An Oprah threat to your health and the health of your children? Have you been misled?

Find out at www.Oprahcide.com or www.DeathByOprah.com

See FTC complaints about Oprah and her diet experts at www.JailForOprah.com

Monday, May 31, 2010

APA: Americans Report Willpower And Stress As Key Obstacles To Meeting Health-Related Resolutions

OMG! A sudden attack of partial good sense!
An administration task force chaired by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Education and Health and Human Services is asking the public for recommendations to solve the American obesity problem, and a new poll by the American Psychological Association (APA) may have some answers.

Long-term behavior change is necessary to overcome the barriers to healthy living. According to the APA poll conducted online by Harris Interactive in early March, fewer than one in five adults (16 percent) reported being very successful at making health-related improvements such as losing weight (20 percent), starting a regular exercise program (15 percent), eating a healthier diet (10 percent), and reducing stress (7 percent)1 so far this year, although about nine in 10 adults (88 percent) who resolved to make a health-related change say they have been at least somewhat successful at achieving it since January. Despite these efforts, about three-quarters (78 percent) of those who made a health-related resolution say significant obstacles block them from making progress, such as willpower (33 percent), making changes alone (24 percent), and experiencing too much stress (20 percent).

"Lasting lifestyle and behavior changes don't happen overnight. Willpower is a learned skill, not an inherent trait. We all have the capacity to develop skills to make changes last," said Katherine C. Nordal, PhD, executive director for professional practice at APA. "It is important to break down seemingly unattainable goals into manageable portions."
With certainty, willpower is the issue.

There is not a single creature in the known universe that will fail to lose weight if it consumes fewer Calories than it burns.

That is why all the money and resources spent on the fat to get them to lose weight will fail.

Nothing can overcome the lack of sufficient desire to succeed that results in real effort.

Period.

Multivitamin Use Linked To Increased Breast Cancer Risk

Oops.
Researchers in Sweden who studied data on over 35,000 middle aged and older women followed for 10 years found a link between taking multivitamins and increased risk of breast cancer and said this was of concern to public health and should be investigated further...

Many women use multivitamins in the belief that they will protect them from chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease, wrote the authors in their background information...

The results showed that:
974 women were diagnosed with incident breast cancer over a mean follow up of 9.5 years.

293 of the diagnoses were among 9,017 women who reported using multivitamins.

Use of multivitamins was linked to a statistically significant 19 per cent increased risk of breast cancer (after adjusting for lifestyle and risk factors like weight, diet, smoking, exercise, and family history of breast cancer, the relative risk of women who reported using multivitamins was 1.19, with confidence interval ranging from 1.04 to 1.37).

Hormone receptor status did not change the strength of this link significantly.

The authors concluded that:

"These results suggest that multivitamin use is associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. This observed association is of concern and merits further investigation."
Still think they have any idea what a "safe" supplement is?

Soy supplements show no diabetes benefit in study

Another bad day for soy. (e.g., see here, here and here)
Adding soy supplements to the diet may not improve blood sugar control in older women who are at high risk of or in the early stages of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests.

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, add to the conflicting body of research on soy and diabetes risk.

Lab research has suggested that soy proteins and soy isoflavones -- "phytoestrogen" compounds that are structurally similar to human estrogen -- may help control blood sugar levels. But so far, the few small clinical trials that have been done have reached different conclusions as to whether soy foods or soy-protein supplements are beneficial to people with diabetes.
Guess you fatsos will just have to lose the weight.

TFB.

Poor fat babies.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Organic Snackers Underestimate Calories, Study Shows

And it is all about Calories in vs. Calories out.
Could organic labels lead you to overeat? These labels certainly appear to make people think their organic snack has a lot fewer calories than it really does.

