Washington Informer

Area teens often select fast foods and Chinese carry-out meals as a major part of their daily diets. While relatively inexpensive and easy to access, the regular consumption of many of these meals have led to the development of chronic conditions years later.

In an effort to address some of these meals head on, the Informer "Street Team" asked local teens their Top 3 choices for daily meals and then passed that information on to Howard University dietician Dr. Baker, who provided meal analyses for each meal based on the actual additions, substitutions, and adjustments of the teens' orders. Baker identified the caloric content based on the food composite courtesy of the USDA Food Database. Lesson: Sometimes it is not what the restaurant serves, but how a customer orders it that determines its health value.

Chinese Carry-Out

6 fried wings-1944 calories (1 wing has 324 kcal per serving)

White Rice- 242 calories

Mumbo Sauce- 150 calorie equivalent to sweat and sour sauce with adjustments in sugar and fat content

Total Calorie content of this meal = 2336 calorie

Total calories from Fat = 1278 kcal

When analyzing a meal and its appropriateness, one has to first look at the composition of the food content of the meal. Upon analyzing this meal the following was noted:

This meal is very high-calorie dense, but has limited nutrient value. Based on the method of preparation and combination of the food item, I would suggest that the consumption of this meal be limited to once per week. If this type of meal is consumed on a regular basis it may put the person at risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and excessive weight gain. It may also lead to other metabolic syndromes and health conditions that affect the individual's nutritional status. This meal is low in sugar but high in sodium and fat. Due to its high fat content a person who consumes it on a regular basis is at high risk for dyslipedemia and high cholesterol which may prove to have detrimental effects on their health.

Chipotle

Chicken Burrito Bowl – 696 calories

Extra Cheese- 212 calories (106 calories per table spoon)

Sour Cream – 46 (23 calories per table spoon)

2 salad dressings – 240 calories (80 calories per table spoon)

Total Calories for this meal = 1194 calories

Total Calories from fat = 470 calories

From hindsight this meal seems to be the healthiest option of the three meals in content. This meal has a high nutrient value judging and would be considered a balanced meal taking into consideration that it consists of vegetables, fat, protein and carbohydrates in acceptable quantity. The fat, sodium and sugar content of the bowl is not very high and this makes it a healthy option. My only objection is the addition of the side dressing, cheese and sour cream which has a high fat content that might contribute some negative health attributes to the meal.

A healthy alternative would be to limit the amount of sides added to the burrito and to also reduce the serving size which is too large to be consumed in one setting. If these few adjustments are made this would make a healthy meal which can be consumed on a regular basis. The vegetable and fresh meat content does not outweigh the cheese, sour cream and sodium content of the salad dressing as this would not reduce the fat and sodium content of the meal that would still have possible mal-health effects.

Z- Burger

Regular cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, fried onion rings, mayonnaise and ketchup – 1061 calories

Small Z- Fries- 328 calories

Total Calories = 1389 calories

Calories from fat= 882 calories

Now looking as this Z- burger one will salivate at the sight of the dish however looks are deceiving. This meal is very high in sodium, fat and cholesterol. Consuming this meal on a daily basis would result in possible risk of weight gain and cardiovascular diseases, in addition to metabolic syndrome.

A healthier alternative would be to eliminate the bacon, use grilled chicken instead of fried chicken or beef, reduce the amount of mayonnaise and cheese or use reduced fat dairy products instead. One could also replace the fries with a salad thus increasing vegetable intake and reducing the carbohydrate content.

FRESH... on the Run

One of the few challenges to juicing fresh fruits and vegetables is making the time to actually juice. Some juicing enthusiasts insist that fresh juice should be consumed within 30 minutes of juicing, while others suggest that fresh juice can survive up to one week when refrigerated, without losing vital nutrients. While it is almost always best to do the juicing yourself, should a busy schedule impede juicing at home, here are a few alternatives.

Visit a health food store, holistic grocer, or smoothie shop. Among the Informer's local favorites are:

Secrets of Nature – 3923 South Capitol Street, Southwest, Washington, D.C.

Everlasting Life – 9185 Central Avenue, Capitol Heights, Md.

Khephra's Raw Food Juice Bar – 402 H. Street Northeast, D.C.

Robek's (visit website for location nearest you www.robeks.com

BluePrint (supplied to area Whole Foods locations)

Suja Juice (supplied to area Whole Foods locations)

The PERFECT Juicer

Like everything from tires to bed linen, finding the perfect juicer is a function of cost, speed, amount of juice and fiber extracted, and its convenience (how long it takes to clean). While there are juicers available to fit every budget ($40 – $1200), most moderately priced machines (under $100) prove both practical and proficient. Do your research first. Some of our favorites include:

Hamilton Beach 67608 - Big Mouth Juice Extractor – Its feeder is extra-large which allows users to fit whole vegetables and fruits in and reducing cutting and prep time. It is easy to assemble and store, has a powerful 800 Watt motor and has dishwasher safe parts. $99

