Here is an excerpt taken from J. Eric Oliver’s Fat Politics: The Real Story Behind America’s Obesity Epidemic.

…there is no clear evidence that schools are contributing to the growth in obesity. The obesity-related complaints about school lunches, vending machines, and physical education are based largely on the assumption that these factors are causing our kids to get fat. Yet, I find little evidence to support this claim. For example, in looking at survey data on the health behavior of middle and high school students, the factor I found that best predicted whether or not a kid was obese was tooth brushing . More important than how much junk food they ate, soda they drank, or physical education they received was whether or not they brushed their teeth. Among fourteen- to seventeen-year-olds, only 16 percent of kids who brushed their teeth more than once a day were overweight compared to 24 percent who brushed less than once a day. Of course, other factors were important as well — teenagers who play more computer games, eat more fast-food, and drink less whole milk were also more likely to be obese — but these factors were tiny in comparison with tooth brushing. Meanwhile school policies, such as whether the kid was in physical education or ate school lunches, had no predictive power for whether or not a child was obese.

Now obviously the act of brushing one’s teeth plays little direct role in a child’s weight, but it is a good indicator of something else — in what type of household the child lives. Children who brush their teeth more often are more likely to come from homes where health and hygiene are a priority…In other words, outside of genetics, the biggest factor predicting a child’s weight is what type of parenting they receive .

I don’t know about you, but I know that after I brush my teeth, I am less likely to put food in my mouth! It’s that fresh, minty taste on my teeth and tongue that makes the thought of adding food not very appealing. What a great way to fight off cravings and if it can help with the child obesity epidemic that we are facing..what a plus!

If you are looking for a great NEW toothbrush, Oral-B has just come out with a new toothbrush-the CrossAction Pro-Health. I have recently purchased this toothbrush and really love it! There are two rows of soft gum stimulators, positioned on either side of the brush head that massage the gums. At first it was weird, but after I realized what it was for, I really like how my mouth felt after using it. I also like that it has a built-in tongue cleaner on the reverse side of the brush head–great way to insure you won’t have bad breath!

没有证据显示学校是导致肥胖增长的罪魁祸首。我们将大部分导致孩子变胖的假定原因推到学校伙食、自动售货机和体育锻炼上，因而出现了和肥胖有关的诸多抱怨。然而，我觉得这样的说法毫无根据。譬如说，在观察了一份有关中学生和大学生健康行为的调查后，我发现一个孩子是否肥胖的最佳预知方法是看刷牙。比他们吃了多少垃圾食品，喝了多少苏打饮料，进行了多少体育锻炼更为重要的是他们是否刷牙。14到17岁间每天刷牙超过一次的孩子中，仅有16%得了肥胖症，而刷牙次数每天少于一次的孩子，肥胖率为24%。当然，其他因素也很重要——玩电脑次数过多，吃过多的快餐食品，喝牛奶太少的孩子也很可能得肥胖症。但是这些因素和刷牙比起来，微不足道。同时，学校政策，比如孩子是否接受体育锻炼，是否在学校吃午餐不能成为他是否会得肥胖症的预兆。

目前明显的是，刷牙行为对于孩子的体重起到的直接作用很小，但是它能很好地揭示些其他东西——孩子生活的家庭是怎样的。更勤于刷牙的孩子更可能来自于将健康和卫生保健放在优先位置的家庭……也就是说，除了遗传的因素外，预示孩子重量的最大因素是他们所接受的家庭教育。

我对你没有了解，但至少我知道，我在刷完牙后就不想要再吃东西！牙齿和口腔里清新薄荷的味道让我不会有再吃东西的欲望。这是抵制食欲的好方法，如果它能帮助遏制我们面临的儿童肥胖症的蔓延……那真是锦上添花！

如果你在寻找一种新型的牙刷，欧乐B刚推出了一款新牙刷——多动向健康牙刷。我最近刚买了这款牙刷，十分喜欢！它有两排刺激牙床的软刷，在刷头的两旁为你的牙床做按摩。刚开始用，会感觉有点奇怪，但当我明白他们的作用后，我很喜欢用了它之后口腔的感觉。我也很喜欢他刷头反面的内置口腔清洁器——它能很好的保证你不会有口气！