Obesity
Childhood obesity epidemic requires call to action
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Below is an abridged version of “Fighting for our children, not just for ourselves,” a speech that was delivered on April 23 to the Pitt County branch of the NAACP’s Annual Freedom Fund Event at Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville.
The health care reform debate and the passage of the new law has exposed a completely new era of high anxiety and political divisiveness in our country. The principles that are championed or defended by each protagonist are held up as threats to the very foundation of our democracy. At the local level — within the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University and our affiliated hospital, Pitt County Memorial Hospital, we are taking this seriously, as we intend to maintain the highest level of care for the citizens of Pitt County and the region.
The national Center for Disease Control has said, “The United States cannot effectively address escalating health care costs without addressing the problem of chronic diseases.” Any serious policy proposal that aims to improve health care in America and control rising health care expenditures must address chronic disease.
The Facts Associated with Obesity Academic
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Obesity epidemic is a term which describes the timely and accurate health condition caused by overweight populations around the world. It is indeed a shocking fact that obesity epidemic as the name suggests has become an epidemic in literal sense. It is much more alarming to see that the condition in America outweights the severity of the conditions in all other countries in the world. While obesity epidemic is frequent in both children and adults, the drawback of the condition is obese children who turn adults gaining heart diseases, diabetes, arthritis and even cancer, at an earlier age than previous generations.
Studies show that in America, the sole cause behind obesity epidemic is bad eating habits. Fast foods, tinned, canned and packeted food items are nothing but culprits in this case. Other common patterns such as excessive eating, watching too much television, sleeping too much and lack of physical exercise are the main causes of the obesity epidemic.
Local DC Event Fights Diabetes and Childhood Obesity
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On Saturday, May 15, Agape Faith Ministries, a faith based organization dedicated to serving the metro Washington, DC community, will be hosting their first annual Community Health and Wellness day to help fight childhood obesity and diabetes in the urban community. This one day health extravaganza is being made possible with the help of Allens, Inc., the largest privately held vegetable company in the U.S., and Detroit-area nutritionist, Dr. Velonda Thompson. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held from Noon to 5:00 p.m. at the Claypoole Courts Apartment complex in Columbia Heights.
At the event, Dr. Thompson will be available to perform miniature health screenings as well as to offer advice on how to eat healthier on a budget. Fitness exercises, including a Hula Hoop Competition, and a Taste Shop will also take place. The Taste Shop will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the facility’s kitchen.
At the Taste Shop, participants can sample heart healthy vegetables from Allens and learn about nutritious recipes to make at home. Attendees will also receive Allens canned vegetables to help them kick off their new healthy lifestyle.
Fight continues to curb obesity in Bahamians
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Seventy per cent of the Bahamian population, including a significant number of the nation’s youth, are either overweight or obese, Minister of Health Dr the Hon Hubert A Minnis told House Members Wednesday.
That works out to seven out of every 10 Bahamians who are either overweight or obese.
Dr Minnis said this does not bode well for future generations of Bahamians as a number of chronic, non-communicable diseases – including diabetes, hypertension, strokes and heart disease – are by-products of obesity.
Oregon Has Lowest Childhood Obesity Rate
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It’s true that America is getting fatter and it’s starting at a younger age but I have to give it up to my home state. Despite its many months of gray and rain, cold weather and lack of vitamin D, we Oregonians have the leanest kids! More specifically, just under 10 percent are considered outright obese and these numbers fell from 2003. Unfortunately, 16 percent of America’s kids aged 10-17 years old are in the obese category – not just overweight. This is astounding to me. What’s worse is that this is a 10 percent increase since 2003.
Mississippi came in last with one-fifth of its youth (or 21.9 percent) falling into the obese range followed by Georgia at 21.3 percent and Kentucky at 21 percent.
Besides Oregon, the next best states were Wyoming at 10.2 percent, Minnesota at 11.1 percent and Washington State also at 11.1 percent.
Obesity Silent Killer in India
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A new study released by the Registrar General of India indicates that obesity-related diseases have joined malnutrition as leading causes of death.
As India’s economy grows, so does the temptation for many people to eat more and do less. Tired and home late? Fatty food is just a phone call away.
Overweight, but eager to get married? Now there’s overweightshadi.com, an Indian dating site exclusively for obese people.
Is the UK’s obesity problem spiralling out of control?
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While many countries watch their financial debts mount, there is another ticking timebomb walking the streets, says obesity expert Professor Tony Leeds.
In this week’s Scrubbing Up, he warns that obesity could cost countries trillions in ill health and corrective surgery, and that for many, the problem is already so large that it’s too late for focusing on prevention.
