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.

Monday, February 08, 2010

Encourage Healthy Eating to Help Your Teen Excel in the Classroom

Unless they are involved in competitive sports, many teens don't think much about health or healthy eating. So it's up to parents to do some of the thinking and planning for them. Poor nutrition in teens has been linked to everything from poor academic performance to obesity.

In a Jan. 18 article on buzzle.com, Kevin Heath provided tips on healthy nutrition that can help your teen's performance in the classroom:

There are things that can be done to combat the poor nutrition that leads to failure in school and beginning with a healthy lifestyle is a good start.

You should remove unhealthy foods from the home and not buy them which prevent everyone from getting into a poor nutrition cycle. Simple sugars and syrups should be removed or at least used in moderation. These include jams and jellies, ice cream, maple syrup and other products that contain high fructose corn syrup.

Get rid of those sodas and sugary drinks and get that water flowing. It is much better to stay hydrated with water as several brands of pop have caffeine in them and the sugar overload can lead to a mid-day or evening crash when your teen should be learning or doing homework.

Avoid white flour as it turns into glucose that is stored in fat cells during the digestion process. Processed foods can be very poor in nutritional value and include junk food (chips, pretzels, etc.), hot dogs, sugary breakfast cereals, high sodium meals, etc. The more packaged and processed a meal is, the less nutritious it is. Saturated fats and Trans fats are a big no-no. Look for "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" on food labels and don't buy them.

Labels: healthy eating, nutrition

Friday, February 05, 2010

Many Young People Exposed to Scam Weight-Loss E-Mails

About 20 percent of overweight young people open up spam messages for weight loss products, according to a study from Brooklyn City College. Author Joshua Fogel said the finding is troublesome, because many of these products can cause serious health problems.

Dr. Fogel interviewed 200 students of Commuter College of New York about their habits on the Internet and found the ones who were overweight tended to read Internet ads for weight loss products. Dr. Fogel believes that healthcare providers should educate young patients about the dangers of such products.

Labels: awareness, education

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Study Cites Effectiveness of Holistic Weight Loss Programs for Children

A study out of Britain has found that holistic programs like MEND (Mind, Exercise, Nutrition, Do it!) are very effective at treating and fighting childhood obesity.

"The MEND Program isn't a miracle pill for obesity, but what this independent study does show is that child weight management programs that involve the whole family, like the MEND Program, are a scientifically-proven and sustainable solution to the child obesity crisis. People are starting to wake up to the fact that quick fixes don't work." [Source: Andhra News]

Researchers tracked 116 children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, who participated in a nine-week MEND program and 12-week follow-up program. All 116 children lost weight, and improved their fitness levels. Advocates of MEND say it works because it involves the whole family, encouraging everyone to eat healthily and keep fit.

Labels: holistic

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

Experts Concerned about Prevalence of Teen Weight Loss Surgery

Weight loss surgery is advancing technically, and rapidly becoming an option not only for obese patients, but for those who are merely overweight. However, some doctors and nutritionists worry that these surgeries carry risks and can never replace improved diet and exercise as a long-term solution to weight control.

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery reported that 220,000 people had procedures in 2008, representing a twofold increase from 2007.
This year, the Penrose Medical Center in Denver became one of the first surgical centers for obese teens. A surgery costs $9,500 and is not always covered by insurance.

"I am so disgusted with this," said Dr. Wendy Scinta, a pediatric specialist in childhood obesity on the board of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

"In children, it is still considered experimental. It's kind of young to be going through something so drastic," Dr. Scinta said. "We're at the point where the obesity epidemic is happening faster than we can get our arms around it, but especially with children, we do have time. We need to give them a shot at doing something less aggressive at first."

Labels: obese teens, weight loss surgery

Monday, February 01, 2010

Weight-Loss Self Control Can Be 'Contagious'

Previous academic studies have shown that if you associate with overweight people, you are more likely to become overweight yourself, especially if you eat together often.

Now a new study from the University of Georgia indicates that hanging out with people who have self-control can help you develop that quality yourself.

Prof. Michelle vanDellen and her colleagues devised three different studies to find out if self-control can be contagious.
In one study, for example, the research team assigned 36 volunteers to think about a friend who had either good or bad self-control.
Those who thought of a friend with good self-control persisted longer at a task commonly used to measure that trait.

"The take-home message of the study is that picking social influences that are positive can improve your self control," said Dr. vanDellen. "By exhibiting self-control, you are helping others around you do the same."

The study appeared in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Labels: self-control