http://www.thecharlottepost.com
TOje CI;ax1otte
THURSDAY AUGUST 31, 2006
LIFE
Section
Baby fat:
when to
worry
about it
THEASSOC/ATED PRESS
New parents learn quickly
liiat everyone has somethir^
to say about a pudgy baby,
with remarks ranging from
harmless (“Look at those
chubby cheeks”) to hurtful
(“Isn't he a little big for his
age?’)-
“I got comments all the time
from my so-called friends,”
says Lan Ma, recalling that
her two children, as infants,
had chipmunk cheeks and
“rolls after rolls of flesh.”
Ma, of Edgewater, N.J.,
ignored any su^estion liiat
Thomas, now 4, and T>4er, 2,
were too big, even when both
weighed in at 14 poimds—
double their birth weights —
at their 2-month checkups. ‘T
was never worried about their
weight when they were
young, because they were
both very, very healthy”
Some other parents, howev
er, can become anxious, given
widespread reports that an
increasing percentage of chil
dren and adolescents in the
United States are overwei^t.
“Wth aU. the talk about obe
sity we certainly have some
overzealous parents who are
worried about their nice,
healthy chunky baby becom
ing an overweight adult, and
(they are) restricting their
nutrients,” sa5?s Dr. Robert
Holmberg, a pediatrician in
Bangor, Maine, and a mem
ber of the American Academy
of Pediatrics Task Force on
Obesity
When sho^xId “baby fat,”
long the symbol of a thriving
infant, be cause for alarm?
In general, a chubby baby is
a healthy one, doctors say
Poor nutrition and lack of
exercise—major factors in the
obesity epidemic among chil-
dr^ and adults-’havenT had
time to affect the infant,”
Holmberg says.
But while doctors urge par
ents not to panic, they also
encourage them to watch for
warning signs:
Before age 3, parental obesi
ty is a stronger predictor of
future weight problems than
an infant’s birth weight or
place on the growth chart.
‘Tf parents are overweight,
their children, are at much
greater risk for the develop
ment of wei^t problems,”
says Dr. William Dietz, direc
tor of the division of nutrition
and physical activity for the
Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
Genetics may be partly to
blame, but more often the cul
prit is lifestyle, says Dr.
Thomas Robinson, associate
professor at the Stanford
University School of Medicine
and director of the Center for
Healthy Weight at Lucdle
Packard Children’s Hospital.
“A child is raised and learns
about feeding, eating and
activity in that same environ
ment” as the overwei^t par
ent, he notes in an e-mail
interview
A sustained growth spurt
before age 4, in which weight
increases more rapidly than
height, is another possible
warning sign, Holmberg says.
And parents should note if
wei^t appears to be interfer
ing wilh developmental mile
stones, such as walking.
Still, always consult a pedi
atrician before changirg your
baby’s diet.
Several studies suggest that
breastfeeding, in addition to
its nutritional advantages,
lowers the risk of obesity later
in childhood. Adds Dietz, "the
longer the children ar^ breast
fed, the lower tire risk.” The
AAP recommends breast milk
for at least the first year.
Please see HEALTHY/3B
0(^0
DeVondia
Roseborough has
AIDS and wants oth
ers to hear her story
so that they can
avoid infection. 54
percent of alt new HIV
and AIDS cases in
the US are black
women, In
Mecklenburg County
it’s 69 percent.
PHOTOAWADE NASH
Outspoken against HTV
Charlotte woman active in educating black women about AIDS
By Cheris F. Hodges
cheris.hod9es®fhecharfotfepost.corn
The face of AIDS has a smile, brown
skin and spariding eyes.
The face of AIDS has a name and a
mission. DeVondia Roseborough
hopes her story wfll save others.
According to the Black AIDS
Institute, of the million Americans
who have HIV, half are Afican
American. Fifty-four percent of all
new HIV cases in the U.S. are black
women. Last year in Mecklenburg
Coimty Afiican Americans accoimted
for 69 percent of aU new HIV infec
tions in the first half of 2005. Among
black women, the infection rate was
65 percent.
For Roseborough, 34, Dec. 9, 2003 is
a day she won’t forget. That’s when a
doctor told her that she had HTV
“The day he told me that I was HIV
positive, I was numb,” she recalled. “It
was a clock on the wall, directly across
fium me and it had just struck 10:12.
My whole body was numb, but I had
went through a state of preparation,
which I call my metamorphosis, so I
was prepared for it.”
Roseborou^ admits that she partic
ipated in risky behavior that con
tributed to her infection.
“Unprotected sex with someone I had
fio emotional attachment to,” said
’Roseborough, who admitted she used
sex as a way to find love. “IH teU any
one it couldn’t have happened to a bet
ter person, it really opened my eyes to
a lot things and it allowed me to
appreciate life more.”
As cliche as it sounds, Roseborough
does not look as if she' has AIDS,
See AIDS/2B
Colleges to balance campus drinking
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DURHAM—John Kunemund .had
just finished moving into his dorm at
Duke University and was ready to start
exploring the campus he expects to call
home for the next four years.
He knows part of that journey will
include being exposed to alcohol—
whether or not he is the one Hoing the
drinking
“The administrators have to keep a
check on students because if the stu
dents can just do whatever they want.
