Media Morsels

by Joy Keller

Making News:

Ten Healthiest Restaurants for Families

Getting the entire family together for a meal out is difficult enough. Finding a restaurant that offers healthy options is the next challenge. Child magazine looked at more than 125 restaurants to determine which ones had the healthiest choices. According to the magazine’s website, the project took 5 months to complete and each menu was reviewed by five nutrition experts. Is your favorite one on the list?

1. Legal Sea Foods

2. Mimi’s Café

3. Red Lobster

4. The Melting Pot

5. The Old Spaghetti Factory

6. Benihana

7. Ruby Tuesday

8. Chili’s Bar & Grill

9. Elephant Bar Restaurant

10. (tie) Bertucci’s

10. (tie) Chevys Fresh Mex

Source: Child.com.

Liposuction Doesn’t Improve Metabolic Risk Factors

In their quest to lose weight, more people than ever are turning to cosmetic surgery. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 384,000 people opted for liposuction procedures in 2003—a 3% increase from 2002. While liposuction may make people look leaner, a new study in the June 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (2004; 350[25], 2549–57) indicates it won’t necessarily improve health issues related to obesity.

The study evaluated 15 obese women before and 10–12 weeks after abdominal liposuction. Researchers assessed the insulin sensitivity of liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, as well as other risk factors for coronary heart disease. While the women were thinner, the procedure did not significantly improve various metabolic abnormalities associated with being obese. Researchers concluded that “decreasing adipose tissue mass alone will not achieve the metabolic benefits of weight loss.”

Yoga Quells Fatigue in People With MS

People with multiple sclerosis may reduce their fatigue by participating in 6 months of yoga, according to a study published in the June 8 issue of Neurology (2004; 62 [11], 2058–64).

The study included 69 subjects, who were assigned to one of three groups lasting 6 months: weekly Iyengar yoga classes with home practice, weekly exercise classes using a stationary bicycle, and a waiting-list control group.

Although subjects’ cognitive function did not improve, fatigue tests indicated a “significant improvement” among subjects in the yoga and stationary bicycle groups.