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Tag: Obesity

  • Crohn’s Disease Linked To Additives Common In The Food We Eat

    A recent study has proven that additives found in food such as margarine, ice cream, and processed food products may be responsible for inflammatory bowel diseases like Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis as well as other illnesses tied with obesity and metabolic problems. The study focused on emulsifiers, which are chemicals used in processed food to improve food texture and to extend shelf life. They conducted the experiment using mice, feeding them emulsifiers diluted in food and water.

    Scientists found that emulsifiers change the composition of gut bacteria in the mice. It is believed by the researchers that it’s this change that leads to not only inflammatory bowel diseases, but also causes overeating thereby increasing the risk for type-2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

    Georgia State University microbiologist Bernard Chassaing claims that the effects seen in mice can be observed in humans as well. Many of their colleagues have disputed the research claiming that the doses of emulsifiers used on the mice (polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose) exceeds the levels of the additive that an average human consumes.

    The scientiists defended their research saying that while emulsifiers do not directly contribute to metabolic diseases like diabetes, it does directly cause overeating which is the leading cause of obesity-related illnesses. “We do not disagree with the commonly held assumption that overeating is a central cause of obesity and metabolic syndrome,” Georgia State immunologist Andrew Gewirtz said. “Rather, our findings reinforce the concept suggested by earlier work that low-grade inflammation resulting from an altered microbiota can be an underlying cause of excess eating.”

    It seems that history is also on Chassaing’s side, as it is proven that incidents of inflammatory bowel disease and metabolic syndrome started rising in the mid-20th century, around the same time that the use of emulsifiers became common practice.

    “We were thinking there was some non-genetic factor out there, some environmental factor, that would be explaining the increase in these chronic inflammatory diseases,” Gewirtz said. “And we thought that emulsifiers were a good candidate because they are so ubiquitous and their use has roughly paralleled the increase in these diseases. But I guess we were surprised at how strong the effects were.”

    The researchers responsible for the study are now preparing to conduct tests on humans. It’s currently unknown if the experiment will yield similar results when conducted on humans. However, if it does, then it seems Chassaing and his associates may have finally found the underlying cause of obesity.

  • Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity Linked to Fast-Food Proximity, Shows Study

    It should come as no surprise that unhealthy foods such as those commonly served at fast-food restaurants are related to medical problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, and diabetes. A new study has gone even further, however, finding that the number of fast-food restaurants in a community can be seen as a predictor of such symptoms.

    The study, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, found that an individual’s proximity to fast-food restaurants could be linked to their risk of type-2 diabetes and obesity. More specifically the study’s authors found that for every two additional fast-food restaurants in a neighborhood, that neighborhood could expect one additional person with diabetes.

    “This work has several notable strengths; namely, it is the first study, to our knowledge, to look at the association between the number of neighbourhood fast-food outlets and type 2 diabetes in a multi-ethnic population,” said Patrice Carter, a co-author of the study and a research associate at the University of Leicester. “Although it is not possible to infer causal effect, our study found that plausible causal mechanisms exist.”

    Another disturbing trend seen in the study’s data is that poorer, non-white communities were more likely to have a greater number of fast-food restaurants. People of non-white ethnicity were found to have more than twice the number of fast-food restaurants in their neighborhood compared to white Europeans.

    “We found a much higher number of fast-food outlets in more deprived areas where a higher number of black and minority ethnic populations resided,” said Dr. Kamlesh Khunti, a co-author of the study and a professor of primary care diabetes & vascular medicine at the University of Leicester. “This in turn was associated with higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. The results are quite alarming and have major implications for public health interventions to limit the number of fast-food outlets in more deprived areas.”

    Khunti and his colleagues believe that this study could have a significant impact on future health policy, diabetes prevention, and community zoning laws. In the U.K. data from the study, which looked at over 10,000 people, has already been used to inform NHS Health Checks Programme recommendations.

  • Weight Loss Counseling Research Needed, Shows Study

    As obesity rates in the U.S. continue to climb health researchers have begun to study many different factors that can affect weight. A new study suggests, however, that there may not be enough research into how doctors can encourage already-proven methods for weight loss.

    The study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, reviewed studies about how doctors can use behavioral treatment for obese patients. The study found only 12 high-quality studies on the issue, and no studies in which doctors followed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) guidelines for behavioral counseling.

    “After an exhaustive search, we found only 12 high-quality randomized controlled trials that examined the behavioral treatment of obesity in patients encountered in primary care settings,” said Thomas Wadden, lead author of the study and director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Weight and Eating Disorders. “Of those, only two studies identified counseling interventions that produced an average loss of at least five percent of initial body weight, an amount likely to improve weight-related health complications.”

