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Christmas Special December 23rd

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Issue Home December 16, 2009 Site Home

COLUMNS:
100 Years Ago
From the Desk of the D.A.
The Healthy Geezer
Library Chitchat
Rock Doc Break The Glass, Douse The Flames
What’s Bugging You?
Dear Dolly
Earth Talk
Barnes-Kasson Corner


100 Years Ago

GLENWOOD: Owing to the belief in some quarters that the old Galusha Grow homestead was burned by incendiaries, last September, Walter P. Kellogg, of Syracuse, the present owner of the property, has offered a reward of $500 for information that will lead to the detection and conviction of the guilty parties, if they exist. Detectives have been working on the case, and while information regarding the matter is little known, at least to the general public, it is supposed there is enough evidence of incendiarism to warrant the offering of the reward. Every resident regarded the Grow homestead as a sort of shrine and when it burned the loss, through association with its great owner, was keenly felt.

FOREST CITY: Two large two-story frame buildings were destroyed by fire that started early Monday morning in the business section. The buildings were owned by Frank J. Osgood and Max Heller and very little was saved from the flames, the loss of each being heavy as little insurance was carried. The high wind and storm interfered with the work of the firemen and all they attempted was to keep the flames from spreading. Located in the Osgood building were: Davis Bros., confectioners; Joseph Komeski, meat dealer, and Polansky Bros., clothiers. The second floor was occupied by H. F. Schultz, photographer, and the Northeastern Telephone Co’s exchange. The Keller building was occupied by the owners as a meat market. The Northeastern Telephone Co. had its valuable switchboard burned, putting the service out of commission for a few days.

BROOKLYN: In the death of Miss Hattie D. Lee, who was buried in Evergreen cemetery Friday last, Brooklyn has lost one of its most worthy members of society - one who has made many a home pleasanter by her pictures. She kept her camera well in touch with the people and the product of her art will be found in almost every State in the union. She helped to give Brooklyn its reputation of culture and refinement.

LYNN: The engine and two freight cars got off the track at Lynn siding Tuesday morning while some shifting was being done. It is stated that a rail tipped under the weight of the train. The wrecking crew was called and the train was able to reach Montrose at about 6 o’clock that evening. For the past month the branch has caused more trouble than the balance of the Valley system.

MONTROSE: Stores were never more handsomely decorated nor better stocked with Christmas goods than the present season. Each merchant seems to be vying with the other in doing his best. The trade, which was languid up to Wednesday, commenced picking up and the outlook for a brisk trade the coming week is assured. The roads are in excellent condition for travel and many drive from 10 to 20 miles to do their shopping.

LAKESIDE: The men of the community held a hunt Thursday of last week with E. E. Mosher and Frank Howland as captains. The Ladies’ Aid served supper at the home of O. Washburne. Mr. Howland’s side paid for the other fellows’ supper. ALSO - The young people have been enjoying a week of fine skating.

SOUTH MONTROSE: W. H. Allen returned last week from a western trip, where he went to purchase lumber for the mill company. Nothing but a high grade of elm lumber is used in the manufacture of trunk slats. The mill is running full time and turning out several thousand slats daily.

NEW MILFORD: Hadley’s moving pictures were shown at the opera house, Tuesday evening, to a good sized audience.

LANESBORO: A rear-end collision occurred on the Erie near Lanesboro on Tuesday morning at about 2:30 o’clock, when two coal trains, an Erie and the other, a D & H, came together. The Erie train was the one run into, a caboose and several cars being badly smashed. No one was hurt, but traffic was delayed several hours.

GREAT BEND: The Chapot-Chamois Co. has received a proposition to locate in Newark, N.J., and the first of the year they will locate in that city. The removal of this plant will be quite a loss to Great Bend, both in a business way and also from the fact that the number of men employed will take up their residence elsewhere.

SILVER LAKE: The Silver Lake stage, on Monday, made its trip on runner. Alvah Foster, the veteran driver, says that he has met with some of the worst weather this season he has ever experienced. During Thanksgiving week he encountered snow drifts 6 ft. deep and was obliged to shovel his way through or cut across the fields. He has about the worst section in the county to travel over when it comes to wind exposed roads, hills to climb and declivities to descend. It is said that when the Friends, who originally settled Friendsville, coming here from Southern Pennsylvania, built the road to their settlement, they sighted from one hill to another, building the road in a direct line without avoiding hills. Much of this same road is traversed by travelers today, who never compliment the Friends for the ability as engineers.

