact that they could have had the flu virus inside of them prior to the shot or shortly after and attribute their symptoms to the flu shot itself. It takes up to two weeks for antibodies to develop within the body following the vaccination.

People get the flu shot and then they automatically get sick, but they dont realize that theres a two week period after the flu shot where you can catch the virus, Camello said. And because your flu shot doesnt get activated until after that window of time, some people blame the flu shot for getting them sick.

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Containing the flu is not child's play - Daily Sundial

UNCHARTED: A Couples Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing From One Life to Another. By Kim Brown Seely. Sasquatch Books. 275 pages. $24.95.

I have a weakness for remote, confesses author Kim Seely in the prologue to this beautiful memoir/travelogue/wise guide to midlife. And she doesnt mean the TV remote.

The only channel surfing in "Uncharted" is through the narrow and treacherous waterways of Milbanke Sound and the Salish Sea, and points north along the rugged and remote British Columbia archipelago, as Seely and her husband embark on a sailing expedition toward the Great Bear Rainforest.

There are close calls, lost anchors and lost tempers, yet what Seely finds along the way makes "Uncharted" one of the most compelling books of nature writing that Ive read in a while (and this after a steady recent diet of Richard Powers, Robert Macfarlane and Barry Lopez).

A veteran journalist and award-winning travel writer, Seely has long embraced her lineage as the descendant of Westward pioneers and explorers, but in "Uncharted," her first book, she navigates new territory: the inward journey of a shifting personal and family landscape as her youngest of two sons leaves for college. That unmooredness (What now?) will be familiar to any parent who has done the final dormitory drop-off, climbed back into an empty car and turned toward home, the home that heretofore had been an ecosystem of offspring. Twenty years of parenting leaves deep ruts.

My husband and I had come to the edge of something, Seely writes. We could live safe small lives or try something new by launching into the unknown. Launch they did, aboard Heron, a 54-foot beauty of a cutter-rigged sailboat that Seelys husband, Jeff, bought on a whim. Never mind that neither knew much about sailing.

After upfitting the rig and testing the sails on a maiden voyage, their destination was a remote rain forest along the north coast of British Columbia, land of an elusive white bear that Seely, a Seattle resident, had heard about from a National Geographic photographer shed met. She later saw the photographers photo of said bear featured on the yellow Nat Geo cover beneath the header, The Wildest Place in North America: Land of the Spirit Bear.

Invitation enough. Amidst their mid-life recalibration as an empty-nest couple and as individuals, we put all our chips on wildness, Seely writes.

Writing about that wildness is Seelys strong suit. We read about majestic encounters with humpback whales and a mysterious fox, about places as haunting as their names, such as Desolation Sound and Cape Caution, about waking up on a sailboat in a faraway harbor feeling completely cut off from the outside world anchored safely, just the two of us held by the forest, its arms encircling us, as if this place ringed with evergreens was a reward for having set out and crossed this much of the strait.

This paradox feeling such strong connection in isolation, savoring the rare gift of exquisite solitude is parlayed with careful attention and strength.

Seelys prose is subtle, not overwrought, but dowsed with awe and reverence in ways that pique the readers imagination and wanderlust. I could smell that spruce forest; I could envision that enchanted cove and savor lingering there. To her credit, Seely also offers marital insights that dont feel too intrusive and confessional, rendering her husband as a fully realized (and, yes, adorable) character, and their marriage as gloriously real. Theres humor, anger, tension, tenderness, good wine, an excellent playlist, and one of the most tender sex scenes Ive read in a while, with nature as the seducer.

"Uncharted" is a quest narrative of the finest sort. Sailors will appreciate the zippy nautical adventure (including lovely hand-drawn maps); parents will relate to the quivery sea legs of empty-nesting (and finding a happy new equilibrium); and nature lovers will savor Seelys rapt observations and poetic descriptions.

Its a tale of two people living and exploring simply and boldly in a place that was both immense and contained, immense in the sheer expanse of sea and possibility; contained in that our boat felt as compact as a shell, and we existed in a world ... outside of time as we knew it.

Their discoveries along the way chart promising new ground, where wildness reminds us who we are or, more importantly, who we can become.

Reviewer Stephanie Hunt is a writer based in the South Carolina Lowcountry.

