American Morning
Major study shows child food allergies on the rise – one expert explains why
A national study of food allergies in the US, the largest of its kind, finds that more children have food allergies than previously reported.
The study, in the journal "Pediatrics," found that almost 6 million children have food allergies in the U.S., and 8% of children under the age of 18 experience allergies. Of those, 38.7% had a history of severe reactions, and 30.4% had multiple food allergies. The most common allergies were to peanuts (25.2%), milk (21.2%) and shellfish (17.2%).
Dr. Scott Sicherer, professor of Pediatrics at Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center, joins Kiran Chetry and Carol Costello on American Morning to explain the increase in incidents of food allergies in children.
How to lose weight without going to extremes
Dr. Ian Smith says not to go crazy when it comes to losing weight.
Dr. Smith says live by the 80/20 rule if you want to lose weight: watch what you eat 80 percent of the time and let yourself give in to some temptations 20 percent of the time. Dr. Smith talks to American Morning about how to lose your unwanted pounds weight trying too hard.
Should your child be able to bring lunch to school?
Say goodbye to brown bag lunches. In an effort to encourage healthy eating, The Little Village Academy in Chicago has banned lunches and snacks brought from home. Unless a student has a medical reason, he or she must eat the food served in the school cafeteria. The principal says the intention is to “protect students from their own unhealthful food choices.” So far, reactions from students and parents have been mixed.
Tell us what you think about this controversial school policy. Should your child be able to bring lunch to school?
Food Columnist Mark Bittman protests budget cuts by fasting for four days
Mark Bittman, New York Times Food and Opinion Columnist, has just concluded a four-day fast.
Bittman stopped eating Monday as part of a national campaign to call attention to proposed budget cuts that would slash food assistance for America's poor. Bittman talks to Kiran Chetry and Christine Romans about his participation in the fast.
Parents picket girl with peanut allergy, ask her to withdraw from school
A student at Edgewater Elementary School in Volusia County, Florida is being asked to withdraw from the school by her classmates' parents.
The student has a life-threatening peanut allergy and, as a result, her classmates are asked to make accommodations to ensure her safety. Some parents of children at the school say the extra steps their children are taking to ensure the girl's health, such as washing their hands or rinsing out their mouths, are taking away from their own children's learning. Meanwhile, the school is standing by its decision to make accommodations for the student.
Do your kids have allergies? What's your take on the situation?
Jason Carroll reports on the controversy in Florida.
Dr. Scott Sicherer, Professor of Pediatrics at Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Mount Sinai Medical Center, talks to Kiran Chetry about how to handle food allergies.
Lay off the salt, ease up on the drinking, say new USDA guidelines
The USDA gives new guidelines this week for the food you put on your plate. The focus is less about specific foods and more about the ingredients inside the foods that make up a meal, especially sodium.
The recommendations encourage Americans to not only focus on what they eat, but on how they eat as well. The USDA says people need to cut back on salt, sugar and fat, trim their portion sizes and limit alcohol to one drink a day for women and two for men.
The guidelines, which are updated every five years, recommend that people over age 51, African-Americans and people with a history of hypertension, diabetes or kidney problems limit their daily salt intake to a little over a half a teaspoon. For everyone else, the daily recommendation remains at 2,300 milligrams - about one teaspoon of salt. But that could be tough. A cup of spaghetti and meatballs has approximately 1,000 milligrams of salt in it, and an average frozen meal can have 500 to 1,500 milligrams in just one serving.
Today on American Morning, chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the new guidance on sodium and how the food industry will handle the recommendations.
How will you make the new guidelines work for your family's meals?
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