A Canadian study found that 14 percent of adolescent boys and 20 percent of girls rate their health as "poor."

Researchers from Queen's University in Ontario used data on 2,384 students in the 9th and 10th grades to determine what factors influence teen health and what government programs could improve it. They found that teen health was a complex interaction between factors such as risk taking, family income and the degree to which an individual teen connects to others.

Low-income teens were twice as likely as their more affluent peers to engage in risky behavior including taking drugs, smoking tobacco, using alcohol, and not using seat belts or condoms.

"Our analysis actually states that social capital, affluence, and risk taking all influence health, but these things do not work together," said the study's author, Owen Gallupe. "To improve adolescent health, programs should reduce risk taking [and] improve social capital and levels of affluence."

This study appears in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Labels: health, income, research

Spending more than sixteen hours per week online, not getting enough sleep, and drinking too much increase a teenaged girl's chances of gaining weight, according to a new study from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Catherine Berkey examined lifestyle factors as they pertain to a teen's gaining weight over the course of one year. Using records from over 5,000 girls ages 14 to 21 years, Berkey determined the following:

• Girls who spent long hours of recreational time on the Internet had a 57 percent risk of gaining at least four pounds a year.


• Sleeping fewer than five hours a night and drinking more than two glasses of alcohol a week was also associated with weight gain.


• Coffee drinking was not associated with weight gain.

This study appears in the Journal of Pediatrics.

Labels: factors, research, weight_gain

Several recent studies have found that childhood obesity increases a person's risk for serious heart issues as an adult. It's estimated that heart disease could increase by as much as 16% once today's teenagers reach adulthood.

"According to an interview conducted by KATU News, 'We've simply never had a generation that's been this heavy from so early in life. The consequences of that are unprecedented and unknown,' said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity program at Children's Hospital Boston. He says that the results of these two studies may be underestimating the future health issues that may result from the weight problems this generation is struggling with."

An estimated 1/3 of US children are overweight or obese, leading to an increase in the diagnosis of things like type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Labels: heart_disease, research, studies

For over fifty years, nutritionists and doctors have depended on studies that prove adolescent acne is not related to adolescent diet.

Now an Australian study from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology found that teens who consume a healthy diet experience less acne.

Dr. Neil Mann and his colleagues had 22 males ages 15 to 21 years old follow the usual teen diet of white bread, potatoes, sugary drinks and snacks. A second group of 21 males was put on a healthy diet of whole grain breads and pasta, legumes, lean meat, fish, and lots of fruits and vegetables. Three months later, the boys on the healthy diet reduced their acne lesions in half and had no new lesions or infections.

"These results were astounding," Dr. Mann said.

This study appears in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

Labels: acne, diet, research

A recent study has discovered a link between gestational diabetes and obesity. Researchers at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research (CHR) in Portland, Oregon found the onset of gestational diabetes during pregnancy significantly increases the child's risk of becoming obese if the diabetes isn't treated.

"Hillier and colleagues analyzed the medical records of 9,439 women who gave birth between 1995 and 2000 in Portland, Ore., Washington State and Hawaii. They discovered that tots of pregnant women with untreated high blood sugar levels were 89 percent more likely to be overweight and 82 percent more likely to be obese by the ages of five to seven years... than were children of moms without gestational diabetes."

Teresa Hillier, the study's lead author, advises pregnant women to make sure their ob-gyn is screening for blood sugar levels and that women diagnosed with gestational diabetes stick to their treatment program. Read more at SCIAM.com.

Troubled teen boarding schools, like Excel Academy in Texas, offer help for children struggling with emotional and behavioral issues like substance abuse.

Labels: diabetes, health_risks, research

Vanderbilt University is conducting a study to determine how much energy kids really burn. A total of 200 children will participate in the study.

"The team says data from their study will result in a device that more accurately assesses calorie burning by kids in real life."

The study will take place on the Vanderbilt University campus, where kids will each spend a full day and night in a metabolic chamber. The chamber will measure their calories used during activities like using a treadmill or sitting at a desk and coloring.

Read more at Wave3.com.

Labels: metabolism, research, studies

A professor and his student assistants from the University of California – Merced will spend the next decade studying the causes of obesity among Central Valley children. The project will survey the exercise and eating habits of 8- to 18-year-olds in the area.

"The UC Merced students spent the last year surveying teenagers at Merced, Golden Valley, Buhach Colony and Atwater high schools. 'We asked a lot of questions about what they were snacking on, if they watch TV while they eat, their exercise patterns,’ said 19-year-old UC Merced student Jessica Romo."

Professor Rudy Ortiz hopes to discover where Central Valley children are in relation to Centers for Disease Control figures which show that 17.4 percent of 12- to 19-year-olds are overweight.

