Pinoy Blog Machine (Beta)

…and the guy got busted for it, as he was discovered to have blood alcohol levels 10 times the legal alcohol limit for drivers.

Read the news article here.

Well, if I were the friend of this guy, I wouldn’t even let him go home by himself!  I do think that this guy should be charged with a driving offense.  After all, his wheelchair is a two-wheeled vehicle, any which way you look at it. 

Tags: drunk driving a wheelchair, driving offense for wheelchair drivers

In a final attempt to go swimming before summer ends, we went to 8 Waves Waterpark in San Rafael Bulacan. It's not that far from Manila. It's around an hour and a half drive. This is by far the best resort there is in Bulacan (well at least in my humble opinion). What I like about the resort is its cleanliness - I'll give it a 9/10. The water is always clean all day. The wave pool was just

As a guy, you would empathize with me that I am totally clueless when it comes to brand names. Seriously - I just don't care. I mean when I buy stuff like watches I usually buy it if I see it work. Brand is not really a big thing to me. Well anyway recently I have been pondering about buying a new watch since my old one is quite malfunctioning. So I headed up to the mall to look for one. I was

The problem of obesity today does not lie heavily on adults anymore. It has already pervaded the lives of the children, kids who do not yet understand the value of nutrition, but rather see the act of eating merely as means to stop the hunger feeling or, worse, as a pastime. A lot of people do not see controlling what kids eat as healthy and, often, it has been the practice to give in to a wailing child asking for a candy bar or for a big slurp of cola just to avoid an embarrassment in public. Yes, it may prevent a scandal but it only puts the child in more danger, having him think that food is just for reward/punishment and not for proper nutrition.

So, how do we curb childhood obesity? The simple answer is to teach children that they’ll lead a healthier and happier life if they eat healthy. But to put that answer into real action, that is the most difficult part.

For those who are still in school, try to envision your school cafeteria’s daily fare. It probably consists of adobong baboy, pritong porkchop, or beef steak (in oil) doesn’t it? Can you find a variety of vegetable dishes in it? Maybe one or two, but mostly the menu is made up of fried and oily treatments of beef, pork, chicken, and fish. If this is the kind of menu we have in our schools, how can we ever teach children to eat healthy?

Maybe the way to do it is to put the whole town/city on a healthy diet. Difficult? Yes, but not impossible. See how this Boston suburb was able to do it:

More fruits and vegetables were added to school lunches. Restaurants offered smaller portions. Crosswalks even got a fresh coat of paint to encourage walking and biking. The whole city of Somerville went on a diet to curb childhood obesity, and researchers say it worked.Tufts University nutrition experts found public schoolchildren in this Boston suburb avoided gaining about a pound of excess weight compared with their 8-year-old counterparts in two nearby communities. The results of the study were published last week in the journal Obesity.

The report covered the first year of the 2003-04 study involving 1,696 children in first, second and third grades. If other communities take similar steps, the findings could help children avoid becoming overweight as they grow older, said Christina Economos, who led the program called “Shape Up Somerville: Eat Smart Play Hard.”

Researchers picked Somerville, a city of 77,500, because it has a large population of minority children in low-income families. Only 3 percent of the town’s land is set aside for children to walk and play safely, a situation that fuels a sedentary lifestyle.

In the weeks before the study, researchers met with parents, teachers and school officials to explain the importance of avoiding meals high in fat and sugar and encouraging children to be active, Economos said.

Children began seeing fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and other fruits in school cafeterias. They were told they could eat as much as they wanted. School cooks started using fresh ingredients instead of frozen foods. They also turned to olive and canola oils and replaced fried foods with baked products, including potatoes with cheese.

More than 90 teachers were taught a new health curriculum, and the program leaders learned yoga, dance and soccer to encourage children to be more active before, during and after school.

Since the study ended, the city has kept up with many of the activities and healthier eating plans…

Read the rest of the article here.

The most difficult perhaps is to how to be able to introduce this scheme for reducing childhood obesity to parents without having to make them feel that they’re being told how to raise their kids.  Some parents might take it the wrong way.  Others will feel that nobody has the right to teach them how to treat their kids.

I, for one, have experienced being frowned upon even at my own clinic.  What’s hard about being a young doctor is that not too many parents would want to be “scolded” by someone who’s only almost half their age.  It’s hard to educate these parents about proper nutrition for their kids when they see me as merely a kid, dressed in a white coat and with a stethoscope hanging around her neck.  Or maybe they don’t yet think I’m quite credible because of my still persistent, ahem, “excess baggage”.  Yes, I do recognize that “disadvantage” but I try to overcome it by appealing to their more rational side by presenting the facts (use of diagrams, quoting sources, and giving them my personal insight about how I try to follow my own teachings) without sounding too academic or pretentious for the lay person.

What could be asked of parents at this stage would be a more open-minded approach to their kids’ nutrition.  Maybe they can’t readily accept that their wrong notions of proper nutrition are perpetuating danger to their own kids.   Here’s where enforcement should be carefully balanced with encouragement.  Now that’s the tricky part.

Yes, it is difficult but that shouldn’t hinder us from getting it started.  So, even if I know that some parents whom I try to educate about children’s nutrition in my clinic are really not quite listening to me, still, I persist.  It just has to be done.

Tags: healthy diet in schools

In a final attempt to go swimming before summer ends, we went to 8 Waves Waterpark in San Rafael Bulacan. It's not that far from Manila. It's around an hour and a half drive. This is by far the best resort there is in Bulacan (well at least in my humble opinion). What I like about the resort is its cleanliness - I'll give it a 9/10. The water is always clean all day. The wave pool was just

Last night was supposedly another milestone in my Life but again my useless brain didn’t work. I can’t decide, I was supposed to sign a Contract to a new career. Actually, I was supposed to sign it but there are things that I want to clarify first before taking into a new career. Now, you [...]