    Wadden and his colleagues found that, of the 12 studies covered in the review, those that used behavioral interventions that included a reduced-calorie diet and prescribed physical activity were generally most effective. A higher number of counseling visits within the first six months of a behavioral treatment for obesity was also found to be associated with greater weight loss.

    In 2011 the CMS approved reimbursement for behavioral weight loss counseling, but only under strict guidelines that require CMS-approved primary care practicioners. The study’s authors believe that more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of these guidelines. They also suggested that remote weight loss counseling via telephone or the internet could be effective.

    “I think we will see increasing use of remotely-delivered weight loss counseling, whether by telephone, smart phones, the Internet, or other digital approaches,” said Adam Tsai, a co-author of the study and an obesity specialist at Kaiser Permanente in Denver. “Telephone-delivered counseling, provided by counselors from a patient’s primary care practice, or by a trained interventionist from a disease management call center, is likely to be more convenient and less costly for patients and potentially for health care providers and insurers.”

  • Weight Loss: Faster Diets Are Good Too, Shows Study

    American adults are more obese than ever and still growing larger. It’s a problem that millions struggle with and one that helps make weight loss a billion-dollar industry.

    Though fad diet books are immensely popular, slow and steady weight loss has long been recommended by health professionals. Now new research is showing that quick-loss diets might actually have some merit.

    The study, published today in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, pitted current dietary guidelines against more rapid weight loss techniques. Researchers found that obese people are more likely to lose a substantial amount of weight if that weight is lost rapidly.

    The study looked at 200 obese adults who were put on either a 12-week diet of 450 to 800 calories per day or a more gradual 36-week diet. Participants on the 12-week diet were more likely to reach the 12.5 percent weight loss goal of the study. Those on the 36-week diet were more likely to drop the program early.

    “Global guidelines recommend gradual weight loss for the treatment of obesity, reflecting the widely-held belief that fast weight loss is more quickly regained,” said Katrina Purcell, co-author of the study and a dietitian at the University of Melbourne. “However, our results show that an obese person is more likely to achieve a weight loss target of 12.5 percent weight loss, and less likely to drop out of their weight loss program, if losing weight is done quickly.”

    Purcell and her colleagues suggested that the small amount of carbohydrates seen in quick-loss diets could help promote satiety. The study’s authors also hypothesized that ketone production resulting from low-calorie diets could be influencing the greater weight loss seen in the study.

    As for the canard that diets simply don’t work, the study did find that dieters are likely to gain back weight after ending a diet. Whether weight is lost quickly or slowly, dieters were found to have regained an average of around 71 percent of their lost weight three years after the diet ended.

  • Weight Loss Harder For the Poor, Shows Study

    As Americans continue to grow larger, the weight loss industry continues to rake in billions of dollars each year. Books, medications, meal programs, and diet gurus all sell solutions to the U.S. weight problem, but it now appears that weight-loss success may more difficult to achieve for Americans who are struggling financially.

    A new study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine shows that Americans who financially struggle are less likely to take the steps needed to lose weight.

    “The message of how to lose weight according to national guidelines may not resonate with those who struggle to pay their bills,” said Lisa Kakinami, lead author of the study and a researcher at Concordia University.

    The barrier between the obese poor and weight loss appears to be more than being unable to afford expensive weight-loss tools. In fact, the study found that those with a lower income were actually more likely to turn to expensive diet pills. Low-income individuals were less likely to take on free, well-established weight loss methods such as exercise and cutting out sweets from their diets.

    “Certain methods can be pursued no matter where you are, but the inclination to reduce fat or sweets, exercise, or drink more water was lesser in lower-income households compared to the highest-income households,” said Kakinami.

    Kakinami and her colleagues found that Americans living at or below the poverty line had a “decent awareness” of these proven weight-loss methods, but were less likely to follow them. Instead, lower-income study participants were more likely to seek out quick-fix methods that could be harmful.

    The study looked at over 8,800 people who were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study. The study’s authors believe their findings point to a “message gap” between the rich and poor in the U.S. when it comes to weight loss.

    “Perhaps all the studies that have been done about weight are becoming muddled in people’s minds,” said Kakinami. “Maybe it’s time to take a step back and evaluate what people know and understand about obesity and weight-loss.”

  • 530 Fatties Facebook Page Embarrasses Overweight Teen

    A Facebook page called 530 Fatties was created to shame overweight people from the 530 Northern California area code. The pictures of the people posted on the page appeared to have been taken without their knowledge. The creator of the page is still unknown.

    One of the victims, Jessi Lynn Howell, 18, is speaking out. “It’s really hurtful and it’s really embarrassing,” she said. Pictures of the overweight people also came with captions that mock them about their weight.

    Howell thinks that the person taking the snapshots and posting them on 530 Fatties must be from the area. “I know it’s probably someone from around here and whoever it is they need to stop because that’s ridiculous,” Howell said.

