What's on Malaysian television? - A survey on food advertising targeting children

The Malaysian government recently introduced a ban on fast food advertisements targeting children on television. This study reports on data covering 6 months of television food advertising targeting children. Six out of seven of the Nation's commercial television networks participated (response rate = 85.7%). Based on reported timings of children's programmes, prime time significantly differed ( p <0.05) between weekdays (mean = 1.89 +/- 0.18 hr) and weekends (mean = 4.61 +/- 0.33 hr). The increased trend during weekends, school vacation and Ramadhan was evident. Over the six-month period, the mean number of food advertisements appearing per month varied greatly between television stations (C = 1104; D = 643; F = 407; B = 327; A = 59; E = 47). Food advertising also increased the most in September (n = 3158), followed by July (n = 2770), August (n = 2431), October (n = 2291), November (n = 2245) and June (n = 2211). Content analysis of advertisements indicated snacks were the highest (34.5%), followed by dairy products (20.3%), sugars and candies (13.4%), biscuits (11.2%), fast food (6.7%), breakfast cereal (6.4%), beverages (4.1%), supplements (0.9%), rice (0.6%), noodles (0.5%), bread (0.3%), miscellaneous and processed foods (0.2%). Paradoxically, we found that the frequency of snack food advertised during children's prime time was 5 times more than fast foods. The sodium content (mean = 620 mg per 100g) of these snack foods was found to be highest.     

How much food does man require? New insights

The transition from hunter gatherers to modern man is categorized by the enormous decrease in the number of plant species utilized today. Four main staples, rice, wheat, corn and potato, feed almost 80% of the world's population. An additional characteristic of our modern diet is the rich energy density of our meals. In order to estimate human energy requirements, new predictive equations to estimate basal metabolic rate have been developed. These equations will enable us to estimate human energy requirements in both developed and developing countries.     

How much asthma is occupationally related?

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that is increasing in both prevalence and mortality in developed countries around the world. Occupational exposures to sensitizers and irritants are causes of both asthma cases and asthma exacerbations in adults. The determination of how many cases of asthma may be caused or worsened by occupational exposures is highly dependent on how asthma is defined, what constitutes work-relatedness, and what specific methodology is employed. Surveillance-based methods generally have found the lowest proportion of work-related asthma, ranging from 1-8% of cases. Other types of studies, using exposed-unexposed methodology or interviews of incident asthma cases, have determined that 10-25% of cases are occupationally related. Ultimate determination of how much asthma may be related to occupational or environmental exposures will require better surveillance of asthma, along with a better understanding of this disease and its natural history.     

How much vitamin B6 is toxic?

Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) causes neuropathy at intakes of 1000 mg per day or more, which is about 800 times the daily intake from foods. There have also been occasional reports of toxicity at intakes of 100-300 mg per day. The US authorities set the no-observed-adverse-effect-level at 200 mg per day and the safe upper limit at 100 mg per day. A report of neurotoxicity in 2 patients who had taken 24 mg and 40 mg of vitamin B6 per day respectively, may be coincidence rather than a true toxic effect of such relatively low doses. However, physicians need to remain alert to high intakes of vitamin B6 as a cause of unexplained neuropathy.     

How much alcohol is too much and why? Comments on socially accepted but excessive alcohol drinking patterns

Many modern societies increasingly seem to accept drinking patterns that should be qualified as excessive from a health care point of view. This does not concern alcoholism or alcohol addiction but a daily intake of three to eight glasses and the pattern of binge drinking. Although a lot of data are available on the physical consequences of alcohol abuse, little is known about the impact of these drinking patterns on peoples' health. According to the J-shaped curve between alcohol consumption and mortality, an increase in morbidity and mortality can be noticed from two to three drinks a day. This is largely caused by an increase in accidents, malignancies, cardiovascular diseases and neurological disorders. However, data on pathophysiological mechanisms and on the contribution of these drinking patterns in medical consumption are scarce. Because of the estimated extent of the problem and societies' interest, more support should be given to scientific programs and research into this matter. This may not only contribute to a better monitoring of the problem but also guide the development of strategies for education and prevention.     

How much subjectivity is needed to understand our lives objectively?

The author provides afirst-person account, based on diaries and reminiscences, of a woman living in an abusive relationship. Using parallel texts, she juxtaposes the experience of spousal abuse against information derived from research literature and raises questions concerning objectivity in scholarship.     

How much global ill health is attributable to environmental factors?

Over the years, estimates have been made of the portions of human mortality and morbidity that can be attributed to environmental factors. Frustratingly, however, even for a single category of disease such as cancer, these estimates have often varied widely. Here we attempt to explain why such efforts have come to such different results in the past and to provide guidance for doing such estimates more consistently in the future to avoid the most important pitfalls. We do so by carefully defining what we mean by the terms "environmental," "ill health," and "attributable." Finally, based on these recommendations, we attempt our own estimate, appropriately qualified according to the many remaining uncertainties. Our estimate is that 25-33% of the global burden of disease can be attributed to environmental risk factors. Children under 5 years of age seem to bear the largest environmental burden, and the portion of disease due to environmental risks seems to decrease with economic development. A summary of these estimates first appeared in the 1997 report, "Health and Environment in Sustainable Development," which was the World Health Organization's contribution to the 5-year anniversary of the Rio Earth Summit. A full explanation of how these estimates were made is first presented here. We end with a call for a program of "strategic epidemiology," which would be designed to fill important gaps in the understanding of major environmental health risks in important population groups worldwide.