Youth Radio - Topic: Health

Ostracism Turns Young People Off To Physical Activity

rgee — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:51:34 -0600

The American Pediatrics Association released results of a study today that seems to indicate that when students are ostracized, they are less inclined to participate in physical activities.

The study included 19 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years old. The first part of the study involved a computer game called Cyberball. Each child was told that they were playing with two other children on the Internet, but the computer actually controlled the other two “players.” One group of students was tossed the ball regularly, but the other group of students was intentionally ignored and not thrown the ball.

After the Cyberball sessions, the children were given the option of using physical activity equipment or doing stationary activities like word searches and reading. The ostracized students spent 41 percent more time on the stationary activities, reports Education Week. In addition, these children reported greater negative feelings, less emotional-control, and without a sense of belonging.

Healthy School Lunches Have To Taste Good

rgee — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:05:18 -0600

When Los Angeles schools tried to go the healthy route with school lunches they hit a snag.

The students flipped--they stopped eating the food. Dennis Barret, L.A. Unified's food services director, told the LA Times that the introduction of the healthy meals was "a disaster." School lunch enlistments fell by 13 percent. Students who were part of the lunch program dropped the healthy food for junk they brought in their backpacks, like chips and soda.

As of last week, the Federal Government is raising nutrition standards for school meals. This new movement will try to ensure that students across the nation receive healthier meals in their cafeteria. But LA already tried this, without success.

LAUSD was off to a good start. They tried to turn the tables on unhealthy lunches and re-do the whole lunch menu, but the real issue is getting the students to enjoy the food, regardless of the health benefits.

I understand how hard it is to convert students into healthy eaters. I worked in the healthy foods department at Youth Radio for two years. My job was to cook for a group of high school students. Each meal I prepared had a healthy spin on it. If we were making Rice-A-Roni, we only used whole wheat rice and noodles. Students enjoyed our food and always asked questions about what they were eating.

Although some students have never eaten some of these dishes in their life, taking small steps helped them learn. Instead of introducing students to quinoa and black-eyed pea salads, L.A. schools should take surveys on what students enjoy eating. Encourage them to learn about healthy eating, and the benefits that come with it.

Not too long ago I didn’t care about eating healthy. My attitude soon changed when I started learning about health and the ingredients that were in our foods. M.S.G was a big eye-opener for me. It started a whole chain reaction, and I started seeking knowledge about the food we eat every day. Just by learning and knowing about additives and high-processed foods, I felt even more comfortable knowing that what I ate was healthy at the same time.

I understand this movement won’t be easy but one way to help the process would be to give L.A. students the opportunity to learn more about why schools are changing their meals and maybe the kids would be more receptive when it comes to eating healthier. Sure--it might take a while for students to eat unknown foods, but introducing them to creative, tasty options would encourage students to try new things and become more aware.

Medications :Naproxen & Vicoden

JAcevedo — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:03:39 -0600

I have rheumatoid arthritis. The symptoms i get from rheumatoid arthritis are swelling of the joints ,joints turning really red , and my whole body becomes warm and stiffens over time. R.A. prevents me from playing video games for over an hour and it makes playing sports very difficult. Out of all the medicines I have tried the two best options are naproxen and vicoden. Naproxen is the best so far because it relieves pain and reduces swelling for about 3 hours. However, there are some side effects that i don’t like. It makes you dizzy, nauseous, and it causes loss of appetite and the ability to sleep.

On the other hand, vicoden relieves more pain and it last much longer and its effect last 8 hours . The side effects are impaired driving and/or operate heavy machinery because it gives you nausea, dizziness , blurry vision, also it unfortunately makes you feel very fatigue.

I feel that naproxen is better because you are able to drive and it doesn’t make you fall asleep as easy as vicoden does. Even though you get less pain relief the trade off with side effects are worth it because at least you are able to carry on with daily activities in your life ,and the average price for naproxen is around 20$, while the price for vicoden is around 60$ these medications are prescriptions only and if you have symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis . Please consult your doctor to see if these options are right for you .

