Pediatricians and Pesticides: AAP Provides Guidance and Features Food Matters Healthy Food in Health Care's Food Matters curriculum was recently presented at the Annual Conference of the American Academy o f Pediatrics (AAP) in New Orleans in October. Food Matters is Healthy Food in Health Care's clinical education and advocacy project. Aimed at informing a broad range of clinicians on food and health issues, Food Matters is a comprehensive package that encourages hospitals and health care professionals to become leaders and advocates for a food system that promotes public and environmental health. At this year's conference, the AAP also released a response to the study from Stanford in September, which questioned the nutritional benefits of organic food consumption. The AAP report, on the other hand, explicitly acknowledged that organic foods have lower levels of pesticides, which may be significant for children. Joel Forman, MD, a member of the AAP Council on Environmental Health, and one of the lead authors, pointed out that while the scientific evidence does not exist to predict the impact of pesticide exposure over a lifetime, scientists know that a child's developing brain is uniquely vulnerable to pesticides. The authors also point out that organic meats reduce antibiotic resistance bacteria in the environment, because organic farming rules prohibit the use of antibiotics in animal agriculture.
In a session at the AAP conference on Food Matters, Dr. Foreman talked about the impact of pesticides on farmworkers, and new evidence that organic farming can actually provide as much food as efficiently and cost effectively as conventional agriculture. As one pediatrician said after the presentation, "this talk has expanded my understanding of organics which I always thought were too expensive. Now I understand that there are all these hidden costs that need to be taken into account."
It is encouraging that the AAP has taken the bold step to suggest that pediatric providers begin discussing the benefits of sustainable food with their patients and families. But now, the real work needs to begin on the upstream changes. Hospitals can play an important role in changing the food landscape, so that the healthier organic choice is also an easy and affordable choice. As large institutional purchasers, the health care sector can influence the supply chain, just as a group of hospitals has done in the Bay Area.
Read more about the AAP conference and organic food on Health Care Without Harm's blog, written by Healthy Food in Health Care Co-Chair Michelle Gottlieb. |
Policy Update: GM in the Elections and the Agriculture Appropriations Bill - Take Action Today!
In last November's election, California's Proposition 37, which would have required foods with Genetically Modified (GM) ingredients to be labeled as such, was defeated at the polls. If it had passed, Proposition 37 could have affected food labeling across the nation.Medical professional associations throughout the U.S., such as the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the California Medical Association (CMA), support GM labeling. GM products have not been adequately assessed for their adverse effects on human or animal health, or on the environment in which they are produced. There are also growing health concerns around the increased use of pesticides necessary to treat and grow GM crops. As Dr. Robert Gould, associate adjunct professor in the University of California - San Francisco Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences, and president of the San Francisco chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility points out: "Physicians also need to know what their patients are eating...if you're following your patient and something comes up and there's a question about food  | GM is back in the legislative spotlight with the Agriculture Appropriations Bill currently in Congress |
allergens or side effects from substances, absent labeling, it is very difficult to track potential health impacts." While Proposition 37 was defeated at the California polls, GM is back in the legislative spotlight with the national Agriculture Appropriations Bill currently in in Congress. The biotech industry has inserted a biotech-friendly policy rider (section 733) into the Bill. Though wrapped in a "farmer-friendly" package, this "farmer assurance provision" is simply a biotech industry ploy to continue to plant GM crops. The provision undermines the USDA's oversight of GM crops, interferes with the U.S. judicial review process, and could be unconstitutional. It is also completely unnecessary and serves only to offer "assurance" to biotech companies like Monsanto, not farmers. Read more and take action on our website. In response, Representative Peter DeFazio (D- Oregon, 4th) has authored a "Dear Colleague" letter opposing the biotech rider and is urging his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives to join him. There is only a short period of time for Congress to resolve the Farm Bill before the end of the lame duck session. Contact your local Representatives today, and ask them to support Representative DeFazio's Dear Colleague letter opposing the biotech rider, and ask your Senators to urge Senate Appropriations Chairman Daniel Inouye to oppose the rider. Read more about GM food in our position statement. Additionally, to learn more about research and safety around GM food, check out the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition's (HEN) recent webinar, archived online. |
New Research: Chemicals in Agriculture Several new studies and position statements have been released this fall, which support a sustainable agricultural system that uses fewer chemical inputs.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) statement and article titled "Organic Foods: Health and Environmental Advantages and Disadvantages," which details the benefits of organic food production and consumption for children, appeared in the November 2012 issue of Pediatrics. This report was also publicly-released at the AAP October meeting in New Orleans, where Healthy Food in Health Care's Food Matters was presented (see above).