DIMOCK: Hon. George W. Woodruff has sent in his resignation to President Taft as district judge for the territory of Hawaii. Judge Woodruff has been offered a position as attorney for a Virginia coal company, which he will take up as soon as his resignation is accepted. Mr. Woodruff is a native of Dimock, and well known to many in this section. He was one of the most celebrated football players Yale ever had, and originated the famous “guards back” formation. For years, after graduating from Yale, he continued in athletics as coach for the University of Pennsylvania and put out some winning teams. He was a close friend of President Roosevelt and for a number of years was assistant attorney general for the department of the interior.

JACKSON: Homer Hartt is in Binghamton attending Lowell’s Commercial College. ALSO Rev. Sanders Wright, an aged Methodist minister of Ulster, Bradford Co., has purchased the VanAllen property in North Jackson and will move there in the spring.

SUSQUEHANNA: Saturday evening in the R.R.Y.M.C.A. rooms, in an exciting game of basketball, Susquehanna Y.M.C.A. defeated the Cortland A.C. team by a score of 33 to 22. The work of Captain Smith and Charles Gouge, of the Susquehanna team, was particularly noticeable.

GIBSON: School was closed for a few days in order that the room could be thoroughly disinfected. At this time no new cases of scarlet fever are reported.

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From the Desk of the D.A.
By District Attorney Jason J. Legg

A few months back, I did a series of columns remembering and reflecting on some of the first cases that I prosecuted. A few readers told me that they really enjoyed those columns, and asked that I continue such columns periodically in the future. A letter I received from the Department of Corrections recently provided a good opportunity for another look back. The Department of Corrections wrote to inform me that on December 16, 2009, William Venegas Rivera was scheduled to be released from state incarceration upon the expiration of his maximum sentence. The case involving William Venegas Rivera was the first homicide case that I actively worked on as an assistant district attorney - though the ultimate decisions in the case were still made by the district attorney himself.

In September 1999, the state police investigated the death of a male infant at a residence in Bridgewater Township. During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the infant had been crying and cranky, and that William Venegas Rivera went into the bedroom, and the crying stopped. The child’s mother then discovered the infant with a blanket over his head and a weak pulse. The infant died as a result of suffocation, and there were other witnesses who indicated that the William Venegas Rivera had a practice of putting the children to sleep by covering their faces or compressing their faces against a mattress. On December 16, 1999, William Venegas Rivera was arrested and, after he could not make bail, he was incarcerated.

At the time, a plea offer was made by District Attorney Charles Aliano that defendant enter a guilty plea to one count of involuntary manslaughter, which required the defendant to admit that he killed the child through reckless or grossly negligent conduct. At the time of the guilty plea, William Venegas Rivera admitted that he had a past history of smothering children to put them to sleep, and that he smothered this infant with the intent to put him to sleep, but that this reckless or grossly negligent conduct resulted in death. At the time of his sentencing, William Venegas Rivera changed his story to contend that he did not smother the child; rather, he admitted that he had placed a blanket over the infant’s face, watched the infant struggling to breathe, and that he did nothing to assist the infant. In other words, he was contending that his reckless or grossly negligent conduct was placing the blanket over the infant’s head and then knowing the child was suffocating, he did not intervene to save the infant’s life. The Court accepted this version as sufficient to prove reckless or grossly negligent conduct that led to the infant’s death so as to support the involuntary manslaughter charge.

Because the victim was under 12 years of age, and the infant was in William Venegas Rivera’s custody and control prior to death, the grading of the involuntary manslaughter was increased from a first degree misdemeanor to a second degree felony thereby doubling the total possible sentence from 5 years to 10 years. At the sentencing proceeding, the Court sentenced William Venegas Rivera to a period of incarceration of 4 to 10 years in a state correctional facility, with the credit to run from the date of his arrest, December 16, 1999. Over the past ten years, William Venegas Rivera filed appeals and a federal habeas corpus action challenging his conviction - but he did not prevail in overturning his conviction.

William Venegas Rivera was never paroled. On December 16, 2009, he will have served everyday of his ten year sentence - and he will be released from state incarceration. Because he is not a United States citizen, the federal government has placed a detainer on him and the federal immigration officials will take custody of him upon the expiration of his state sentence. Based upon his conviction for a felony offense relating to killing a child, the federal immigration officials will seek to deport William Venegas Rivera back to Costa Rica.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.

