Last week, the Houston Wellness Association is holding their 2008 Wellness Symposium at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. This two-day health care event was designed to bring together wellness experts from across the country, to talk about how to tackle healthcare and the problem of obesity in American children. At the event, William J. Clish M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, said, "Of all the mothers I see, the majority argue with me about their kids' right to be obese ... to be 'what they are.' I argue they have the right to be their very best."

Well put.

His presentation included several tips on how to help keep your kids in shape:

As fabulous as we at That's Fit think this blog is, the truth is there are hundreds of wonderful blogs on healthy living to be seen all over the blogosphere. So in this feature, Fit Hits, we're going to introduce you to some which have caught our eye.

Luckily for me, finding clever blogs was easy -- who knew health blogs had such great titles! A few of my favourites:

• The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl -- Doesn't dieting sometimes feel like a task requiring superpowers? Follow Shauna's adventures as she trims down (she's already lost over 170 pounds!).
• Too Sexy for My Hair -- This is the brave words of 29-year-old Lori Miller, who is currently battling Adenocarcinoma Stage IV cancer. Amazing woman.
• Run, Lucy, Run -- A beautiful blog written by a relatively new runner, and a would-be marathoner -- "would be," that is, until she became pregnant. Still, it's a goal she plans on achieving. And in case you were wondering, Lucy is the author's dog and running partner.
• No Show Mo -- A blog written by a former extravert who's trying to keep her sense of humour while battling chronic illness and complications therefrom.
• Greener Miami -- Written by Rebecca Carter, who uses this blog to document her own path to living a greener life, as well as to providing a meeting place for like-minded locals to help place Miami among the top "green" cities in the United States.

Wonderful writing, all. Enjoy!

From BBC.co.uk: The University of Manchester have conducted early laboratory tests which indicate that the antiviral drug lopinavir attacks the virus that causes cervical cancer -- HPV -- as well as HIV. The research team believes that the oral drug could be made into a cream which could be applied to the cervix.

Dr. Ian Hampson, who led the research, explained: "The drug works as a selective proteosome inhibitor. It allows cellular proteins that are detrimental to the virus to persist." He said that normally, HPV would remove these from the cell so it could flourish. He further explained, "At the moment, we can't really offer anything to women with HPV and low-grade cervical disease. We are talking about 200,000 women in the UK alone. This treatment, if it works, could provide an alternative."

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Oh, how I wish I had access to this when I was still slaving away in Corporate America: you know how sometimes when you're at work, somebody does or says something that sends you right through the ceiling, and you just really need to take a moment to chill? Well, Lime.com to the rescue: if you haven't already, be sure to check out their Meditation rooms -- a series of "rooms" where you can listen to sounds and look at images designed to help you relax and focus. And if you're so angry you actually need to take the chill-out with you, you can download the "rooms" to your iPod, or subscribe to them at iTunes as well.

And by the way, for those of you who are moms or dads: these work really well after a long day of parenting as well.

When it comes to tips on living a long healthy life, it's hard to argue with someone who's at least a century and livin' large. Take, for example, Edward Rondthaler: at his ripe old age of 100, he still writes a weekly column for his local newspaper, walks a half-mile every morning and drives himself on errands around his hometown.

His secret for a long healthy life? Cold showers.

"When my brother in 1918 came home from the army, he said, 'Ed, whenever you take a hot shower, end it with an ice cold one and count to 100.' When your older brother tells you to do something, you do it," Rondthaler says.

Hmm ... Yeaaaah.

I really can't stand cold showers, so this probably won't work for me. However, my grandmother, who celebrated her 100th birthday this past June, told me the secret to her long life was, and I quote:

"Rum."

I like her idea much better.

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From CNN.com: As children in America become more and more overweight, physical education programs in public schools are fighting for their life -- and the "No Child Left Behind" academic policies might be to blame.

According to a 2006 study called "Shape of the Nation" (conducted by the American Heart Association and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education), most states' public schools are failing to provide enough physical education for their children. And according to the Center for Disease Control, the number of overweight children has tripled since 1980.

"With the obesity rates going up and it's in our face, why are we cutting P.E. time? I don't get it," says Garrett Lydic, a physical education teacher at North Laurel Elementary School in Laurel, Delaware and his state's Teacher of the Year in 2006. "The focus right now is on testing," he said, referring to a series of academic tests now mandated by federal law. "The result is that there's less time to get kids more active."

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George Clooney has already made a name for himself in the "eco-sphere" -- he was featured in Vanity Fair's "Green" issue a few months ago, posing with his little 2-seater Tango, a skinny little electric car. "You gotta walk the walk," he says, referring to his commitment to caring for the environment.

Well, it's apparently a pretty expensive walk: Ecorazzi is reporting that Clooney has already plunked down another US $100,000 for a Tesla Roadster, a pretty sexy little number that is 100% electric. Tesla has apparently already sold out of the first 100 of these beauties -- I'm sure with Clooney's name attached, they'll sell a lot more.

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From United Press International: Feeling a bit down? Turns out that marriage might be a viable cure -- researchers have recently found that "depressed singles receive greater psychological benefits from getting married than do those who are not depressed."

Adrianne Frech, co-author of the study and a doctoral student in sociology at Ohio State University, said "We thought depressed people would be less likely to benefit from marriage because the depression of one spouse can put a strain on the marriage and undermine marital quality. We actually found the opposite of what we expected."

Hmm. Looks like I officially have an argument for all my single friends who cite "marriage is depressing" as their top reason for not settling down.

(Via Lime.)

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In May, Vanity Fair magazine published their "Green Issue" -- their first issue devoted to issues of eco-living and the environment. It was a great issue, featuring some of the more prominent individuals involved in saving the environment (the minds behind Treehugger and Ideal Bite among them), and laid out beautifully the case for living a more green life.

One of the really interesting articles in this issue was the piece entitled "Fifty Ways to Save the Planet," describing different ways you can change your life to make a difference. Some require more commitment than others, but one that really stuck out for me was the suggestion of going vegetarian one day a week -- for surprisingly non-animal-friendly reasons:

To produce one pound of beef requires 2,500 gallons of water-that's 40 times more water than is used to produce a pound of potatoes.

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Recently, my husband, daughter, our friend Dan and I visited Grand Riviere, Trinidad, to watch the nesting of the giant leatherback turtles. We stayed at Acajou, an "eco-chic" resort -- and indeed, it was simple, but lovely.

On the way back from Grand Riviere (a three-hour drive home), Dan mentioned he had mixed feelings about the whole "eco-tourism" thing -- questioning how good for the environment eco-tourism could possibly be, since in theory, the environment is impacted by the presence of a resort in the first place. Besides, he continued, the resort would probably attract people who don't necessarily care about the environment -- they'd just visit because it is the "cool" thing to do.

I assured Dan that this wasn't the case at Grand Riviere -- the little village had made great strides in protecting the nesting grounds of the endangered giant leatherbacks, by restricting the beach at night to only those who are accompanied by a licensed guide (the services of which can be had via a modest fee to the conservation society). As a result, the population of nesting turtles at Grand Riviere is one of the only such ones experiencing a growth, rather than a decline. Furthermore, the hotel itself was very concerned with sustainable development, hiring only people from the local village and training them in the hospitality industry, using foods in their restaurant that were found locally, and were mindful of the footprint they left on the area.