Amanda continues to be an inspiration to all of us as she successfully tackles the challenges and hurdles associated with teenage obesity.  As if any of us needed anymore motivation, The Journal of The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a disturbing finding: school aged children ages 11-16 are more likely to be victims of bullying than their normal-weight peers.  The findings were brought to the mainstream media by CBS News through a May 3rd AP story.

In the study, 5,749 youngsters between the ages of 11-16 contributed to the data which revealed the following:

-11% of Normal Weight youngsters reported being victims of bullying.

-Compared with 19% of obese youngsters.

-Obese boys and girls were more than two times more likely than normal-weight youngsters to be victims of “relational” bullying-being intentionally left out of social activities.

-Obese girls were about two times as likely to be physically bullied on a weekly basis than normal-weight girls.

If you are a parent or child dealing with childhood obesity, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 703-527-5492.

Dr. William Booker

www.capitolrehabofarlington.com

Men’s Health is great for providing common sense diet tips. So if you plan on spending some time in the mall, here is my advice.

#1.  Please don’t bring my wife with you!! Unless you have at least 7 hours to burn.

#2.  Learn what NOT to eat, and what are suitable substitutes.

#5. Worse Slice Of Pizza

Sbarro Stuffed Pepperoni Pizza-1 slice packs 890 calories, 42 grams of fat, 3200 mg of sodium. That’s more than a days worth of sodium and 2/3 of your daily fat intake.

If You Must Eat at Sbarro’s, Then Eat This Instead:

Sbarro New York Style Fresh Tomato Pizza-450 calories, 14 grams of fat, 1040 mg of sodium.  As a rule of thumb, go for the thin slice with nothing but healthy vegys on top.

#4.  Worse Chinese Meal

Panda Express Orange Chicken with Fried Rice-970 Calories, 38 grams of fat, 1540mg of sodium.  I know, and you thought that making a choice for Chinese food was a sound one.

But Chinese Food IS Good For You, if you do this instead:

Skip the rice altogether: choose more vegys instead and opt for the lean mean, steak, fish, chicken breast (better than the thigh meat).  This switch will save you an average of 500 calories per Chinese meal.

#3.  Worse Sandwich

Panera Bread Full Chipotle Chicken on Artisan French-You know I am generally very hard on the negative health consequences of bread, but when you start with a triple layer of white bread, the nosedive happens pretty quickly thereafter. Then they pack on a canopy of cheddar cheese, the most fattening of cheese choices, and you end up with a surprising 990 calories, 56 grams of fat, and 2370 mg of sodium. Assuming we should target a sandwich mean to land around 500 calories, this “whopper” skids off the runway.

Eat This Instead:

Panera Bread Full Smoked Turkey on Country Miche Bread-560 Calories, 17 grams of fat, 1960 mg of sodium.  But here is the best part, it tastes better too.

#2.  Jamba Juice Peanut Butter Moo’d (22 oz)-Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when the title of your food evokes the sound of a Cow, but you could consume half of your days calories, by the time you finish this thing.  770 calories, 20 grams of fat, 108 grams of sugar.  This smoothie has the same amount of sugar as 6 packs of peanut M&M’s.  With Jamba, choose the drinks in the “All Fruit’ and “Light” categories.

Drink This Instead:

Jamba Juice Mango Mantra-150 calories, .5 grams of fat, 27 grams of sugar.  You have just saved 620 calories and 20 grams of fat.  If you made this switch 2 times a week, it would save you 15 pounds a year.

#1. The Worst Mall Food In America and It Isn’t Even Close!!!

Cinnabon Regular Caramel Pecanbun-1100 calories, 56 grams of fat, 47 grams of sugar, 141 grams of carbs.  But at least it has some nuts on it?!?

I’m not even going to give you all the numbers, just rest assured that starting wit 1100 calories, and 2 1/2 times the daily amount of unhealthy trans fat is all you need to know.  You are better off eating 6 White Castle Hamburgers.

If the Hypnotic Smell of Cinnamon is Just To Much For You:

Go for the Cinnabon Stix-save 721 calories and 35 grams of fat.

If you have additional questions about diet and nutrition, feel free to email me at DrBooker@Capitolrehab.com

To read the Mens Health article in its entirety, click here.