Opportunity Youth Cost The U.S. Billions In Health Funds

rgee — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:00:27 -0600

Who are the “Opportunity Youth” of America? A new report classifies Opportunity Youth as those between the ages of 16 - 24 who are not pursuing education or employment. They have previously been classified as “disconnected” youth.

The report called, “The Economic Value of Opportunity Youth” attempts to quantify the fiscal and social burden of Opportunity Youth on society. According to the report, “Each year the average opportunity youth imposes a total fiscal burden of $13,890 and a total social burden of $37,440.”

This group of young people is divided between “chronic opportunity youth,” who have terminated their education and are unemployed, and the “under-attached opportunity youth,” who could be working or going to school part-time, but are spending some portion of their time doing neither. The report states, “We identify approximately 9% of youth (3.4 million) who have almost no formal schooling or employment between the ages of 16 and 24 – chronic opportunity youth. … 17% of youth are opportunity youth, but 8% are not in the chronic category; we refer to these 3.3 million youth as ‘under-attached.’”

One of the interesting sections of the report breaks down the immediate economic burden of opportunity youth on society, in areas such as earnings and taxes, crime, health, welfare and social supports, and education. In terms of health, opportunity youth are more likely to have received drug and alcohol treatment in the last year, as well as spent time in a mental hospital. They are also more likely to be uninsured.

The report estimates, “The average opportunity youth imposes a public health care burden of $3,490; by comparison, the average youth imposes a burden of $1,110. Therefore, each opportunity youth imposes a net burden of $2,380 for an aggregate burden of $16.0 billion."

Is There Lead In My Phone Case?

cfoster — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 17:19:20 -0500

By Rayana Godfrey

There’s no place for lead in the human body, plain and simple. Even the smallest amount of exposure to the element is toxic. Scientists estimate that before the Industrial Revolution, most people had about .01 micrograms of lead for every half cup of blood in their bodies. But we’ve put a lot of lead into the environment since then.

“If you're lucky,” environmental toxicologist Donald Smith told me, “the level of lead in your blood is probably between 1 and 2 micrograms.” That’s a hundred times more than what preindustrial people had. It’s also enough to cause detectable neurological damage, said Smith, who teaches at the University of California at Santa Cruz.

Scary, right?

The only thing I knew about lead when I was younger was that it’s the pointy part of a pencil (that’s actually graphite, I've since learned). In high school, lead became merely another element on the periodic table (somewhere near the bottom among those heavy metals). But recently, I’ve had the chance to learn how the metal makes its way from the environment into our bodies.

The occasion was one of Youth Radio’s Brains & Beakers events (watch a video of it below). Researchers from the Center for Environmental Health visited Youth Radio’s Oakland headquarters and demonstrated how they use an X-ray gun to test the chemical makeup -- and safety -- of fashion accessories and household items. Such everyday products pose a serious health hazard if they contain lead. Over time, the metal follows a repeated pathway from the product to your hand to your mouth and into your bloodstream.

“There’s an amazing number of health impacts due to lead,” said Caroline Cox, the Center’s research director. The most severe impacts are the result of exposure in utero and during early childhood when the brain is rapidly developing. According to Cox, a child who is exposed to lead is more likely to be arrested when he’s a teenager. In support of this theory, some economists point to how the U.S. ban on leaded gasoline in the early 1980s resulted in much less lead exposure for infants. And how in the mid 90s, when those infants were teens, the juvenile arrest rate dropped dramatically.

I had no idea these links existed, and I had to learn more about my own exposure. The Center’s researchers told us what to look out for: inexpensive jewelry, vinyl and fake leather, and anything that’s brightly colored, since manufacturers sometimes add lead compounds to paint to give their products a neon glow.