These findings were presented at this week's Experimental Biology conference in Anaheim, Calif. They showed that people who ate organic cookies labeled as "organic" believed that their snack contained 40% fewer calories than the same cookies that had no label, according to Jenny Wan-Chen Lee, a graduate student with the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

"An organic label gives a food a 'health halo,' said coauthor, Brian Wansink, Cornell professor and author of the book, Marketing Nutrition. It's the same basic reason people tend to overeat any snack food that's labeled as healthy or low fat. They underestimate the calories and over-reward themselves by eating more."
To wit, all the fatsos at Whore Foods.

Soy won't reduce cholesterol after menopause

Another shelf life expired.
Eating extra soy for one year doesn't help postmenopausal women cut their cholesterol levels, new research shows.

The findings support the Food and Drug Administration's 2007 move to reevaluate its decade-old decision allowing soy product makers to claim heart benefits, Dr. Sara Chelland Campbell of Florida State University in Tallahassee and her colleagues say.

When a woman stops having her period, her estrogen levels plummet, which in turn ups her total cholesterol level and her level of "bad" LDL cholesterol, while reducing her "good" HDL cholesterol levels, Campbell and her team explain in the journal Menopause.

Because soy contains estrogen-like substances called isoflavones, it has been promoted as having health benefits for women after menopause, including cutting cholesterol levels and strengthening bones.

Recent studies investigating soy and cholesterol levels in postmenopausal women have been short, or have only looked at individual soy components, the researchers note. They conducted the current study to investigate the long-term effects of soy protein in food, specifically 25 grams of soy protein and 60 milligrams of isoflavones every day for a year, in women after menopause...

Total cholesterol and "good" HDL levels showed a small increase in the women given soy products, the researchers found, while soy had no effect on "bad" LDL cholesterol levels or triglyceride levels...

Since 1999, Campbell and her colleagues note, the FDA has allowed soy product labeling to claim that diets low in saturated fat and cholesterol, along with 25 grams of soy protein daily, "may reduce the risk of heart disease."

Other recent studies have called this benefit into question, the researchers add, and the AHA in 2000 changed its position to say that the benefit of soy protein or isoflavones is "minimal at best."

They conclude: "Our results support the large body of literature showing no favorable alterations in the lipid profile as a result of the incorporation of 25 g/day of soy protein in the diet."
Soy long, soy?

Older Women With Diabetes Face Higher Risk For Colon Cancer

The vastly more common form of diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, is fat person diabetes.
A research team led by Mayo Clinic physicians has found that older women with diabetes face a more than doubled risk for some types of colorectal cancer. The findings are being presented at Digestive Disease Week 2010, the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological Association.
Kudos, fatsos.

You bet your ass on eating too many Calories and lost.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Very Low Weight Gain or Weight Loss Not Recommended for Most Obese Pregnant Women

Well, some do not. And some do.
Very low weight gain or weight loss is not recommended for most obese pregnant women, according to the results of a cohort study reported online March 31 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"Some clinicians have been pushing weight restriction for all classes of obese women," lead author Lisa M. Bodnar, PhD, MPH, RD, an assistant professor of epidemiology, obstetrics, and gynecology at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, said in a news release. "Our study indicates that a single standard for optimal weight gain for obese women may not fit the bill. Instead, we need to consider level of obesity and advise women accordingly."

Because of the lack of data to inform weight gain guidelines by obesity severity, the 2009 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Committee to Reevaluate Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines recommended that all obese pregnant women gain 5 to 9 kg at term. The goal of the present study in obese women who were stratified by severity of obesity was to evaluate associations between gestational weight gain and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) births, large-for-gestational-age (LGA) births, spontaneous preterm births, and medically indicated preterm births...

With increasing severity of obesity, the prevalence of excessive gestational weight gain decreased, and weight loss increased. Weight loss tended to predict SGA, medically indicated preterm births, and spontaneous preterm births, whereas high weight gain was linked to a higher risk for LGA and medically indicated preterm births. Probabilities of SGA and LGA were 10% or less, and the risk for medically indicated preterm births and spontaneous preterm births were minimal with weight gains of 9.1 to 13.5 kg for obesity class I, 2.2 to 9 kg for obesity class II, 2.2 to less than 5.0 kg for obesity class III white women, and less than 2.2 kg for obesity class III black women.

