In yet another study, excess junk food has been linked to poor health in children. This increased risk of disease tends to follow them into adulthood.

Anybody surprised by this?

It should be obvious to pretty everyone by now that eating fast food and junk food is not good for you. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, GA and from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry in New York, along with other colleagues, looked at data from several studies conducted over the years by the U.S. Federal Government.

In this meta-analysis they found that excess belly fat in children indicated a higher risk for cardiovascular disease as well as increased risk for diabetes. The primary contributor to this increased belly fat happens to be fast and junk foods. Obesity and abdominal fat has increased by more than 65 percent since the 1990’s.

When you add to this the fact that when people, especially teenagers and younger, consume fast and junk foods, this is replacing more nutritious meals. Even though they are getting plenty of calories, they are becoming malnourished. This leads not only to the health problems already mentioned, but decreases the effectiveness of many of the body’s systems, including the immune system.

As parents, we need to take the responsibility for our children’s health by making sure that they are properly nourished. If we can do that by providing a good example in our own lives then we not only help them to stay healthy and avoid illness, but it will keep ourselves healthier as well.

Who wants to miss the important days in the lives of our children because we are feeling under the weather, have the flu, or maybe even be in the hospital. There are so many things that we have to stay healthy for and even though it’s not always easy, it is vitally important to give our bodies what they need to help heal and fend off the disease that seems to be more prevalent every day.

These days it is increasingly easy to view poor health as being “normal”. Disease is not the normal state of life. Do not accept it.

In a recent interview, a top UN coordinator said that “The virus is likely to be with us for the five or ten years to come”. While we like to think that we can just avoid illness and disease by staying in our own corner of the world, things like virus tend to mutate and, if it turns into a form that is easily transferred person-to-person, then it could travel the globe very quickly and easily enter even small cities and towns.

Nabarro said, “the risk of a mutation to cause pandemic is still very much there. As long as the virus is present in birds, there will also be a threat of sporadic human infection, and a possibility of a mutation which would cause at the end of the day a pandemic.”

“Trying to estimate the potential mortality of a pandemic is very hard. What I’ve already said is that you could have of range of between five and 150 million” deaths, he said.

“It’s the reason why I do think we a have to put now plenty of energy towards a long term reform of the poultry farming techniques, in order to reduce the risks of human infection.”

It’s good to see that at least some in the international community are keeping an eye on how these kinds of diseases are developing and speaking out on the real threats they pose. Until the reforms on the poultry industry in various countries are put in place, there is still the possibility of a viral mutation that could make bird flu pass easily from person to person.

People really need to keep their awareness up of these kinds of possibilities and take action to at least protect themselves and their families now, while they still have a chance..

Stay active.

If you smoke - stop.

Eat healthfully.

Supplement your diet to keep your body’s immune system at 100%

Here’s another reason to build up your immune system: no matter how good the vaccines are that medical science comes up with, there’s always going to be something new.

According to this ABC news article the new strain seems to have been brought about by vaccination programs designed to protect poultry from the now famous H5N1 strain of the bird flu.

What’s even more disturbing is that this new strain (now spreading through China and moving to the rest of Asia) is infecting both people and poultry.

That’s not a good sign.

Up until now, we have been able to take some comfort in the fact that as devastating as the disease is to the domesticated bird populations, people have been relatively safe. With the most recent mutation it looks like we all have a bit more to worry about.

Although there is little evidence yet to suggest that the disease can move easily from person to person, that is the next hurdle the virus may overcome.

Personally, I would rather do as much as I can now to strengthen my immune system rather than wait for a new vaccine to come out.

The main things most people want to avoid are colds, flu and allergy symptoms. None of these are fun to have as they just make life miserable.

While there are some simple things people can do to keep their immune system healthy, a lot of people really don’t want to put the effort into exercising, eating better, getting adequate sleep, etc. And really, it can be difficult to do everything we should for ourselves considering that we only have so many hours left in the day after working, eating, and spending time with family.

Fortunately, there are some things people can do to keep their immune system working well. Nutritional supplements can be an important part of taking control of your health, but not all supplements are created equal. Be sure to do your research and know that you are dealing with companies that have a high reputation and can back up any claims with data from human trials.