It occurred to me: what if the popular retro trend of dressing in bright colors is increasing our exposure to lead? As someone with a lot of neon in her wardrobe, I felt I had a lot at stake. So I asked Cox and her researchers to test the one fashion accessory I’m always handling -- my canary yellow cell phone case.

A researcher placed my phone case in a chamber and fired X-rays at it. The rays bounced off the case and traveled back at different frequencies based on what elements were in the case. A sensor in the gun read these frequencies and after 30 seconds, a screen revealed which elements were present. I looked next to the symbol for lead, Pb, and saw the letters “ND”… not detected. Phew!

My phone case was lead free. In fact since 2009, although Cox and her team say about 5 percent of the jewelry they check still tests positive for trace amounts of lead, they have found fewer and fewer lead-contaminated products on the market.

But my relief was short-lived, because I soon learned something discomfiting from Donald Smith of UC Santa Cruz. He told me the majority of lead poisoning in children doesn’t come from consumer products; it comes from old houses painted with lead-based paints and dust contaminated years ago by leaded gasoline. My worries became less about what’s in stores and more about what’s in the larger environment.

And I asked Smith if teenagers are safe from the effects of lead, since public health efforts focus on preschool lead exposure.

“Not at all,” he said. Smith even studied elderly people who had accumulated a decade worth of lead in their bones. As osteoporosis set in and their bones began to break down, the lead seeped into their bloodstream. “So even though they weren't being exposed to high levels of lead now,” said Smith, “lead they were exposed to as children and young adults was remobilized and increased their blood lead levels when they were adults.”

There’s no running away from what’s in our environment, and in us.

Editing was contributed by Charlie Foster. Video was produced by Charlotte Buchen with Jenny Bolario and Susana Vuong.

More Info: Youth Radio Investigates is an NSF-supported science reporting series in which young journalists collect and analyze original data with professional scientists, and then tell unexpected stories about what they discover. Check out more from Youth Radio’s science desk here.

For more Youth Radio Investigates stories on Turnstyle News, check out:

In High School Lab, Glimpses of an Ancient Climate

You Can Lead a Kid to Water

My Brain on Ads

Remix Your Life At The Temescal St. Fair

mholt — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:48:37 -0500

This past Sunday, July 10th, the Remix Your Life(RYL) Project (A Youth Radio Health Department Initiative) received the Oakland Innovators Award from Oaklandish and RYL participants performed an hour long set on the Oaklandish main stage at the Temescal Street fair. These youth artists had been working on hip-hop, R&B and spoken word pieces for the past 3-6 months in preparation for this “Remix Your Community Event” and were received with open and raised arms by the crowds of the Temescal Street Fair.

Many of the performers spent hours with the Remix Your Life Coordinators Matthew Holt and Maeven McGovern and fellow project participants refining their pieces and performances, discussing the message they were sending and its impact on them and their community. “This is only the beginning…We should be at every community event!” stated Carlyn Bynes , a long time “Remixer.” The performers caught the eyes and ears of many community members and organizations and the RYL project is currently looking into appropriate avenues to broadcast their message and creativity. The following is a brief look into the Remix Your Life Project’s performance at the Oaklandish/Temescal Street fair.

Obesity: A Major Crisis

cfoster — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:55:24 -0500

Obesity has been the biggest (no pun intended) word on the street these days. Good thing, because this is a serious topic. I was reading this one article that said in England, the British government wants to mandate exercise for children under five (even those who cant yet walk).

It seems a little crazy to me at first, I mean, that's what we usually do as kids, we go outside to play and run around. But I like the fact that the British government want to enforce patterns that can help stop obesity it as soon as possible and that they're concerned about their country and the people in it. My view, though, is that it takes the parents to want to listen and change their patterns also. I know for a fact that some parents will just keep doing what they been doing, which is allowing their children to sit and watch t.v. or play video games and eat junk food all day.
How can babies who cant even walk be expected to exercise? Swimming classes with their mommy and daddy! And this is something fun to do with your child, to exercise and to bond at the same time. I think the United States need to start enforcing this rule also, BEFORE the children turn five, not after.

