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

Parents believe that their preschoolers eat more nutritious diets and exercise more often than school-age children do, but according to a study from the University of Tennessee, both groups behave about the same.

Dr. Hollie Raynor asked parents of 174 children ages two to 12 about their diet and leisure activities. Parents of preschoolers ages two to five reported that their children watched less television, exercised more, and ate more nutritious foods than parents of children ages six to 12 did. However, when the researchers kept track of what the children were actually doing and eating, there was little difference between the two groups.

Children with healthy weight levels watched fewer hours of television than did children who were overweight or who were at risk for developing weight problems.

This study appeared in the Journal of Nutrition.

Labels: healthy_eating, exercise, pre-school

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Doctors are not diagnosing children as obese or overweight, according to a new study of children's doctors' visits. Without a proper diagnosis, an overweight child misses out on interventions that could help him or her become healthy.

"This is a bit of a wake-up call to pediatricians that as many as 90% of overweight children are not being properly diagnosed," said Dr. David Kaelber, a medical professor at Case Western University and lead author of the study.

Dr. Kaelber examined the Body Mass Index measurements of over 60,000 children 2 to 18 years old from well-child check-ups during the years 1999-2007. About 19% of the children were overweight, but only 10% received that diagnosis. Of the 23% who were obese, only 54% were diagnosed that way. Over 75% of the severely obese children received a proper diagnosis.

Dr. Kaelber was concerned with children in the overweight category. "Better identification of this group of children who have just crossed into the 'unhealthy' weight category is essential for early intervention which will hopefully prevent not only a childhood of increased health problems, but also what now often becomes an ongoing battle through adulthood with lifelong issues," he said.

This study appears in the journal Pediatrics.

Labels: perceptions, pediatricians

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Still another study, this time from Greece, finds that overweight parents have overweight children.

Researchers from Harokopio University in Athens collected weight and height statistics on over 2,300 preschoolers and their parents. If a child had one obese parent, that doubled his risk of being overweight compared to children of normal-weight parents. Children with two obese parents had a more than doubled risk.

This study, published in the journal BioMedicine Central Public Health, also found that 32% of Greek children were overweight. Researchers expected that percentage to be about 20%.

Labels: genetics, parents, role_models

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A Canadian study of teenagers and children found that overweight young people perceive themselves as normal if they are surrounded by overweight friends and family.

"The higher the body mass indices (BMIs) of friends and family, the more kids were likely to underestimate their weights - a trend consistent for both sexes, regardless of the socio-economic status of their families," according to Dr. Katerina Maximova of McGill University.

Researchers examined the BMIs of 3,665 children ages 9 to 16. About 14% were overweight, and 9% were obese. However, less than 2% thought they were too heavy. Dr. Maximova said the misconceptions were linked to having overweight friends and family members.

This study appears in the Journal of Obesity.

Labels: perceptions, body_image, denial

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A new study gives parents one more reason to encourage overweight children to exercise: Exercise helps control anger and aggressive behaviors.

Researchers from the Medical College of the Georgia School of Medicine enrolled 208 participants, ages 7 to 11 years old, in a two-month aerobic exercise program. Other participants did not exercise and became part of a control group. Both groups took the Pediatric Anger Expression test before and after the study.

According to lead researcher Dr. Catherine Davis, "aerobic exercise may be an effective way to help overweight children reduce anger expression and aggressive behaviors," such as hitting, slamming doors, etc.

Dr. Davis plans to perform another study on the effect of exercise on cognitive skills.

This study appears in Pediatric Exercise Science.

Labels: exercise, aggression, anger

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Having obese grandparents increases the likelihood that a child will be overweight, even if his parents are normal weight. However, if both parents are obese, a child has double the risk for overweight, regardless of the weight of his grandparents.

Researchers examined data from 2,591 children ages 5 to 19 years old and from their parents and grandparents - the first study to do so. They concluded that overweight patterns are cross-generational.

"Primary care physicians should engage families in discussions about generational patterns of weight as both a window on the children's risk of overweight and an opportunity to discuss familial patterns of diet and physical activity that can affect the health of multiple generations," according to the report published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Practice.

Labels: genetics, families, predictors

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Restricting access to snack foods in schools leads children to eat slightly increased amounts of vegetables and fruits, according to a new study from the University of South Carolina.

Wendy Gonzalez analyzed data from 10,285 fifth graders at 2,065 schools. Those schools that restricted the availability of snacks such as ice cream, baked goods, and candy had a 21% increased consumption of vegetables and a 15% increase for fruits.

Gonzalez, writing in the Journal of Nutrition, said that restricting availability of snacks is a better policy than limiting the number or types of snacks at schools.

Labels: vegetables, junk_food, snacks

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A heart rate of 80 or more beats per minute increases your chances of diabetes and obesity, according to two studies from Northwestern University in Illinois and Kurume University in Japan.

The NU researchers studied Chicagoans over a 33-year period; the Japanese team followed 614 people from rural farm areas starting in 1979. Both found that a rapid heartbeat predicts obesity and diabetes.

This study is published in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Labels: health, predictors, heartbeat

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Overweight and obese children have more than double the risk of suffering injuries to their arms and legs in automobile crashes compared to normal children.