"These data suggest that the range of gestational weight gain to balance risks of SGA, LGA, sPTB [spontaneous preterm birth], and iPTB [medically indicated preterm birth] may vary by severity of obesity," the study authors write.

Limitations of this study include observational design, incomplete data on outcomes related to weight gain and on longer-term infant outcomes, lack of data on the pattern of weight gain, and lack of data on gestational diabetes or preeclampsia.

"Obese women may face increased complications of pregnancy," said senior author Barbara Abrams, DrPH, RD, professor of epidemiology, maternal and child health and public health nutrition at the University of California, Berkeley. "Appropriate weight gain may lessen these risks for the baby, so we strongly encourage all obese women to receive nutrition and lifestyle counseling throughout their pregnancies."
Either way, they have no idea what is "right."

Better to dissuade the fat from having kids since fatsos put themselves and their kids at risk.

Disease-Fighting Anti-Oxidants Discovered In Pure Maple Syrup

Eh?
Before you dig in to your next stack of French toast or waffles, you might want to pour on pure maple syrup.

That's because University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram, who specializes in medicinal plant research, has found more than 20 compounds in maple syrup from Canada that have been linked to human health, 13 of which are newly discovered in maple syrup. In addition, eight of the compounds have been found in the Acer (maple) family for the first time.

The URI assistant professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences in URI's College of Pharmacy presented his findings at the American Chemical Society's Annual Meeting in San Francisco. The project was made possible by Conseil pour le développement de l'agriculture du Québec (CDAQ), with funding provided by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food (ACAAF) program.
Any study bias?

Let's ask the Canadians.

Whose national flag has a MAPLE LEAF on it.

Gout Risk Factors For Women: Obesity, Hypertension, Alcohol And Diuretic Use

Oh, your aching fat joints.
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine found that women with serum uric acid levels over 5 mg/dl had a significantly lower risk of developing gout than men. This study, the first to examine the relationship between uric acid levels and gout risk in women, also evaluated purported risk factors for gout and found that increasing age, obesity, hypertension, alcohol use, and diuretic use to be among leading contributors for women. Results of this 52-year follow-up study...
Kudos, fatsos.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Early Termination of Clinical Trials May Overestimate Treatment Effects

Remember, you trust this data with your life.
Early termination of clinical trials may overestimate treatment effects, according to the results of a systematic review and meta-regression analysis reported in the...Journal of the American Medical Association.

"Although randomized controlled trials (RCTs) generally provide credible evidence of treatment effects, multiple problems may emerge when investigators terminate a trial earlier than planned, especially when the decision to terminate the trial is based on the finding of an apparently beneficial treatment effect," write Dirk Bassler, MD, MSc, from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and colleagues from the Study of Policy of Interim Truncation 2 Study Group. "Bias may arise because large random fluctuations of the estimated treatment effect can occur, particularly early in the progress of a trial. When investigators stop a trial based on an apparently beneficial treatment effect, their results may therefore provide misleading estimates of the benefit."
Maybe you should trust fitness instead.

FDA Seeks Comment, Information, Data On Front-of-Package Labeling And Shelf-Tag Symbols

Comment: won't work.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked for comments and information from the public and other interested parties about front-of-package nutrition labeling and on shelf tags in retail stores.

The FDA is seeking public participation as it deliberates about how to enhance the usefulness to consumers of point-of-purchase nutrition information. This includes information on the main display panel of food products, called "front-of-pack" labeling, as well as information on shelf tags in retail stores.

The FDA is seeking to learn more about

- the extent to which consumers notice, use and understand nutrition symbols on front-of-pack labeling of food packages or on shelf tags in retail stores

- research that assesses and compares the effectiveness of particular approaches to front-of-pack labeling

- graphic design, marketing and advertising data and information that can help develop better point-of-purchase nutrition information

- how point-of-purchase information may affect decisions by food manufacturers to reformulate products.

