Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Fred Vagnini Reiterates His Warning about Childhood Obesity
in Newsday Comments

April 2006
Contact:G.F. Proud Publicity
631-323-3523

"We've known for more than 50 years that the risk factors for heart disease begin to develop as early as the teens," Dr. Vagnini said referring to the "landmark" study of Korean War soldiers published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1953.

Dr. Vagnini's practice as medical director of the Heart Diabetes & Weight Loss Centers of New York in Manhattan and Westbury, Long Island, targets the root causes of heart attacks and strokes, and includes continuing efforts at educating the public on disciplines of prevention.

In an opened release, he deplored the fact that fast food chains have taken over the cafeterias in some of our high schools. Not as a tirade against "fast food" as such. He would contend that the basic elements of fast foods are nutritious: potatoes, greens, tomatoes (ketchup), dairy products, fish fillets; even beef is important in a healthy diet. The problem is in the presentation of these foods with too much salt and too much animal fat used to make them instantly tasty.

Moreover, because of their ubiquitous availability and convenience, they have come to replace good eating habits. Instead of sitting down to the table with foods prepared simply - vegetables, fruits, meats, chicken and fish, "Americans prefer to go to a franchised restaurant in a mall, wait till their number is called, then order off a menu in which nearly everything, even the onions, are deep fried in fattening oils that put inches on waists and threatens arteries."

The Newsday headlined story (4/11/06) reported that Long Island schools are adjusting their cafeteria menus to comply with federal wellness mandates aimed in response to the U.S. Surgeon General's report that nearly 15% of teenagers are overweight. "Research has shown that heart disease starts in their youth. The mandate to deal with this while these young people are still healthy is the right way to go," Dr. Vagnini told the reporter.

Overweight among the young is the most alarming aspect of America?s obesity epidemic and portends the direst future consequences. The federal wellness mandates focus on the young in the family and school settings. Parents are urged not only to follow dietary principles in preparing nutritional menus for their children, but also to be models themselves in healthy eating and exercise habits.

Schools are directed to develop an atmosphere of awareness of good health that comes through proper diet and regular physical exercise. The government report acknowledges that meeting these objectives in an environment of fast food and sedentary recreation (TV) is a challenge. It calls specifically for the prohibition of vending machines in school food areas and making community facilities available for physical activity for all people, including on the weekends.

Dr. Vagnini warns that "modifying American's behavior toward nutritional and physical health will depend on how successful this effort is in the schools. The wellness mandates challenge us to recognize what obesity really is: not merely a cosmetic problem, but a serious health problem."