The very hungry caterpillar

One most beloved children's stories of all time has a good lesson when it comes to moderation.

Over 40 years, 12 million copies and 20 languages later, Eric Carl's classic "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," continues to impact culture, and its underlying messages are now being promoted to help combat childhood obesity.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is teaming up with the Pearson Foundation and We Give Books. The AAP will be distributing copies of the book to more than 17,000 pediatricians' offices.

The book will come packaged with growth charts and a reading guide designed to help parents use the story to talk to their young children about healthy eating.

If you were deprived of a complete childhood aren't familiar with The Very Hungry Caterpillar, here's a brief synopsis...

Caterpillar comes out of his egg. He's hungry. Day one, he eats through a red apple. On day two, 2 green pears. On day three, 3 purple plums, on day four, 4 strawberries, on day five, 5 oranges. Nothing wrong there. But then, our little caterpillar goes completely off the rails, crushing chocolate cake, ice cream, a pickle, cheese, salami, a lollipop, sausage, a cupcake, a cherry pie and a watermelon.

*Spoiler Alert*

(That night, he wished he had finished his gluttonous episode with a bottle of Tums)

To make a short story even shorter, he gets really fat, eats through a leaf, builds a cocoon and turns into a beautiful butterfly.

Will This Help Solve Childhood Obesity?

I think it's a wonderful idea on many levels. Any health-promoting idea that can be integrated into children's pop culture is a good step. And, while I don't see this single idea having much impact, I think from a more global perspective, it provides a parental teaching opportunity.

As parents, we should seek out teaching opportunities in books, TV, movies and everyday life, to get our children thinking about decisions that impact their health.

I think it comes down to role-modelling and education from a parenting perspective. The more institutions, school/government, etc. that are on board with promoting healthy eating and exercise, the better equipped we will be to fight childhood obesity.

Do you think The Very Hungry Caterpillar could be a useful tool to help combat childhood obesity?

Reproduced from Diet-blog

The Healthtopia Radio Show with Bonnie Mechelle will now offer an online motivational weight loss podcast for Christian women. They have cited their mission is to "help women to lose weight and feel better about themselves". They launched online March 11, 2011 and have plans to aggressively expand syndicated networks such as iTunes, Blogtalk Radio, Talkshoe and The Women's Information Network (WIN).

"It feels great to know that thousands of women worldwide are already enjoying the many educational and entertaining audio shows we offer a twww.myhealthtopia.com." said Bonnie Mechelle, Executive Producer at WAEC Love 860 AM.

The Healthtopia Radio Show is the first of its kind to provide a stage for high-quality content featuring Christian experts on a huge variety of  life-changing issues such as health, wellness, diet and exercise. Subscribing to the Healthtopia is free - it merely takes a sign in on their website.

Women typically lose more weight when they feel supported, especially by other women. Finding that support online speaks to the new reality of the importance of social media for today's woman. The anytime availability of the podcast means that women can find comfort and support at any time of the day or night, and listen while doing chores such as cleaning or while at work.

Reproduced from Dietsinreview

When it comes to selling food, mascots are king. Name another industry, besides professional sports, that has so many famed characters; Mr. Peanut, Ronald McDonald, Green Giant, M&M's, Tony the Tiger - the list is infinite!

But who's the best? Which cartoon, paid actor, or real life person is top dog?

Diet-Blog counts down the top 10 best food mascots. And number one will surprise you. Recent news says the red-haired juggernaut is slipping.

10. The Noid

Created in 1986, the red-costumed bunny-eared villain was portrayed in commercials as trying to destroy Domino's Pizza, but failed every time.

Although retired, the Noid has made cameos in TV shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and 30 Rock.

Due to his popularity, the Noid inspired two video games: Avoid the Noid in 1989 and Nintendo's Yo! Noid in 1990.

9. Budweiser Frogs

The Budweiser Frogs debuted in a commercial during the Super Bowl in 1995; croaking out the phrase, "Bud, Weis, Er," which sounds like "Budweiser."

Gore Verbinski, director of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, directed the commercial.

Later the three frogs were joined by Louie and Frankie, two wise cracking chameleons, who eventually stole the frogs' job.

