Commonwealth Conversations: Public Health

Guilt-Free Summer Treats

 Kara Ryan, Department of Public Heath

 

Kara Ryan is a Nutrition Education Specialist at DPH

It’s hot outside. Are you craving a cool summer treat?

There are many treats out there that guarantee to cool us down. The most popular choice on a hot day is an old-fashioned ice cream cone. Unfortunately, if you are watching your weight, this heat buster isn’t always the best answer. There are other options out there that are healthy, low in calories and in fat.

Before you have your next craving, make sure you have some cool sweet treats in your freezer. Some great choices include:

• Frozen unsweetened fruits such as blueberries, grapes, strawberries and raspberries by themselves or topped with a little lowfat yogurt

• Homemade fruit and cream pops. All you have to do is fill small paper cups up with a blend of fruit and lowfat yogurt, add a popsicle stick, and freeze. Or freeze 100% fruit juice into paper cups for frozen ice

• Banana chips are easy and delicious. Slice up and freeze bananas. Place in a bag and you’ve got yourself a cold, portable, creamy treat

• Jell-O is always a hit. Put a dollop of light whipped cream on top to make it extra special

• Slice up a peach and top with some light whipped cream or lowfat yogurt

• Try sorbet or sherbet—a half a cup is the perfect amount—low in calories and fat

• No-calorie lime spritzers are a good thirst quencher. All you need is seltzer, crushed ice, and a squeeze of lime. Mint leaves are also a great addition to plain seltzer or water

• Finally, my personal favorite is making pistachio pudding with skim milk, place in a paper cup with a popsicle stick and freeze

When the next heat wave strikes you’ll be happy to have guilt-free summer treats on hand!

Do you have any guilt-free summer treats you’d like to share? We’d love to hear from you!

Two Additional H1N1 Flu-related Deaths Announced.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) today announced the deaths of two more people linked to H1N1 influenza (swine flu) in the state. A 13 year-old Worcester County resident, who died last week, has been confirmed to have had H1N1. He had a number of underlying health conditions that put him at greater risk of complications from the flu. Confirmatory test results are pending at the Hinton State Laboratory Institute for a 64 year-old Worcester County resident, who died over the weekend, and also had a series of underlying health conditions.

“It is with great sadness that we have learned of two more deaths including the first pediatric death of a Massachusetts resident related to H1N1.  We extend our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of both of these individuals,” said DPH Commissioner John Auerbach. “While most cases of H1N1 in Massachusetts and across the nation have been less severe, this news demonstrates once again how serious influenza can be.”

As of today, there have been more than 1300 confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza in Massachusetts.  Sixty-four percent of the confirmed cases in Massachusetts have been in people under the age of 18.  Each year, seasonal influenza causes 250,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths nationally. 

Read the Announcement:  Download 2009-7-13 WorcCountyH1N1 final

Informe semanal sobre la influenza H1N1 (gripe porcina) hasta el 9 de julio de 2009.

Posted by:
Jordan Coriza, Department of Public Health

Jordan is the Director of Ethnic Media Engagement for the Department.

Lo que pasó esta semana:

Hemos estado ocupados en el Departamento de Salud Pública de Massachusetts (DPH). Como suele ser el caso todos los años, alrededor de esta época nos concentramos en la prevención de las enfermedades transmitidas por mosquitos. No obstante, este año le estamos dedicando mucho tiempo y atención a los preparativos para el otoño, cuando comienza la temporada de gripe. El día 9 de julio, el Comisionado del DPH, John Auerbach, estuvo en la sede de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud (National Institutes of Health) en Bethesda, MD, participando en la cumbre nacional de la gripe H1N1. A él se unieron delegaciones de funcionarios del DPH, la Agencia de Massachusetts para el Manejo de Emergencias, la Oficina Ejecutiva de Seguridad Pública y el Departamento de Educación Primaria y Secundaria.

La cumbre reunió a cientos de funcionarios en cargos elevados a nivel local, estatal y federal para explorar las lecciones aprendidas del brote de gripe actual y para discutir las mejores maneras de preparase para el otoño. Varios asuntos tendrán que recibir la debida atención para poder reducir el número de enfermos y muertos durante esta temporada de gripe y para minimizar la interrupción del cotidiano en nuestras comunidades. Los presentes oyeron hablar al Presidente Obama; a la Secretaria de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Kathleen Sebelius; al la Secretaria de la Agencia de Seguridad Nacional, Janet Napolitano y al Secretario de Educación, Arne Duncan. En las próximas semanas, usted podrá oír y leer mucha información sobre los preparativos para la temporada de gripe de este otoño.