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The Healthy Geezer
By Fred Cicetti

Q. What is white coat syndrome?

If you suffer from white coat syndrome, your blood pressure jumps as soon as a doctor or nurse approaches you. If your doctor knows this, he or she may recommend a home blood-pressure monitor or ambulatory monitor that is worn around the clock and takes your pressure every half hour.

Blood pressure tends to spike when you are excited by an emotion such as anger or fear. But high blood pressure - known as hypertension - is very sneaky. It’s called the silent killer, because it usually has no symptoms.

Doctors say you have high blood pressure if you have a reading of 140/90 or higher. A blood pressure reading of 120/80 or lower is considered normal. Prehypertension is blood pressure between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number.

The first number represents your systolic pressure when the heart beats. The second number represents the diastolic pressure when the heart rests. If only one number is elevated, you still have high blood pressure with all of its dangers.

When you go to your doctor to have your blood pressure taken, there are a few things you can do to get an accurate reading. First, don’t drink coffee or smoke cigarettes for a half hour before your pressure is taken. (What are you doing smoking anyway?) Empty your bladder, because a full tank can affect the reading. Sit quietly for five minutes before the test.

Q. How can I eat healthier?

To maintain a plan for healthy eating, follow these tips from the National Institutes of Health:

Eat breakfast every day.

Select high-fiber foods like whole grain breads and cereals, beans, vegetables, and fruits. They can help keep you regular and lower your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

Choose lean beef, turkey breast, fish, or chicken with the skin removed to lower the amount of fat and calories in your meals.

Have three servings of low-fat milk, yogurt, or cheese a day. Dairy products are high in calcium and vitamin D and help keep your bones strong as you age. If you have trouble digesting or do not like dairy products, try reduced-lactose milk products, or calcium-fortified orange juice, soy-based beverages, or tofu. You can also talk to your health care provider about taking a calcium and vitamin D supplement.

Keep nutrient-rich snacks like dried apricots, whole wheat crackers and peanut butter on hand. Limit snacks like cake, candy, chips, and soda.

Drink plenty of water.

Q. What is the difference between type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes?

If you have diabetes, your body can’t produce insulin or use it properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps control the sugar in your blood. Insulin is made by the pancreas, a large organ behind the stomach.

A small percentage of diabetics have type 1 diabetes, which usually occurs in people under age 30. Diabetics with this form of the disease can not produce insulin.

About 90 percent of Americans with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. It is most common in adults over age 40, and the risk of getting it increases with age. With this form of diabetes, the body does not always produce enough insulin or does not use insulin efficiently. Being overweight and inactive increases the chances of developing type 2 diabetes.

Type 2 diabetes can be prevented in people who are at an increased risk or have pre-diabetes, a condition in which glucose levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. People with pre-diabetes are more likely to develop diabetes within 10 years and are also more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.

If you have a question, please write to fred@healthygeezer.com.

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Library Chitchat
By Flo Whittaker

I am a fan of the game of “Trivial Pursuit” and the TV game show, “Jeopardy.” Apparently I am not alone. Venues offering competitive trivia games have popped up in our area. If you, too, are interested in increasing your knowledge, a trip to the Susquehanna County Library in Montrose, Hallstead-Great Bend, Susquehanna or Forest City would be just the thing.

As a service to Susquehanna County trivia addicts, I would like to provide you with some interesting facts concerning the Susquehanna County Library system. Most of this data is from the 2008 annual report that the Library files with the State.

In an average week in 2008, more than 2,200 people entered through library doors and more than 700 people used a computer. More than 31,800 computer sessions were logged at the 36 library computers available in the four libraries. In addition, patrons are able to do catalog searches from their own homes by signing on to our web site susqcolibrary.org.

In 2008, we had 19,000 patrons registered in the system. We have had 1,613 new patrons register in 2009. Circulation figures for 2008 totaled 251,189 items, which included 116,173 books and magazines for adults and 52,453 juvenile books and magazines. Audiovisuals (DVDs, cassette books, etc.) taken out by adults totaled 72,335 items

The Susquehanna County Library at its four locations is the heart of our communities and your resource for lifetime learning. With your help and continuing support, it will continue to do so for years to come.