8. Coco-Cola Polar Bears

The Coco-Cola Polar Bears first appeared in commercials in 1993; quickly becoming a fan favorite with their sleek computer-animation and lovable antics.

Today, the bears are the face of Coca-Cola's Polar Bear Support Fund.

And located in Atlanta, Georgia, World of Coca-Cola, the Coca-Cola museum and entertainment venue, features a lower-level where guests can pose for a picture with the polar bears.

7. Wendy the Snapple Lady

As a Snapple employee, Wendy began answering Snapple's mail because she felt bad no one was replying to it; inspired by her own unanswered letter to Greg Brady (Barry Williams) when she was a kid.

When Snapple realized Wendy was answering the mail in her free time, they quickly put the feisty little lady into commercials.

Some claim Wendy's energetic ads helped skyrocket Snapple's sales from 23 million a year to 750 million a year.

6. Fred the Baker

Fred the Baker (Michael Vale) starred in Dunkin' Donuts commercials from 1982 to 1997, saying his iconic catchphrase, "Time to make the donuts!"

The commercials showed the dedicated baker waking up and groggily heading to work to make fresh donuts. Fred also appeared in ads for the Dunkin's Donuts breakfast cereal.

When Michael Vale passed away in 2005, Dunkin' Donuts aired a commercial in memory of Fred.

5. Kool-Aid Man

Created as "The Pitcher Man" in 1954, Kool-Aid Man became the official Kool-Aid drinks mascot in 1975.

In commercials, Kool-Aid Man (an actor in a giant fiberglass suit) comes busting through brick walls shouting his famous slogan, "Oh, yeah!"

Sometime in 1990s, Kool-Aid Man switched from a live actor in a costume to animation, but in 2008, the costumed character returned.

4. Cap'n Crunch

Introduced in 1963, Cap'n Horatio Magellan Crunch, better known as "Cap'n Crunch," has manned the ship of numerous advertising campaigns for Cap'n Crunch, Crunch Berries, Peanut Butter Crunch, and many more!

This week, rumors swirled that PepsiCo., Cap'n Crunch's parent company, would retire the Cap'ndue to the cereals high-sugar content, but in a message on his website, the Cap'n proclaims, "I was out on the seas, but don't worry, I'm back and not going anywhere."

3. Tony the Tiger

Since 1950, Tony the Tiger has been the pitchman for Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, telling everyone, "They're more than good. They're GR-R-Great!"

Because of his name, Tony has become a popular figure with young Italian-Americans.

When Tony's longtime voice actor, Thurl Ravenscroft died in 2005, professional wrestling announcer Lee Marshall took over the role.

2. Ronald McDonald

First billed as "Ronald McDonald, the Hamburger-Happy Clown, Ronald has been McDonald's official mascot since 1963; Inspired by radio performer Willard Scott, who portrayed Ronald in his first three taped advertisements.

Willard Scott is most famous for playing Bozo the Clown.

For decades, Ronald McDonald and McDonald's dominated the fast food market, but last week the clown lost his top spot.

1. Jared

Subway began airing commercials with Jared S. Fogel in 1999, better known as just Jared, after his former dorm-mate wrote in article for the Indiana Daily Student about Jared's significant weight-loss, from eating Subway sandwiches.

Since then, Jared has appeared in numerous promotions for Subway; including completing the New York City Marathon in 2007.

This week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Subway is now thenumber one fast food restaurant worldwide with 33,749 locations, beating McDonald's 32,737 - making Jared a big time mascot.

Honorable mentions: California Raisins, Trix Rabbit, Mr. Peanut

Image credit: paunchstevenson, nelsoncountytimes, phawker, blogcdn, thegloss,alixnorth, capncrunch, gstatic, sickchirpse, guyism, heshone

Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc. (NASDAQ:GMCR) today announced a strategic relationship for the manufacturing, marketing, distribution and sale of Starbucks® and Tazo® tea branded K-Cup® portion packs for use in GMCR’s Keurig® Single-Cup brewing system. The new relationship will provide owners of Keurig Single-Cup Brewers with the additional choice afforded by having Starbucks branded super-premium coffees available for their brewers. GMCR closed at $61.71, up 41.4%, on 42,205,281 traded shares.