I found another article talking about how the U.S. government is thinking adding obesity to the list of why children would be removed from their home and placed in foster care. In my opinion this is beyond wrong and messed up. So, the question is, should parents lose custody of super obese child? Why would anybody do that, that would hurt the parent and and their child. Now the American Medical Association say that it should be temporary and it's already happened three times in the U.S. The purpose of this isn't to blame parents, but to actually help the child, because the parent can't provide the healthy meals and lifestyle that the child needs.

Dr. David Ludwig, an obesity specialist at the Harvard-affiliated Children's Hospital, Boston stated "Out of medical concern, the state placed this girl in foster care, where she simply received three balanced meals a day and a snack or two and moderate physical activity," Ludwig said. After a year, she lost 130 pounds. Today, she remains in foster care and though she is still obese, her diabetes and apnea have disappeared". Even thought she still obese she ended many of her health issues that would've killed her. So after reading this viewpoint, to me, this law is a good thing to because it helps keep a child alive and healthy.

My view overall, though, is that it takes the parents to want to listen and change their patterns also. I know for a fact that some parents will just keep doing what they been doing, which is allowing their children to sit and watch t.v. or play video games and eat junk food all day.

Jowanna is a blogger (and chef!) for Youth Radio Eats!, where this post was originally published.

You Can Lead A Kid To Water

rgee — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:00:36 -0500

By Sayre Quevedo, Turnstyle News

During the beginning of my freshman year, the carbonated citrus drink Orangina was big on campus. When I had extra change to spare, I would schlep across the school quad to the vending machines and grab one. Then one day, Orangina and sodas disappeared from vending machines at my San Francisco public high school in compliance with a state law banning the sale of soft drinks in high schools during the school day.

Now, a new California law aims to promote even healthier drinking habits by making water more accessible to students throughout the state. SB1413 requires schools to provide access to free fresh water in cafeterias by July 1^st, 2011.

Some schools have gone as far as installing full-blown hydration stations, allowing students to fill reusable bottles (preferably not plastic) with filtered water. Other schools are making due with water fountains. And then there are schools that plan to utilize an opt out provision that allows schools to claim financial hardship. Many critics call the provision an unnecessary loophole that will adversely affect students’ health.

My school, Ruth Asawa School of the Arts in San Francisco (SOTA), is going the route of relying on water fountains to comply with the new law. But rumors of lead-laden pipes and germ-covered spouts keep many of my fellow students from actually using the fountains. Instead, a lot of my friends tend to drink minimal amounts of water, taking sips from the fountain only when absolutely necessary or buying bottled water or energy drinks from the vending machines.

This month, I put water fountains across San Francisco Unified School District to the test with the help of Darleen Franklin, a researcher in San Francisco State University’s biology department. She examined the bacterial content of fountain water in three district schools. Our reporting also looks into the water supply at Oakland Unified School District. For more than six years, the East Bay Academy for Young Scientists at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science has enlisted students to test mineral content in samples from water fountains across that district, where they've reported lead levels above EPA standards.

Check out the slide show to find out the results of our water tests, and to learn more about the challenges of getting students and schools to make water a priority.

[ED NOTE: CLICK "SHOW INFO" TO SEE CAPTIONS]

More Info: Youth Radio Investigates is an NSF-supported science reporting series in which young journalists collect and analyze original data with professional scientists, and then tell unexpected stories about what they discover.

Youth Radio/Youth Media International is a youth-driven production company that delivers the best youth news, culture and undiscovered talent to a cross section of audiences. To read more youth news from around the globe and explore high quality audio and video features, visit www.youthradio.org.

College Students Reflect On 30 Years Of HIV/AIDS

brett — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:48:04 -0500

This story was broadcast on NPR's All Things Considered on 6/3/2011, and was originally published on Turnstyle News..

