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| January 07, 2013- In This Issue |
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Home
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Black Women Fight Grim Statistics |
Georgia No. 9 for Winter Farmers Markets |
Misused Bed Bug Pesticides |
Emory awarded $3.2 million |
App Tracks Eating Habits |
PHNEWS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
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DPH employee LaTonja Perry, left, with her
sister, Tiffany Ivy, after completing a BGR 5k
in September.
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LaTonja
Perry, 39, operations coordinator in the immunization
program at the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH),
had an exercise routine at her gym, but it had become just
that -- routine.
By the
summer of 2012, she was seeking something new. When a friend
told her about the running group Black Girls RUN! (BGR), she
decided to give it a try and join the group for a three-mile
jog in Stockbridge. Perry said that first run in the August
heat was challenging.
"I was
exhausted," she said. "But that made me determined to go
back the next week. I was determined to get better."
But Perry's
exercise routine is far from the norm for many black women.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
reports that 80 percent of black women are overweight or
obese, more than any other segment of the population. Heart
disease is the leading cause of death for black women, many
of whom suffer from a host of associated chronic diseases.
In a 2007-2010 CDC survey, 44.3 percent of black women over
age 20 had high blood pressure; 25.6 percent had high
cholesterol.
Physical
activity helps control these conditions, but fewer black
women report exercising regularly than any other demographic
group. A 2009 CDC survey found that 31.6 percent of black
women reported no leisure time physical activity in the
previous month, compared with 30.9 percent of Hispanic women
and 28.5 percent of black men.
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Zucchini,
oregano, cabbage and beets are part of the
winter harvest at the Truly Living Well
Wheat Street Garden in downtown Atlanta.
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The
market is part of an uptick in winter farmers markets
open around the state and around the country. In
December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
reported that the number of markets in the National
Farmers Market Directory operating at least once between
November and March rose from 1,225 in 2011 to 1,864 in
2012, a 52 percent spike. With 55 markets keeping winter
hours, Georgia was number nine on the USDA's list of
states for winter farmers markets, the first time the
state reached the top 10.
In the
past, the Forsyth Farmers Market has closed by early
November, but this year, organizers decided to stay open
during the winter months, closing down for just a few
weeks between Christmas and Feb. 2, 2013. Market manager
Ben Baxter said vendors and customers urged them to stay
open later in the year.
"We're
going to try it out and see how it works," Baxter said.
"We wanted to try to keep the market going for
consistency's sake. A lot of folks out there are kind of
depending on us."
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In an effort to rid their homes of bed bug infestations, some
people may be putting their health at risk.
Some consumers
are applying pesticides inappropriately, using pesticides not
approved for indoor use or those that are legally banned,
according to a health advisory issued by the Agency for Toxic
Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Those chemicals are
dangerous and can be fatal, causing symptoms such as headache,
nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, dizziness, muscle tremors, chest
tightness, heart palpitations and other symptoms of pesticide
poisoning.
The National
Pesticide Information Center reported that one person died and
129 had mild to serious health effects after incorrect bed bug
pesticide use from 2006 to 2010. The agency noted that even
appropriate indoor pesticides can cause symptoms if overapplied
or not used according to the instructions on the product label.
When it comes to
treating homes for bed bugs, Rosmarie Kelly, Ph.D., public
health entomologist for the Georgia Department of Public Health
(DPH), recommended leaving pest control to professional,
licensed pest control companies.
"We never, ever,
ever promote individual homeowners to use pesticides because
inevitably, they use them incorrectly, which creates the
potential for negative health effects," she said. "Pest control
companies are trained in the proper way to deal with bed bug
infestations."
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Emory University School of
Medicine's Jane Fonda Center will partner with the Rollins
School of Public Health and Grady Health System's Teen Services
Clinic to design, implement and evaluate a clinic-based
intervention to improve the use of "dual protection" in young
African American females. The five-year, $3.2 million grant is a
collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
Health Promotion.
"Dual protection
means taking steps to prevent both unintended pregnancies and
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), including HIV," says
Melissa Kottke, MD, MPH, MBA, assistant professor in the
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory and principal
investigator for this award. "This is a skill that all people
need, but we know that teens and young adults carry a
disproportionate burden of both unintended pregnancy and STDs
and this is amplified for racial and ethnic minorities."
Concretely
encouraging teens to make a decision for dual protection and
supporting them in being consistent in its use is essential,
according to Kottke, who is also the director of the Jane Fonda
Center for Adolescent Reproductive Health at Emory. "We hope
this research opportunity will assist us in adapting the way
clinical reproductive health services are provided to teens."
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Calorific is a simple approach to tracking and improving your
diet. The app uses the three-color traffic light system to keep
you aware and accountable. Just classify your food into Great
(green), OK (yellow), Bad (red) categories and off you go.
Eat an apple and
you log a green. A coke or candy is red. Not sure what color or
size? Then look it up in the Food Search. As soon as you've
logged a meal, Calorific will give your day a star rating -- use
this to improve your next meal.
Click
here to download.
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PHRECIPE |
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Home
|
Black Women Fight Grim Statistics |
Georgia No. 9 for Winter Farmers Markets |
Misused Bed Bug Pesticides |
Emory awarded $3.2 million |
App Tracks Eating Habits |
PHNEWS |
PHRECIPE |
PHTRAINING |
PHEVENTS
|
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