Oster 3157 400-watt Juice Extractor – This unit has a one-movement safety locking arm for fast and safe operation, as well as a removable feed chute for easy cleaning and storage. Made of sturdy all stainless steel filters and utilizing a 400 watt motor, the machine is sturdy. $45

Black and Decker Fruit and Vegetable Juice Extractor – Health- and budget-conscious consumers will love this machine. The 400-watt juice extractor makes quick work of fresh fruits and vegetables juicing. The quality strainer and stainless steel blades, separate pulp effortlessly. Dishwasher-safe parts also make cleanup a cinch. $49

The Jack LaLanne Power Juicer (in Black) is a favorite among local juicers and sold exclusively at Walmart stores. It features patented extraction technology that gives users up to 30 percent more juice than other juicers. A super-sized detachable pulp container and a whisper quiet 2,500 RPM induction motor. Juicing is quick, quiet and efficient. This power juicer is also dishwasher safe and has a surgical quality stainless steel blade. $99

A local business leader is working with the March of Dimes to prevent pre-term birth and give more babies a healthy start in life.

John L. Huggins Jr., president of Broadband Connect, has assumed the role of March for Babies chairperson. Huggins, who is also a proud father, said he is committed to ensuring the good health of moms and their babies.

"My work with the March of Dimes is a real honor – especially during the foundation's milestone anniversary year," said Huggins. "March for Babies gives everyone in our community the chance to work together for stronger, healthier babies and make a difference in the lives of millions of babies . . . I can't think of a more important cause than healthy babies. As a business leader, I know that preventing pre-term birth can help our bottom line by lowering health care costs."

March for Babies, the largest annual fundraising event for the March of Dimes, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.

As March for Babies chairperson, Huggins will play an integral role raising awareness and funds to advance the scientific research and educational programs at the core of the March of Dimes efforts to prevent pre-term birth and birth defects.

This year's walkathon will be held on Saturday, April 27 at Watkins Regional Park in Upper Marlboro.

Last year, the Prince George's County March for Babies raised $135,000, with more than 500 people attending the event. Huggins' goal is to exceed the 2012 contributions by recruiting new sponsors and teams..

"I couldn't be happier having John Huggins serve as Chair," said Lauren Stover, community director for the suburban Maryland region March of Dimes chapter. "I am sure that Huggins will bring the same drive, dedication and passion that made him a well-respected member of the community to his efforts on behalf of March for Babies. I know his contribution will go a long way to making this year's event an unqualified success."

Prince George's County residents can visit www.marchforbabies.org to register for a nearby walk and start a team with co-workers, family and friends.

First lady Michelle Obama graces the cover of the April edition of Vogue magazine, in which a joint interview with President Barack Obama is featured.

The cover shows Mrs. Obama flowing in an electric blue-and-black Reed Krakoff dress, next to the headline, "Michelle Obama: How the First Lady and the President Are Inspiring America." Inside, she appears in a stunning Michael Kors black two-piece gown cinched with a wide leather belt.

The interview was conducted in February at the White House and focuses mostly on the Obama family, which includes daughters Malia,14,and Sasha, 11.

"What is truly unusual about the Obamas is that, in their own quietly determined way, they have insisted on living their lives on their terms: not as the first family but as a family, first," the article's author, Jonathan Van Meter said.

The April issue of Vogue will be on newsstands March 26.

(Source: USA Today)

Diversity Reflected in Black History Editions

I would like to congratulate the Washington Informer for a series of well-thought out and informative Black History sections throughout the month of February.

I was particularly impressed with writer Barrington Salmon's Brown Babies article and Editor Shantella Sherman's work, Diaspora Rising. It is so impressive that the focus of the Informer went beyond the stereotypical, usual suspects and instead included noteworthy British, Haitian, Guyanese, and Jamaican black people. I am a native of Panama and greatly enjoyed the diversity of the editions. Congratulations on a job well done.

H. Hall Ross

Falls Church, Va.

An Assault on D.C. Public Schools

I whole-heartedly agree with the parents featured in Dorothy Rowley's article "Coalition Rallies against School Closings," in the March 7, 2013 edition. Not only are the parents correct in their views about Chancellor Kaya Henderson's attempt to make DCPS a charter school system, but she is continuing the all-out assault to break up the Teachers' Union that was started by her mentor and former chancellor, Michelle Rhee.

Parents have the right to be partners in choosing how their children are educated. The public school system has afforded them not only this but also some say-so about what their children are taught. Charter schools don't allow this. You have to buy into their philosophy and their methods in order to attend their schools, and if you disagree you take your child out of the school.

A lot of the blame for the fertile atmosphere for charter schools east of Rock Creek Park can be blamed on the public school system itself. For years fiscal mismanagement, combined with corrupt and unaccountable leaders have fostered an air of distrust by most who have tried to navigate their children through the system. But the job of the chancellor is to restore trust with the community and show that the system can meet the needs of all the students of the District of Columbia, not just a few.

Chancellor Henderson should be making sure schools are provided with what they need to ensure the success of all the students in the system, such as a system-wide curriculum and books and supplies, instead of secretly carrying out the plans of her mentor and teacher.

Marvin J. Bishop

Washington, D.C.