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Book review: 'Uncharted' a memoir of an unmoored couple launching into the unknown - Charleston Post Courier

MANSFIELD -- Ask Laura Corbett if childhood lead poisoning is a health issue in Richland County and she wont sugarcoat it.

Yes, said Corbett, a nurse and educator at Richland Public Health.

Lead poisoning can have serious health consequences, especially for children under the age of 6.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention use a reference level of 5 micrograms per deciliter to identify children with blood lead levels that are higher than normal.

Fifty children in Richland County met this threshold last year, but Corbett thinks that many children go untested.

We suspect that there are more children with lead issues than we know of, she said.

She added that many area renters are unaware of the risk of lead exposure is higher in older homes.

Kimberley Stansilo, director of the Ashland School of Nursing, reported last year that between 20 and 25 percent of students in the Mansfield City Schools could have been exposed to lead. She based that figure on a study of students at Sherman Elementary School.

While the side effects and statistics can be scary, the CDC states that childhood lead exposure is 100% preventable."The key is keeping children from coming into contact with lead.

What causes lead poisoning?

According to the Ohio Department of Health, deteriorating lead-based paint and its resulting lead dust are the most common causes of lead poisoning among Ohio children.

Although consumer use of lead-based paint was banned by the federal government in 1978, lead dust can still be found in homes built prior that have peeling or chipped paint. If the paint peels and cracks, it creates lead dust that can be swallowed or inhaled. It can also leak into the soil from exterior lead-based paint, industrial pollution and past use of leaded gasoline.

It doesnt take much to raise the amount of lead in a childs blood to a dangerous level.

The amount of lead dust that it takes to poison a small child would fit on the head of a pin, said Corbett.

Sheadvised that children always wash their hands after playing outside and before eating.

Some children have been exposed because their parents work in an environment with lead dust and bring it home with them.

We are in an area that had a lot of manufacturing years ago. It used to be in the gasoline, it used to be in the paint, Corbett said. Once you put it out there, its still there. It doesnt just go away.

Another potential source of lead exposure is drinking water contaminated by lead leaching from lead pipes, solder, brass fixtures or valves. Lead was legally permitted in plumbing materials until 1986.

What can I do?

While child lead poisoning is a serious concern, it can also be easily prevented.

Corbett advised tenants in older buildings to keep an eye out for potential sources of lead dust, such as chipped paint on the inside or outside of the home. Keep children away from chipping or peeling paint.

The EPA also suggests regularly cleaning floors, window sills, and other surfaces, as well as children's toys.

Residents of older homes can reduce the risk of lead-based paint exposure by painting and panelling over lead-based paint, but caution is necessary during home repairs.Lead dust can be created and spread when painted surfaces are sanded or cut, so children should reside elsewhere during the home renovation process.

Families with Medicaid eligible children or pregnant women can access funding to help cover the cost of lead paint testing and hazard removal through a statewide grant from the Ohio Department of Health. This program is open to both renters and homeowners through the health department. The Richland County Land Bank is also working on safely demolishing a number of hazardous homes.

Corbett encouraged parents to be aware of lead poisoningsymptoms such as severe acting out, sudden personality changes, hearing loss and changes in a childs diet. If a child has excessive cravings for milk or starts eating things that arent food, it may mean they are seeking the things that will help their bodies rid the lead from their system.

You can get (lead) out of your body with a particular diet, Corbett said. It binds with iron and calcium-rich foods -- green leafy vegetables, milk, a multivitamin with iron also helps.

Corbett cautioned that diet shouldnt be used as a means to continue living in a toxic environment.

You cant stay in the environment where youre poisoned, because then it's just a cycle, she said.

If a parent believes their child has been exposed to lead, the health department recommends getting the child tested. Corbett said most family doctors offer these tests and Medicaid covers these tests for children ages six and under.

For more tips on prevention of lead poisoning, click here.

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Local experts weigh in on reducing the risk of childhood lead poisoning - Richland Source

[Note: The following contains spoilers for the ending of Season 1 of Locke & Key.]

The week that Locke & Key made its global debut on Netflix, there was a set of massive signs at L.A. Live outside the Staples Center. Each of them the height of a decent-sized apartment building, they had only a simple set of images echoing the cover of the comics series the new show is adapted from: Keyhole-shaped marks at the top of peoples spinal columns, ready to be unlocked.

