Childhood Obesity - Do you have an overweight child? We offer tips to help your child lose weight and get fit!

The My Overweight Child blog will help you keep informed about the latest research, findings, and resources available to parents of overweight or obese kids. There are many knowledgeable people working on the increasingly dire problem of childhood obesity - and we want to give parents a place where they can check in regularly to see the latest studies and tips available to help you help your child lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

We invite you to add your comments - if you have feedback for the blog, would like some specific topics covered, or you just want to share your experience as a parent dealing with childhood obesity.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Too Much, Too Little Sleep Both Associated with Abdominal Fat Gain

A new study has associated sleep problems with unhealthy weight gain.

People who sleep either too much or too little are in danger of gaining abdominal fat, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

Dr. Kristin Hairston and her colleagues studied 332 African-American and 775 Hispanic-American adults over the age of 18 years old. The researchers asked about their subjects' sleep, diet, exercise, and other lifestyle habits, and then followed up with them five years later.

Study participants who slept five hours or less a night had a greater accumulation of abdominal fat, and the same was true for those who slept five hours or less.

People who got less than average sleep had a 32 percent gain in visceral fat and those who slept eight or more hours a night gained 22 percent.

Study subjects who slept six or seven hours a night, which is the average, averaged a 13 percent gain.

Dr. Hairston was unsure why sleep duration might affect fat gain, but she said that among the group that sleeps too few hours, it may be related to becoming overtired and thus being unable to exercise. Among that group that sleeps more than eight hours a night, she theorized that they may tend to gain fat because they are too inactive.

Dr. Hairston also said that she believes that sleep is a factor that changes the levels of appetite-regulating hormones.

The study appeared in the journal Sleep.

Labels: sleep, weight_gain

Thursday, March 11, 2010

'Constant Eating' Identified as Major Cause of Childhood Obesity

American children are consuming 27 percent of their daily calories from snacks, according to a studies from the University of North Carolina and the Oregon Health and Science University.

The results of these studies are disturbing, because they show a trend of "constant eating" instead of eating during regularly scheduled meals or because of hunger -- a habit that has been associated with the nation's childhood obesity epidemic.

Professors Carmen Piernas and Barry Popkin of the University of North Carolina studied data on 31,337 children ages 2 to 18 taken from different federal studies on food and eating.

"Childhood snacking trends are moving towards three snacks per day," Piernas and Popkin wrote in their report. "More than 27 percent of children's daily calories are coming from snacks. The biggest increases have been in salty snacks and candy. Desserts and sweetened beverages remain major sources of calories from snacks."

Extra snacking among children added 117 extra calories per day between 1977 and 2006, which adds up to 12 extra pounds a year.

Christina Bethell of the Oregon Health and Science University analyzed data from the 2000 National Survey of Children's Health and found that the rate of obesity for children ages 10 to 17 years old increased from 14.8 percent in 2003 to 16.4 percent in 2007. The prevalence of overweight children remained at 15 percent.

The studies appeared in Health Affairs Journal.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity

Monday, March 08, 2010

Sugary Diet During Teen Years Linked to Diabetes Symptoms in Adulthood

Teenagers who follow a diet that is high in sugar are more likely to experience insulin resistance in adulthood, according to a new study on Queens University Belfast.

Insulin resistance is a condition in which the human body does not use insulin properly. Insulin helps the body convert glucose, a kind of sugar, into energy. Insulin resistance is related to diabetes.

Researchers at Queens University studied the diets of 489 people ages 12 to 15.
The researchers followed up with their subjects 10 years later, when the subjects were ages 20 to 25.
For every 1 percent increase in sugar consumed as a teenager, the researchers found a 2 percent increase in insulin resistance as an adult.

This study was presented in the Diabetes United Kingdom Annual Professional Conference.

Labels: diabetes

Friday, March 05, 2010

Study Indicates Obesity May Be Linked to Germs

A study out of Emory University has found a surprising potential link between obesity and bacteria. Building off previous studies which showed that intestinal microbes were different in overweight people, Emory researchers studied immune systems in mice to try and learn more.

"Researchers noticed that mice with an altered immune system were fatter than regular mice, and had a collection of disorders – high blood pressure, and cholesterol and insulin problems – called metabolic syndrome, often a precursor of heart disease and diabetes." [The Associated Press]

Mice with altered immunity had different bacteria in their intestines, when compared to normal rodents, and it appeared to cause increases in appetite, along with the "low-grade inflammation" that's associated with many obesity-related illnesses.

Labels: bacteria

Tuesday, March 02, 2010

Pediatricians Now Issuing 'Healthy Living' Prescriptions

According to a Feb. 23 Associated Press report, the American Academy of Pediatrics is supporting U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama's obesity prevention campaign by providing prescription slips to help pediatricians recommend healthy living tips:

The slips say, "Rx for Healthy Active Living.'' They list four daily tasks: eating at least five fruits and vegetables; limiting screen time to two hours or less; getting at least one hour of physical activity; and drinking fewer sugary drinks.

They also have a space for parents or kids to fill in which task they want to work on first.

The academy has downloadable versions of these prescription slips for pediatricians on its Web site.

Labels: awareness, prevention