[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 125 (Monday, July 31, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1562]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        FOOZLE OF THE WEEK AWARD

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                        HON. PATRICIA SCHROEDER

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 31, 1995

  Mrs. SCHROEDER. Mr. Speaker, I confer the ``Foozle of the Week'' 
award on my colleague, Mr. Hefley. Mr. Hefley has earned this award by 
giving his ``Porker of the Week'' award to the National Institutes of 
Health [NIH] for its $5.5 million grant to the University of Colorado. 
He claimed that the grant will merely fund research on ``why people get 
fat.'' Hardly the case.
  The NIH grant will establish the Colorado Clinical Nutrition Research 
Unit [CNRU], the only regional research unit of its kind between 
Chicago and Los Angeles. CNRU will study three areas: obesity and 
diabetes, pediatric nutrition, and trace mineral metabolism. The grant 
will also support a project on nutrition and premature infants that 
will help determine the best diet for the first days of life, as well 
as a study on proper nutrition and fitness for adolescents. Not only 
are nutrition and proper eating habits key to a healthy life, but their 
emphasis is still lacking in medical training.
  Contrary to what my colleague has stated, obesity is not a problem 
that can be solved by simply eating properly and exercising regularly. 
Medical experts will tell you that there is no known, definitive cause 
of obesity.
  Mr. Hefley also claimed that the NIH money will not be used for 
research on cancer, AIDS, or juvenile diabetes. The truth is that 
obesity is associated with diabetes and certain types of cancer, as 
well as with heart disease, atherosclerosis, hypertension, strokes, and 
many other illnesses that cost this Nation millions of dollars in 
health care every year.
  The CNRU project brings Colorado into the forefront of national 
research in nutrition. My colleague says that a Colorado university 
does not need to study obesity, since obesity is not a major Colorado 
problem. That is like saying that we should only study skin cancer in 
California, or that we should restrict study of gerontology to Florida. 
The Colorado delegation should be proud that the University of Colorado 
has consolidated nutritional research in the Rocky Mountain region and 
is on its way to becoming a national leader in health research. I know 
that I am.
                        Porker of the Week Award

       Mr. HEFLEY. Madam Speaker, I would like to tell you about 
     the National Institutes of Health and its multimillion-dollar 
     grant to the University of Colorado. This multimillion-dollar 
     grant is not for cancer research, as one might expect, or for 
     AIDS research, or aid to children in developing countries, or 
     for juvenile diabetes, or any of the things you might think 
     this kind of money would go for. But what it is for is to 
     study why people get fat.
       Now, it does not take this kind of money, it does not take 
     any money, to figure out what will result from too many trips 
     to the refrigerator. In fact, you could spend a fortune just 
     buying the magazines and books that contain the already 
     countless studies on this subject. Thousands of them have 
     been done.
       Sure, it does appear that there is a certain medical 
     explanation for some obesity, but most of the studies seem to 
     indicate that the way you eat and the way you exercise 
     explains most of the problem.
       It is ironic that this study is being done in Colorado, 
     which has the lowest percentage of overweight people in the 
     Nation.
       So the National Institutes of Health gets my porker of the 
     week award this week.
           CU Nutrition Center Becomes Regional Research Site

       The University of Colorado Center for Human Nutrition has 
     received a five-year, $5.5 million grant from the National 
     Institutes of Health to form a regional nutrition research 
     unit, the only one of its kind between Chicago and Los 
     Angeles.
       The Colorado Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (CNRU), one 
     of 10 in the country, will focus on research in three areas: 
     obestity and diabetes, pediatric nutrition and trace mineral 
     metabolism. The grant will fund pilot research projects and 
     several ``core labs'' to support research already funded from 
     other sources.
       ``This award launches Colorado into the forefront of 
     national research in nutrition,'' said Michael K. Hambidge, 
     MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the CU Center for 
     Human Nutrition. The Center, established in 1988, is part of 
     the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
       One project that will benefit from the grant is a three-
     year weight control program that focuses on nutrition and 
     fitness for students at Lincoln High School.
       ``One third of American adults are inactive and overweight, 
     and rates in adolescents are at least that high,'' said James 
     Hill, PhD, associate professor of pediatrics and program 
     director. ``Inactive, overweight teens often become inactive, 
     overweight adults, and they can develop a number of serious 
     health problems, including cardiovascular disease and 
     diabetes.''
       Students in the program take classes three times a week in 
     nutrition and ``lifetime'' activities such as rollerblading, 
     bicycling, walking and aerobics. They will also undergo a 
     number of measurements several times during the year, 
     including underwater weighing to determine body composition 
     and a stationary bike riding to measure aerobic capacity.
       ``We hope to prove that an intervention program like this 
     can have a positive health impact on adolescents,'' Dr. Hill 
     said. ``Hopefully, it can also be adapted to other schools.''
       The CNRU grant will also support a pilot project on 
     nutrition and premature infants, directed by Patti Thureen, 
     MD, assistant professor of pediatrics. Dr. Thureen is 
     studying protein utilization in extremely low birth-weight 
     infants to determine the best diet for their first days of 
     life.
       ``There is already some evidence that what you feed larger 
     premature babies in their first month of life may affect 
     their long term developing,'' she said. ``We think the same 
     may be true for tinier babies.'' Her patients weigh less than 
     1,000 grams, or approximately two pounds, and are 10 to 15 
     weeks premature.
       Premature infants are traditionally fed a mixture of water 
     and glucose intravenously for the first two to three days 
     after birth. Dr. Thureen and her colleagues think that the 
     infants may grow better if they are fed a diet closer to that 
     which they receive from the placenta in utero--a mixture of 
     water, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.
       The CNRU will consolidate nutrition research in the Rocky 
     Mountain region, helping others extend their research beyond 
     what they can do for themselves, said Dr. Hambidge. The 
     Center already coordinates research with Colorado State 
     University through the CU-CSU Nutrition Consortium, and Dr. 
     Hambridge hopes to form similar partnerships with other 
     universities in the region.
     

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