    According to Howell, the picture that was posted of her was taken back in October when she was about 50 pounds heavier than she is today. She said that she struggled with medical problems and that caused her to be overweight. Today, she is taking medication, which is helping her lose weight.

    “I feel so much better like the way I get dressed, the way my clothes fit,” she said.

    Most of the photos that were posted on the website reportedly came from Sutter and Yuba counties. A study from UCLA that linked lower income and education levels with obesity showed that the two counties were above the statewide average of 22 percent, with Sutter’s obesity rate at 28 percent and Yuba’s at 30 percent.

    On Monday, 530 Fatties was taken down. CBS 13 tried to investigate who was behind the Facebook page and the posts. Upon calling the number on the page, they found out that it was already disconnected.

    Howell said that she won’t let this cyber bullying get her down. “I’m not where I want to be, but I’ll get there, I’ll get there,” she said.

    Image via NDN

  • Diabetes, Obesity Linked by Missing Protein

    It’s been clear now for decades that obesity is somehow linked to the development of diabetes. As Americans have grown to staggering proportions, diabetes diagnoses have risen accordingly, even among teens. Exactly why this is the case isn’t fully understood, but researchers are now closing in on some answers.

    A new study published in the journal Cell Reports suggests that the link between obesity and diabetes could be related to the absence of a specific protein integral to insulin signalling. Researchers from the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) have found that a protein dubbed NUCKS is simply missing in the bodies of obese people.

    The NUCKS protein is part of a process that allows the human body to respond to insulin hormones. Without it, the body has a more difficult time of regulating blood glucose levels, leading to insulin resistance and consistently high blood glucose levels associated with the development of diabetes.

    “It is alarming that obesity is a huge risk factor for many ailments, including diabetes,” said Vinay Teraonkar, lead scientist on the study and a researcher at the IMDB. “Having identified this protein, we are now a step closer towards removing one of these complications from individuals suffering from obesity.”

    According to the study’s authors, the NUCKS discovery is the first direct molecular link found between obesity and the risk of diabetes. The finding could also eventually lead to treatments for obese people such as drugs or prescribed lifestyle therapies that could raise the prevalence of NUCKS in their bodies, cutting their risk for developing diabetes.

    “IMCB is now focusing research on molecular mechanisms underlying diseases, which is important in developing future treatments for prevailing human diseases,” said Hong Wanjin, executive director for the IMCB. “We are excited to be a pioneer in uncovering a molecular link between these two common health problems. The incidence of metabolic disorders such as diabetes and obesity has been rising over the years, and these findings will prove valuable in further developing therapeutic approaches for them.”

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Weight Loss At Any Age Improves Heart Health, Shows Study

    It’s well-known that being overweight, and especially being obese, can bring on severe health complications. This is particularly true for heart health, as obesity has been directly associated with worse cardiovascular outcomes, regardless of how healthy a person may otherwise be.

    Despite these risks, more Americans and Britons than ever are now obese. Though the young and middle-aged often turn to diets and surgery to lose weight, older persons may feel the time for such action has passed. Now a new study has shown that losing weight can provide significant health benefits at any age.

    The study, published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, found that adults of any age who drop weight – from obese to overweight or from overweight to normal – will have a lower risk of severe heart health complications. This holds true even if a person who loses weight gains it back again later.

    “Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight or obese to lose weight at all ages,” said John Deanfield, lead author of the study and a professor of cardiology at University College London.

    The study looked at over 1200 men and women from the UK Medical Research Council National Survey of Health and Development. The data on these patients spans more than 60 years, starting in early 1946. In addition to the weight loss finding, the study backed up previous studies that have found exposure to excess body fat increases risks for high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

    Though many of the study subjects lost weight over the years, only around 2% were able to lose weight and keep it off. In a comment on the study included in The Lancet, Elizabeth Cespedes and Frank Hu of the Harvard School of Public Health argue that this shows public health policy should emphasize weight maintenance and weight gain prevention.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Manuel Uribe, Once World’s Heaviest Man, Dies at 48

    In 2008, Manuel Uribe had just one wish – to be able to walk down the aisle during his wedding to Claudia Solis. At the time, Uribe weighed approximately 700 pounds, down 535 pounds from his Guinness World Record weight of 1,235 pounds.

    Born in Mexico in 1965, Manuel Uribe always suffered from weight problems. As a teen, Uribe weighed nearly 250 pounds. By the time of his first marriage, Uribe weighed in at a solid 280 pounds and felt as if his diet was the same as most other Mexicans of the time: “I used to eat normal, just like all Mexicans do … beans, rice, flour tortilla, corn tortilla, french fries, hamburgers, subs and pizzas, whatever regular people eat.”