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Rock Doc The Best Record Keepers
By Dr. E. Kirsten Peters

Now Hear This

I wasn’t quite sure I had heard correctly. My friend, a fellow geologist, and I were standing in the swimming lanes of a lap pool where we had stopped to give each other greetings of the season.

“My hearing in this ear is a whole lot better,” he had said.

Or so I thought.

“The surgery replaced the tiny, tiny third bone - the innermost bone - of the ear,” he went on. “It had become ossified, sort of cemented to the rest of my head over the years, so it couldn’t vibrate like it should.”

From high school biology I vaguely remembered three tiny bones in a little chain in the ear, bones that have the task of amplifying sound waves as they enter the ear. Sound waves in air don’t pack nearly the “oomph” as pressure-waves in water, so if you want to hear in air (and most of us do), you need little mechanical amplifiers - which is what the three ear-bones are. The third and final tiny bone gives the last boost of amplification and also separates the air we live in from the water that fills and conveys sounds within the inner ear.

It’s in that fluid that tiny, tiny hairs respond to pressure-waves and translate them into electrical signals that flow to our brains. That’s the whole goal of an ear, from my point of view as a physical scientist, to translate sound waves into electrical signals.

But the system doesn’t work if that last, and most tiny of all, bone cannot flex and move.

“The implanted piston goes in and out in place of that last bone. And it works!” my friend said with evident pleasure. “I can hear sopranos again.”

Now, in truth, my own hearing standing in the swimming pool was problematic because I had misplaced my good earplugs that day. My outer ears - the part you can reach with a Q-tip although you are not supposed to do so - had water in them and shaking my head wasn’t doing much to get the water out.

All of that got me thinking about air and fluid in different parts of my ear. But only when I talked to my friend Ken Kardong, biology professor here at Washington State University, did I start to understand that my almost random questions about the matter were unearthing a bit of the long history of life on Earth.

Ears are nothing new. Many fish have pretty complicated ears, including fluid-filled inner ears. Fish go back to the Paleozoic Era, the oldest era in the history of life that has complex vertebrate fossils (proper animals with backbones). There was one part of the Paleozoic in which there were many, many fish species in the seas - as we know from the fossil record - but still no complex species at all on land. That’s how early and simple was what we geologists mean by “the early Paleozoic.”

When land-loving vertebrates first show up in the fossil record they are amphibians - animals that move from the water to land and back. Reptiles follow amphibians near the end of the Paleozoic, again a fact we know from the fossil record.

It’s no surprise that the inner ears of fish would be filled with fluid. And since the inner ear is separated from the other parts of the ear by a bone and seal, you can see how the inner ears of amphibians and then reptiles would likely remain fluid-filled while the outer parts of the ears started to become air-filled.

When fully land-loving mammals come on the scene in the Mesozoic Era - the era dominated by the dinosaurs - we naturally enough have air-filled outer ears and fluid-filled inner ears. We still do. That’s why swimmers need to drain their ears so the outer parts are filled with air. But we also display each day that fluid-filled inner ear that suggests our ancient lineage with earlier animals in the long chain of vertebrates that have lived on Earth for so very long.

May your holiday season be filled with nothing but good sounds - which you can well and truly hear.

Dr. E. Kirsten Peters is a native of the rural Northwest, but was trained as a geologist at Princeton and Harvard. A library of earlier Rock Doc columns is available at RockDoc.wsu.edu. This column is a service of the College of Sciences at Washington State University.

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What’s Bugging You?
By Stuart W. Slocum

No What's Bugging You This Week

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Dear Dolly,

Dear Dolly,

We have a large extended family. In the past we have all exchanged gifts. Even without the depressed economy, the cost and time involved has become a burden over the past few years. How can I get this spending under control and not feel like the Grinch? -Mandy

Dear Mandy,

Coming in under budget is on every one’s wish list this year for the holidays. Gift giving has become a guilt trip perpetuated by the large advertising budgets of big retail stores nationwide. Overspending is at epidemic proportions. Many Americans are still, "celebrating" their holiday excess, on a monthly basis, well into bathing suit season. Your desire to put a stop to this drain shows wisdom and foresight.

The tradition of picking names and gifting to just one person in the family is a reasonable solution. As a group, decided on a dollar amount not to be exceeded. Because you are shopping for and buying only one gift, the amount can be higher than what you would have spent if you were buying individual gifts for everyone. Some families exempt kids under 10 from the "pot." Be sure to put a limit of, say no more than $10.00 per child.