The front-of-pack nutrition labeling effort aims to maximize the number of consumers who readily notice, understand, and use point-of-purchase information to make nutritious choices for themselves and their families.

The FDA is accepting comments until July 28, 2010. Comments may be sent to,1 by entering Docket No. FDA-2010-N-0210. Written comments also may be sent to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305) Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville Md., 20852.
Next.

US warns of liver risk with Glaxo, Roche diet drugs

The IMHO malpractice known as diet drugs are living up to expectations.
Weight-loss drugs Xenical and Alli will carry new warnings about rare reports of liver injury, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration said it had not determined that Roche's prescription drug Xenical or Glaxo's over-the-counter pill Alli caused liver damage, but felt the public should be alerted because the condition is serious.

Patients should stop taking either medicine and consult a doctor if they notice any signs of liver injury, the FDA said. Symptoms may include itching, yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, light-colored stools or loss of appetite.

The FDA said it reviewed 12 cases of severe liver damage in patients outside the United States who took Xenical, and one in a U.S. patient who took Alli. Two died and three needed liver transplants.
Have no fear, they will find more bad associations.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Herbs, supplements often sold deceptively: US report

Really?
Sellers of ginseng, echinacea and other herbal and dietary supplements often cross the line in marketing their products, going as far as telling consumers the pills can cure cancer or replace prescription medications, a U.S. government probe found.

In an undercover probe, investigators at the Government Accountability Office also found that labels for some supplements claim to prevent or cure ailments like diabetes or heart disease - a clear violation of U.S. law.

GAO staff targeted supplements most popular with older consumers and posed as elderly buyers in stores or over the telephone.

"The most egregious practices included suspect marketing claims that a dietary supplement prevented or cured extremely serious diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease," the GAO said in a report released on Wednesday at a Senate hearing.
Huh. Go figger.

But they will not go after AdipOprah for her deceptions.

When you are an IMHO crooked billionaire, the world is your oyster and the Feds are in your pocket - especially when you helped elect the current quadrennial White House moron.

Weight loss guru:



Role model:





Role modelette, Michellesie "The First Fatty" Obama:











Osteoporosis Can Be Forestalled By Exercise

Another disease of choice from lack of TRAINING. (there is an important difference between exercise and training)
The stage for osteoporosis is set well before menopause - but exercise can help rewrite the script, according to Medical College of Georgia researchers.
And another thing not to pay for from your hard-earned income.

Fight back.

Regular Aerobic Exercise Is Good For The Brain

TRAINING! (Note the level of intensity: "an intensity that would improve fitness." By definition, that is training, not exercise.)
Regular exercise speeds learning and improves blood flow to the brain, according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine that is the first to examine these relationships in a non-human primate model. The findings are available in the journal Neuroscience.

While there is ample evidence of the beneficial effects of exercise on cognition in other animal models, such as the rat, it has been unclear whether the same holds true for people, said senior author Judy L. Cameron, Ph.D., a psychiatry professor at Pitt School of Medicine and a senior scientist at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Science University. Testing the hypothesis in monkeys can provide information that is more comparable to human physiology.

"We found that monkeys who exercised regularly at an intensity that would improve fitness in middle-aged people learned to do tests of cognitive function faster and had greater blood volume in the brain's motor cortex than their sedentary counterparts," Dr. Cameron said. "This suggests people who exercise are getting similar benefits."
Do it.

Unless you are stupider than a monkey.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Testosterone boosts skepticism

Two words - Anabolic Clinic.
...The study also adds support to the idea that testosterone influences human behavior, not necessarily by increasing aggression, but by motivating people to raise their status in the social hierarchy or become more socially dominant.

Testosterone might boost social watchfulness, making those who are most trusting a little more vigilant and better prepared for competition over rank and resources, the researchers say.

"To be more successful in competition you have to be sharp ... you have to be also socially sharp," researcher Jack van Honk of the University of Cape Town, South Africa told LiveScience. "And to be socially sharp it's not smart to trust people you don't know," he said.
Yes, it is for women, too.