    Despite the belief that his eating habits were no different than the average person, Uribe began gaining weight quickly. He blamed the sudden gains on his sedentary lifestyle: “I worked as a technician, repairing typewriters, electronic calculators and computers. So I worked on a chair. It was a sedentary life.”

    Soon Uribe’s eating and depression spiraled out of control, though, following his wife’s request for a divorce.

    “I was very depressed. … Everything ended on account of my obesity, because I spent a lot of money trying to see doctors, going on diets, and I just gained more weight.”

    Uribe’s obesity was worsened due to a botched liposuction procedure which damaged the lymph nodes in his legs, leaving him with massive tumors weighing 220 pounds. These tumors are a large part of the reason Uribe was not able to leave his bed after 2002.

    In an odd twist of events, it was Uribe’s extreme weight which may have prolonged his life as long as it did. Being the Guinness World Record holder as the world’s heaviest man, Uribe began drawing much attention from media outlets. In 2007 he became the main subject of the documentary, “The World’s Heaviest Man”.

    Soon afterwards, Uribe went on national television in Mexico to plea for help to lose weight. A team of doctors from Italy, the United States, and Mexico came to his aid and helped Uribe drop from 1,235 pounds to nearly 700.

    By the time of his death, Uribe weighed 867 pounds.

    While the cause of death is still unknown, speculation is that Uribe died due to cardiac and liver issues. He was 48 years old.

    Image via YouTube

  • Weight Loss: Put Down the Junk Food and Step Away

    Every day we are overwhelmed with various weight loss strategies and every day many of them hit home because, honestly, most Americans could stand to be a lot more healthier than they are.

    Programs such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, VLCD (very low calorie diet), and Atkins work for some, but also either cost more money, are too complex, or leave you going to bed hungry.

    When it comes down to it, the biggest problem in our society is the consumption of junk food. Items like candy bars, ice cream, potato chips, pizza, and fast food provide very little nutritional value and are high in fat and carbs. The funny thing is, most of us know that. Yet we continue to chow down because they taste good and we have trained our minds and bodies to think that we need them or that we deserve them.

    A few years ago, researchers used rats in a junk food study. They fed the rats unlimited high-calorie foods such as cheesecake, chocolate, and sausage and the rats gained lots of weight, quickly becoming obese. Eventually it became an addiction. Even when the rats knew they would receive an electric shock to their foot if they kept eating (they were warned by a flash of light), they continued to do so. Eating the junk food was worth more than the unpleasant consequence they would receive.

    At the same time, another set of rats was fed a healthy well-balanced diet with only small amounts of junk food. Their weight gain was minimal and when they were warned the shock was coming, they knew to stop eating.

    As if this wasn’t enough evidence, when the overweight rats were denied their beloved junk food and were given healthier foods (like the second group of rats), they stopped eating almost everything for weeks.

    “They went into voluntary starvation,” said Paul Kenny, author of “Is Obesity an Addiction?”

    Of course, humans aren’t rats, but researchers say that a diet heavy in highly processed foods could cause changes in the brain. This mirrors other studies done on rats who were given drugs such as cocaine.

    “A hallmark of drug addiction is that it leads to changes in how the brain’s reward system works,” Kenny said. “Addiction is a loaded term, but in this case, there is evidence of addiction-like adaptations.”

    Much of this has to do with the dopamine D2 receptors in the brain.

    “What we think is happening is that, as you become obese over a period of time, the D2 receptors go down, which plays a major role in becoming a compulsive eater,” Kenny said.

    Other studies have tested rats who were given a regular diet for five days and then switched them to a chocolate-flavored diet high in sugar. When the sugary food was taken away, the rats showed signs of high anxiety.

    Of course, there are other factors that come into play, but cutting back on junk food intake is never a bad idea considering the fact that these foods, because of their ingredients, not only cause obesity but can lead to heart problems, cancer, and weakened immune system, and a lower sex drive.

    Though it’s not necessary, in most cases, to eliminate all junk foods completely from your diet, reducing the amount of junk food consumed can also lead to weight loss and a healthier, more fitness-aware, lifestyle.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Childhood Obesity Could Hurt Brainpower, Shows Study

    Even with childhood obesity rates seen falling in recent years in the U.S., the medical profession is still considering the phenomenon an epidemic. With the physical health concerns associated with childhood obesity well-documented, researchers are now discovering the mental concerns the condition can bring.

    A new study published in the journal Cerebral Cortex is showing that childhood obesity could be linked to certain decreased cognitive functions. Specifically, the research shows that obese children are slower at what is called “action monitoring.” That is, obese children may be slow to catch their mistakes and correct them.

    The study’s authors measured both the behavioral and brain activity of pre-adolescent children who participated in matching task game. The children were presented with fish facing in different directions and asked to press buttons corresponding to the direction target fish were facing.

