In the News: a new heart health calculator and a study on the value of cooking at home

Just a quick post to share two newsworthy items. First, the Harvard School for Public Health released a new online calculator to estimate your risk of cardiovascular disease. I like that it focuses on lifestyle choices and modifiable risks. It's easy to complete and you don't need to know your blood pressure or cholesterol to get your results. 

Despite being one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity in the U.S. and worldwide, people seem to be less fearful of cardiovascular disease than cancer or Ebola. And, unlike some diseases almost all cardiovascular disease is preventable. The recommendations you receive after completing the survey include practical tips for improving your health. It's been so popular that the site sometimes gets overwhelmed (an encouraging sign), but keep trying. It's worth doing! 

Second, a new study from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health revealed that:

"People who frequently cook meals at home eat healthier and consume fewer calories than those who cook less, according to new research. The findings also suggest that those who frequently cooked at home -- six-to-seven nights a week -- also consumed fewer calories on the occasions when they ate out."

Certainly, not surprising, but it does confirm again that we're on the right track in planning a series of cooking classes for ASHA staff.

Roadblock to Food Revolution

I've followed Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution to improve school lunches and was excited to learn about his expanded focus on cooking in the workplace. He teamed up with IDEO to teach employees how to cook. This new venture is called Cooking & Company, and it’s mission is to bring food revolution into the workplace. (BTW, I love the Cooking for All mindmap on the main page of the site.) One of my colleagues, Nina Kranz, is an excellent cook, so she agreed to take the lead in developing a program for ASHA. 


To learn more about Cooking and Company, I participated in a #co_health tweet chat with IDEO’s Aaron Sklar and Helena Cohen and Nina corresponded with Helena. Helena encourages employers to create a hands on experience for employees. They've been keeping the recipes simple with things like omelettes and fajitas. 


So, Nina and I were excited. We were gearing up for a big fajita cook off when, oof, we were told we could not use an electric heat source or a butane burner in our LEED certified green building. Evidently the wiring can't accomodate the electricity and the butane compromises the air quality. So, we have no source of heat for cooking. (Well, nothing other than a microwave.)


We want to encourage people to cook for themselves and their families at home, but this roadblock has thrown a monkey wrench in our plan. We're bouncing around other ideas -- maybe a knife skills class or a pizza dough making class. What suggestions do you have for us?