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

A new study from the Netherlands found that family involvement is a key factor in helping overweight teens and children lose weight.

Hiltje O. Luttikhuis of the University Medical Center in Groningen, the Netherlands, studied whether changes in lifestyle, family involvement, surgery, or drugs were effective in helping young people lose weight.

Family lifestyle interventions that included behavioral therapy and changes in diet and exercise worked better than self-help programs. Teens and children on drug therapy suffered some adverse effects.

"While there is limited quality data to recommend one treatment program over another, this review shows that combined behavioral lifestyle interventions compared to standard care or self-help can produce a significant and clinically meaningful reduction in overweight in children and adolescents," the study's authors wrote in the journal Cochrane Review.

Labels: weight_loss, families, involvement

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A national survey found that about 13 percent of American adults have diabetes, and 16 percent of teenagers have "pre-diabetes." The survey, which was conducted by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also revealed that 40 percent of diabetes cases remain undiagnosed.

Pre-diabetes is a condition characterized by high blood sugar that is not quite in the diabetic range.

Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, said that the new survey has "grave implications for our health care system. Of paramount importance is the need to curb the obesity epidemic, which is the main factor driving the rise of type 2 diabetes."

Labels: health, diabetes, teenagers

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Physical education classes in schools do not affect children's weights, but do they improve fitness, cholesterol levels, and lung capacity, according to a new study from Cochrane Research.

Scientists looked at data from physical activity programs in schools in the United States, Canada, Australia, and South America. Children involved in these programs did not lose weight, improve their blood pressure readings, or exercise more after school than non-participants. However, their fitness levels improved.

"Given that there are at least some beneficial effects, we would recommend that schools continue their health promotion programs," said the study's lead researcher, Maureen Dobbins of McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

Labels: schools, weight_loss, physical_education

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Canadians are taking a legal approach in their efforts to curb the obesity epidemic by challenging junk food companies in court. One legal tactic involves using laws against marketing certain products to children.

Saputo Inc. marketed its Vachon snack cakes to children in daycare centers as a nutritious snack when combined with fruit and milk. The ads encouraged children to stay fit by doing a "gorilla dance" as they ate the cakes shaped like gorillas. Saputo argued that it was promoting physical fitness, but a Quebec court ordered the company to pay a fine of $44,000.

"Using children to sell products goes against the law," said Suzie Pellerin, director of an anti-obesity group in Canada.

Pellerin's group is instrumental in taking McDonalds, Burger King and General Mills before Canadian courts this year, facing charges related to beaming junk food advertisements and promotions at children by distributing toys in children's meals, sponsoring movies, and advertising Lucky Charm games.

"Since we cannot act on the content of food offered to children," Ms. Pellerin said, "we can at least reduce their exposure to this advertising."

Labels: laws, penalties, junk_food

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Four new studies indicate that being overweight negatively affects the mental health of children and teenagers.

• A study from the University of Minnesota found that overweight children who were teased about their bodies were two or three times more likely to think about or try to commit suicide. The effect was worse for girls, in that 50 percent had thought about suicide (compared to 34 percent of boys) and 25 percent of girls had attempted suicide (compared to 12 percent of boys). The children in the study suffered from depression, poor body images and low self-esteem.
• The second study from the University of Alberta in Canada looked at how being overweight affects self-esteem and school performance.
  
  Dr. Paul Veugelers assembled data on 4,298 fifth grade children, including their scores on standardized tests, heights and weights, and measurements of self-esteem. He found that children who were overweight had lower self-esteem, but doing well in school could help them feel better about themselves, Children who steered away from junk food and ate sufficient amounts of fruit, vegetables, protein, and fiber were significantly more likely to perform well on literacy tests.
  
  Dr. Veugelers actively campaigns for school and government interventions to help overweight Canadian children. His latest study appears in the journal Obesity Review.
• White and Hispanic teenagers who are obese or overweight are more likely to be anxious and depressed, according to published in the journal Pediatrics. The effect did not hold for overweight African-American teenagers.
  
  Dr. Rhonda BeLue and her colleagues at Pennsylvania State University went through public health records of more than 35,184 people ages 12 to 19 years old. She said that her findings indicate that doctors should assess not only a teenager's weight problems, but also mental health issues.
  
  Dr. BeLue was not sure why African-American teens are not as bothered by being overweight, but she speculated that they might be dealing with "a constellation" of other stresses or simply be under less pressure from family and friends to be thin.
• Finally, a study from RMIT University found that obese 10 to 13 year-olds find it hard to concentrate, hard to sleep, and had problems with back pain and lower leg pains. Lead researcher Lara Taylor said obese children were overall more weak and tired, and struggled with ordinary movements such as getting up from chairs, compared to children of normal weight.

This study was part of a national analysis called Overweight, Obesity and Function.

Labels: mental_health, depression, body_image

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Two new studies indicate that obesity may be partly caused by genetics and the composition of microbe bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract.

The first study, which was performed at Mayo Clinic, Arizona, examined microbes in the gastrointestinal tracts of three categories of people: those who were of normal weight, those who were morbidly obese, and those who had undergone stomach bypass surgery to lose weight. The researchers, who were trying to determine how microorganisms influence the metabolism of food and affect a person's weight, found "substantial differences" between the three groups of participants. They also found that bypass surgery affects the microbes.

In the second study, researchers with the Department of Genomic Sciences at Imperial College, London, evaluated 1,380 Europeans who had early onset childhood obesity and 1,416 people of the same age but normal weight. The two groups differed in that the obese group was more likely to have three genetic variations.

