WIN Wyoming

Thought Bullets
for
November 2004 

I’ve always marveled at my ability to remember lyrics to songs I haven’t heard in decades when simple things, like the first name of a person I’ve known for 25 years, escapes me. In 1983, Anne Murray had a hit song called Little Good News. The one line of the song I often sing to myself is the one that goes, "We sure could use a little good news today." Even though the lyrics for the song were written over 20 years ago, it amazes me how true they still hold for today: "I’ll come home this evening, I’ll bet the news will be the same. Somebody takes a hostage, somebody steals a plane. How I wanna hear the anchor man talk about a county fair, and how we cleaned up the air, how everybody learned to care. . . . We sure could use a little good news today." I offer the thought bullets this month in the interest of a little good news.

• The average life expectancy of humans continues to rise. Before you aspire to return to the good ‘ol days of years gone by, go to your favorite computer search engine and explore the average life expectancy of humans. Here is what I discovered during my recent search:
  -    During the Roman Empire, the average life expectancy of humans was about 22-25 years.
  -    During the American Revolution, people were expected to live to age 35.
  -    According to world estimates, the average life expectancy in 1900 was 30 years.
  -    By the year 1920, the U.S. average life expectancy had risen to age 54.
  -    Currently, the worldwide average life expectancy is 63.
  -    The average life expectancy in the U.S. is now 77 years (74 for males, 79 for females).
  (I recently celebrated my 49^th birthday. I’m now counting my good fortune of not having been born during the Roman Empire or American Revolution!)
  
  
• Several studies have shown a significant decrease in the number of smokers in the U.S. The CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey reported 16.7% of respondents smoking in 2003 compared to 22.4% in 1995. A 30-year study of adults with diabetes (based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey) found a decrease in cigarette smokers from 32% in 1971 to 17% in 2000.
  
  
• According to USA Today (February 24, 2004, snapshot), Americans are now eating less candy than a few years ago. The average American ate a record high 27.2 pounds of candy in 1997, but in the last few years the yearly average has decreased to 24 pounds.
  
  
• Near the end of September 2004, General Mills announced a plan to convert all its cereals into whole grain products. David Kessler, former commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration, called the change "the most comprehensive improvement in the nation’s food supply since the government began mandatory fortification of grains in the 1940's."
  
  
• In early October 2004, Kraft Foods announced a change in its food labels that will make it easier for consumers to understand the calories and nutrient content of the food they eat. Kraft snack and beverage products that contain two to four servings will now provide nutrition information for the contents of the entire package.
  

I was prompted to write on this subject after reading a couple of the quotations from the narratives from Wellness IN the Rockies. One female in her early 40's said, "It just seems like everywhere you turn, we’re being bombarded with how bad we are. We’re fat and we eat too much, and we don’t exercise enough. And it’s all negative, and it’s constant, and it’s day in and day out." Another female in her mid-40's said, "The media says you need to be skinny, and then exercise people come and say you need to exercise and so it’s kind of like this guilt trip on you. . . . They say [being fat] is a health risk, too. . . . It probably makes it worse. It probably makes us eat more, because it’s so hard to lose weight and so hard to exercise. Sometimes you just . . . give up."

Sources:
Imperatore G, Cadwell BL, Geiss L, Saadinne JB, Williams DE, Ford ES, Thompson TJ, Venkat Narayan KM, Gregg EW. Thirty-year trends in cardiovascular risk factor levels among US adults with diabetes: National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys 1971-2000. American Journal of Epidemiology. 2004;160(6):531-9.

Horovitz, B. General Mills cereals go totally whole grain. USA Today, September 20, 2004.

Kraft to launch improved nutrition labels. Food Ingredient First. On-line newsletter, October 7, 2004.

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD, Senior University Extension Educator, University of Wyoming; bholmes@uwyo.edu

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