FOR RELEASE THE WEEK OF DEC. 24, 2000:
I am 30 pounds overweight and have high blood pressure. Diabetes runs in my family. My doctor told me I needed to lose weight, but every year I break that New Year’s resolution by mid-January. How can I make it stick this year?
First of all, don’t weigh yourself down with unrealistic goals, says Martha Raidl, University of Idaho extension nutrition specialist. Losing just a small amount of weight can lower your blood pressure levels. A study published in the August 2000 issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that individuals who lost 22 pounds over 10 years were 30 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those who kept their weight stable.
"Instead of thinking of the 30 pounds you have to lose, think of losing 5 pounds at a time," Raidl says. "It won’t seem as overwhelming."
Can my dog or I pick up ticks when we’re out walking on public lands this winter? Or is that something you only have to worry about in the spring?
Spring and early summer are definitely high season for ticks, says Bob Stoltz, University of Idaho extension entomologist. But you and your pooch can still pick up ticks right in the middle of the winter. Fortunately, the winter tick–also called the elk or horse tick–is not known to carry diseases that would affect either you or your best pal.
Hunters and their dogs are most likely to encounter winter ticks when skinning or dressing elk or deer, Stoltz says. But if these game animals rub ticks off onto brush, there’s the rare chance that hikers and bikers who travel along the same trail could give the evicted ticks their next nutritious ride.
The Western blacklegged tick can carry Lyme disease but, fortunately, is not very prevalent here. The Rocky Mountain wood tick, on the other hand, is widespread in Idaho. This carrier of Rocky Mountain spotted fever is in its creepy-crawly adult stage in the spring. During the winter, it becomes largely inactive. "Even if we came by, it wouldn’t be moving," Stoltz says. "Your chances of picking one of them up in winter are slim." Ironically, Rocky Mountain spotted fever occurs more frequently east of the Mississippi than west, he says.
The brown dog tick–also common in Idaho–can spread babesiosis and canine ehrlichiosis to your dog. Unfortunately, it can survive quite nicely during the winter in Fido’s heated house and under your very own roof. You don’t need to head to the hills to find it.
If I buy bread without preservatives, will organisms grow on it that could threaten my family’s health? I always assumed that it would be a healthier product, but now I’m reading that it can actually be less healthy than bread with preservatives. Is that right?
You’re asking the same types of "risk-benefit" questions the Food and Drug Administration asks during the food-additive approval process, says Jeff Culbertson, University of Idaho extension food scientist. What the FDA concluded is that propionates–the mold-inhibiting preservatives commonly added to breads–pose less risk to human health than the mycotoxins produced by molds.
Our bodies naturally produce low concentrations of propionates as we digest and use foods, Culbertson says. Several foods–particularly Swiss cheese–are also naturally high in propionates. Laboratory studies with rats and mice have shown no harmful effects from consuming even very large amounts of these additives.
On the other hand, not only can molds ruin bread, but the mycotoxins produced by some molds can be highly poisonous. These mycotoxins can develop deep inside foods, with no telltale signs on the surface. Consequently, it’s not enough to simply trim off the moldy portions, he says. If you find mold on your bread, throw it out.
Not only is bread with preservatives "quite safe," but it lasts longer and you "minimize the risk of exposing your family to potential harm due to mycotoxins," Culbertson says.
My 16-month-old daughter wants to be by my side whenever she can. Given her needs, it can be a real challenge to get the housework done. Do you have any ideas on how I can give her the attention she craves, plus get the laundry and cleaning done?
We certainly do. According to Diane Demarest, coordinator of the University of Idaho’s Parents as Teachers demonstration project, children between 10 and 18 months seem happiest when they know an adult is nearby.
Let your child "work" right alongside you. For example, make a puppet out of a sock, draw a face near its toe and give it the name "Duster." Show your daughter how Duster wraps himself around the top of a table leg and slides down. Or put Duster on her hand and guide him across and down the furniture.
As you put her toys away, hand your daughter every other one and praise her lavishly for putting it on its shelf. Dump a pile of freshly rolled socks on the floor, put them in the drawer together and take them back out, counting as you go. While you’re working in the kitchen, put some Ping-Pong balls or Cheerios in a pot and let her stir them with a large spoon.
Demarest says activities like these will teach responsibility and sharing, along with language and other intellectual concepts. They’ll also help your child develop her small and large muscles.
Through Idaho’s Parents as Teachers program–offered free regardless of family income–parents of children under 3 get monthly visits from trained parent educators. The educators bring along children’s books, short videotapes on child development and ideas for fun activities designed to encourage learning during that specific month of the young child’s life. For more information, call Demarest at (208) 343-1542 in Boise or write her at dianed@uidaho.edu.
[READERS: Do you have a question about your home, yard or garden? Send it to HomeWise, University of Idaho Ag Communications, Moscow, ID 83844-2332 or e-mail it to homewise@uidaho.edu. Mention of proprietary products or firms does not constitute endorsement by the University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System or imply approval to the exclusion of other suitable products or firms.]