"Our findings document yet another risk associated with overweight and obesity in children," said Dr. Keshia Pollack of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Pollack used data on automobile crashes compiled by State Farm Insurance and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia for the Partners for Child Passenger Safety study. The vast majority (96%) of children ages 9 to 15 years old who were passengers during these accidents were wearing seatbelts or in child safety seats. After adjusting for many factors such as the age and gender of the child and the way the accident occurred, Dr. Pollack found that overweight and obese children were 2.5 times more likely to be injured in their extremities, but had no increased risk for injuries to other body parts.

This study appears in the journal Prevention.

Labels: safety, car-crashes

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A small study from Kansas State University links asthma to childhood obesity and inactivity.

Sara Rosenkranz and her colleagues recruited 40 healthy children to fill out questionnaires about their activities and to undergo lung function and body composition tests. The children who had elevated levels of body fat and who reported low levels of physical exercise were more likely to have asthma-like symptoms after they exercised. None of the children had been diagnosed with asthma.

"Kids who are overweight and inactive are having - even at the age of 8 to 10 years old - a negative response to exercise challenge tests, which might be contributing to the increase that we have been seeing over the past several decades in asthma prevalence as well as obesity prevalence," Ms. Rosenkranz said.

Labels: inactivity, side-effects, asthma

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Skipping meals or spending too much time in front of "screens" contributes to childhood obesity, according to a new study from Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Molly Martin and her colleagues collected information on 2,500 pairs of twins, siblings, or half-siblings in order to determine what non-genetic factors influence whether a child is overweight. They found that certain aspects of a family's lifestyle, such as sitting down for regular meals together and being physically active during leisure hours, can help keep children slim, regardless of the family's education, socio-economic levels, the children's birth weights, etc.

"Not skipping meals seems to be the biggest factor in weight control," Dr. Martin said. "When you miss a meal, you are more likely to overeat later."

Another important factor was how much time the family spent watching television or playing video games.

This study appears in the Journal of American Sociology.

Labels: video_games, skipping_meals, TV

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New Yorkers may soon have to pay more for regular soda, but not diet varieties. Governor David Paterson is proposing a 15% sales tax on sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks in order to curb sales among children and to raise more money for a state strapped for cash.

The "obesity tax" has won the approval of experts in the field of childhood obesity.

"Raising the price of this liquid candy will put children and teens on a path to a healthier diet," said Elie Ward, a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics in New York.

Those against the tax argue that there is no evidence the tax will curb sales of sugary soda, and that studies show that people who drink diet sodas may gain more weight than those who stick to the regular brands.

Labels: sodas, taxes, costs_of_childhoood_obesity

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Zoo elephants are too fat, and that may shorten their lives by 40 years, according to a study published in the journal Science.

Dr. Georgia Mason, the senior study author, after examining data on 4,500 elephants over a 45-year period, speculated that stress from living in a confined space as well as lack of exercise leads to the vast majority of zoo elephants becoming overweight. They develop heart disease, cancer, and diabetes the same way that overweight humans do.

Zoo officials took issue with the study because it used data that went back to the 1950s, noting that today's zookeepers provide more space and better nutrition for captive elephants.

Labels: inactivity, lazy

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Despite expensive government interventions, Great Britain is not gaining ground in its battle against childhood obesity.

A new report finds that 25% of British children are obese or overweight at age five - a figure that climbs to 33% by the time the children turn 10.

"These latest figures are cause for concern," said Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum. "We had high hopes that there would have been a marked improvement after all the money that is being thrown at the problem."

Dawn Primarolo, British Public Health Prime Minister, commented, "If we do nothing, 90% of today's children could be overweight or obese by 2050."

Labels: research, overweight children, statistics

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The Scots, Irish, Welsh, and Brits are turning to a team of superheroes to fight childhood obesity.

The four "Food Dudes," celebrated in DVDs and school materials, gain their super powers by eating fruits and vegetables. These nutritious foods enable them to save the Life Force and fight the evil Junk Punks. The Punks want to deprive the world of energy by stealing all its fruits and vegetables.

"Something serious had to be done," said Professor Fergus Lowe, one of the creators of Food Dudes. "Diets in Great Britain are terrible, and childhood obesity is absolutely skyrocketing."

Dr. Lowe said his research indicates that children need to taste a new food 10 to 15 times before they learn to like it. The Food Dude program rewards children who eat fruits and vegetables with stickers and other prizes. Parents receive a home-pack with logs to monitor their child's eating as well as informational materials.

Dr. Lowe said the Food Dude program is a way to counteract all the junk food advertising aimed at children. Over 3,300 Irish schools are using Food Dudes, and it is being introduced in Wales and Scotland.

Labels: healthy_eating, role_models, influences

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A major study of 8,900 Danish schoolchildren produced interesting results regarding how children taste food.

Girls have a better sense of taste than boys do, although they have the same number of taste buds. Boys needed 10% more sourness and 20% more sweetness than girls did in order to recognize certain flavors. Perhaps not surprisingly, boys prefer extreme flavors. They gave highest approval to the sweetest sodas and the sourest foods.

One in three children does not like sweet foods or drinks. However, 48% of the children gave their highest marks to sweets.

The ability to taste improves gradually as a child gets older. By age 13 or 14, most children prefer sweets less often.

The Danish Science Communication and the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Copenhagen cooperated to perform this study.

Labels: junk food, sweets, tastes

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