"Understanding the genetic basis of obesity is the first step towards helping these children," said Professor Philippe Froguel, one of the authors of the Imperial College study. "Once we identify the genes responsible, we can develop ways to screen children to find out who is most at risk of becoming obese."

The Mayo Clinic study appeared in the publication Mayo Clinic Proceedings. The Imperial College study appeared in the journal Nature Genetics.

Labels: genetics, bacteria, stomach

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Breastfeeding an infant for more than six months may reduce the child's risk of being overweight five years later.

According to study that was conducted at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom), bottle-fed infants have a higher risk for becoming obese or overweight as adults.

This study, which involved a longitudinal analysis of the diets of 880 babies, appeared in the journal Pediatrics.

Labels: mothers, babies, breastfed

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A new study from New Zealand indicates that feeding children certain foods may make them smarter.

Reremoana Theodore of the University of Otago studied the diets, family lifestyle, and IQs of 600 children for her PhD thesis. She found a link between having a higher IQ and eating fish once a week, and bread and cereals four times a day.

Eating margarine, she discovered, was linked to lower IQs.

Theodore's thesis has not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Labels: healthy_eating, intelligence, fish

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A study that was conducted at the University of Calgary suggests that the foods we eat as babies and toddlers may influence whether we become fat as adults.

Dr. Raylene Reimer put rats who had been newly weaned from their mothers on one of three diets: high fiber, high protein, or a control diet.

• When the rats became adults, Dr. Reimer fed them all high fat, high sugar diets.
• The ones who had eaten the high protein diet gained the most weight the most rapidly.
• The ones on the high fiber diet put on the least amount of weight.

"The composition of early childhood diet may have a direct impact on genes that control metabolism and obesity risk," Dr. Reimer wrote in her report, which was published in the Journal of Physiology. "The study clearly indicates that diet composition alone can change the trajectory of circulating satiety hormones and metabolic pathways that influence how we gain weight or control blood sugar as adults."

Labels: toddlers, healthy_eating, babies

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With childhood obesity reaching epidemic status, many parents worry about how best to teach their kids healthy eating habits. Nutritionist and counselor Elly Stattler thinks that parents who are providing healthy options for their children don't need to worry quite so much:

"She encourages parents to trust their children. Stattler suggests parents decide when the child eats and provide healthy choices. The child decides if he/she wants to eat and how much to eat."

Letting the child make decisions early helps them develop good habits as they grow older. Parents still provide the overall guidance, but the children learn how to choose wisely. Source: Grosse Pointe (MI) News

Labels: healthy_eating, eating-habits, role_models

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The National Center for Health Statistics reports that there are now more obese Americans (34 percent of the population) than overweight ones (32.7 percent).

About 72 million people are overweight, based on a formula that uses height and weight to determine body mass. Under that formula, a person who is 5 ft. 5 inches is overweight at 150 pounds, and obese at 180 pounds.

The Public Health Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit organization located in the Northwestern School of Law, brought together many experts to develop 47 recommendations for public policies to combat the obesity epidemic. Among their suggestions are to tax unhealthy foods; improve food choices in schools; require more physical education; limit advertisements for unhealthy foods and beverages; and increase funding for nutritional research. Members of the Institute presented the recommendations to representatives of the incoming Obama administration.

Many experts, a group that includes Dr. Adam Drewnowski of the University of Washington in Seattle, believe that obesity and overweight may increase even more during economically difficult times.

"People are going to economize [during a recession]," he said. "As they save money on food, they will eat more empty calories or foods high in sugar, saturated fasts, and refined grains, which are cheaper."

During economic downturns, low cost restaurants such as McDonalds tend to do well, whereas stores that sell organic and natural foods, such as Whole Foods, tend to lose money.

"We associate poverty with obesity because energy-dense foods are less expensive," noted Dr. Robert Eckel, former president of the American Heart Association.

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Researchers from the University of Minnesota have discovered that the type of food that is available in your neighborhood influences how much you weigh.

Dr. June Chen analyzed 54 studies of neighborhoods and their food outlets, such as fast food restaurants, supermarkets, and convenience stores. She found that residents of neighborhoods with many supermarkets and few convenience stores were at less risk for being overweight. Low-income areas were more likely to have few supermarkets and many fast food restaurants, and residents there were more likely to be overweight.

This study appeared in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Labels: fast food, neighborhoods, influences

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An Australian study of 1,000 14-year-olds found that almost one in three is at risk for heart disease. Many of the children who had risk factors for heart disease were not overweight.

Researchers from the University of Western Australia and Perth's Telethon Institute for Child Health Research set out to identify risk factors from measures of blood pressure, weight, and levels of insulin, blood glucose, and cholesterol.

The researchers plan to reassess the children when they are 18 years old.

This study appeared in the Diabetes Care Journal.

Labels: heart_disease, health_risks, teenagers

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A new study indicates that young adults do not usually take time to eat leisurely meals, and that this practice of eating "on the run" leads to the consumption of too many junk foods.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota studied 1,687 people ages 18 to 25 years old and found that about 40 percent reported that they did not have to time to sit down for regular meals, leading to higher intake of soft drinks, fast foods, and high fat foods. People who do sit down for leisurely meals tend to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, and make other healthy choices, the researchers reported.

This study appeared in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Labels: obese teens, junk_food, fast_food

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A new study of teenagers with diabetes found that half of them are trying to lose weight. However, many choose unhealthy weight loss practices such as skipping their insulin doses.

Kaiser Permanente sponsored the study of 3,357 students with an average age of 15. About eight percent of the study's subjects had tried fasting, 7.5 percent used diet aids, 2.3 percent tried vomiting or laxatives, and 4.2 percent skipped their insulin. Girls dieted more than boys did.

Labels: diabetes, weight_loss, insulin

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