As more studies are focusing on childhood health, obesity in kids can be a risk factor to consider especially in cases of heart attacks and strokes at an early age. Earlier notion that heart problems begin in early 20’s, think gain. Two studies have been made available pointing fingers to the potential risks of childhood obesity worldwide.

One study examined the fate of 250,000 obese children since 1930 until they reached adult life. The other research looked into the trend using the digital crystal ball of computer modeling to determine the number of deaths caused by heart diseases. It said its increase rate is alarming with 19 percent of obese individuals who are 35 years old up are dying early.

Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo of the University of California-San Francisco said, the age and the magnitude are striking as more early obese deaths are posted based on the studies. The results appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Doctors said the recent findings provided a greater caution of letting go excess weight even for children as it may be a long-term risk of heart diseases and as a way to lengthen their lifespan toward adult life. Although other studies contested such findings, Dr. David Ludwig of Children’s Hospital in Boston said such conflicting findings may be irrelevant when the early signs of heart problems are seen in obese children.

Two years ago, he already shared his studies on obesity taking away two to five years of the normal person’s lifespan caused by heart ailments and other risk factors for having too much weight.

Although there are better treatments present in the market, according to Lee Goldman of Columbia University, still the complexities of diseases such as heart problems, kidney problems and diabetes are at hand. The old-time adage, ‘prevention is better than cure,’ remains as a powerful reminder in the fight against diseases and healthy lifestyle. Kids with excess weight should be guided in their food intake. They need to be taught on how to keep their bodies healthy.

USA Today

So you have been dieting like crazy but the scales refuse to budge? Or you think you have exercised enough to afford a sinful chocolate pastry? Most of us substitute olive oil for butter, nut for candies and honey for sugar thinking that the healthy alteration will save us the extra calories. Though olive oil and nuts contain ‘good fats’ but there is one thing we fail to remember- these are still fats! Any kind of fat delivers the same amount of calories though there may be some that do not block arteries. Similarly, sweetening agents like honey and jaggery may be a preferred option over white processed sugar, the amount of calories remains the same. It is important to reduce the quantity of fats and sugars if desired weight loss effects are to be seen.

Apart from our diet, many other factors like our physical activity, sleep patterns, behaviors and biological characteristics go a long way in determining the efficacy of our weight loss and fitness programs. Vigorous physical work, depression, fatigue, stress and lack of consistency may cause us to eat more than our body’s requirement and more than makes up for all the “dieting”. Problems like thyroid misbalance, mood disorders, medications and insulin intake may also interfere with the body’s metabolic process and effect weight loss.

Therefore a balanced exercise program coupled with a careful and measured calorie intake is the mantra for effective weight loss.

Source: Madelyn Fernstrom

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The initiative has been flagged off in the city of Amagasaki in Japan and all citizens are summoned to line up for a waistline measurement. This initiative was planned after a local law, regulating the measurement of waistlines by companies and government of people above 40 and 74, came into effect. The government has set standard sizes for both male and female waistlines the male waist size limit being 33.5 inches while that for females being 35.4 inches which are the recommended sizes prescribed by the International Diabetes Federation. These sizes will help assess the health risk and will help the government counsel those above the stipulated size to reduce weight.

This, according to the Japanese government, will increase the mortality rate of a country always on a manpower crisis. To reach their goal of keeping the waist size of their population under control, the government will impose financial penalties on companies who fail to achieve the targets. This initiative, as the government claims, will keep the spread of diseases like stroke and diabetes in check along with reducing the health care costs. Critics however strongly ridicule the act by saying that such an initiative for a country like Japan is unnecessary where the entire population is almost fit and healthy.

Via: iht

This newly propounded theory sweeps away the previous assumptions, according to which obesity in middle age paves the way either for cognitive decline or for Alzheimer.

As per the new study, tracking around 3,800 people over the age of 65, obese or overweight people didn’t report noticeable cognitive decline. However, the phenomenon of cognitive decline was prominently noticed among seniors who were underweight.

In the present situation, it is quite difficult to decide which theory one should rely on: one that strictly links obesity to cognitive decline or the other that refutes the first one.

No matter which theory is right, as still it may take more time to let true-one surface. However, if you are planning to let obesity intrude into your life, using the latest finding as pretext, so beware because by doing so you would be inviting trouble to your health, one-way of the other because we all know that obesity paves the way for several health hazards.

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He found that when the health food garnished with calorie-free sweeteners and seasonings were given to obese people, they lost weight in significant amounts than those who were given the food without the taste enhancers.

The experiment was conducted on 2436 overweight people. Some were given sweet or neutral tasting food with a topping of sugar-free crystals in flavors of cocoa, spearmint, banana, strawberry, raspberry and malt. The others were given salty food topped with salt-free savory tastants in cheddar cheese, onion, horseradish, ranch dressing, taco or parmesan. A third group of volunteers comprising of the control group were given the same food without the tastants. All three groups were allowed to diet and exercise if they were already under the habit of doing so without any restrictions for a period of 6 months.

At the beginning of the experiment it was found that the members of the experimental group on an average weighed 208 pounds and had a BMI of 34. At the end of the experiment they were found to weigh 30.5 pounds less on an average compared to those in the control group who weighed only 2 pounds less on an average. The BMI decrease for the obese group fell by 5 promoting them from the obese category to the overweight category, while there was only a 0.3 drop in BMI on an average for the members of the control group.

Hirsch concluded that the tastants sprinkled on the diet of the obese people made them feel fuller leading them to consume less amount of the food. The amount of food consumed by the experimental group was not observed. He also opined that since no restrictions were imposed the diet would work.

Going in line with the conclusions of the experiment, adding taste to bland health food increases the chances of the obese people surviving on only those diets without looking for other stuff hence helping them in strictly sticking to low calorie diet and hence, loosing weight. But is this study true with only flavoring agents, the composition of which has not been revealed or is it going to work with some natural tastemakers like spices?Moreover, the number of members of the control group seems to be far less than those in the experimental group.

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via: dietblog

The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development (NIPCCD) recently released a report, Women in India, 2007, based on the research findings of International Institute of Population Studies, Mumbai. According to the Women in India report Delhi and Punjab host the largest population of obese women in the country. While 34 percent of Delhi women were found overweight, 37.5 percent in Punjab were found to be grossly obese. These figures are based on a study on health trends of women by te International Institute of Population Studies in 2006.

The report further revealed that gender ratios in Delhi in 2001 was 865 for 1,000 boys and 820 in Punjab. But, according to the Women and Child Development Ministry, it is an indication that if the girl is born, the families normally take good care of them. This clearly indicates that girl children though unpreferred, are given good food and cared for. In the third place is the southern 100 percent literate state of Kerala where 30 percent women are obese.

Oficials of the department of women and child development feel that in states which are prosperous and education levels are higher, women are taken care of better. This report they feel is an indicator that there is a changing trend in the attitude towards women and their healthcare.

Considering the national statistics, only 14 percent women are obese. In economically backward states like Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh the percentages of healthy and obese women is abysmally low at 5.3 percent, 5.6 percent, 8.6 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.
The same trend holds good when the number of malnutrished women are considered in various regions of the country. Delhi and Punjab hosts only about 11 percent malnourished women, while 43 percent of women in Bihar, 42 percent in Jharkhand and 40 percent in Orissa are malnourished.

The NIPCD report also reported that the government-run public distribution system, which is supposed to provide nutritious food at subsidised rates to the poor has failed to achieve its purpose.

The data also gives an insight in the gender preference of childrens among Indian women. About 38 percent having two girls want another child, preferably male, while only 17 percent with two boys want another child. Only 11 percent women who already have a son and a daughter, want another child.

The behavioral skills maintenance intervention was based on a cognitive behavioral approach, focusing on self-regulation and behavioral strategies to prevent relapse. In the social facilitation intervention, the focus was on the child’s developmental context. The parents were taught to support child peer networks that encourage healthy eating and physical activity.
During the initial 5 month treatment, all the children lost weight. Thereafter,of the three groups, it was found that those in the social facilitation maintenance group were better able to cope with teasing and to engender support from their friends for both healthy eating and physical activity. Long-term follow-up suggested that social facilitation maintenance was better than behavioral skills maintenance at preventing future weight gain.

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These findings form a new study are based on an analysis of around 2,500 children between the ages 0-21. According to this study, obesity level was just 13 per cent among those who rarely had irregular sleeping habits, while this level mounted up to 23 per cent among kids often having problems sleeping.

It becomes quite important to know that how irregular sleep paves the way for obesity among kids when they grow up. Throwing light on sleep-obesity equation study shows that insufficient sleep disturbs our mechanism by suppressing production of the appetite suppressant leptin and increasing levels of the appetite stimulant ghrelin. All these factors, one-way of the other, lead to obesity. Moreover, insufficient sleep often leaves a kid inactive and lazy in the daytime, finally prompting physical inactivity- a key factor behind obesity.

In the present scenario, while trying to make strategy against obesity-rise, we can’t keep a blind eye to kids’ sleeping problems. Because by ensuring healthy sleep for kids, we would somehow give them hope of a future free form obesity threat.

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It was seen that, 21% of cancer survivors and 25% of general population of Canada were physically active, 18% of the cancer-recovered were obese while 15% of the general population was obese, an extra 34% of the cancer survivors were overweight, while the number of overweight general population was a 37%, almost half of the cancer survivors (about 53%) were overweight while again half (about 52%) of the Canadian population was overweight.

The statistics show a striking comparison between the cancer affected and the general Canadians in terms of obesity and inactivity. This is not to alarm a non-cancerous Canadian that he/she runs a very high (lets say 100%) risk of being affected with cancer. It is just to caution Canadians and the rest of the global population in general that obesity and inactivity play havoc on one’s health. The normal people become vulnerable to a lot of deadly diseases - like hypertension, diabetes, coronary complications - other than cancer. Those who are lucky enough to survive cancer run a high risk of developing it once again if they do not take care of their physical activity levels. According to Dr. Kerry Courneya, the lifestyle of a person is a very important factor. One should always eat a healthy diet and exercise well to metabolize the diet and derive optimum energy from it.

Heather Chappell, a Senior Manager of Cancer Control Policy at the Canadian Cancer Society opines that cancer has a profound negative effect on the patients as well as their families and this can be avoided by taking small steps in the direction of a healthy lifestyle.

According to the researchers, a ‘physically active’ person is one who does an hour of walking a day, a ‘moderately active person’ is one who does about half an hour of walking a day and an ‘inactive person’ is one who walks for a lesser time than that. The research defined an obese person as having a BMI (body mass index) of a minimum of 30 and an overweight person having a BMI between 25 and 30.

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via: Medical News Today