Understanding Childhood obesity

www.examiner.com

Many of children now ranging from 6 to 19 years old are suffering from obesity but the didn’t notice it because of their young mind, they thought its natural, they thought they are healthy, but the truth is they are obese, the parents should be the one to know it and the one to fight for the obesity of their child. 

Balance is key in helping your child maintain a healthy weight. Balance the calories your child eats and drinks with the calories used through physical activity and normal growth.

Childhood obesity is almost always a result of a number of factors working together to increase risk. These include:

• Diet: Unhealthy lunch options and regular consumption of high-calorie foods, like fast food, cookies and other baked goods, soda, candy, chips and vending machine snacks contribute to weight gain.
• Lack of physical activity: Computers, television, and video games conspire to keep kids inside and sedentary, which means they burn fewer calories and are more likely to gain weight.
• Environment: If a child opens up the refrigerator or kitchen cabinets and is greeted by bags of chips, candy bars and microwave pizza, then that’s likely what they will eat.
• Psychological factors: Like adults, some kids may turn to food as a coping mechanism for dealing with problems or negative emotions like stress, anxiety, or boredom. Children struggling to cope with a divorce or death in the family may eat more as a result.
• Genetics: If your child was born into a family of overweight people, he/she may be genetically predisposed to the condition, especially if high-calorie food is readily available and physical activity is not encouraged.
• Medical conditions: Though not common, there are certain genetic diseases and hormonal disorders that can predispose a child to obesity, like in adult it also affect to child, such as
• hypothyroidism, (when the thyroid gland, located in the neck just below the voice box, is under-active and does not release enough of the hormones that control metabolism),
• Prader-Willi syndrome (a genetic disorder affecting the part of the brain that controls feelings of hunger)
• And Cushing's syndrome (a disorder in which your body is exposed too much of the hormone cortisol from overproduction in the adrenal glands or use of medications such as those for asthma).
• Sleep: kids who sleep less than the recommended amount of about 13 hours a day at age 2 are more likely to be obese at age 7. One reason: Fatigue alters the levels of appetite-regulating hormones

How to prevent child obesity?

• Gradually work to change family eating habits and activity levels rather than focusing on weight.
• Be a role model. Parents who eat healthy foods and are physically activity set an example that increases the likelihood their children will do the same.
• Encourage physical activity. Children should have an hour of moderate physical activity most days of the week.
• Encourage children to eat only when hungry, and to eat slowly.
• Avoid using food as a reward or withholding food as a punishment.
• Keep the refrigerator stocked with fat-free or low-fat milk and fresh fruit and vegetables instead of soft drinks and snacks high in sugar and fat.
• Encourage children to drink water rather than beverages with added sugar, such as soft drinks, sports drinks and fruit juice drinks.
• Establish daily meal and snack times, and eating together as frequently as possible.
• Make a wide variety of healthful foods available based on the Food Guide Pyramid for Young Children. Determine what food is offered and when, and let the child decide whether and how much to eat.
• Discourage eating meals or snacks while watching TV. Eating in front of the TV may make it difficult to pay attention to feelings of fullness and may lead to overeating.
• Buy fewer high-calories, low-nutrient foods. Help children understand that sweets and high-fat treats (such as candy, cookies, or cake) are not everyday foods.
• Plan healthy snacks at specific times. Include two food groups, for example, apple wedges and whole grain crackers.
• Focus on maximum nutrition - fruits, vegetables, grains, low-sugar cereals, low fat dairy products, and lean meats and meat alternatives.
• Avoid excessive amounts of fruit juices, which contain calories, but fewer nutrients than the fruits they come from.
• Encourage physical activity. Participate in family physical activity time on a regular basis, such as walks, bike rides, hikes, and active games.
• Encourage healthy eating habits. Small changes can lead to a recipe for success! Provide plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole-grain products.
• Make favorite dishes healthier. Some of your favorite recipes can be healthier with a few changes.
• Help your kids understand the benefits of being physically active. Teach them that physical activity has great health benefits like: Strengthening bone decreasing blood pressure Reducing stress and anxiety increasing self-esteem helping with weight management
• Help kids stay active. Children and teens should participate in at least 60 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity most days of the week and every day if possible.