I’m siire alcohol will be broio^t any
where,” said Kunemund, an 18-year-
old fi:eshman from Jacksonville, Fla.
“But the students have to keep them
selves in check, too.
‘'We’re in college now. We have to
make sure we take responsibility for
ourselves.”
As students return to colleges across
the nation for the start of fall dasses,
, the drinking games are sure to begin—
along with a healthy debate over alco
hol’s place on campus. How much can—
and shoifld— a university do to monitor
the drinking habits of students who,
while not of drinking age, are old
enough to vote or go to war?
And how much responsibihty lies
witii students, many of them away
from home for tiie first time, to control
their own behavior?
It’s a debate that got plenty of atten
tion at Duke in the spring, when three
members of the men’s lacrosse team
were chaiged with the alleged rape of a
stripper at an alcohol-soaked team
party off campus. But it’s an issue for
schools across the comitry, not just this
elite private school in ceaitral North
Carolina.
“Almost every problematic student
behavior issue has at its roots the over
consumption of alcohol,” said Shddon
Steinbach, general counsel for the
Washington, D.C.-based American
Coimcil on Education, a hi^er-educa-
tion lobbying group -that lists Duke
among its membership of 1,800 accred
ited colleges and universities. “There
are lots of approaches and schools apply
See STEPS/2B
Unearthing a glimpse into lives of free blacks
THE ASSOC/ATED PRESS
BOSTON —Renovators
working at a Beacon Hill
townhovise luicovered what
archaeologists beUeve are
the remnants of a 19th cen
tury free black household.
The shoes, doU fragments,
hat pins, children’s marbles
and an empty sarsaparilla
bottle, among other items,
were foilnd beneath the floor
ing of what once was thought
to be a privy and could pro
vide insight into the lifestjde
of free black families in
Boston during that time.
expeats said.
The house was built about
1840 by Robert Roberts, a
fi'ee black man who was an
active abohtionist and
worked as a butler for Gov.
Christopher Gore. He wrote
“The House Servants’
Directory” in 1827.
Despite the national influ
ence of Boston’s black fami
lies in the abolitionist move
ment, there is almost no
i*ecord of their daily lives.
“It’s a wonderful piece of
history,” Mary Beaudry a
Boston Univemity archaeolo
gy and anthropology profes
sor, who is helpir^ lead the
excavation, told The Boston
Globe, "'lb get a look at a flee
African-American house
hold-wow!”
Workers doing renovations
for property owner Michad
Tbixanova exposed brick
work beneath the floor of an
attached shed.
'Iferranova consulted the
staff at the 19th-century
Afiican Meeting House, the
fi:ee-black church and com
munity center whose Beacon
Hfll site is now affiliated
with the National Park
Servicq, They pointed him to
Beaudry and Ellen
Berkland, archaeologist for
the city of Boston.
‘1 hadn’t thou^t it was
possible to get archeologists
here,” said Tferranova, who
was not legally obligated to
report the discovery of histor
ical artifacts on his property
Beaudry and Berkland and
a group of volunteers started
digging Thursday turning
up several thousand arti
facts. The work was expected
to wrap up Monday
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Managing
diabetes
According to the Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevmtion, 13.3 percent of
AfiicanAmericans adults (3.2
million) have diabetes. Not
only are Afiican Americans
more likely than non-minori
ties to have diabetes, but also
they are more likely to suffer
finm diabetes-related compli
cations, including heart dis
ease, kidney failure, stroke,
nerve damage, blindness and
even death. These complica
tions can be prevented or
decreased significantly by
improved diabetes manage
ment and control.
Insulin is normally pro
duced in the pancreas. It
helps the cells in the body
properly use ^ucose (sugar)
for enei^ In Type 2 dia
betes, the most common
form, there is either a
decreased production of
insulin or an inabiLity of the
body to use insulin. As a
result, glucose remains in the
blood rather than being
transported to the cells,
resulting in high blood sugar
levels and the many compli
cations associated with this
disease. IVp® 2 diabetes,
often called as ‘insulin resis
tance,’ is associated with obe
sity It usually occurs in
adults but is being diagnosed
more fiequently in children
and adolescents. This article
focuses on Type 2 diabetes
and its treatment.
How is diabetes treated?
Diet and exercise are cru
cial components of diabetes
management. Meal planning
is often recommended initial
ly along with exercise and
weight loss, if needed, which
helps the body "use excess
si.:^ar. If these measures are
not enough to bring the blood
sugars down to an acceptable
range, the nert step is to
begin medication to help ccsn-
trol the blood sugar.
Medication may be in the
form of insulin, oral drugs
and new injectable (but non-
insulin) medicine. Monitoring
blood si^ar levels with a glu
cose monitor is critical in
determinii^ what treatment
plan is indicated and even
more importantly, whether
the treatment plan is work
ing.
Medications
While patients are usually
started on an oral medication
to control 'their blood sugar, it
is not uncommon for insulin
injections to be used as the
first line of treatment. This
practice is based upon the
individual circumstances of
the patient. There are five
classes of oral dn^ used in
the United States to treat
diabetes: sulfonylureas,
meglitinides, biguanides, thi-
azolidinediones, and alpha-
^ucosidase inhibitors. Each
Please see MANAGING/3B
*5
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