Those giant ads hint at a show with mammoth possibility while offering as few details as possible. Its a great hook for a series, one thats destined to grab peoples attention as theyre sifting through options on the main Netflix app screen. Regardless of how well that worked, the 10 episodes of Season 1 that follow once you hit Play are also symptomatic of a specific kind of Netflix algorithm-based approach in some of the most glaring ways.

Locke & Key has long been a thorn in TV execs sides, with thwarted adaptations straddling multiple networks and streaming services. That this latest one made it to the screen feels less of a realization of the vision contained within the pages of Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodrguezs comics series and more of a chance to manufacture a show with as many recommendation connection points as possible.

It certainly delivers on its title, following the children of the Locke family as they discover not only a magical set of keys that each bring unthinkable power, but the dark legacy that these mysterious tools bring with them. That premise becomes a canvas onto which any number of Netflix hits get tossed. Its a TV casserole featuring the haunted family dynamic of The Haunting of Hill House, an interdimensional threat to appeal to Stranger Things fans, a timeline-hopping element that feels like diet Dark. Add in the relationship- and clique-based drama of a standard high school-set drama and thats the Locke & Key baseline.

Theres something about the way that Locke & Key drives forward that removes most of the tension that youd expect to propel the show forward. Every development is spelled out on a neat trail of clues. Whispers lead the kids to each key. Characters announce their feelings with minimal complications. It makes sense that people faced with impossible circumstances would try to talk things out with each other, but Locke & Key organizes each successive realization like a Wikipedia summary for people who missed everything while they were looking at their phone.

Even at 10 episodes, theres still a sense that Locke & Key glosses over the way that the Locke kids grapple with the life-changing abilities that these keys possess. One can turn any door into a universal portal. One opens a music box that can control other human beings. One is the one hinted on that poster that to reiterate is placed into the back of someones neck to reveal anyones personal memory palace. This is fundamental body horror fodder with its edges sanded down further and further to court younger and younger audiences.

Locke & Key

Ken Woroner/Netflix

The increasingly casual way that the Lockes (and eventually their friends) respond to this escalating, terrifying power also points to the idea that this was never intended to be a show that grappled with the immense possibility the source material affords. This is a story of kids discovering magic and the collective reaction of everyone involved is akin to finding a confusing Harry Potter video game. The immediate acceptance, use and resultant shrug that the show and its inhabitants have toward these keys power seems more indicative of a programming-based gambit for licensing than a show that wants to explore its own treasure.

Few story decisions in the season reflect this idea more than the final minutes of Season 1, when a twist ending reveals that the main villain of Locke & Key has been disguising itself as one of the Locke childrens classmates. Aside from adding to the shows cavalcade of nightmares, it presents this season-capping information at the end of an ICYMI montage filling in the only gaps in the story that Locke & Key hadnt methodically and explicitly laid out yet.

Its a cynical move, especially when its tacked on to an attempted moment of uplift designed to show that the Locke family has come to terms with the tragic death of patriarch Rendell. All loose ends had been tidily dealt with, every possible loop closed, each key safely tucked away in the music box where all the kids can safely repress the unthinkable body horror to which theyve all been unwittingly subjected. But that final gambit, with the surprise resurrection of one demon and the fresh appearance of another, is the safest possible window to a Season 2. Either the show ends and the Locke family can live in their forced peace or this artificial new wrinkle just starts the entire process all over again. Haunt, rinse, repeat.

Its just a shame that some of the more compelling parts of the series get drowned out by the surrounding pandering creative decisions. A labyrinthine hall of mirrors loses its impact when the only other thing trying to build a sense of discomfort is an on-the-nose series of music cues. One of those mind palace sequences is lessened when its clear that its just mimicking The Good Place house style palette. Rather than lean into the wonder of a truly new world, Locke & Key is cobbled together from component parts of others.

With shows like BoJack Horseman and The Crown series that used to represent the past triumphs of a more discerning Netflix programming age ending or on their way out, theres going to be an even greater emphasis on sure bets, of calculated plays at four-quadrant hits. Netflix may or may not be banking on Locke & Key to be its new runaway word-of-mouth gem, but if this is the intended blueprint for making the next one, its a hollow foundation.

Locke & Key is now available to stream on Netflix.

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Locke & Key Shows the Problem with Trying to Make a Hit TV Show from an Algorithm - IndieWire