'Pick the right veg' for health



Pick the wrong one - you die.


Obvious choices of fruit and vegetables are not necessarily the healthiest, say researchers.

According to US experts, making simple swaps like eating sweet potatoes instead of carrots and papaya rather than oranges could make a difference.

Foods, like raspberries, watercress and kale, are richer in phytonutrients which may help prevent disease, they told a US meeting.

UK nutritionists said a balanced diet is essential to good health.

The British Nutrition Foundation warned that relying on eating a few select food types to boost health was ill-advised and said there was no such thing as a "superfood".

Experts recommend five portions a day of fruit and veg in a healthy diet..

But the most popular varieties may not be the best, according to US researchers.
However, the 5-a-day experts are wrong about the "five part" and the "health" part.

Still, vegs and fruits are gonna be okay as long as you do the Calories out vs. Calories in thing so you do not develop overweight or obesity.

That is where problems lie.

Worrying Number Of Canadian Kids Not Physically Active Enough

What is more worrying is that adults think this will be a "fix" for childhood fatsoness:
Only 36% of 2 to 3 year old Canadian kids regularly engage in unorganized sport and physical activity each week, says a report issued by Active Healthy Kids Canada. The 2010 Report Card adds that only 44% of 4 and 5 year old kids regularly take part in unorganized sport and physical activity each week.

Early childhood is a critical period for growth and development, the authors explain. Parents, health care professionals, educators and caregivers (UK: carers) should work together to guarantee the foundation needed to sustain physical activity throughout life.

We should not assume that physical activity takes place naturally during early childhood and does not need to be investigated. The authors say that we need to know more about the link between physical activity and healthy early development.

What we do know about physical activity and lifestyle during those early years does not look good, the authors add:
A mere 36% of 2-3 year olds and 44% of 4-5 year old regularly take part in unorganized sport and physical activity each week.

Just 42% of preschoolers get 90 minutes of physical activity per day (according to a survey by Edmonton parents).
89% of children's time in childcare center settings is spent sitting down.

Children started watching TV at the age of 4 years in 1971. Now they are 5 months old.

Over 90% of Canadian children start watching TV before they are two years old. This is despite recommendations that TV watching should be kept to zero until the child is two.

The National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth estimates that 27% of 2 to 3 year-olds and 22% of 4 to 5 year-olds are sitting in front of the TB for over 2 hours each day.

The incidence of overweight/obesity in children under the age of 6 years is rising in Canada. Two regions report obesity rates of between 8% to 11% among children aged 2 to 5 years. National Data (Canada) estimates that 6.3% of 2 to 5 year-old Canadians are obese, while 15.2% are overweight.

A child who becomes obese before six years of age will probably be obese later on in his/her childhood.

An obese child is significantly more likely to become an obese adult, compared to other children.
Exercise is a terribly inefficient way to control weight.

However, developing a culture of physical activity, especially training (which is different from exercise) is an excellent concept.

The best way to "sell" something is honestly.

When the hype over exercise is removed and the disappointment of unfulfilled exercise-powered expectation is extincted, then it will be more possible to influence people, kids and adults, to engage in meaningful and successful physical activity.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

No evidence organic foods benefit health: study

No news here for Fitness Watch readers. (And see the article below)
Consumers who opt for organic foods often believe they are improving their health, but there is currently no strong evidence that organics bring nutrition-related health benefits, a new research review finds.

A "disappointingly small" number of well-designed studies have looked at whether organic foods may have health benefits beyond their conventional counterparts', according to the review, by researchers with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Health in the UK.

Moreover, they found, what studies have been done have largely focused on short-term effects of organic eating -- mainly antioxidant activity in the body -- rather than longer-term health outcomes. And most of the antioxidant studies failed to find differences between organic and conventional diets.

The review, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, adds to findings reported last year by the same research team.

In that study, the researchers combed through 162 articles published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, and found no evidence that organic and conventional foods differ significantly in their nutrient content.