The success of the child is on the parents, when we should support our children?

Young people generally become overweight or obese because they don’t get enough physical activity in combination with poor eating habits. Genetics and lifestyle also contribute to a child’s weight status. The longer a person is obese, the more significant obesity-related risk factors become.

Source: Dep. of Health. NY.  PARENTING. StanfordMedicine. HEARTORG

Mal-absorption syndrome?

What is Mal-absorption syndrome it is the inability to absorb nutrients, vitamins, and minerals such as vitamin B12 and iron, from the intestinal tract or food into the bloodstream. 


What are some Causes of Mal-absorption?

Many diseases can cause Mal-absorption. Diseases affecting the intestine itself, such as celiac disease. Absence or low levels of certain digestive enzymes.  Diseases of the pancreas, such as chronic pancreatitis or cystic fibrosis. Diseases caused by parasites, such as giardiasis or worms. Changes in the bacteria normally found in the intestinal tract. Surgery, such as removal of the gallbladder that alters or reduces the length of the intestinal tract.


Other causes include.

AIDS and HIV Biliary atresia Celiac disease Certain medications (cholestyramine, tetracycline, some antacids, some medications used to treat obesity, colchicine, acarbose, phenytoin) Certain types of cancer (lymphoma, pancreatic cancer, gastrinomas) Certain types of surgery (gastrectomy with gastrojejunostomy, surgical treatments for obesity, partial or complete removal of the ileum) Cholestasis Chronic liver disease Cow's milk protein intolerance Crohn's disease Damage from radiation treatments Parasite infection, including Giardia lamblia Soy milk protein intolerance Whipple's disease

What are some Symptoms of Mal-absorption?

Gas, bloating, and vague abdominal discomfort, Weakness. Weight loss. Anemia and sore tongue, fats: light-colored, foul-smelling stools those are soft and bulky. Such stools are difficult to flush and may float or stick to the sides of the toilet bowl. Proteins: fluid retention (edema), dry hair, or hair loss sugars: bloating, flatulence, or explosive diarrhea vitamins: anemia, malnutrition, low blood pressure, weight loss, and wasting. Possible Complications: Long-term Mal-absorption can result in:
Anemia Gallstones Kidney stones Osteoporosis and bone disease Malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies


How can we treat the Mal-absorption?

Nutrient and fluid replacement are the first step in treating Mal-absorption syndrome. Hospitalization may be required in the most extreme cases.
Treatment may include a special diet, medicine to replace intestinal enzymes or reduce spasms, and vitamin or mineral supplements, such as B12 and iron.
You should eat several small meals throughout the day that are rich in carbohydrates, fats, minerals, proteins, and vitamins.


The Prevention

Preventive methods depend on the condition causing Mal-absorption.
Prevention to help reduce your chances of getting Avoid excessive use of laxatives or alcohol, both of which are associated with a higher risk of Mal-absorption syndromes. If you have any medical conditions involving your digestive system, it's important to follow your health care provider's advice.


Sources: Medlineplus. WebMD. Healthline.

Quotes for How to be a leader?

Why someone wants to be a Leader? there are many reason, such as,

He want power, he want to help other, he want to lead other, there something that they want, he want money in easy way, many other reason, including the good and wrong motive.

What benefit that the leader will get. Power and wealth if you are selfish leader, respect and honor if you are good leader. Bad or good are both beneficial that’s why many people want to be a leader even they have no capacity to be a leader.

What is a leader; of course we know what is leader, someone that leads a group, someone who have a group under his command, like the President of the country.

If we are looking for a leader or we want to be a Leader, here is some quote from the great men and leader of the world that we can apply to look for a leader or on ourselves as a leader.