Another budget friendly way to gift, is to make an individual monetary donation to a charity, in each family member’s name. The organization will send each a thank you note. You will give them a card at gift exchange time with a little information about the charity. Choose the charity based on that person’s interests. The amount of the gift should not be mentioned.

You have raised an important issue. Changing family tradition is not an easy step. You may be the first to insist on the change, but don't for a minute think that others haven't thought about it. This is a gift that will keep on giving peace of mind, less stress and a better night’s sleep. And that my friend, is truly, "priceless."

All Transcript readers are welcome to submit their questions to Dear Dolly at deardolly570@yahoo.com.

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EARTH TALK
From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: Is it true that military sonar exercises actually kill marine wildlife?

Unfortunately for many whales, dolphins and other marine life, the use of underwater sonar (short for sound navigation and ranging) can lead to injury and even death. Sonar systems - first developed by the U.S. Navy to detect enemy submarines - generate slow-rolling sound waves topping out at around 235 decibels; the world’s loudest rock bands top out at only 130. These sound waves can travel for hundreds of miles under water, and can retain an intensity of 140 decibels as far as 300 miles from their source.

These rolling walls of noise are no doubt too much for some marine wildlife. While little is known about any direct physiological effects of sonar waves on marine species, evidence shows that whales will swim hundreds of miles, rapidly change their depth (sometime leading to bleeding from the eyes and ears), and even beach themselves to get away from the sounds of sonar.

In January 2005, 34 whales of three different species became stranded and died along North Carolina’s Outer Banks during nearby offshore Navy sonar training. Other sad examples around the coast of the U.S. and elsewhere abound, notably in recent years with more sonar testing going on than ever before. According to the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), which has campaigned vigorously to ban use of the technology in waters rich in marine wildlife, recent cases of whale strandings likely represent a small fraction of sonar’s toll, given that severely injured animals rarely make it to shore.

In 2003, NRDC spearheaded a successful lawsuit against the Navy to restrict the use of low-frequency sonar off the coast of California. Two years later a coalition of green groups led by NRDC and including the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the League for Coastal Protection, Cetacean Society International, and Ocean Futures Society upped the ante, asking the federal courts to also restrict testing of more intense, harmful and far ranging mid-frequency types of sonar off Southern California’s coastline.

In filing their brief, the groups cited Navy documents which estimated that such testing would kill some 170,000 marine mammals and cause permanent injury to more than 500 whales, not to mention temporary deafness for at least 8,000 others. Coalition lawyers argued that the Navy’s testing was in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act.

Two lower courts upheld NRDC’s claims, but the Supreme Court ruled that the Navy should be allowed to continue the use of some mid-frequency sonar testing for the sake of national security. “The decision places marine mammals at greater risk of serious and needless harm,” says NRDC’s Joel Reynolds.

Environmental groups are still fighting the battle against the sonar, lobbying the government to curtail testing, at least during peacetime, or to at least ramp up testing gradually to give marine wildlife a better chance to flee affected areas. “The U.S. Navy could use a number of proven methods to avoid harming whales when testing mid-frequency sonar,” reports IFAW’s Fred O'Regan. “Protecting whales and preserving national security are not mutually exclusive.”

CONTACTS: NRDC, www.nrdc.org; IFAW, www.ifaw.org.

Dear EarthTalk: How does the microwave compare in energy use, say, to using a gas or electric stove burner to heat water for a cup of tea?

The short answer is that it depends upon several variables, including the price of electricity versus gas, and the relative efficiency of the appliances involved. Typically, though, a microwave would be slightly more efficient at heating water than the flame on a gas stove, and should use up a little less energy. The reason: The microwave’s heat waves are focused on the liquid (or food) inside, not on heating the air or container around it, meaning that most if not all of the energy generated is used to make your water ready.

Given this logic, it is hard to believe that a burner element on an electric stovetop would be any better, but an analysis by Home Energy Magazine found otherwise. The magazine’s researchers discovered that an electric burner uses about 25 percent less electricity than a microwave in boiling a cup of water.

That said, the difference in energy saved by using one method over another is negligible: Choosing the most efficient process might save a heavy tea drinker a dollar or so a year. “You’d save more energy over the year by replacing one light bulb with a CFL [compact fluorescent lightbulb] or turning off the air conditioner for an hour - not an hour a day, one hour at some point over the whole year,” says consumer advocate Michael Bluejay.