For the current review, the researchers were able to find only 12 published studies that met their criteria for evaluating the health effects of organic foods.

"A surprising and important finding of this review is the extremely limited nature of the evidence base on this subject, both in terms of the number and quality of studies," write Dr. Alan D. Dangour and his colleagues.
The reason is that, based on good current knowledge, to eat healthily, i.e., to lower one's risk of developing certain bad illnesses, one merely has to eat so that his/her BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9.

There are no good data to suggest that if one gets there eating boneless, skinless, free-range organic chicken breasts he or she is healthier than someone who eats red meat and achieves the same BMI.

If you really want to learn how to eat healthily, which is different from eating healthy foods since there are none of which we are aware, go here.

Pricey grocery stores attract skinniest shoppers

Wrong observation, wrong conclusion. Par for the course. See the article above.
The percentage of food shoppers who are obese is almost 10 times higher at low-cost grocery stores compared with upscale markets, a small new study shows.

Researchers say the striking findings underscore poverty as a key factor in America’s growing girth.
Although I almost never shop at Whore Foods, I do see them frequently in places where I do my real shopping.

Admittedly, this is anecdotal, but in all my trips to places where there are Whore Foods, the shoppers waddling in and out are still too damn big at a high rate that rivals the less chi-chi, less highfalutin places I frequent or visit.

Clearly, it is not the food at this rip-off store, and its ilk, as the data remain clear that "organic" foods are no "healthier" than "non-organic" foods.

So spending more on the kinds of food sold at these high-end, rip-off stores does not make you slim, and by implication/extension, healthier.

Lower income, by the way, is associated with being less educated. Perhaps, if there is a difference in fatsoness between the wealthier and the poorer, it may be due to the higher incidence of not as smart/educated among the poorer folk.

But this is perhaps not the case since in the developing world where there is less wealth than in the developed world, rates of overweight/obesity are, in general, lower.

(It is of some note that the articles addressed the high-endedness of the store, but not how much people spent on Calories, i.e., the alleged/implied "poorer" may actually spend as much on Calories as the alleged/implied wealthier.)

So we have ruled-out rip-off foods as a cause or cure. You can decide if fat, poorer people are bigger morons than skinny wealthier people. You can also decide if fat, wealthy people are the most stupid of all since they are so stupid that they overcame the implied benefits of bucks.

When you have come to your conclusions, consider these real issues/truths.

First, overweight/obesity causes poverty. This is known as poveresity.

Second, expert diet advice makes weight loss for rich and poor alike impossible. To wit, AdipOprah - a really rich, really fat person who can buy Whore Foods.



Third, the First Fatty, Michellesie "The Cow" Obama can shop at Whore Foods and look what wealth (it is not recent) has done for her figure:













Fourth, witness the embarrassment known as the Surgeon General, Regina Benjamin. She can afford Whore Foods and she is another cow:



And, fifth, take Kelly Brownell, the guru of the anti-junk food movement. He can afford Whore Foods.

This is Kelly Brownell, the FAT, anti-junk food crusader:





Unless one is brain dead stupid, he or she has to realize that the expert's advice and conclusions simply do not add up to what happens in the real world.

Except for keeping people fat. Their advice adds up to more Calories on the body.

Which means that these are the people who are keeping/making you sick and, IMHO, making you die after needless suffering.

It is not about Whore Foods. It is not about money. It is not about school lunches. It is only about Calories in, Calories out.

Period.

To be fair, in defense of the article the title might be construed as correct. These stores may attract the skinniest shoppers. They do not cause the shoppers to be skinny.

I do not believe this is what the authors had in mind, however.

Emotional Freedom Technique May Help Reduce Food Cravings

Success is near! So says "an academic title holder in Griffith University's School of Medicine" so it's gotta be true.
Psychological acupuncture has been shown to be successful in reducing food cravings for up to six months in people who are overweight or obese.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) combines gentle tapping on pressure points while focussing on particular emotions and thoughts.