Read more at MercedSunStar.com.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, research

A committee that was convened in 2005 to develop comprehensive recommendations for fighting childhood obesity released its recommendations today. The Expert Committee on the Assessment, Prevention and Treatment of Child and Adolescent Overweight and Obesity was originally convened by the American Medical Association.

"The committee began meeting in early 2005 to study scientific data on the assessment, prevention and treatment of overweight and obese children. The committee then created 22 recommendations for health care professionals..."

Recommendations include a yearly assessment of weight status in all children - including body mass index, regular assessment of dietary patterns, and levels of physical activity. Read more online.

Labels: health_care, research, studies

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the nation's largest philanthropy devoted to improving health and health care for Americans, has pledged more than $500 million to be used over the next five years in the fight against childhood obesity.

Funds will be used to enhance access to affordable healthy foods in underserved low-income communities, provide greater opportunity for physical activity in schools and communities, and pay for child obesity research. One recent research study funded by the RWJF examined a three-year Arkansas initiative to combat obesity. According to the RWJF study, Arkansas, which has one of the highest rates of childhood obesity, has been able to halt this alarming trend by taking measures in the schools, such as recording children's BMI and reporting this each year to parents, along with tips for good nutrition and appropriate exercise.

Labels: funding, healthy_eating, research

On May 19th, Chicago will host a Shaping America's Youth event to discuss solutions to childhood obesity. With 23 percent of Illinois kindergartners and 33 percent of its high school students overweight, the state recognizes that childhood obesity has become a crisis. Shaping American's Youth hopes to find ways to solve the crisis.

"Chicago is the fourth city to host this nationally recognized event that brings together interested citizens from all demographic and socioeconomic groups. The high-tech, grass roots event engages all participants to brainstorm solutions with ideas immediately entered into a giant viewing screen and recorded for future evaluation in a petition that will eventually be sent to the White House to address this issue."

The May 19th meeting will take place at the Downtown Chicago Marriott from 9am – 4pm.

Read more online.

Labels: crisis, research, youth

Health officials are now saying than crankiness isn't the only thing to worry about if your child doesn't get enough sleep. An ongoing study at Yale is researching the connection between sleep, obesity, and diabetes.

Dr. Sumit Bhargava, of the Yale Pediatric Sleep Lab is studying "whether obese children who have obstructive sleep apnea are more likely to become diabetic."

Read more online.

Labels: diabetes, research, sleep

CBS3 in Philadelphia reported on new research that shows a link between childhood obesity and build up of fluid in the middle ear.

"Severely over-weight children who have related problems, like elevated cholesterol, also have increased rates of inner ear fluid build up, but researchers are not sure how to explain the connection."

Read more online.

Labels: health problems, research

Do you ever wonder why sugary, unhealthy snack foods and cereals marketed to children come in such wild colors, like bright blue, purple, green and red? It may be because what we see affects how we believe something tastes.

A recent study reported in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people identified a difference in taste - even when none existed - when the color of a beverage was changed. Using Tropicana orange juice, researchers asked participants to describe the taste difference between two cups of the beverage, which were identical except that one was colored a brighter orange with food coloring. The overwhelming majority identified the brighter orange juice as tasting sweeter.

Yet when two glasses of orange juice were presented with no color change between them but with one glass sweetened with sugar, the majority of study participants were unable to discern a difference in taste.

Labels: nutrition, research, tastes

The Los Angeles Times report that as little as 15 minutes of exercise every day could be enough to keep kids from gaining weight.

According to British and U.S. researchers, a study of 5,500 children wore "a motion sensor device showed that those who exercised more were less likely to be obese - and that short bursts of intense activity seemed to be the most helpful."

Read more about this study online.

Labels: exercise, research

A recent study conducted by Northwestern University finds that children who don't get enough sleep are at a higher risk of being overweight.

"A study followed 2,000 kids for five years, and found that kids who get just one extra hour of sleep are four to 6% less likely to be overweight. They also found that the kids who were getting more sleep overall weighed less at the end of the five year study."

Another reason to get your kids to bed early. Read more online.

Labels: causes of childhood obesity, research, sleep

Just saying no to television does not mean that your child will use that lost time to exercise, according to a new study from Harvard Medical School.

Researchers led by Elsie Taveras had over10,000 children ages 10 to 15 years fill out annual questionnaires about their television viewing during the four year study. Girls averaged about ten hours a week of TV; boys averaged about fourteen. However, if a child started to watch less television, he or she did not necessarily spend more time in physical activity.

"Television viewing and physical activities are separate constructs and not functional opposites," Taveras concluded. "Simply restricting viewing may not be effective in increasing physical activity."

This study appears in the February 2007 issue of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Labels: exercise, research