Actualización sobre Massachusetts:

La semana pasada vimos que hubo un pequeño incremento en el número de consultas médicas relacionadas con las enfermedades gripales en el Estado. Sin embargo, el nivel de actividad gripal que nuestra vigilancia detecta está muy por debajo del pico de actividad que experimentamos el mes pasado. Las visitas a salas de emergencias –las cuales controlamos para detectar enfermedades del tipo gripal— también han disminuido. Tampoco estamos viendo muchos cambios desde la semana pasado al analizar los motivos de visitas a las salas de urgencias.

Al igual que en otros Estados de Nueva Inglaterra, nosotros también hemos recibido informes de pequeños brotes de influenza en campamentos. Estamos trabajando con funcionarios de salud local y empleados de campamentos para asistir en el manejo de dichos brotes, con la finalidad de mantener saludables a los que acampan y a los que trabajan en los campamentos.

Usted puede leer aquí un informe en inglés del CDC sobre la actividad de la gripe en todo el país. La región de Nueva Inglaterra se denomina “Region One” y cuya actividad es descrita como “normal” para la actividad gripal a diferencia de poder haber sido descrito como “elevado”. Pese a que la región de Nueva Inglaterra haya sido designada con actividad normal, usted podrá apreciar al ver los gráficos que continuamos teniendo un nivel elevado de enfermedades gripales para esta época del año. Haga clic más abajo para ver una actualización de nuestros gráficos de la vigilancia de la gripe.

Continúe leyendo <<Informe semanal sobre la influenza H1N1 (gripe porcina) hasta el 9 de julio de 2009>> (en inglés).

Weekly Report on Novel H1N1 Influenza (swine flu) as of July 9, 2009.

This Week’s Developments:

It is a busy time here at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH).  As we do every year around this time, we are focused on preventing mosquito-borne illness.  But of course, this year we are spending a great deal of time looking towards the fall flu season and making preparations.  Today, DPH Commissioner John Auerbach was at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, participating in the National H1N1 Flu Summit.  He was joined by a delegation of other Massachusetts officials from DPH, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, the Executive Office of Public Safety and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. 

The summit brought together hundreds of top officials from the local, state and federal levels to explore the lessons learned from the current outbreak, and to discuss best practices to prepare for the fall.  Many issues will need to be addressed in order to achieve the goal of minimizing illness and deaths in residents this flu season and to minimize social disruption in our communities.  The attendees heard from President Obama, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan.  You'll hear and read a lot more about the preparations for the fall flu season in the coming weeks.

Update on Massachusetts:
We saw a slight uptick in doctor office visits for flu-like illness in Massachusetts last week, however the levels of flu we are detecting through surveillance are far below the peak that we saw last month.  Visits to emergency rooms that we monitor for flu-like illness have also been dropping, and we're not detecting much change from last week in our surveillance of ERs.  

Like other New England states, we have had reports of minor flu outbreaks in camps in Massachusetts.  We are working with local health and camp officials to help manage those outbreaks and keep campers, as well as camp staff, healthy.  

The CDC report on flu activity throughout the nation can be found here.  The New England region is "Region One" and is described at "normal" flu activity levels rather than at "elevated".  While the New England region as a whole is at a normal level of flu activity, as you can see from the charts, we continue to see elevated influenza-like illness activity for this time of year.  Click below to see an update of our flu surveillance charts.

School's out for Summer! School's out for Summer!

Posted by:
Maya Mohan, Department of Public Health

Maya is the Physical Activity Coordinator for DPH and loves the summertime! 

Sing it with me, now.  School is out, and hopefully the sun will stay out too… at least for a little while.  Now, put those two together and what do we have?  LOTS of time for being active! 

There are a lot of fun, inexpensive (sometimes free, even!) things that you can do with the family this summer. 

Have you heard of the Parks Passport program?  This is a great effort to get families out exploring our state parks and facilities (including campgrounds and beaches).  Kids get a “passport” and each time they go to a state park or facility, they get a sticker or a stamp from that park to go into their “passport.”  Kids under the age of 16 can get a cool t-shirt after visiting all of the passport parks in just one of the 5 Massachusetts regions.  You can pick up a passport at any of the participating parks - and the best thing is that they’re free!  One catch - some parks/facilities do charge a nominal parking fee.  However, lots of libraries will let you borrow a Park Pass  for the day so that you don’t have to pay for parking!  Click here to check out a Passport Park near you.  