The UK’s obesity problem has grown so much now that nearly a million obese Britons may be eligible for weight-reduction surgery. But it will take a bold government to treat them all – because the cost will exceed a staggering £9.1bn.
Obese Children Face More Bullying
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Obese children were almost twice as likely to be bullied as normal-weight children, regardless of other demographic, social, and academic factors, a multicenter study found.
The unadjusted odds ratio of being bullied for an obese child was 1.85 (95% CI 1.37 to 2.51), according to Julie C. Lumeng, MD, of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues.
And the odds ratio for bullying for an overweight child was 1.26 (95% CI 0.90 to 1.77), the investigators reported online in Pediatrics.
Obesity rate worrying military
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Seventeen-year-old Bryan Aguilar did not want to be a chubby Marine. But when he started high school a few years back, it was a real possibility.
During his sophomore year at West Ashley High School, Aguilar weighed nearly 200 pounds. That’s when he decided to fight the fat. By running, lifting weights and changing his diet, Aguilar morphed into a lean-and-mean ROTC machine. He headed to boot camp this summer after graduation.
He’s also the exception among kids in South Carolina.
Obesity, Inactivity Increase Risk of Fibromyalgia
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Researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology have found a link between obesity in women and fibromyalgia, an incurable disease that causes chronic pain. The study found an increased risk for fibromyalgia in women who lead a sedentary lifestyle and have a higher body mass index (BMI).
Fibromyalgia (FM) is diagnosed when a patient suffers from chronic pain that lasts for more than three months, tender joints, headaches, unexplained fatigue and mood disturbances. Although the exact cause of FM is unknown, the risk for developing FM increases with age and is more common in women than in men.
Researchers analyzed data from nearly 16,000 women spanning 11 years.
Obesity Silent Killer in India
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A new study released by the Registrar General of India indicates that obesity-related diseases have joined malnutrition as leading causes of death.
As India’s economy grows, so does the temptation for many people to eat more and do less. Tired and home late? Fatty food is just a phone call away.
Overweight, but eager to get married? Now there’s overweightshadi.com, an Indian dating site exclusively for obese people.
Weighing in on obesity : Alaina’s Story
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Alaina Lopez is a healthy, confident 6th grader. But a year-and-a half ago, it was a different story.
Alaina’s mother, Carrie, remembers a visit to the pediatrician’s office when Alaina shared what some students were saying about her.
“Alaina was having some issues at school with kids calling her fat.”
Alaina’s pediatrician referred her to East Tennessee Children’s Hospital’s weight management clinic.
Rising Obesity Rates for Kids, Minorities
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Obesity rates for American adults have stabilized while the rate of childhood and minority obesity is rising, according to a new study published in the journal Medical Decision Making.
Using a novel simulation approach based on national data from 2000-2004 and validated against 2005-2006 data, the study examined future projections for the distribution of body mass index in the United States.
The research explored statistics for many categories of Americans based on gender, age and race, seeking to discover which overweight groups were the most likely to have stable, rising or lower rates of weight.
Obesity May Raise Risk of Fibromyalgia
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Overweight and obese women—especially those who do not exercise at all or exercise for less than an hour a week—are at higher risk for developing the widespread pain disorder fibromyalgia, according to new research in the May issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
“Being overweight or obese was associated with an increased risk of fibromyalgia, especially among women who also reported low levels of leisure time physical exercise,” the researchers conclude. “Community-based measures aimed at reducing the incident of fibromyalgia should emphasize the importance of regular physical exercise and maintenance of normal body weight.”
Fibromyalgia affects an estimated 10 million people in the U.S. and is marked by widespread pain and tender points along the body, extreme fatigue, sleep problems, depression, and problems with cognition, according to the National Fibromyalgia Association. Other suspected risk factors for fibromyalgia include stressful or traumatic events such as an automobile accident, family history, or the presence of rheumatic diseases such as lupus.
Citing Obesity of Children, County Bans Fast-Food Toys
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It was not a happy day for the Happy Meal.
In what it described as a blow against the fattening temptations of fast food, the board of supervisors in Santa Clara County, south of San Francisco, voted Tuesday to ban the promotional toys that often accompany child-size portions of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets if those meals don’t meet certain nutritional standards.
The criteria, which are based on federal standards and recommendations from the nonprofit Institute of Medicine, would apply to all fast-food restaurants giving away toys in meals in-tended for children. Ken Yeager, the board president, said the new law would level “the playing field by taking away the incentive to choose fatty, sugary foods over healthier options.”