    “We found that obese children were considerably slower to respond to stimuli when they were involved in this activity,” said Charles Hillman, lead author of the study and a professor of kinesiology at the University of Illinois. “The healthy-weight kids were more accurate following an error than the obese children were, and when the task required greater amounts of executive control, the difference was even greater,”

    These findings could be significant for students struggling with their education. Action monitoring can be particularly important for school subjects such as math and reading. Hillman uses the example of carrying over digits when adding as a simple task that involves action monitoring.

    The study also helps to shed light on previous studies that have shown a link between a healthy weight and academic achievement. Hillman and his colleagues were able to see first-hand the electrical patterns that appear in the brain when errors are encountered.

    There are certainly physiological differences in the brain activity of obese and healthy-weight children,” said Naiman Khan, a co-author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Illinois. “It’s exciting to be able to use functional brain imaging to see the way children’s weight affects the aspects of cognition that influence and underlie achievement.”

    Image via Thinkstock

  • “Sodabriety” Challenge Successful at Cutting Teen Sugar Intake

    Obesity is now known as an epidemic (and a disease) by the U.S. healthcare community, and the problem can largely be attributed to the abundance of sugar in the average American diet. Among the many sugary options available to American consumers, sugary drinks such as soda can be easily pinpointed as a major source of unneeded calories from sugar.

    Some choice cities throughout the U.S. have already tried to ban or tax sugary drinks to encourage healthier lifestyles. These initiatives have been largely failures for one reason or another, but a new study shows that a bit of education and a challenge could be all that is needed for people to change their ways.

    The study, published in the Journal of School Health, shows that a program called the “Sodabriety” challenge has actually been successful at lowering teens’ consumption of sugary drinks.

    The program was set up by Ohio State University researchers and rolled out to two rural high schools in the Appalachian region. It challenged teens to design their own marketing campaigns against sugary drinks. The objective was to encourage students to cut back on their soda consumption for one month.

    Student advisory councils were set up to run the campaigns, which involved school assemblies and daily messages over school intercoms. The students themselves chose the goal of promoting soda cut-backs rather than cold-turkey elimination.

    The study following up on the program shows that teems at the participating high schools actually did cut back on drinking sugary beverages. The total number of teens at the schools who cut out sugary drinks completely rose to 11.8% from the 7.2% who were already abstaining from the drinks at the outset of the project. Overall the study found a 30% reduction in the number of days per week that the teens reported drinking sugary drinks.

    Incredibly, this percentage persisted for at least one more month after the program had ended. In addition, the study’s authors found that water consumption among the teens rose significantly as a result of the program, despite water not being a part of the “Sodabriety” efforts.

    “The students’ water consumption before the intervention was lousy,” said Laureen Smith, lead author of the study and an associate professor of nursing at Ohio State. “I don’t know how else to say it. But we saw a big improvement in that. And there was a huge reduction in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. The kids were consuming them fewer days per week and when they were consuming these drinks, they had fewer servings.”

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Depression Linked to Obesity in Teen Girls

    The idea that obesity is more closely linked to mental health than physical addictions has long been a pop psychology canard. Now new research is shedding new light on how depression in particular may be strongly linked with obesity.

    A new study published in the International Journal of Obesity shows that this could be even more the case for teenage girls. The new research has found that young women who experience depression are at a higher risk for obesity as they age. The same, but opposite, is true for obese teen girls, who were found to be more at risk for depression.

    “Adolescence is a key developmental period for both obesity and depression, so we thought it significant to look at the onset of these disorders at an early age,” said Naomi Marmorstein, a co-author of the study and an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University-Camden. “When a person is young, she is still developing eating and activity patterns, as well as coping mechanisms. So if she experiences a depressive episode at age 14, she may be more at risk for having an onset of unhealthy patterns that persist.”

    Marmorstein and her colleagues looked at a sample of more than 1,500 teens in Minnesota taken over ten years. The data shows that young women who encounter depression in their early adolescence are more at risk to become obese by the end of their teens. It also shows that women who are obese by the end of their teens are more at risk for depression during early adulthood.

    The study also looked at adolescent boys, but did not find the same links between obesity and depression.

    The study does not establish why young women in particular face such health concerns, but Marmorstein and her co-author did speculate a bit as to what the causes might be. She suggests that the teasing that is all too common among teenagers might contribute to depression in obese girls. And since the issues seem to go hand-in-hand, Marmorstein suggests that medical professionals consider treating both depression and obesity together.

    “When an adolescent girl receives treatment for depression, the clinician might consider incorporating something relating to healthy eating and activity,” said Marmorstein. “Exercise can assist in the treatment of depression to begin with, so it seems like a good reason to combine prevention efforts for both depression and obesity.”

