Is There an Epidemic of Childhood Heart Disease?
By Larry Seitz | November 13, 2008
This past week, at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans, a research paper concluded that thickened artery walls of children and teenagers who were obese or demonstrating high cholesterol levels mirrored the thickness of artery walls of an average 45-year-old.
Using ultrasound, the results concluded that there is a strong potential correlation between obesity and age related changes in artery walls. What this really signifies is that obesity can rapidly advance changes in arterial wall constitution. Dr. David Ludwig, an associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard has studied these changes since 2005. He concluding that this would shorten the average child’s lifespan by two to five years.
What becomes most obvious is that our children, devoid of nutritional restraint or guidance, can initiate atherosclerotic changes as early as two. Equally inexcusable is the development of Type 2 diabetes.
Where then are the healthy dietary conclusions accepted so we can begin to reverse the insidious life changing events? The medical researchers will continue to research the cause and effect. That is what research is all about. But when do we act when the research quantifies how the body is victimized by dietary indulgences. How then do we effectively use this substantial knowledge and make necessary critical life changes? Are we in fact acknowledging the conclusions but refusing to accept the consequences because it beckons to inconvenience? Are we acting as a fiddling Nero while our children burn?
The findings of the newest childhood research continue to underline the purposefulness of the SunPower Kidz. Are the SunPower Kidz still the lone wolf crying in the woods? Where is the implementation? The SunPower Kidz, allow children to use their imagination and become a part of the process. That is a positive way to make changes.
How much more proof is needed by parents to change habits that we know cause irreparable damage. When does the available smart selection begin to reverse the self-destructive path of the innocent?
Children should have the opportunity to indulge in satisfying an occasional indulgence, but where do you draw the line? Do we need more studies to determine what intuition offers? Where is the common sense approach?
You hear that obesity has reached epidemic proportions. That can’t be true. An epidemic is when a disease spreads quickly and severely affects a large number of people and then subsides. The obesity question is not an epidemic. It will not subside. It is flourishing and continually increasing. It is in fact a monster, a cancer.
In truth, it appears that the equation of cause, effect and cure has been blindsided by profit and victimization. Hurting our children and their future is a heavy price to pay.
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Barack Obama: An Idyllic Promise for Change
By Larry Seitz | November 6, 2008
One of the more interesting strategies that surfaced was how the Obama team approached the statistics of voting. In prior elections, their statistical analysis determined that eleven out of every twenty people voted. Cleverly, they sought out the other nine. This proved to be a smart strategy to boost the chances of success. If in fact, the reported news is correct, 10 million plus more voters participated than in 2004. This is the highest participatory number since 1964.
Now becomes the challenge to what change is about. The newly elected President will be tested for his honesty, truth, disavowed relationships, and convictions. It will be quickly concluded if he has listened intently to what the enlarged voting populace has declared. He will be made accountable to make the changes offering the people of the United States the things he said he would do. Only then can it be determined if we are the real winners.
No one can deny that there are numerous interpretations of what change is really about. If the changes are fair and not disruptive and stay true to idyllic promise, the people will be the beneficiaries. Perhaps those voters, who previously refused to vote as they were disenchanted with the same old politics of government, will be surprised by new opportunities in democracy.
If the changes made are not by back room political pressures then the promise of change could be unique. But, if the tenets and strengths that made our country the most powerful democracy on earth become reinterpreted, tilted or twisted, our society could collapse. Let us hope that this is not the change. That kind of change is destruction.
Change takes time. This election results spoke loudly that the people of this great nation will hold the new President, his administration and representatives, old and new, to listen to the newly invigorated populace. Perhaps for the first time, the people will monitor this time in our history more than ever before. The future of this nation clinging to an unstable economy will be held accountable by the people as never before. Politicians depend on votes to remain in office. The people have spoken. Let us see what Washington does and if they really intend to listen or instead advance their own agendas.
The SunPower Kidz represent all children. The SunPower Kidz is all about change, one that will allow all children to be healthy and live the fullest life that God has provided for them. The SunPower Kidz welcome the opportunity to help the next generations to advance and realize the changes that can make a difference in their lives. Let us hope that the adults are listening.
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The Dairy Crises in China
By Larry Seitz | October 9, 2008
The horror of children becoming ill, leading to death after consuming milk products in China this year, is but another black eye for exports from this country.
The unfortunate event was based upon the chemical addition of melamine, an organic chemical substance, composed predominantly of nitrogen.
The commercial uses of melamine are plentiful. When combined with formaldehyde, it produces a melamine resin. This organic substance has been used as the basis of plastics, adhesives, varnishes, as well as a cleaning product. Many applications are found in the home such as countertops, fabrics, house wares, glues, and flame-retardants. It is also a major component as a colorant used in inks and plastics.