Psychologist Dr Peta Stapleton, an academic title holder in Griffith University's School of Medicine, said that EFT was painless and easy to learn.

Her research also showed the impact on food cravings was almost immediate and long lasting. Food cravings significantly reduced after just four, two-hour sessions and were maintained at a six-month follow-up.

"Participants in the trial were surprised by how quickly the technique works - that it doesn't take a lot of time to eliminate food cravings they may have had for many years," Dr Stapleton said.
Not.

Better to tap on your big, fat belly and focus on your emotional distress from being fat.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Shortage of Nurses Means Death After Hip Fracture

Two words - Anabolic Clinic.
Low nurse staffing levels are associated with increased mortality among elderly patients admitted to hospital with hip fractures, new research suggests.

In a retrospective cohort study presented here at the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons 2010 Annual Meeting, the risk for death among elderly patients in the hospital with hip fractures increased 22% when the nursing staff was reduced by 1 full-time nurse each day, Peter Schilling, MD, from the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, told meeting delegates.

"It is estimated that nearly 5% of elderly patients admitted with a hip fracture die during their initial hospitalization, and another third die within a year of their injury," he said. "There is very little research on how to reduce the risk of complications in these patients, but there is growing evidence of the importance of nurse staffing levels in reducing morbidity and mortality in this vulnerable population."
Hip fractures have been a deadly disease for years. Nothing new here.

Men are more likely to die from them sooner than women.

Maybe they are right about the nursing shortage making a bad situation worse.

The real issue is how to avoid fractures in the first place.

I repeat - Anabolic Clinic.

Genes affect smoking behavior, lung cancer risk

More genetic quackery.
Addicted to smoking and unable to quit? Your genes may be partly to blame, according to a trio of studies published Sunday in Nature Genetics that link several gene variants to a range of smoking habits, as well as increased risk for lung cancer.

Collectively, the researchers on the studies analyzed the DNA profiles of more than 140,000 people -- smokers and nonsmokers. They also studied whether genetic variants affect whether people start smoking, how much they smoke and whether they are able to quit.

In one study, researchers found that a single-letter change in the DNA code of chromosome 11 was strongly associated with taking up smoking and another on chromosome 9 was associated with quitting smoking. (Humans have 23 pair of chromosomes).

"This lends support to the idea that smoking is not just a question of will power alone, but that genetics plays a role in how much a person smokes and their ability to quit smoking," Dr. Helena Furberg from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, who was involved in the research, noted in an email to Reuters Health.
Just like pedophilia which is apparently also "hardwired" into the brain.

And fear of snakes.

So the next time someone rapes a kid, better hope the offender is not a smoker aware of this research or you can expect the "genetically hardwired" defense.

GPs Want More Nutrition Information In Order To Better Advise Patients, UK

Just shows how stupid a class of physicians you get when you nationalize sick care.
Research has revealed that diabetes and obesity are the chronic disease areas which GPs want more information about and that, in order to better advise patients, they also wish to have much greater access to nutrition and diet resources.

The survey, carried out by Doctors.net.uk, revealed that over two thirds (67 per cent) of doctors with an opinion want to receive nutritional information from food and nutraceutical manufacturers, with three in five (62 per cent) requesting online access to that information.
Morons - it is Calories in vs. Calories out.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Idiots.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Benefits Of Aerobic Training Outclass Those Of Lower-intensity Walking Programs

What we have been saying for years.
What to do: walk around the block or work up a sweat in an aerobic workout at the gym? If you're looking for the best health benefits from an exercise program, a traditional aerobic fitness program that gets your heart pumping beats a walking program hands down...

University of Alberta researchers compared fitness training to a pedometer-based walking program, measuring the fitness and health outcomes of each. Programs were designed so participants would expend the same amount of energy in each regimen.

The six-month study, published by exercise physiologist, Gordon Bell, in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, recruited 128 physically inactive men and women between 27 and 65 years of age with no known cardiovascular or other diseases. "Physically inactive" was defined by researchers as taking fewer than 5500 steps per day over a seven day period and not participating in any form of regular exercise.