• A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu
• Leader should be transparent.
• Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality. —Warren Bennis
• A leader is a dealer in hope. —Napoleon Bonaparte
• A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. —John Maxwell
• Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to high sights, the raising of a person’s performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. —Peter Drucker
• A kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily; even if you had no title or position. —Brian Tracy
• A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together. —Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
• The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it. —Theodore Roosevelt
• A good general not only sees the way to victory; he also knows when victory is impossible. —Polybius
• A great leader’s courage to fulfil his vision comes from passion, not position. —John Maxwell
• A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be. —Rosalynn Carter
• The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. —Jim Rohn
• Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. —Sam Walton
• A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent. —Douglas MacArthur
• A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward. —Ovid
• Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it. —General Dwight Eisenhower
• The leader has to be practical and a realist yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist. —Eric Hoffer
• Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy
• Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out. —Stephen Covey
• Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand. —General Colin Powell
• Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths. —John Zenger
• Lead and inspire people. Don’t try to manage and manipulate people. Inventories can be managed but people must be lead. —Ross Perot
• Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. —Vince Lombardi
• Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them. —John C. Maxwell
• Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. —John F. Kennedy
• Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day. —Jesse Jackson
• Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise. —Woodrow Wilson
• Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy. —Norman Schwarzkopf
• Leadership is solving problems. The day soldiers stop bringing you their problems is the day you have stopped leading them. They have either lost confidence that you can help or concluded you do not care. Either case is a failure of leadership. —Colin Powell
• Leadership is the key to 99 percent of all successful efforts. —Erskine Bowles
• Leadership is unlocking people’s potential to become better. —Bill Bradley

In the group the leader and follower should help each other; the group will fall if there is a division. Respect the leader bad or good the bible say those who fighting the leader is fighting God, if he do wrong he will pay it to God.

Iglesia Ni Cristo, 20-ton world-class pipe organ.

Iglesia Ni Cristo Executive Minister Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo officiated the July 5 special worship service which was attended by more than 11,000 people at the INC Central Temple.

Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo on Saturday July 5, 2014 officiated a special worship service at the INC Central Temple in Quezon City, where a newly installed 20-ton world-class pipe organ was played for the first time.

The special pipe organ, custom-made by the world-renowned A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company based in Georgia, took 14 months to install. 

The INC’s main temple on Commonwealth Avenue had to be renovated to house the 3,162 special individual pipes, which were packed and shipped from the United States. The longest of the pipes measures 23 feet long, while the shortest is eight inches.

The INC contracted the pipe organ company in 2012 to study, build and install a special pipe organ at the Central Temple, with the intention of further raising the level of worship experience through hymn singing and musical accompaniment, especially as the centennial draws near. 

The custom-made pipe organ comes from Georgia, USA, and will now be a permanent fixture enhancing religious services at the Iglesia ni Cristo’s Central Temple on Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

“Yes, it’s very rare, because it’s the only one,” said Arthur Schlueter, founder and president of the A.E. Schlueter, who flew from the US to personally witness the event three weeks before the INC Centennial on July 27, 2014

The instrument is considered the first of its kind as it is actually made up of three separate organs—one at the main nave with a main console and two smaller ones built at the temple’s left and side wings with its own consoles.

Dr. Genesis Rivera, a church organist who is also a doctor, said it was a great blessing for him that he was the first one to play the pipe organ in that special worship service.

Saturday’s special service, which started at 6 a.m., began with the singing of new hymns of praises accompanied by the pipe organ. Church organist Genesis Rivera, a doctor, was the first to play the instrument as part of worship. 

Rivera said the sound he produced playing had “power and majesty,” which was very different from that of an ordinary organ, hence the choir members became more inspired in their singing. 

“The first public performance of the instrument with the choir and the congregation—and the organ itself—exceeded our expectations as the organ makers. It was a fabulous blend in every way,” Schlueter said.

Peter Duys, one of his senior staff members, said he could not be “more proud of the organ and the way it blended with the choir.”

Schleuter noted that in other US churches where his company had built and installed pipe organs, the instrument serves as the centerpiece and the choir is only secondary.

But with the INC pipe organ, it was the other way around, he said, since its makers designed it in such a way that it would “complement the choir” and not overpower it.

“The choir leads the congregation. So in designing the organ, we were really careful that we do not voice an organ that it so strong that it overpowers the choir,” Schleuter said.

Arthur E. Sclueter, Jr., (left) president and founder of A.E. Schlueter Pipe Organ Company, with a member of his senior staff Peter Duys, attended the worship service of the Iglesia Ni Cristo where the pipe organ they built was first publicly played. In the background is one of the pipe organ panels. The INC Central Temple pipe organ consisted of 3,162 individual pipes. (Photo grabbed from INCTV video)

For Schleuter and Duys, the experience of attending the first public performance of the pipe organ with the choir and the congregation was a very unique one.