In 2007, pet food was recalled after these products, exported from China, were found to have unsafe levels of granular melamine. This was found in the wheat gluten, a component organic food source. Reports uncovered these unsafe levels causing serious illnesses and deaths in cats and dogs. These higher levels were positioned inaccurately as falsely appearing increased protein.
Mainland China, a major producer of melamine had used this popular chemical polymer in feedstock and baby formula nationwide. It was an accepted additive that gave a false appearance in diluted or poor quality food products that the protein content was higher. In effect, by raising the total nitrogen content one assumed that the protein level had risen.
This year, in September, a scandal uncovered the adulteration using melamine added into milk and infant formula produced in China. Because of the high nitrogen content of melamine, it can give a false positive of protein content higher than it’s true value.
These altered dairy products produced kidney stones and renal failure among young children. By late September, it was reported that over 53,000 people had become ill. Subsequently, over 13,000 were hospitalized leading to four infant deaths.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has established safe levels of melamine for adults. It is hoped that the same consideration will be offered for the safety and health of children in the near future.
©Makayla Milk looks on with great interest knowing that she is one of the healthy SunPower Kidz™.
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If Children Could Vote Who Would Be The President?
By Larry Seitz | September 18, 2008
Tis the season to be deceitful…fa la la la la…la la la la. So children which of you will get something nice in your stocking? Which of you will have coal? Any of you having your nose elongated yet?
It is quite amazing how political campaigns strive to create negative ads. Every four years, the public is exposed to advertisements that are caustic, irrelevant, attacking, deceitful, ambiguous, and vicious. Imagine lying to your child in this manner? Teaching them to hate thy neighbor so that you can be number one.
How is the average citizen able to know the truth when each side of the aisle is guilty of some form of fabrication? Is it that the politicians are so adept at this that it becomes second nature to them to be completely disrespectful to the public? It really highlights that making disparaging remarks about the other party is more relevant to politicians than caring about we the people. That’s a positive lesson to teach our children. Make the other guy look inferior to you instead of extolling the virtues of being honest and truthful. The logic of politics says to win you must be negative. Sounds logical to me! Maybe we should teach hate thy neighbor until we win the race and then just say, kiddingly of course, we didn’t mean it.
But…. wait…aren’t we instead supposed to be enthralled with the bountiful good things that a candidate and the congress have done to earn our trust and vote? Of course…can you name one? That’s only a dream…like trusting that our humble politician will serve the people instead of the special interest groups.
The real parental challenge is striving to set examples and live our lives to insure that our children are honest and truthful. A full time task while guiding them to engage in a positive work ethic and spirit of achievement while helping their fellow man. But be careful. Don’t verbalize this too loudly or else you might offend those who feel religion is not a good thing.
Would now be a good time to let the children know that their college education, a vacation, or even food on the table and new shoes for school has been compromised because a parent has lost their job or will in the near future?
So dear children. If you want to know the truth look not to a politician. But then again, what is truth? After all, every politician has the solution. Just ask them!
Should children be made aware that a politician will blame his opponent for what he is equally guilty of. Should children know that promises to make changes are not the solution but empty words that will be reversed once they become elected. Maybe it’s more suitable to teach children to be rude to those who oppose you while coddling those who serve your needs. Follow the view of others and learn the polished way to attack others, be indifferent, lose tolerance, and hate thy neighbor. Teach your child that it’s more important to fight against each other than their real enemy who still exists after 9/11. Don’t teach them that 9/11 is still happening but much more insidious. Don’t explain that the war is on against us. Just view it when Dad or Mom fill up the gas tank. Let them listen to wise men in congress who refuse to allow us to be less dependent on dictators and enemies of the United States by permitting us to seek our own natural resources. Let the children know that you must respect the skin color and religions of all men even when some won’t let us practice our religion but can preach hatred of the United States. Don’t let children know that there is a double standard and that’s what politicians promulgate as they preach equality and working across the aisle. Don’t teach them that there are men who make promises only to break them. Teach them to be disrespectful of country and the flag and above all the soldiers who every day give their lives for this freedom.
Let’s remind them how it’s not important to follow the teachings of the SunPower Kidz™ about health and nutrition. Let’s all be obese and promote disease and sickness. Let’s ridicule those who would want a healthy mind in a healthy body. Let sickness whether physical, mental, or emotional reign because a government that owns the people can further this cause freely.
But, lets not teach the children that there are people who govern us who are deceitful, self-serving and will destroy their future because of power and greed.