African American women in the nation's capital stand a far less chance of getting breast cancer than white women. However, African-American women die from breast cancer at a greater rate than white women. Why? There may be many reasons, including education or a lack of access to health care. But Zora Brown believed in her heart that the mortality rate could change if all women (and men) knew the importance of self-examinations and mammograms. Brown, 63, died earlier this month due to complications from ovarian cancer, but she dedicated her life fighting to end health disparities and other causes that lead to unnecessary deaths due to breast cancer.

At 32, Brown was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was the same disease that afflicted her great-grandmother, her grandmother, her mother and three sisters. She underwent a mastectomy of her right breast, and later she lost her left breast when cancer was found there, too. Her personal fight against breast cancer was the motivation for a crusade to increase public awareness. She took her message to local churches and community groups as well as to national television on shows that included The Oprah Winfrey Show and CNN.

Brown was the first African-American woman to serve on the National Cancer Advisory Board, appointed by President Bush in 1991. She established the Breast Cancer Resource Committee (BCRC), which seeks to reduce the mortality rates from breast cancer among African- American women. She also founded "Rise Sister Rise", a breast cancer support group model for African-American women, as well as Men in Action Against Breast Cancer, a support arm for BCRC. She, along with her nieces, also founded Sisters Accessing Skills for Survival and Intervention.

It is with great sadness that Brown, who lived in the District for many years, has died. But her crusade lives on in each and every woman who begins her day with a breast self-exam and who, while reading about her life, is reminded to schedule a mammogram. That's what Brown lived and died for.

They're our home team. We're with them when they win and we refuse to abandon them when they lose. We want them to be the best team in the National Football League, and we put lots of money behind them by purchasing season tickets, hosting elaborate tailgate parties and collecting every piece of sports paraphernalia bearing their name that we can afford. But as regularly as the football seasons come and go, so does the reoccurring debate over the name of Washington's beloved football team.

While appeals to owners to change the team's name have been repeatedly denied, so have the numerous court battles that have been equally unsuccessful. But representatives of Native American's rights groups and others who support the cause to eliminate racially insensitive and demeaning mascots from major league teams will not give up. Blackhorse et al v. Pro-Football, Inc., is the most recent case brought by young Native Americans who seek to abolish Washington's football team's mascot forever. Forget the past. If Wisconsin can do away with racially insensitive team names, then why can't we?

Despite the love for our team, it's becoming more difficult to express it when those who are impacted by its vile and offensive name stand up. Despite the team's unquestionable good will throughout the region, it's irrelevant when the name itself points to our nation's horrific and racist past against its own people. And, a Super Bowl victory will silence protestors concerns but only for a moment before they mobilize and mount their next attempt to right a wrong.

While our team works hard to bring back the national championship title, team owners should also work hard to make an historic human rights decision – giving our team a name that we all can feel proud of.

A gathering of Catholic cardinals selected a new pope on Wednesday from among their midst -- choosing cardinal from Argentina, the cardinal, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who comes from Argentina, and is the first leader of the church ever chosen from South America.

The new pope, 76, who will be called Francis, the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, is also the first non-European leader of the church in more than 1,000 years.

"Habemus papam!," members of the crowd shouted in Latin, waving umbrellas and flags. "We have a pope!" Others cried "Viva il Papa!"

"It was like waiting for the birth of a baby, only better, " said a Roman man. A child sitting atop his father's shoulders waved a crucifix.

The new pope was announced on the white balcony on the front of St. Peter's Basilica as thousands of the faithful cheered joyously below.

The new pope inherits a church wrestling with an array of challenges that intensified during his predecessor, Benedict XVI — from a priest shortage and growing competition from evangelical churches in the Southern Hemisphere where most of the world's Catholics live, to a sexual abuse crisis that has undermined the church's moral authority in the West, to difficulties governing the Vatican itself.

(Source: The New York Times)

Queen Elizabeth II recently made history when she signed a new charter taking a stand against discrimination.

With the stroke of the pen on March 11, the 86-year-old queen made a symbolic pledge for equal rights for billions of people in 54 countries in the British Commonwealth around the world.

The Commonwealth Charter states opposition to "all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, color, creed, political belief or other grounds."

This is believed to be the first time (in her 61-year reign) she's shown her support of gay rights. That's a big step," ABC News royal contributor Victoria Arbiter said.

The charter is still only a symbolic step for many of the 54 countries because homosexuality is still illegal in 41 of the nations in the British Commonwealth.

Embodying centuries of stuffy royal tradition, Britain's head of state has recently learned to relax a little, showing she's moving with the times. But never in her 61 years as monarch has she done anything like this before.

"The queen has to remain politically neutral," Arbiter said. "While we won't hear her personal views on this, the fact that she is endorsing it publically in front of television cameras, it really does speak volumes."

Reading between the lines, the British papers are also hailing this as a watershed moment for the new rules of succession.

The timing couldn't be any better with the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, giving birth this summer. By signing this pledge, the queen is giving a silent nod to the changes. If Middleton has a baby girl, her daughter will one day be the queen.

(Source: ABC News)