“You can imagine, I’ve worked with about 15 different religious denominations in the United States, but this is probably the highest level of ability on the part of the congregation in singing,” he said.

The main console of the INC Central Temple pipe organ.

“We are so grateful and so honored to have built the organ,” said Schleuter, who said he would like to witness the grand centennial celebration of the INC on July 27, 2014

I will set my schedule to attend in the worship service in the Central to hear the majestic sound of the pipe organ in the Central Temple.

Source: EAGLE NEWS  INQUIRER

Think before joining in a Fraternity.

What is fraternity? - A fraternity (Latin frater: "brother") is a brotherhood, although the term sometimes connotes a distinct or formal organization and sometimes a secret society. A fraternity (or fraternal organization) is an organized society of men associated together in an environment of companionship and brotherhood; dedicated to the intellectual, physical, moral, religious, and/or social development of its members.

The oldest active American college fraternity is the Kappa Alpha Society founded in 1825 at Union College, followed closely by Sigma Phi Society (1827) and Delta Phi Fraternity (1827) at the same school. Other fraternities are also called literary societies because they focus on the literary aspect of the organization and its role in improving public speaking.

In my college years, a few fellow student who are member of fraternity trying to recruit me, but they didn't force me to join in them. I have friend who is a member of fraternity, she is a girl use to be a girlfriend of fraternity leader, that leader is also my instructor in our P.E. they two are protecting me from those student trying to recruit me, although they are frat. member they didn’t recruit me, we become good friend, even I’m not a member of fraternity I know what the fraternity's doing because of them, some student, including me, thought that fraternity is not good, because of my experience at that time, almost every day there is a fighting in our university from some fraternity, sometime our school suspended the classes because of this war from fraternities, so, it puts in my mind that fraternity is not really good, especially the hazing ritual, hitting any parts of the body by paddle or  buckle of the belt of the new recruits.

Hazing is a tradition that still practicing by some old fashion fraternity, Hazing in the early 1980's and 1990's gave the Fraternities a bad name, currently most major Fraternities have an active anti-hazing policy in place with penalties ranging from expulsion of individual members to absolute discharge of an entire chapter.

What is Hazing? - Hazing is the practice of rituals and other activities involving harassment, abuse or humiliation used as a way of initiating a person into a group. Hazing is seen in many different types of social groups, including gangs, sports teams, schools, military units, and fraternities and sororities. Hazing is often prohibited by law and may comprise either physical or psychological abuse. 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/hazing-how-badly-do-you-want-in

Other things not good in fraternity is Sexism, some fraternities take toward women is notoriously misogynistic and is demonstrated in some of the practices of the groups from taking pledges to strip or do something or use their body to prove their loyalty or wanting to join in fraternity, there are even cases of institutional sexism and also Drugs and alcohol.

But not all fraternities are like this, many Fraternities are excellent networking groups for later life, give college students a second "family", a brotherhood who can protect them.

Fraternity’s organization can offer a lot of benefits for college students. Off-campus housing, a fantastic social support network, good leadership opportunities, and a close community, many of them have a strong presence on campus and even stronger commitments to public service.

One important thing to note, however, is that hazing should never be a part of your pledge process to a fraternity, think that there is already a anti hazing law in any form, Even it's okay and part of a historical process, it's not something that should be taking place, many student had died already because of hazing, don’t follow them. A fraternity that worth joining for, is those who have an "initiations" that are healthy, fun, and in an environment that supports positive choices. Not the one that will kill your future.

There are also some organizations recognized by the school, why we don’t join them instead of joining in fraternity that are prohibited by school. But Fraternities are here to stay and part of our university experience, Hazing is a part of Fraternity if you really want to join in fraternity think twice or find the one that is not tolerate hazing.

Reference:

• http://collegelife.about.com/od/cocurricularlife/a/GreekLife.htm
• http://teenadvice.about.com/library/weekly/bl10thingsfratsoro.htm