Although a microwave may not save much energy or money over a stove burner when heating water, it can be much more energy-efficient than a traditional full-size oven when it comes to cooking food. For starters, because their heat waves are concentrated on the food, microwaves cook and heat much faster than traditional ovens. According to the federal government’s Energy Star program, which rates appliances based on their energy-efficiency, cooking or re-heating small portions of food in the microwave can save as much as 80 percent of the energy used to cook or warm them up in the oven.

The website Treehugger.com reports that there are other things you can do to optimize your energy efficiency around the kitchen when cooking. For starters, make sure to keep the inside surfaces of your microwave oven clean so as to maximize the amount of energy reflected toward your food. On a gas stovetop, make sure the flame is fully below the cookware; likewise, on an electric stovetop, make sure the pan or kettle completely covers the heating element to minimize wasted heat. Also, use the appropriate size pan for the job at hand, as smaller pans are cheaper and more energy-efficient to heat up.

Despite these tips for cooking greener, Bluejay reiterates that most of us will hardly put a dent in our overall energy use just by choosing one appliance over another. According to his analysis, for someone who bakes three hours a week the cheapest cooking method saves only an estimated $2.06/month compared to the most expensive method.

“Focusing on cooking methods is not the way to save electricity [at home],” says Bluejay. “You should look at heating, cooling, lighting and laundry instead.”

CONTACTS: Home Energy Magazine, www.homeenergy.org; Treehugger, www.treehugger.com; Michael Bluejay, www.michaelbluejay.com.

Send Your Environmental Questions To: EarthTalk, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT 06881; earthtalk@emagazine.com. Read past columns at: www.emagazine.com/earthtalk/archives.php.

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Barnes-Kasson Corner
By Cara Sepcoskiw

National Fruits & Veggies Week November 29 - December 5

Barnes-Kasson Hospital is observing National Fruits and Veggies Week November 29 - December 5. We all know that fruits and vegetables are good for you, but did you know that they are critical for promoting a healthy body? Fruits and vegetables contain essential vitamins, fiber, and minerals, that may help protect the human body from chronic diseases.

Not only can eating fruits and vegetables help limit your risk of disease, it also can help lead to weight loss. Vegetables and fruit are low in calories, and if they are replaced with fatty foods, you will naturally loose weight. But eating fruits and vegetables on top of what you already eat will make you gain weight. While they may be low in calories, fruits and vegetables still contain calories. So if someone was to still eat fatty foods, not exercise and add fruits and vegetables, they would gain weight due to the increase in their food intake. The key is to substitute high calorie fatty foods for lower calorie vegetables and fruits.

Years ago, it was recommended that everyone received five servings of veggies, but new research has proven that is not the case. Because everybody is different, everybody needs a different amount of servings per day. For example, an average height, healthy weight female would need only 2.5 servings, whereas an average healthy weight male would need 3.5.

It is encouraged that adults get their recommended amount of fruits and vegetables, but adolescents and children need to as well. It is essential for a healthy diet to eat fruits and veggies during the growing years. Keeping your children on a healthy diet can sometimes be confusing and challenging, especially since most children are not too fond of eating vegetables or fruit. To keep your entire family healthy, try slowly adding fruits and veggies in your family’s diet. Try replacing candy with veggies in your children’s lunch boxes or when you snack at work. To make fruit seem more appealing, try adding it to basic things, like breakfast cereal.

Many schools are now participating in P.A.C.K., a program designed to encourage parents to pack healthier food options in their children’s lunch boxes. This program also helps fuel kids want for fruits and veggies by making them be more appealing and fun. P.A.C.K works by making a game and competition out of eating the necessary servings each child needs. One way is by calling certain weeks, “purple week” or “red week.” During these weeks children have to bring a fruit or veggie of that color to school for lunch. Children who have participated in this program claim that it evolved into a competition between classmates to see who could bring in the biggest or most unusual fruit or veggie.

Many children, especially teenagers, are now taking the jump toward vegetarianism. This choice has been causing a sense of fear among parents. Many are concerned that their children will become malnourished, or not intake the necessary vitamins needed for growth. The truth is however, that a vegetarian diet is a very healthy choice, but one should always consult with their doctor before changing their diet drastically.

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