  • Two Fat Ladies: Obese Clarissa Dickson Wright, Dead At 66

    Clarissa Dickson Wright has died at the age of 66.

    Dickson Wright and her late co-host Jennifer Paterson, both now deceased, were unashamed of being “fat”.

    Dickson Wright was a BBC 2 cooking show chef who starred alongside Jennifer Paterson in the popular show Two Fat Ladies from 1996 to 1999. The show ended due to her producer and co-host’s battle with cancer that took her life in August of 1999.

    Dickson Wright told the Guardian in 2009, “If you’re fat you’re fat. I hate this modern-day political correctness, that you don’t call things by their proper name.”

    What is astounding are the followers of the show, to the tune of 70 million during their stint – in light of the obvious ignored or blatantly disregarded problems with the obesity crisis, which medical expert Thomas A. Wadden Ph.D. explains:

    “Obesity contributes to over 300,000 deaths per year, principally through its association with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and several cancers. Obesity currently is the second leading cause of preventable death and will soon surpass cigarette smoking, the leading cause. Health economists estimate that obesity costs our nation approximately $100 billion a year. And these figures say nothing about the personal suffering of those affected by obesity.”

    Flaunting and promoting obesity on television, claiming that being fat can be “fun” is obscene. The obesity crisis is only getting worse, and glorifying such a deadly, as well as preventable and avoidable disease is irresponsible and ridiculous.

    Their deaths may have been obesity related, however, producing such a show can not in any form, be considered funny. Obesity is not funny anymore, especially with the rise in childhood obesity, banning shows like this would be best for the entire planet.

    And to be honest, there is nothing attractive about being obese, and the majority of people who are overweight despise being fat, which is why there are multiple gyms in every corner of the U.S. and losing weight is the number one New Years Resolution.

    Being fat is a choice – and 99 times out of 100 it can be avoided and reversed by proper diet and exercise. Embracing obesity is just a death sentence.

    Image via YouTube

  • Sleep Apnea Linked to Childhood Obesity

    Sleep apnea is a disorder where a person’s breathing is interrupted and may stop during the sleep schedule. Recent reports claim that this disorder may afflict not only adults, but also children. Previous research has focused on behavioral issues for children suffering from sleep apnea as well as other health concerns such as diabetes.

    CHEO Research Institute’s principal investigator Dr. Sherri Katz claims that there is a direct link between obesity and sleep apnea. “In the past we used to see predominantly preschool-age children who had large tonsils and large adenoids, that was the basis for their obstructive sleep apnea. As time goes on we are seeing a second wave of children with obstructive sleep apnea, predominantly over the age of eight, where obesity is the major factor contributing to their sleep disorder.” Dr. Katz said before adding, “Rates of sleep apnea are about three to 10 times higher in children with obesity. There aren’t sufficient pediatric sleep laboratory resources across the country to manage the growing demand.”

    Dr. Indra Narang, who is the director of sleep medicine at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, echoed the concerns voiced by Dr. Katz, explaining that a main determinant in children visiting the sleep medicine department that she oversees is due to obesity.

    “We are inundated with referrals for obesity-related sleep apnea. We also believe that probably 60 to 70 per cent of obesity-related sleep apnea isn’t even diagnosed because of a lack of an awareness of sleep apnea associated with obesity. I think the disaster is happening as we speak. Not only do they not sleep well at night, but these children are affected during the day. They are sleeping, they are tired, they don’t learn as well, they don’t do as well at school. They can’t participate in physical activity. Our concern is 75 per cent of obese children will become obese adults and will have untreated obstructive sleep apnea and what we will see is an epidemic of premature cardiovascular death because of obesity and because of related obstructive sleep apnea,” Dr. Narang said.

    Image Via Wikimedia Commons

  • Sugar Guidelines: Listen Up, Americans

    With the rate of obesity rising every year and more than two-thirds of U.S. adults overweight or obese, the World Health Organization decided it was time to change intake guidelines.

    Children’s numbers show about a quarter of 2-5 year olds and one-third of school-age children (including adolescents) are overweight or obese in the U.S. About 30 percent of low-income preschoolers are overweight or obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    One of the major culprits of all of this weight gain – according to the World Health Organization (WHO) is the over consumption of sugar.

    Sugar has been called “the devil” in health food circles, mostly because of the health ramifications of over eating it, and over consumption is unreasonably common because it hides in foods that the unknowing consumer buys and never counts as sugar consumption. For those consuming sugary snacks and sodas – you’re getting a double dose of sugar.

    WHO says your daily sugar intake should equal just five percent of your total calories, half of what they previously recommended.

    After a review of about 9,000 studies, WHO’s expert panel says dropping sugar intake to that level will combat obesity and cavities. That includes sugars added to foods and those present in honey, syrups and fruit juices, but not those occurring naturally in fruits.