To find out about other activities that are happening at a park near you, click here.  You’ll see calendars of activities for each park, along with some other cool information.  Also, keep a lookout for “Healthy Hearts” trails while you’re exploring this information.  These are trails that are about 1.5 miles or less in length and are of medium to easy difficulty.  (This really just means that almost anyone can enjoy these trails!)  You can keep track of the miles you walk using this walking log, and there’s an email listserv you can join to get updates too. Click here to find a Heart Healthy trail near you.  

Clearly, there’s a lot that we can do outdoors this summer to stay active.  I hope you’ll try one of these trails, or check out a park near you.  What are some ways that you and your family stay active during the summer? 

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Es importante hacer actividad física. Le mostramos cómo empezar.

Posted by:
Jordan Coriza, Department of Public Health

Jordan is the Director of Ethnic Media Engagement for the Department.

¡Órale, amigos!

Verónica Robles nos presenta en su programa, Órale con Verónica, una vez más. En este episodio de LA NOTA DE SALUD le damos ideas sobre cómo incrementar su nivel de actividad física en casa y en el trabajo, sin tener que gastar dinero ni interrumpir su día.

Haga clic en el video más abajo para vernos. Para enterarse de noticias como ésta y recibir información de salud en español visítenos en internet, ya sea en este blog o en nuestra página principal en español.

Órale con Verónica es una alternativa a la televisión comercial en español. Sale al aire todos los sábados a las 9:30am por Telemundo Boston WNEU canal 60. Telemundo también está disponible en Comcast por los canales 10, 14, 17, 19, 53, 95 ó 19; en RCN por el canal 16, en TDS por el canal 22 y en Time Warner por el canal 15.

Sintonícenos en Órale con Verónica y recuerde: Buena Salud. ¡Es la movida!

Physicians Focus on Obesity in Massachusetts.

Dr. Bruce Auerbach and DPH Commissioner John Auerbach (right) aren't related, but they do have something in common beyond their last name.  Both care a great deal about the impact that overweight and obesity are having on the health of Massachusetts residents.  Bruce, an emergency room doctor and Immediate Past President of the Massachusetts Medical Society, recently invited Commissioner Auerbach and DPH Medical Director, Dr. Lauren Smith, to take part is a special one-hour television program devoted to the topic of obesity in Massachusetts.  The program, The State of our Health, the Health of our State: Obesity in Massachusetts, takes an in-depth look at the damaging effects of obesity on the health of our residents.  The show also highlights the many efforts taking place throughout the state to address this serious public health problem  --  including our own groundbreaking Mass In Motion campaign.

The show, produced for public access TV stations throughout the Commonwealth, is divided into four segments and includes two public service announcements, one on Mass In Motion and the other Nutrition and fitness.  Check it out.

Weekly Report on Novel H1N1 Influenza (swine flu) as of July 2, 2009.

This Week’s Developments:

Yesterday, the Boston Public Health Commission announced the sad news that the deaths of two more  Boston residents have been linked to H1N1 influenza.  A 52 year-old man died at his home on June 26, and a 30 year-old man passed away on June 29, after being hospitalized for about two weeks.  The deaths of two other Boston residents, an 84 year-old man and 30 year-old woman have also been linked to H1N1 flu.   These deaths are a tragic reminder of how serious flu can be for some people  --  both those with underlying health conditions and those without such conditions.  It is also a reminder that H1N1 flu is still with us, and it's important to continue to focus on practicing good  prevention measures.  

Update on Massachusetts:
Notwithstanding the increased number of deaths that have been announced recently, we continue to see indications in our surveillance data that the number of people seeking care for influenza-like-illness is steadily dropping in Massachusetts.  The CDC report on flu activity throughout the nation can be found here.  The New England region is "Region One" and for the first time in several weeks our region is described at "normal" flu activity levels rather than at "elevated".  While the New England region as a whole is at a normal level of flu activity, in Massachusetts we continue to see elevated influenza-like illness activity for this time of year.  The good news is that the trend continues downward and flu activity is approaching normal levels for this time of year.

Click below to see an update of our flu surveillance charts.

Summer is here and so are the mosquitoes...

With summer finally here, DPH is urging residents to take simple precautions to prevent mosquito bites, which can carry serious diseases including West Nile Virus (WNV) and Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). These diseases, called arboviruses, are carried by infected mosquitoes and can cause illness and, in rare cases, death in people who have been bitten.

“Summer in New England offers so many opportunities for us to be outside,” said state Department of Public Health (DPH) Commissioner John Auerbach. “With that in mind, it’s important that we take a few simple, common-sense steps to keep ourselves and our families safe from illnesses carried by mosquitoes.”

Check out this public service announcement for tips on avoiding mosquito bites: