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

Canadians are engaging in a national debate about whether their obesity epidemic warrants new laws and taxes similar to the ones used against smoking.

According to a Jan. 14 article by Meagan Fitzpatrick of Canwest News Service, the proposed laws would ban the sale of unhealthy foods or tax them, and put government subsidies on fruit and vegetables:

Governments over the years, have passed various pieces of legislation designed to reduce smoking, including increased taxation and packaging requirements, and some health experts have been pushing for similar initiatives to combat obesity.

Proposals include banning the advertising of unhealthy foods, increasing taxes on food that isn't nutritious, subsidizing fruits and vegetables to make them more affordable for Canadians and forcing the food industry to change its labelling, packaging and ingredients.

"This is a legitimate public debate about how far you go with voluntary versus legal restrictions," said [Dr. David] Butler-Jones. "The timing for that I think, really depends on when a community is educated enough, and ready enough and understands the implications."

In 2009, a Canadian group posed a legal challenge to companies that were marketing junk food to children.

Labels: junk food, prevention, awareness, canada

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A study from Duke University indicates that obesity in mothers can cause "programming" that predisposes their children to inflammation related diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

The experiments were performed on laboratory rats, and found that offspring born to obese mothers could show a predisposition to such diseases even if the children were of normal weight.

A Feb. 10 LiveScience article provided the following information about the Duke research:

[Study co-author Staci D.] Bilbo and colleagues placed rats on one of three diets (low-fat, high-saturated fat, and high-trans fat) four weeks prior to mating and throughout pregnancy and lactation. The high-fat diets rendered the mice clinically obese.

The newborn pups' brains were analyzed. Offspring born to mothers on the high-fat diets showed increased immune cell activation and release of injurious substances known as cytokines, all right after birth. The changes stuck even until the newborns became adults, and even after they were put on low-fat diets.

"This hyper-response to inflammation remained dramatically increased compared to rats born to normal-weight mothers," the researchers write.

The Duke study was published in the journal of The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, mothers, pregnancy

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Researchers at the University of Cincinnati Metabolic Disease Institute have come up with an intriguing theory that could one day help overweight or obese individuals.

The study's lead author, UC Professor Randy Seeley, PhD, explained the theory behind the research in a Feb. 1 press release:

Peptides that target blood vessels in fat and cause them to go into programmed cell death (termed apoptosis) could become a model for future weight-loss therapies, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers. ...

"Think of fat tissue like a bathtub," [Prof. Seeley] says. "To keep the amount of water the same, you have to make sure that the speed of the water coming in and the water going out match. If the water is coming in faster than the water is going out, eventually you have to build a bigger bathtub.

"Obesity is the same. People who eat more calories than they burn have to build a bigger fat tissue 'bathtub,' and building new blood vessels is crucial to building this bigger bathtub. For each additional pound of fat tissue, you need to build a mile of blood vessels.

"What we found is that if we can target these fat tissue blood vessels, animals eat less and lose weight as their 'bathtubs' get smaller."

Labels: research, prevention

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As the United States and other nations continues the fight against childhood obesity, the health consequences associated with being overweight or obese are widely publicized. Getting less attention, however, are the damaging psychological effects obesity can have on kids.

Dr. Margaret Lewin, the medical director of Cinergy Health, addressed this topic in a Feb. 19 article on HealthNewsDigest.com:

LJ Griffiths' study of children at age 7 1/2 showed that obesity predicts a higher likelihood of bullying (boys -- presumably because of their physical dominance in their peer group) or being bullied (both sexes) than normal weight (or even moderately overweight) children.

Overweight girls are especially stigmatized when it comes to dating. In a study of adolescents, only 12 percent of the students had dated someone who was overweight, with only 8 percent of boys dating overweight peers.

Formal studies suggest a relationship between self-esteem and health. Whether obese or not, adolescents with poor self-esteem are more likely to engage in early sex, less likely to use birth control, have higher rates of teen pregnancies, are more likely to use tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs, and to attempt suicide.

Obesity can also lead teenagers into binge-eating, sometimes purging as well. In 2007, a study reported a 20 year research of obese adolescents in upstate New York. They found that obese girls were nearly four times more likely than normal weight girls to suffer major depression and anxiety disorders as adults.

Labels: self_esteem, mental_health

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Children who become obese teenagers are usually overweight by the time they are two years old, according to a new study in the journal Clinical Pediatrics.

• Dr. John Harrington of Eastern Virginia Medical School studied data on more than 100 obese children and teenagers.
• Dr. Harrington discovered that 90 percent of his subjects had been overweight by the time they were five years old.
  
• The researcher said that he believes that age two is a "tipping point" age for being overweight, although most of the children in the study began gaining weight as early as three months.

Dr. Harrington said that his study should be a wake-up call for pediatricians to address inappropriate weight gain in early infancy during well child visits.

Labels: parenting, infant, obese teens

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Children who are cared for by their grandparents are more likely to be overweight or obese, according to a new study from University College London.

• Researchers led by Dr. Catherine Law used health records from over 12,000 children ages nine months to three years old enrolled in the Millennium Cohort Study.
  
• If grandparents took care of the children part-time, the children's risk for being overweight rose by 15 percent
  
• If grandparents took care of them full-time, the obesity risk increased to 34 percent.

The study appeared in the International Journal of Obesity.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, grandparents

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Two 14-year-old British boys have received gastric band surgery, a type of weight loss surgery that is used to control weight in morbidly obese individuals. Prior to surgery, the boys each weighed in at around 250 pounds. They are the youngest Brits to receive the surgery.

A Feb. 15 article on the British news website telegraph.co.uk provided the following details about the boys' experiences with gastric band surgery:

The first of the teenage boys underwent the surgery in 2006 and the second had the operation last year. Obesity experts said the operations illustrated Britain's failure to come to terms with the problem.

Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said the surgery, which was believed to have been carried out on the NHS at Sheffield Children's Hospital in South Yorkshire, would have been a ''last resort'' after the boys' weight became life-threatening. ...

Mr Fry said National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) guidelines stated that such surgery for children should only be carried out in ''really extreme'' cases.

''It is something which is certainly not desirable but in some instances where life is threatened by the size of the child then this kind of surgery is appropriate,'' he said.

''Clearly, if it was life-threatening then that's what the doctors thought would be necessary. It is absolutely a last resort.''

Labels: obese teens, gastric band

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Obese children are at twice the risk of dying before their 55th birthdays, according to a new study of Native American children.

• Researchers from Umea University in Sweden reviewed the health records of 4,857 children born in Arizona between 1945 and 2009.
  
• About 30 percent were obese as children.
  
• Over a period of 24 years, 166 died, and those obese as children had twice the risk of premature death.
  
• High blood pressure, along with high blood sugar, played a role in premature death, but not cholesterol or high blood pressure alone.
  

This study appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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In a Feb. 10 statement, the American Nurses Association (ANA) expressed its support of First Lady Michelle Obamas campaign against childhood obesity:

As the largest nursing organization in the U.S., ANA stands ready to assist the First Lady to address this significant health problem through her program, Let's Move America's Move for a Healthier Generation.

"Nurses see first hand the devastating effects of obesity," said ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR. "Obesity can increase the risk of stroke, diabetes, heart disease and hypertension as well as many other illnesses. ... ANA recognizes the effects of obesity and pledges its ongoing support of programs that serve to address the issue."

The only full-service professional organization representing the interests of the nation's 2.9 million registered nurses, the ANA describes its mission as "fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the rights of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Congress and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public."

Labels: government, prevention, awareness, campaign

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A new study indicates that although people on low-carbohydrate diets lost about the same amount of weight as did those on low-fat diets, the low-carb groups were better able to lower their blood pressure.

• Dr. William Yancy of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, studied two groups of dieters for 11 months.
  
• The people in the low-carb group showed a 6 percent drop in blood pressure.
  
• Those in the low-fat group had only a 1.5 percent decrease in blood pressure.
• Both groups lost about the same amount of weight.

This study appeared in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Labels: low-carb diet, carbs

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Researchers with the School of Public Health at Imperial College London has found a genetic link to morbid obesity. Rather than mutated genes, however, researchers have discovered that a section of DNA is missing altogether.

A Feb. 8 report on MedicineNet.com provided the following details about the study:

• In the study, published in Nature, researchers first identified the missing genes in teenagers and adults who had learning difficulties or delayed development.
  
• The results showed 31 people had nearly identical deletions in one copy of their DNA.
  
• All of the adults with this genetic variation had a BMI over 30, which means they were obese.

The condition is rare, occurring in just seven of every 1,000 people, and seems to be linked with the onset of overweight and obesity in childhood.

Labels: genetics, obese-kids, morbid obesity

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Gerber is possibly the most trusted name in baby food. But the company has been criticized by a Canadian group because of the high amounts of sodium in some of the meals it markets for toddlers.

A Feb. 3 Canadian Press article provided the following details:

The Canadian Stroke Network and the Advanced Foods & Materials Network chose Gerber Graduates Lil' Entrees because the product line's Chicken & Pasta Wheel Pickups dinner contains 550 mg of sodium -- more than half a toddler's adequate daily intake of 1,000 mg.

The organizations say the amount of sodium in the prepared food is equivalent to that contained in two medium orders of McDonald's french fries. McDonald's Canada website says a medium order of fries contains 270 mg of sodium.

Yet labelling on the Gerber Graduates meal says it is "appropriate for children one year or older" and is "specially made for toddlers."

"There is a concern that eating too much sodium in childhood can lead to a preference for salty foods and, consequently, an increased risk of disease as an adult," said Dr. Kevin Willis, who leads efforts by the Canadian Stroke Network to raise awareness of the dangers of excessive sodium intake.

Labels: diet, nutrition, toddlers, sodium

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Taiwan may become one of the first countries in the world to ban junk food advertisements on children's television. The government also plans to impose a junk food tax after the bill banning commercials is passed.

Almost 30 percent of Taiwanese children are overweight or obese.

Labels: overweight, causes of childhood obesity, commercials

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A new study has found a strong link between family routines and the onset of childhood obesity. Researchers from Ohio State University say it's the first time three specific routines were assessed together.

According to a Feb. 8 ScienceDaily article, "in a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines."

The following three factors were associated with a lower prevalence of childhood obesity:

• Eating dinner as a family
• Getting an adequate amount of sleep
• Limiting TV viewing time.
  

Researchers also pointed out, however, that the study doesn't confirm whether the actions themselves aid in preventing obesity, or if they indicate the presence of other preventative factors.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, prevention, sleep, screen_time, family meals

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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: nutrition, healthy eating

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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

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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

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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

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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

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