    Dr. Francesco Branca, WHO’s director for nutrition, conceded the new target was somewhat aspirational.

    “We should aim for five percent if we can … but 10 percent is more realistic,” he said in a news conference on Wednesday.

    Americans eat a lot more than that – the average person consumes 150 pounds of sugar per year, and surprisingly, 50 percent of the sugar we consume today comes from high-fructose corn syrup in fat-free foods like salad dressings and regular soft drinks.

    So, dropping down to five percent of caloric intake means American’s would have to drop two-thirds of their sugar consumption to meet WHO’s suggested limit.

    WHO’s new guidelines have been published online and the agency is inviting the public to comment via its website until the end of March.

    Many doctors applauded the agency’s attempt to limit this damaging sugar frenzy many countries face.

    “The less sugar you’re eating, the better,” said Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of pediatrics at the University of California and author of a book about the dangers of sugar. “If the sugar threshold is lowered, I think breakfast cereal is going to have a really hard time justifying its existence,” he said, referring to sweetened cereals often targeted to children.

    Earlier this week, Britain’s chief medical officer Dr. Sally Davies said she thought sugar might be addictive and that the government should consider introducing a sugar tax to curb bulging waistlines. The U.K. has one of the fattest populations in Western Europe.

    “We have a generation of children who, because they’re overweight … may not live as long as my generation,” she told a health committee. “They will be the first generation that lives less and that is of great concern.”

    Image via YouTube

  • Mississippi Still the Fattest State, Shows Poll

    Last month a new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed encouraging data suggesting that future generations may be slimmer than the current population of America.

    Despite the good long-term news, the population of aging Americans is still continuing to get larger. A Gallup poll last week found that over 27% of American adults could be considered obese in 2013. This is the reason health professionals and the CDC have labeled America’s high obesity rate an epidemic.

    Today a new Gallup poll shed a bit of light on which U.S. states are disproportionately contributing to this high obesity rate. The poll shows that Mississippi is the largest state in the U.S, with 35.4% of its population estimated to be obese. Mississippi is followed by West Virginia (34.4%), Delaware(34.3%), Louisiana (32.7%), and Arkansas (32.2%). In contrast, the least obese (relatively, of course) states were Montana (19.6%), Colorado (20.4%), Nevada (21.1%), Minnesota (22%), and Massachusetts (22.2%).

    The Gallup survey used self-reported height and weight measurements provided by survey respondents. Even so, the poll results align with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data that has been released over the past few years.

    Of course, along with higher rates of obesity have come higher health risks for the heavier states. According to Gallup data the 10 most obese states on average have a lifetime high blood pressure disease rate of 35.8%, significantly higher than the 26.4% rate seen in the 10 least obese states. Poll results also show that people in the least obese states are eating healthier foods and exercising more than those in top obese states.

  • U.S. Obesity Rate Up Again in 2013

    Earlier this week the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new statistics showing that obesity among children ages two to five has dropped significantly over the past decade. This is a positive sign for America’s future health, but the current state of obesity in the U.S. is still being described as an epidemic by health professionals.

    Gallup today released new poll results showing that just 27.1% of American adults could be considered obese last year. This represents a nearly 1% increase over the 26.2% of Americans that the organization estimated to be obese during 2012.

    Since the Gallup poll is based on self-reported height and weight from survey respondents, this estimate is quite a bit lower than government estimates of obesity. The latest estimate from the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found that nearly 35% of Americans over 20 are obese.

    Even so, the Gallup survey also found that the percentage of normal weight and overweight Americans dropped in conjunction with the rise in obesity. The percentage of normal weight Americans dropped to 35.2% in 2013 and the percentage of overweight Americans dropped to 35.7%, according to the poll.

    The poll data shows that older and middle class Americans are becoming larger at a faster rate than others. Adults from age 45 to 64 saw their obesity rate jump 1.8% year-over-year and those age 65 and older saw their rate rise by 1.1%. The obesity rate among Americans with an annual income between $36,000 and $89,999 jumped 1.7% in 2013 and those with even lower incomes had a percentage increase of 1.1%. Other demographics with obesity rates rising faster than the national average include those living in the Midwest (1.2%), those living in the South (1.1%), and women (1.2%).

  • Food Labels Will Soon Be Easier to Decipher

    Food labels are changing for the first time in 20 years in an effort to continue the fight against obesity. They will begin prominently displaying things like calories for the typical serving size for regular people, not supermodels.

    They will also have to clearly state added sugars like corn syrup, white and brown sugar, and fruit juice concentrate, according to Reuters.

    Michelle Obama, champion of the “Let’s Move” Campaign, made the big announcement on Thursday on behalf of the FDA.