This election will be a first of it’s kind. I know who I shall vote for…the persons who are best prepared to handle what unknowns will follow them and offer substance instead of wisps of emptiness. And that’s no lie!
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Statins for Children: A Knee Jerk Reaction
By Larry Seitz | July 24, 2008
On July 7, 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a recommendation that wider screening for cholesterol be considered for children. Apparently, the argument is that by administering cholesterol-lowering drugs classified as statins to children as early as 8 years old, adult heart problems may be prevented.
The SunPower Kidz™ are having a difficult time understanding the motivation for this line of reasoning.
It has been well documented that there are dangers associated with elevated levels of LDL cholesterol. This type, which clings to the walls of arteries, eventually becomes a hardened fixture blocking the free passage of blood. But where in the literature does it claim that the arterial bed of a child has developed the LDL cholesterol? What about the rights of a child?
There are too many factors involved to support a supposedly salient recommendation without considering the entire picture. This approach of action is based upon fear rather than substantial scientific studies specifically for this age group. Fostering this argument as the accepted course of action reeks of questionable decision making and could be potentially dangerous.
Until definite studies can support this approach for such young children, the only ones who ultimately benefit from this proclamation are the manufacturers of the drugs and the referring professionals. What parent would question the pediatrician’s recommendation? The guilt and angst of making a contrary decision can weigh heavily on any parent. After all, what parent would refuse a pill to prevent their child from the potential of later year cardiovascular implosion?
In nature for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Isn’t there a logical approach not to suppress the natural development of chemicals in our body? Aren’t certain compounds, like cholesterol there for a reason? The great architect who devised our bodies certainly knows his stuff!
How about this novel approach. Instead of ingesting chemicals in our youth based on hypothetical musings, maybe we should consider what the mission of the SunPower Kidz™ has always been. Staying active, like each and every one of them do and eating foods that we know won’t introduce or at least reduce the chance for harmful changes to accelerate diseases and conditions of any kind. Imagine actually eating unprocessed, organic and natural foods that existed centuries ago?
I always thought one of the crucial roles of any pediatrician is to educate his patients and the families to understand not only about cholesterol but why it is important to use your body actively while filling it with things to make us grow “big and strong.”
Maybe we should consider Fosamax or some other medication for all eight-year-old girls to avoid early undetected osteoporosis or osteopenia. Why not? After all, it might help the future problem but then again cause other documented health issues. Where is the logic here? Certainly, it is a ridiculous proposal. But then I ask when does this child experimentation end? The tip of the iceberg has been spotted.
“You ain’t seen nothing yet…” This is just the beginning. Soon, other medications will finally be questioned and declared inappropriate as the public seeks greater understanding of childhood conditions and diseases that have become all to quickly diagnosed erroneously. There are numerous decent parents out there whose voices need to be heard. Let us stand up for the rights of our children before these too are questioned.
For all the parents who feel coerced into a decision anecdotally based upon supposed preventative but poorly researched determinations consider this. You have the right to think long and hard and ask many questions about what the educated conclusions were used to arrive at this decision. Let it not be a knee jerk reaction.
Abigail Apple™, one of the many healthy and active SunPower Kidz™. Did you eat your 5+ fruits and vegetables today?
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Global Warming: Here’s the Solution?
By Larry Seitz | June 29, 2008
We as a nation have gone through the most extreme forms of different diets that profess to have the REAL solution to our obesity problem.
My hypothesis is that it’s not just the food we eat but when combined with gravity, the real cause of our weight problem and global warming is evident. Think about it. If we weighed less would there be less energy needed to keep us on the earth?
(Did I see a physicist cringe in pain? Or maybe it was the nutritionist.)
There must be a great quantity of energy needed to keep everything from floating off the earth and into space. So…because energy can’t be destroyed or created, at least I think I heard that one day in class, there must be incalcuable amounts of energy drifting around our astmosphere. If that’s the case, then heat energy must be escaping into the atmosphere probably attracted toward the polar regions and causing the melting of ice.
Now if this is true that would explain the thunderous noise coming out of the internet as millions of scientists reading this are scampering back to their laboratories devising new and bold theories linking weight loss and gravity. Probably within weeks, a television special will report on this theory and be on all the talk shows.
In any event, back to the basics of science?
Again, restating the question. Would there be less heat energy escaping into the atmosphere if we weighed less. There must be a mathematical formula that explains the relationship between weight loss and melting of ice? Isn’t there?
Perhaps this explanation makes more sense offering a slightly different twist. Is the gravitational pull that attracts earthly bodies toward each other and into the core of the earth really the reason that the ice is melting and causing the global warming. Another hypothesis…amazing two in one day!