BIOLASE Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: BLTI) today reported unaudited operating results for its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010. Net revenue for the 2010 fourth quarter was $9.7 million, up 56 percent sequentially from $6.2 million in the 2010 third quarter and down approximately seven percent from $10.4 million in the same quarter for 2009. The majority of sales in the 2010 fourth quarter were from the sale of the Company’s previous flagship Waterlase MD Turbo™ laser. The stock closed at $4.63, up 16.0%, on 2,493,169 traded shares.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: SPPI) today reported financial results for the three and 12-months ended December 31, 2010. Consolidated revenue of $34 million was comprised of product sales of $31 million ($8 million from ZEVALIN, $23 million from FUSILEV) and $3 million from licensing fees. This represents a more than three-fold increase over the $9 million in consolidated revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009, which was comprised of $5 million from product sales. The stock closed at $7.58, up 9.90%, on 4,043,205 traded shares.

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Accuray (NASDAQ: ARAY) and TomoTherapy Inc. (NASDAQ: TOMO) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Accuray will acquire TomoTherapy for $4.80 per share in cash and stock, or a total of approximately $277 million. The transaction combines the best-in-class technologies from two high-growth companies to create the premier radiation oncology company. he companies currently serve complementary patient populations that are treated by the same medical specialty. TOMO closed at $4.57, up 24.52%, on 19,052,063 traded shares.

James River Coal Company (NASDAQ: JRCC) today announced that it had net income of $78.2 million or $2.82 per fully diluted share for the year ended December 31, 2010 and net income of $25.9 million or $0.93 per fully diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2010. Peter T. Socha, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We have invested in our Company during the downturn, and are looking forward to seeing the benefit of these investments during the months and years to come.” The stock closed at $23.21, up 14.6%, on 6,239,266 traded shares.

Dehaier Medical Systems Ltd. (NASDAQ: DHRM) today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and 12 months ended December 31, 2010. Revenue increased by 126% year-over-year to $6.7 million, up from $2.9 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Net income attributable to the Company improved 145% to $1.5 million, or $0.32 per diluted share, compared with net income of $602,000, or $0.20 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2009. The stock closed at $6.18, up 12.36%, on 77,142 traded shares.

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Global Defense Technology & Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTEC) today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired through a cash tender offer at $24.25 per share by an affiliate of Ares Management LLC, in a transaction with a total value of approximately $315 million, including the assumption of debt and prior to expenses. Under the terms of the agreement, which was approved by GTEC’s Board of Directors, the tender offer is not subject to any financing contingencies.

America Service Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ASGR) and Valitás Health Services, Inc. announced today the signing of an agreement and plan of merger under which the two companies would be combined, bringing together two leading companies in the correctional healthcare field – America Service Group’s PHS Correctional Healthcare and Valitás’ Correctional Medical Services. Upon completion of the transaction, the combined company will have approximately 11,000 employees and independent contractors and will serve more than 400 correctional facilities.

USA Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: USAT) today announced that for the month of February 2011, the Company processed a record 6.4 million small-ticket transactions representing $10.3 million—a 24% increase in monthly dollars processed compared to September 2010 when the company last announced these figures, and a new milestone for the Company. The current monthly processing rate equates to over $120 million in annualized transactions, up 20% from the $100 million annualized transaction rate achieved in September 2010.

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According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, there are three good reasons for you and I to start making bugs (yes, as in insects) a regular part of our diet:

1. They're highly nutritious: High in protein, low in fat, and packed with B vitamins, iron and zinc.
2. Raising bugs requires less food, water, and energy than livestock, making it a much more earth-friendly food source.
3. There are more of them than there are of us. Over 1,000 types of insects can be eaten.

Here's one reason most of us aren't jumping on the bandwagon:

They're bugs. Yuck.

Let me put my Western-ness aside for a minute, however. Because entomologists at the Dutch Wageningen University -- where research is ongoing into how to make insects more palatable -- make a compelling argument for encouraging humans to reconsider meal worms or locusts as a possible protein source.

With an extra 3 billion people estimated to be sharing the planet with us by 2050, farmland and other necessary resources for raising livestock becomes scarce. Insects though, can be raised (humanely, for all you animal lovers) in your garage while eating your food waste.

I'm not quite ready to order up a grasshopper taco, but I can certainly see the logic.