    She explained in a statement the principle behind the new label concept, saying it is “very simple”. She added, “You as a parent and a consumer should be able to walk into your local grocery store, pick up an item off the shelf, and be able to tell whether it’s good for your family.”

    That will be nice to not have to become a detective every time you enter the grocery store in order to decode food labels and add up calories because obviously, no one eats half a cup of ice cream.

    Dr. David Kessler, former Commissioner of the FDA, said the new label are a “critically important” advance in the way food is presented to the consumer.

    “The food label is not just about giving consumers information but about creating incentives for the industry to create healthier products. No company wants their product to look bad on the food label.”

    The updates won’t be immediate. In fact, you may not see widespread use of them for up to 3 years. The transition begins with a 90-day public comment period, then the FDA will finalize the rules. After rules are finalized, food companies have 2 whole years to comply.

    Current FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg stated that the proposed label change reflects what “has been learned about the connection between what we eat and the development of serious chronic diseases impacting millions of Americans.”

    Perhaps this will be a good weapon in the already fairly successful fight against the American obesity epidemic.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Childhood Obesity Rates Continue to Drop

    Though obesity rates in the U.S. continue to hover at levels that healthcare professionals call epidemic, some good news is beginning to take shape for the future.

    Last summer the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that many states throughout the country were seeing drops in the rates of childhood obesity for low-income children. That encouraging statistic is now part of a larger CDC report that reveals overall levels of childhood obesity are dropping significantly.

    The new report, published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), shows that obesity among children age two to five dropped to just 8% from 2011 to 2012. This represents a 43% drop from the nearly 14% of two- to five-year-olds that were considered obese from 2003 to 2004.

    “We continue to see signs that, for some children in this country, the scales are tipping,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC. “This report comes on the heels of previous CDC data that found a significant decline in obesity prevalence among low-income children aged 2 to 4 years participating in federal nutrition programs. We’ve also seen signs from communities around the country with obesity prevention programs including Anchorage, Alaska; Philadelphia; New York City; and King County, Washington. This confirms that at least for kids, we can turn the tide and begin to reverse the obesity epidemic.”

    Though there are many hypotheses, no clear cause for the drop in childhood obesity can be parsed from the CDC’s data. Turning to other indicators, the CDC suggests that increased nutritional and activity standards at day care facilities could be having a significant effect. In addition, the CDC points to its own data showing a marked decrease in sugary drink (sodas, juice, etc) consumption among children.

  • Sleep Apnea May Contribute to Diabetes Complications

    Last summer, the Department of Veterans Affairs was tasked with a strange goal. The VA Advisory Committee on Disability Compensation asked the VA to find ways to address the epidemic that was claims being filed for those veterans suffering from sleep apnea.

    When one looks at the numbers of those claiming to be a victim of sleep apnea, one can understand the cause for alarm. Since the events of September 11, 2001, those veterans receiving compensation due to complications from sleep apnea increase 25-fold, with 13 percent of all veterans receiving compensation claiming benefits due to sleep apnea.

    Obstructive sleep apnea, or OAS, is the most common form of sleep apnea and is caused whenever the soft tissue surrounding the throat collapses in during sleep, obstructing breathing airways. The most common cause of OAS? Being overweight.

    Dr. Lisa Liberatore, an otolaryngologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, has stated that her clinics most oft given advice from those who suffer from sleep apnea is a little bit of exercise and a healthier diet: “Our approach to treating obstructive sleep apnea is always to address any weight issues. We have many examples of when patients lose weight their snoring and apnea reduces significantly. A proactive approach is even better. Telling and showing patients how weight gain — even modest amounts — can and will lead to sleep apnea is a powerful message.”

    Due to sleep apnea being caused mainly by being overweight or obese, it should come as no surprise that sleep apnea may have an adverse affect on one’s diabetes condition.

    A recent study published in the journal Diabetes Care reports that sleep apnea can worsen one’s longtime control over blood sugar levels in patients suffering from Type 2 diabetes.

    Those who suffer from sleep apnea average 4 hours per night of CPAP usage, a breathing machine which forces air into breathing pathways, keeping the throat open and the patient able to breathe. This low amount of CPAP usage means that most patients suffer from apneas, or pauses in breathing, during REM sleep. Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered in their study that proper REM sleep is key to reducing the amount of glycated hemoglobin, a measure of the amount of glucose in one’s body over longer periods of time.

    Those sleep apnea patients who wore their CPAP mask for 7 hours or more during the night saw a 1% decrease in levels of glycated hemoglobin, a positive sign for those suffering from diabetes.

    In light of all the information presented here, the task for the Department of Veterans Affairs should now be easy: If one wants to reduce the amount of benefits received from patients claiming to suffer from sleep apnea, doctors should recommend a healthier diet and exercise. But then again, that may make too much sense.

    Image via ThinkStock