Oh that makes sense

Ok all of you with young ones in your life...

Putting a sticker of a popular cartoon character on healthy foods may make your children more likely to eat well, Reuters reported Aug. 22.
Given the choice between a cookie, an apple, or both, 91 percent of children ages eight to 11 chose a cookie, researchers led by David Just, Ph.D., co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Program found. No surprise there. But when researchers put an Elmo sticker on the apple, suddenly 37 percent of the children chose fruit.
It makes sense. Studies have shown that cartoon characters can encourage kids to nag their parents into buying junk food for them, so why not use the tactics of advertisers to get your kids to like the healthy stuff?
“If we’re trying to promote healthier foods, we need to be as smart as the companies that are selling the less-healthy foods,” Just says.

The study appears online in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

It Pays to Attend

It is almost the end of this session of It Pays to Attend. If you feel you have achieved the required 60 visits between March 1 and August 31, please visit the PWA Fitness Center to receive your gift certificate for either a free hour massage or $25 to the Neon Cafe.

Don't stay up too late!

Many of you have heard me whine about my recent late nights watching the Olympics. It's so addicting and entertaining for me. But...

Chronic poor sleep may weaken vaccines’ ability to protect you from disease, MyHealthNewsDaily reported Aug. 1.
Adults who sleep fewer than six hours per night are 11.5 times more likely to have insufficient Hepatitis B antibodies after receiving a standard three-dose vaccine regimen than adults who sleep seven hours or more nightly, new research led by scientists at the University of Pittsburgh says.
Lack of sleep can have a profound effect on the immune system. People who get less than seven hours of sleep nightly are more than three times as likely to catch a cold as those who sleep more, earlier studies show. Whether there’s a similar connection between lack of sleep and the effectiveness of other vaccines besides hepatitis B remains to be seen, but the researchers concede that it is possible.
“In time, physicians and other health-care professionals who administer vaccines may want to consider asking their patients about their sleep patterns,” say lead author Aric Prather, Ph.D.
The study appears in the August 2012 issue of the journal SLEEP.


Pretty interesting. Make sure to get to bed tonight!

Massage!

Don't forget about our "Attendance Pays" program. Members that have come 60 days in the six month period between the beginning of March and the end of August qualify for a free one-hour massage. Besides the wonderful way we feel afterward, below is an article about the benefits of massage.

Massage is good medicine for muscle pain, stress, and anxiety, the Washington Post reported July 30.
Massage is especially therapeutic when it comes to back pain, says Josephine Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. In fact, several studies have shown that massage may be more effective at treating chronic back pain than standard treatment with drugs and physical therapy.
Even if you don’t suffer chronic pain, a post-workout massage could be just the trick for staying healthy and preventing future injury, notes Rebekah Owens, a teacher at the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
“Post-workout massage helps reduce spasms and cramping, helps relax and soften the injured, overused, tired muscles, and helps to stretch and exercise weak, tight and atrophied muscles,” she says.
Aside from its physical perks, massage may have mental benefits, as well. One 2010 study found that a 45-minute deep-tissue massage caused significant drops in stress hormones in the body.
“We talk about these as mind and body therapies because part of the way they work is through physical mechanisms, but the touch of another human also has a reassuring, relaxing effect on a person’s emotional state that may impact how the body processes or responds to pain,” Briggs notes.

Be sure to check with the wellness specialists at the PWA if you qualify for massage. Feel free to call 236-2999. While you have a year to get your massage, you must pick up your certificate before August 31. Didn't make it this time? Don't worry! The next chance begins on September 1st.