Obesity
Diet foods for children may lead to obesity
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Diet foods and drinks for children may inadvertently lead to overeating and obesity, says a new report from the University of Alberta.
A team of researchers contends that animals learn to connect the taste of food with the amount of caloric energy it provides, and children who consume low-calorie versions of foods that are normally high in calories may develop distorted connections between taste and calorie content, leading them to overeat as they grow up.
Family effort needed to rein in childhood obesity
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Governments and food manufacturers are introducing new measures in the fight against childhood obesity because of growing public alarm about the issue, but some experts say these efforts will ultimately fail until a widespread, family-driven approach is taken.
About a third of children are now overweight, and 15 percent are obese, the highest the prevalence rates have ever been, according to the American Obesity Association. The AOA defines being overweight or obese as a Body Mass Index (BMI) at or above the 85th or 95th percentile, respectively, for children of the same age and sex.
Anesthetists address challenge of obese patients
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Very obese people about to undergo surgery need special attention and equipment, which has prompted the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland to develop guidelines for these situations.
“Treating morbidly obese patients poses extra challenges for anaesthetists,” Dr. Alastair Chambers, the chair of the working group that drew up the guidelines, said in a statement.
Bullying tied to mental health problems later
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Boys who bully or are victims of bullies may have a higher risk of mental health disorders as young men, a study published Monday suggests.
The findings, published in the journal Pediatrics, are based on a group of 2,540 boys Finnish boys. At age 8, the boys were asked whether and how often they bullied other children, were targets of bullying, or both. Parents and teachers also answered questions about any psychiatric symptoms the boys had.
Overweight women at risk of pregnancy complications
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The heavier a woman is before pregnancy, the greater her risk of a range of pregnancy complications, a large study suggests.
Using data from more than 24,000 UK women who gave birth between 1976 and 2005, researchers found that the risk of problems, such as high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia and premature delivery climbed in tandem with a woman’s pre-pregnancy weight.
Watch out, you may catch obesity
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Like the common cold, obesity can be spread from person to person, new research suggests.
A person’s social network can influence their risk of obesity, according to new study findings reported in The New England Journal of Medicine. The results suggest that if you want to stay thin, you may not want to surround yourself with obese friends and relatives.
Lo-glycemic index diets help obese lose weight
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Overweight adults who would like to shed some pounds may want to replace their white bread with a serving of beans, a research review suggests.
In an analysis of six clinical trials, Australian researchers found that diets based on the glycemic index were generally effective at helping overweight and obese adults lose weight in the short term. What’s more, these low-glycemic index diets seemed to work somewhat better than traditional calorie- and fat-conscious weight-loss plans.
Genes help determine amount of lean body mass
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How much lean body mass a woman has appears to have a lot to do with her genes, according to a new twin study published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Lean body mass, fat mass and bone mass are the three major components of body composition, Dr. Gregory Livshits of Tel Aviv University in Israel and colleagues note. But while much is known about the genetics of fat mass and bone mass, as well as their effects on health and fitness, less data are available on lean mass.
Newer beta-blocker doesn’t up weight in diabetics
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Unlike earlier beta-blocker drugs used to treat high blood pressure, the newer drug carvedilol does not cause weight gain in people with diabetes, according to findings from a new study.
“Increases in body weight have been documented with long-term therapy of traditional beta-blockers,” Dr. Franz H. Messerli, of St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center, New York, and colleagues write in the American Journal of Medicine. “Any weight gain is of concern in patients with type 2 diabetes because of the rise in insulin resistance associated with excess weight and obesity.”
Maternal, childhood factors affect obesity risk
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Factors ranging from her mother’s body mass index to her own weight gain in early childhood influence the likelihood that a female child will grow up to become overweight, new research hints.
While the findings offer clues to how obesity prevention efforts might target certain time points in a person’s life, they also underscore the importance of maintaining a healthy weight for life, Dr. Mary Beth Terry of Columbia University in New York City told Reuters Health.
Discovery about Obesity Drug Helping Scientists Develop New Cancer Treatments
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Based on their surprising discovery that an obesity drug can kill cancer cells, scientists at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have made a new finding about the drug’s effects and are working to design more potent cancer treatments.
Published online today in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, the study is the first to report how the drug orlistat (Xenical® or Alli®) binds and interacts with a protein found in tumor cells. The drug blocks the protein’s function and causes cell death.
Being overweight ups risk of colon cancer
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For men, the risk of colon cancer increases with body weight in a nearly linear manner, a study shows. For women, the risk is more variable but still trends upward, particularly for those younger than age 67.
The findings highlight the importance of weight control for colon cancer prevention, Dr. Kenneth F. Adams, of the National Institutes of Health in Rockville, Maryland, and colleagues conclude in a report in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Breastfeeding Not Associated with Reduced Risk of Adult Obesity
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An independent study conducted by Harvard Medical School researchers, published in the July edition of the International Journal of Obesity, finds that women who were breastfed did not have lower incidence of overweight or obesity in adulthood when compared to women who were not breastfed.
Additionally, the study finds that although exclusive breastfeeding (for at least six months) is associated with leaner body shape at five years, this association does not persist into adolescence or adulthood. The study is based on data collected from 35,526 women participating in the Nurse’s Health Study II (NHS), is the largest to date examining breastfeeding and its influence on adult weight status.
Obesity epidemic not tied to drop in smoking rate
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Decreasing rates of cigarette smoking are not the reason for rising rates of obesity in the US, a researcher from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland, has concluded.
Writing in the American Journal of Public Health, Dr. Katherine M. Flegal notes that smoking is associated with lower body weight and smoking cessation with weight gain. Thus, it is reasonable to think that part of the reason more people are overweight is the fact that fewer people are smoking—but that’s not what Flegal found.
Obese people appear better protected from TB
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Elderly people who are obese appear to have a lower risk of falling ill with tuberculosis compared with those who are underweight or of average weight, according to an extensive geriatric study in Hong Kong.
Although obesity has been linked to health problems such as hypertension, diabetes and cardiovascular disease, experts notice that among people suffering from the same ailments, those who are overweight tend to outlive those who are thin.