A lot has changed since the 80’s. Or so I’m told. I wasn’t born until 1991 – the same year Magic Johnson announced that he had HIV. I’m 19 now, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people joke that Magic Johnson discovered the cure to AIDS…money.

Katherine Hood knows the same joke. She’s a senior at UC Berkeley and has grown up knowing about the disease her whole life. Regardless of the jokes, we both know HIV is still deadly serious. “I think it’s interesting because while I don’t think it’s the same sort of death sentence mentality,” says Hood, “To me if I actually stop and think about it, it still seems like a horrifying thought.”

Hood and lots of kids we talked to say their school Sex Ed classes were pretty good. Thanks to my school’s health classes, I had seen a condom by the 7th grade and knew what it was for. My mom even bought me a book called Deal With It. I remember my friends coming over after school to giggle about stick figure illustrations of sexual positions.

Sex and STDs weren’t a mystery for me, but that’s not the experience had by some students, like UC Berkeley senior Tori Partridge. She explains, “I went to this little private Catholic school and our Sex Ed was basically ‘Hey these are the diseases you can get. Don’t have sex.’ So I just sort of went into this world unprepared.”

The benefit of being in my generation is that we can turn to Google for answers. But no amount of research can prepare a person to ask their sexual partner if they’ve been tested. Nicki Ghafari is sitting at a food court in downtown Berkeley with friends. They graduated from a local Catholic high school just last Sunday, and are headed to college this fall. Ghafari knows they’re supposed to ask about their partner’s sexual heath, but the idea still makes her uncomfortable. “If you ask someone, it’s like they’re dirty in a way, like they’re gross,” she says, “personally I feel like whoever you’re with, you should ask.”

At Laney College in downtown Oakland, junior Salvador Lopez has a little more experience with this situation. He says he wasn’t afraid to have the conversation with his sexual partner, “It wasn’t awkward. They just shot the question right back, and I was like ‘I’m good.’ These are questions you still have to ask, no matter how comfortable you are with one another, just to be safe.”

My friend Elizabeth Welsh, a junior at Mills College wants to be safe, but she feels like the talk around prevention never includes her. Welsh is a lesbian who isn’t embarrassed to admit that she has, “a lot of unprotected sex.” She says, “I talk about aids and I’m informed, but at the same time I’m not using a condom in my sex. So what am I going to do? You think about it and the fears there are but how do you get passed that.” Welsh thinks prevention is mainly geared towards straight people and gay men.

No matter who you are, the saddest part about getting tested for HIV today, is that you’re not only worried about your test results, but you’re still terrified about what people might say, as least that the case for me. David Villamarina, a student at Laney College, agrees. “People get made fun of for having an STD or STI. People are judged.”

While treatments have progressed dramatically in the last 30 years, Villamarina says that society is hung up on wrong things. “We will want to be more focused on what we can do to stop it, instead of who has it. It’s not about the people who already got it. The people who already got it, they got it.”

That’s today anyway. My hope is that 30 years from now, people who “got it,” won’t have it forever.

Native Health Initiative- "Youth Leading the Way"

nmexico — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 15:13:26 -0500

The Native Health Initiative (NHI) youth presentation titled “Youth Leading the Way” at the New Mexico Public Health Association’s annual conference on April 27th, 2011.
High School students will presented on their efforts to create healthier, more sustainable communities.

· Youth from the Walatowa Jemez Green stars will be talking about how they created a comprehensive recycling program in their community
· South Valley Academy High School juniors who serve as peer health educators will talk about a recent wellness event they created at their school, complete with physical fitness activities and educational material.
The Native Health Initiative (NHI) is a partnership which addresses health inequities through loving services. They are the only American Indian partnership in the U.S. that is run by Tribes working with health professions students. NHI also empowers their youth to realize their heritage, their potential, and their power to become leaders.