Again I ask. If we weighed less, would we give off less heat? Less heat would reduce the need to cool off our bodies, reducing the need to use gas or electric energy. Then less gaseous waste products would be spewed into the atmosphere. If we weighed less than we probably would be eating less fatty or processed foods. Then the basic foods that the cave man enjoyed would be our main diet, eliminate obesity and keep the mission of the SunPower Kidz™ intact.
It would make sense that our cars and other forms of transportation would require less horsepower. Therefore, we wouldn’t need as much fossil fuels to carry less weighted and powered cars.
Finally, if we relied less on fossil fuels and instead used our legs more we’d be able to reduce the obesity and aging problem, require less medications and global warming contaminants.
There you have it. A simple…very simple…explanation and solution for the power of gravity to create our problem of global warming, obesity, and dependence on fossil fuels.
If it were only that simple…
The SunPower Kidz™ say: Invest in your child’s future…JOIN THE MOVEMENT and make a difference! When you register, put in the password, "sunpower" to be a part of the future.
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Salmonella: Another Potential Resistive Bacterial Nightmare Like MRSA?
By Larry Seitz | June 22, 2008
Do we really comprehend the continuous warfare that our bodies wage against bacterial anarchy every minute that we breath? It is a miracle that we can stay alive considering the condition of struggle that our immune systems and disease fighting lines of defense combat on a daily basis.
We can acknowledge the absolute miracle when a healthy child is born. Yet, the miraculous feat when our bodies fight the invasion of bacterial goons waiting for the right time to destroy us is taken for granted. The Salmonella bacteria with its numerous forms are found in the bowels of mammals, turtles, iguanas, other reptiles, and even pet rodents. One strain of Salmonella is responsible for typhoid fever.
The irony of this bacterium, like MRSA and Escherichia Coli is actually bizarre. These marauding invaders, when otherwise under control, are found in specific bodily organs effectively helping us perform certain bodily functions.
Examples of salmonella food related illnesses are associated with undercooked poultry, milk, meat, raw eggs, and food cooked or frozen but not consumed in a timely fashion. Produce and fruit can also contain the bacteria as evidenced by the question of contamination with tomatoes. We have already experienced affected spinach two years ago.
Salmonella like MRSA or Escherichia Coli can easily be passed by fecal contamination. You would have thought that the basic hand washing would have been a no brainer. However, if the organism is available in a non-washing area, such as a field where the produce grows, the chances for contamination are magnified.
So, what then are humans to do? Actually, nothing more than what we have been told repeatedly. The first line of defense is washing our hands and especially those foods that are fresh from unknown sources. Recommendations are also to cook the food at 145 degrees for 15 seconds, which will kill the Salmonella. It is certainly an insignificant inconvenience considering the potential for bodily harm.
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. Healthy people hit with the pathogen often experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
The SunPower Kidz™ profess that eating or drinking healthy things is taking the responsibility to be vigilant and sharing that knowledge.
The SunPower Kidz™ say: Invest in your child’s future…JOIN THE MOVEMENT and make a difference! When you register, put in the password, "sunpower" to be a part of the future.
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Click Farms!? A Genetic Food Source or Something Nefarious?
By Larry Seitz | June 17, 2008
It is fair to say that what we eat is raised or grown on some generic place called a farm. To some it’s a way of life and to others a special place you visited as a child and saw your first cow grazing in a pasture, a silo filled with corn to feed the livestock, or perhaps a chicken coup filled with fresh eggs, or a pig luxuriating in its own beauty spa mud bath.
So then, what is a click farm? What is raised or grown there? Could it be a genetically engineered a new breed or foodstuff? Is it creating a new form of life that will save our planet? Increase our food supply?
No…not all. Unfortunately, click farms define a deceptive practice of advertising. Maybe it should be called click scams especially when the naïve visitor to the Internet doesn’t realize that they unintentionally could be part of the process.
Let’s evaluate how it functions. It is like a throw back to the sweatshops in the early 20’s in the United States before unions saved the average worker from inhuman working conditions or underdeveloped countries having to work for horrible wages to survive. These farms hire poor people, all over the world to click on specific ads. What this click does is to falsely create a visit via a link to the unknowing company. The company advertises on the web through large search engines, trying to legitimately bring potential business to their website.
The unsuspected company, noting that visits have increased dramatically think that the activity being directed to their website is a result of the service they used. But when they receive the bill for a huge number of clicks, they are aghast at the charges, which do not correspond to any potential sales. The sad reality is that no one has actually visited their website but yet they are charged for being unfairly hustled to believe otherwise.