A December commentary in Environmental Health Perspectives points out the flaws and gaps in a recent and widely-reported Stanford University study that questions the merits of organic food consumption. According to the author, pesticide use in agriculture has several negative public health outcomes, which organic agriculture can help mitigate.
Pesticide Action Network-North America also just released a report analyzing the effects of pesticide exposure on children. Called A Generation in Jeopardy: How pesticides are undermining our children's health & intelligence, this report shows how children are exposed to more pesticides than adults, because of how much more food they consume, and how much time they spend outside in contact with the environment. Several developmental diseases, allergies, and cancer can be linked to this exposure.
Several scientists at the University of California-Irvine published a study that links the Triflumizole, a fungicide used on food crops (such as leafy greens), to adipogenesis and weight gain. This study is in the October issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.
In November 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and 25 national medical and health associations, including the AAP and the American Public Health Association, released a Joint Consensus Statement on antibiotic resistance. It recognizes that "increasing antibiotic resistance is leading to higher treatment costs, longer hospital stays, and unnecessary deaths." The statement also recognizes the need to "reinforce the judicious use of antibiotics in agriculture." Read the whole statement online. A map of antibiotic resistance across the country is also available online. |
Clinician Champion: Dr. Goutham Rao  Dr. Rao is Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago and the NorthShore University HealthSystem. He is also Associate Director of the Center for Clinical and Research Informatics at NorthShore. Dr. Rao is currently the Vice Chair of the American Heart Association's (AHA) Obesity Committee. He has served on a number of other national committees related to obesity and cardiovascular risk, and has authored over 50 publications, including three books. Dr. Rao has researched practical strategies for the management of obesity, and the connection of obesity to the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Healthy Food in Health Care caught up with him to talk about his environmental health and food advocacy efforts. Q. Could you describe your advocacy efforts surrounding environmental health and food? A. I have held multifaceted roles with regard to obesity and chronic disease prevention. I was the Clinical Director at the Weight Management and Wellness Center at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh between 2004-2011. The Center has a clinical program to help overweight and obese children, and a strong advocacy mission. As part of my role, I was, and remain involved in health services research. For the AHA Obesity Committee, I play a scientific role, and we discuss new scientific evidence and guidelines on obesity. The AHA also has a number of advocacy initiatives, to raise awareness around the health effects of sweetened drinks and their cardiovascular risks. Here in Illinois, I have met with legislative officials and I give talks to the general public about sweetened beverages and obesity. The City of Chicago is thinking of creating a tax on sweetened beverages, and I testified for City Council on this issue. Q. When and how did your interest in the intersection between human and environmental health begin?I was asked to start a Pediatric Obesity Program in 2004. We developed a very successful clinical program to address obesity in young children. We saw thousands of kids, but we quickly realized this was a drop in the bucket. We only saw children of families who were motivated to come to the Center. We realized that we couldn't set up these very expensive clinical programs around the country, or the country would go bankrupt. We couldn't do surgery on everyone, because that would be impossible. So, I started looking where the biggest bang for the buck is, and I started looking at food and beverages, particularly sweetened drinks. If all kids in America switched to water from sugary drinks, we'd have a far less obesity problem within a few years. Q. In what ways are you able to integrate environmental health education and advocacy into your traditional schedule?A. You have to prioritize your advocacy efforts. I also try to build in advocacy into my own research, and work with legislative officials. For example, we have a partnership with the City of Evanston looking into early life obesity - what makes very young kids overweight. We