BETTERHEALTH
NEWS
W o r k i n g w o r k o u t s
You have a 2 o’clock conference call and a 3 o’clock PowerPoint presentation. Wish you
could squeeze in an exercise session, too? Play your cards right and you can. All you need
is
M y T r a in e r F it n e s s f o r A t W o r k
, a pack of six cards that each outlines a 10- to
30-minute routine you can do without leaving the office. Every workout includes
strength and cardio exercises, such as shoulder presses (using books), biceps curls (using
water bottles), and walking lunges (to the photocopier, if you insist on multitasking).
Perform the moves in increments or all at once. The cards ($12 per pack) will be available
May 11. Go to
m y tra in erfitn ess.co m
to order.
p e r c e n t a g e
o f A m e r i c a n s
w h o d i n e a t
t h e i r d e s k s
L u n c h
m o n i t o r
Here’s something to Google
a fter
you eat your sandwich: Noshing in front of a screen
can make a meal less filling, say researchers at the University of Bristol in England. They
divided volunteers into two groups— one allowed to play solitaire on computers and one
deprived of screen time— and then served both groups ham sandwiches with a variety
of snacks (such as potato chips, cookies, and carrot sticks). After 30 minutes, computer
users not only ate twice as much, they reported feeling less full and had trouble
recalling what they had eaten. The researchers say that satiety may partly depend on
memory, which is easily compromised by high-tech distractions.
T r a n s
a c t i o n
C o n s u m e rs
m ig h t b e
e a tin g m o re
a rte ry -clo g g in g tra n s
fat th a n th e y
rea lize,
a c c o rd in g to
a n a rticle
in
T h e A m e r i c a n
J o u r n a l
o f H e a l t h
P r o m o t i o n .
T h a t’s b e c a u s e f o o d s
c o n t a i n i n g u p t o
. 4 9
g r a m s
o f
t r a n s f a t
c a n b e
l a b e l e d
a s
c o n t a i n i n g
0
g r a m s .
H ealth
e x p e rts
re c o m m e n d
c o n s u m in g n o
m o re th a n 1.11 g ra m s
o f tra n s
fat
p e r day,
so
it’s
e a s y to u n k n o w in g ly e x c e e d th e lim it.
In resp o n se,
th e
U.S.
F o o d
a n d
D ru g A d m in istra tio n is
co n sid e rin g w a y s
to
im p ro v e n u tritio n lab els.
U n til
th en , y o u c a n
avo id tra n s fat b y
sk ip p in g fo o d s
(such
as
so m e b a k e d
a n d frie d
sn acks)
th a t list
p a rtia lly h y d ro g e n a te d
o ils
o r sh o rte n in g a m o n g th e in gred ien ts.
C r o s s
e x a m i n a t i o n
Most kids are taught to look both ways before crossing the street, yet some make
risky judgments and dart into traffic anyway. Researchers at Royal Holloway College
at the University of London may have figured out why: Children cannot accurately
gauge the speed of vehicles traveling faster than 25 mph. “We found that young
children have trouble interpreting ‘looming,’ the rate at which a moving object appears
to be getting bigger,” study author John Wann explains. Most kids outgrow this visual-
detection glitch by age 11 or so, he adds. Until then, be sure to hold hands with younger
children as you cross the street together, and remind older kids to cross with traffic
signals and wait for cars to stop before stepping into crosswalks. ■
D G A R D E N 'S |
M A Y 2011
B H G .C O M
PHOTO (FATHER AND SON): JUPITER