But now something is on the horizon to change this deceitful practice. There is a new wave of advertising that will change the web for advertisers and visitors. Finally, there is a legitimate approach, bordering on genius where honesty prevails. This business model allows all to be treated fairly with equity and free services.
By joining this new and fair approach, the best of the web advertisements can be safely appreciated. The way to this safe harbor is simply done by clicking on any banners found on this website. The SunPower Kidz™ endorse this fairness as it promotes the same mission that will allow children to be offered an alterative for an honest and healthy future.
The SunPower Kidz™ say: Invest in your child’s future…JOIN THE MOVEMENT and make a difference! When you register, put in the password, "sunpower" to be a part of the future.
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Earthquake in China: The loss of a child
By Larry Seitz | May 15, 2008
There is great sadness in the world. The SunPower Kidz™ have lost so many thousands of beautiful children in the aftermath of the earthquake in Sichuan Province on Monday. The New York Times pictures have captured the profoundness of this horrendous event. It can only evoke tears and agonizing pain viewing the ruins and desolation of families hovering over the bodies of their children.
The SunPower Kidz™ sigh deeply as only an intangible feeling of emptiness provoke numbness and heartfelt grief.
Edifices of all sizes and shapes can be rebuilt, but how do you rebuild the hearts of parents who have lost their child? Words can never capture the anguish and sorrow.
There will be more fingers pointed and blame hailed at the local officials who disrespected family members wishes to extricate their children from the rubble. Once again, the insensitivity of humans shakes its ugly head. There will be investigations to determine why so many buildings collapsed when strict guidelines from a previous earthquake offered revised government codes of construction. Was compromise and the avarice of man once again a possibility? In all, the world many never find out these seemingly mundane answers of steel and concrete.
What is germane is the horror of the loss of a human, especially an innocent child.
We will never know the horrific emotions that were felt as their life left them.
We, the SunPower Kidz™ pray for these unprepared innocent and vital children and the families that will shoulder this darkness for the rest of their lives.
The SunPower Kidz™ say: Invest in your child’s future…JOIN THE MOVEMENT and make a difference! When you register, put in the password, "sunpower" to be a part of the future.
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Springtime: Allergy Season Begins.
By Larry Seitz | April 22, 2008
It’s that time of year again when the omnipresent pollen bursts from the slumbering trees and emerging hibernating bulbs. Celebrating the demise of bone chilling cold and snowy days does have its drawbacks for the millions who suffer from the march of pollen.Yet, one should not feel dismay for your suffering is just beginning. For as the early pollen contributors subside, there is always the beautiful green mat of the soil called grass that comes next. Oh yes, let’s not forget the spores and mold that will be arriving shortly as heat visits accompanied by windy and dry conditions. One can sense that for these millions of sufferers, which seem to increase in membership annually, the bleak promise of the first frost becomes the heralded arrival.So…in between days of the calendar that touch these three seasons, millions walk around suffering. Staccato sneezing, burdened with heads of congestion, faucet dripping noses, itchy eyes and other sundry symptoms of an immune system that has gone haywire. It is like having a revisit from that tenacious cold that left a few weeks ago.In my childhood, I was told that my allergies were hay fever and dust. Growing up in the hallowed streets of New York City, I knew dust was unavoidable, but where was the hay? I don’t recall any fever? Perhaps, at the conclusion of being a human pincushion for numerous years, when allergy shots were in vogue, the answer would somehow be revealed. I never found the hay but instead settled into a countryside residence, far away from the concrete, and now celebrate the air filled with other devilish invaders of the airways.Numerous recommendations as how one avoids these irritants seem as long a list as the myriad of allergic contaminants. If the plant world does not get you, there is always something in the food, the neighbor’s pet, or some obnoxious offensive odor from a chemical airborne or smoke. Is there any relief at all?For me, the only solution has been living by the ocean. The usual allergy deterrents do not seem to enjoy a wind swept ocean breeze but then again maybe I should be tested for palm tree allergy to confirm my theory.Well, the good thing about this time of year is that the national pastime returns. Once again baseball fills the air, aspiring youth play soccer, people can go on picnics, nature blushes with a new array of gorgeous flowers, cute and ravenous babies and insects are born ready to feast on your newly planted vegetable garden produce, and a young man’s fancy can again turn to love.Maybe it’s best to deal with the sneezing and enjoy the idyllic pleasure of the time.
Peter Potato™, one of the SunPower Kidz™, a devotee of baseball, comes alive this time of year. 
Peter Potato™ and the rest of the SunPower Kidz™ say: Invest in your child’s future…JOIN THE MOVEMENT and make a difference! When you register, put in the password, "sunpower" to be a part of the future.
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