are assessing key dietary habits, such as fast food and sweetened beverages consumption. I need the full support of the community for this research, and I work with parents and city officials. Q. Any recommendations on how other clinicians can become more involved in advocating for a healthy food system? Physicians and other health care professionals are extremely concerned about obesity in children. Health care professionals can play a significant role with obesity prevention because they see children on a regular basis, and they have a level of trust with families and patients. The problem is that physicians don't know how to get started. It's a sensitive issue. How do you bring this up with a family? How do you address this problem in an ambulatory setting? You have to begin locally, in your health care environment, and with yourself. Think about your hospital - does it have a healthy environment? Is it doing education with patients? No food or drink should be allowed in your office space, a work environment. Eating is an activity that shouldn't be done on the run. You should have a lunch room, and provide only healthy food options in cafeterias. Starting at this local level is a specific form of advocacy. |
About Us The Healthy Food in Health Care Program is a national initiative of Health Care Without Harm, which works with hospitals across the country to help improve the health and sustainability of their food services. For more information about the Healthy Food in Health Care Program, and to access a variety of tools and resources, visit a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org/" shape="rect" target="_blank">http://www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org/. |
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| | Upcoming Events | 1. Promising Approaches: Food Prescription Training, February 5, Detroit, Michigan
Come learn about a promising approach to addressing obesity and chronic diseases from our partners at the Washtenaw Health Department Prescription for Health Program. For more information, contact Kathryn Savoie, Detroit Community Health Director, Ecology Center at Kathryn@ecocenter.org, or you can visit this website.
2. Implementing Healthy Beverages in Hospitals, Webinar Rebroadcast, February 7, 2ET
Join Healthy Food in Health Care for a rebroadcast of our popular Healthy Beverages webinar from July 2012. More details will be available on our website soon.
3. FoodMed joins CleanMed, April 24-26, 2013
FoodMed is the nation's premier conference on sustainable foods in the health care sector. Register online today. Healthy Food in Health Care's biannual awards will be announced. Green journalist Bill McKibben will also be a keynote speaker. Stay tuned for more details. |
| New Resources | 1. Local&Sustainable
Purchasing, Recorded Webinar
Hospitals and health care systems have the opportunity to support a sustainable food system through their purchasing decisions. The recording and details for this webinar, the second of HCWH's three-part webinar series, are now available online.
2. Balanced Menus, Recorded Webinar Hospitals and health care systems across the country are reducing their meat procurement to align with national dietary recommendations, reduce costs and purchase sustainably-raised meats, and decrease their carbon footprint. The recording and details for this webinar, the last of HCWH's three-part webinar series, are now available online.
3. Rethink Your Drink: Healthy Beverage Toolkit for Healthcare
This best practice guide and toolkit is an example of strategies and best practices for implementing a successful healthy beverage program in the health care setting. This toolkit was developed as a collaborative effort between HCWH, Illinois Public Health Institute, and the American Heart Association, and is available here. For more information on crafting a region-specific toolkit for facilities, contact us.
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2013 Calendars | Our newly revised 2013 Food Matters Calendar will soon be available to download from our website. These calendars make excellent marketing tools for hospitals that are engaged in the Healthy Food in Health Care Program. We encourage you to print multiple copies to give away to your staff and patients, and to hang up in your facilities.
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| Contact Us | If you would like more information about this newsletter, or would like to feature a Clinician in our next newsletter, email Sapna Thottathil, Healthy Food in Health Care Program: sapna@sfbaypsr.org.
For more information about the Healthy Food in Health Care Program, contact one of our regional organizers. |
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