And if you think that there's no way, ever, you'd let a six-legged creature so much as cross your lips, consider these statistics:

In the U.S., most processed foods contain small amounts of insects, within limits set by the Food and Drug Administration. For chocolate, the FDA limit is 60 insect fragments per 100 grams. Peanut butter can have up to 30 insect parts per 100 grams, and fruit juice can have five fruit-fly eggs and one or two larvae per 250 milliliters (just over a cup). We also use many insect products to dye our foods, such as the red dye cochineal in imitation crab sticks, Campari and candies. So we're already some of the way there in making six-legged creatures a regular part of our diet.

For the most part, we're already eating them.

I'm an omnivore, but I'd probably go veg before making bugs a regular part of my diet. What about you?

Reproduced from Diet-blog

Amerigon Inc. (NASDAQ: ARGN) today announced that it had entered into a purchase agreement with shareholders representing 75.6 percent of the voting shares of W.E.T. Automotive Systems (W.E.T.), a publicly-traded German company located in Odelzhausen, Germany. Under the terms of the agreement, Amerigon would purchase all of the shares held by such shareholders at a price of euro 40 per share (or $55 per share at a euro/$1.37 exchange rate). The stock closed at $13.64, up 17.79%, on 2,743,439 volume.

Cimatron Limited (NASDAQ: CIMT) today announced that the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange (”TASE”) has approved the dual listing of Cimatron’s ordinary shares on the TASE beginning when trading commences on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, under the ticker symbol CIMT. Cimatron’s ordinary shares will continue to be listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market in the United States, and Cimatron will remain subject to the rules and regulations of NASDAQ and of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The stock closed at $4.64, up 12.90%, on 140,717 volume.

NeoStem, Inc. (NYSE AMEX: NBS) announced today that Dr. Manny Alvarez, an esteemed Obstetrician and Gynecologist and recognized television and online healthcare professional, will become the spokesperson and public representative of NeoStem’s adult stem cell banking and cord blood banking programs. These services have been bundled together as a multi-generational stem cell collection and storage service that the Company will call the “Family Plan”. The stock closed at $1.40, up 9.38%, on 336,892 volume.

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Last week , Google launched a new search feature that allows you to search for healthy recipes with ease. On the left hand bar, the new "recipe" feature will return only the results that are recipes.

What's even better is that you can filter these searches by cook times, calories and even to include or exclude certain ingredients. Of course, you put even more qualifications into the normal search bar, from diet program to celebrity chief.

I have a friend who suffers from celiac disease with a birthday coming up. I started seating for gluten-free cupcake recipes. While a regular Google search would send me many results of where to buy cupcakes, hitting the "recipe" tab allows me find several thousand recipes without adding an extra word to my search.

Have you used the new Google Recipes feature? What were you looking for and what did you think?

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Reproduced from Dietsinreview

3D Systems Corp. (NASDAQ: TDSC) announced today that it earned 40 cents per share, fully diluted, for the fourth quarter of 2010 on a 42% revenue increase and a 400 basis point gross profit margin expansion compared to the fourth quarter of 2009. The company’s quarterly and annual earnings per share benefitted by 5 cents per share from releasing a portion of its valuation allowance on deferred tax assets. The stock closed at $49.36, up 40.43%, on 974,813 volume.

Hardinge Inc. (NASDAQ: HDNG) today announced results for its fourth quarter ended December 31, 2010. The Company reported net income of $1.9 million, or $0.17 per basic and diluted share for the fourth quarter, compared with a net loss of ($8.3) million, or ($0.73) per basic and diluted share for the same period of 2009. EBITDA was $4.9 million for fourth quarter 2010, improved from a loss of ($4.4) million in the fourth quarter 2009. The stock closed at $11.55, up 26.41%, on 379,789 volume.

Monotype Imaging Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: TYPE) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec. 31, 2010. Fourth quarter revenue was $29.4 million, a 17 percent increase year-over-year. Full year 2010 revenue was $106.7 million, an increase of 13 percent year-over-year. Non-GAAP net adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter was $13.8 million, or 47 percent of revenue. Full year 2010 non-GAAP net adjusted EBITDA was $47.8 million, or 45 percent of revenue. The stock closed at $13.59, up 17.26%, on 489,051 volume.

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