Comparing fitness and walking groups, researchers found that after six months those in the supervised fitness program showed significantly greater reductions in
their systolic blood pressure (~9 per cent versus 3 per cent),
rating of perceived exertion ( 10 per cent versus no change), the effort measured during submaximal exercise
ventilatory threshold ( 15 per cent versus 4 per cent) - this is the point at which respiratory changes occur and respiration begins to become increasingly difficult during progressive exercise
peak VO2 , a measurement of peak oxygen intake (9 per cent versus 3 per cent).

"The participants in the traditional fitness program improved their fitness-based response more than those in the walking program," says Bell. "The magnitude of that difference in improvement was very clear."

However, he says, it's not the type of exercise program for everyone.
Right.

Only for those who want to see results and experience success.

More U.S. Women May Be Obese Than Thought

The farm apparently has more pig-ettes.
A new study says federal guidelines on obesity should be revised so more women fit into the category of "obese."

U.S. guidelines determine who is obese based on body-mass index, a measurement of whether a person's height and weight are proportional. The researchers found that about half the women of reproductive age considered obese under World Health Organization guidelines -- which use body-fat analysis instead -- were not obese under federal guidelines.

Under the international guidelines, about half of white women and more than two-thirds of Latino women are considered obese.

"It is especially important to accurately assess obesity in reproductive-age women, as they are more likely to be obese than similarly aged men," study author Dr. Mahbubur Rahman, an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical Branch's Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, said in a news release from the school. "These women are at risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other obesity-related health conditions, and may forgo or be overlooked for needed tests and treatments."
Not to mention the harms fat parents heap on their kids.

Which, incidentally, responsible researchers should have mentioned.

This Barbecue Season Spice Up Your Health

A good thing since barbecued food kills you.
A new study at The University of Western Ontario finds the sauces you use when firing up the barbecue this summer may provide unforeseen health benefits.

The research, led by Western biology and psychology postdoctoral fellow Raymond Thomas, shows common marinades may be more than just tasty sauces - they can also provide a major source of natural antioxidants. The paper was co-authored by Mark Bernards and Christopher Guglielmo in Western's department of biology.

Foods rich in antioxidants play an essential role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, inflammation and problems associated with cutaneous aging.

"Herbs and spices are excellent sources of antioxidants, but estimating consumption rates can be difficult considering they are not generally consumed in large quantities, compared to fruits and vegetables," says Thomas. "Instead, they are used in relatively small amounts as ingredients in recipes and formulations such as spice mixes and marinating sauces that enhance food flavour."

Diverse processing methods during manufacture, length of marinating time and exposure to various modes of cooking can significantly alter the antioxidant status of these products and, consequently, the amount of antioxidants available to consumers.

Thomas was able to show for the first time the impact of marinating and cooking meat on the antioxidant status of seven different popular brands and flavours of marinade containing herbs and spices as primary ingredients. Each is readily available at local grocery stores and included jerk sauce, garlic and herb, honey garlic, roasted red pepper, lemon pepper garlic, sesame ginger teriyaki and green seasoning.

His research found very good quantities of antioxidants in all seven sauces, but that marinating meat prior to cooking reduced antioxidant levels by 45-70 percent. Both Grace Jerk Sauce and Renée's Sesame Ginger Teriyaki outperformed the other five sauces tested before and after cooking because they contain substantial quantities of ingredients like hot peppers, allspice, sesame and ginger - all of which have high antioxidant properties.
But so do antioxidants.

What's a consumer to do?

You could try eating and enjoying. Just don't overeat.

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Physical Activity Guidelines For Americans Interpreted For Practical Use

What a novel concept.
The first formal U.S. government recommendations on physical activity, the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, were published in 2008. Now, those guidelines have been interpreted for practical use by health care professionals in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, published by SAGE.
And it only took from 2008 until now.

Don't worry.

You did not miss much.

They will not succeed anyway. (e.g., see here, here, here and here)

And here is another novel concept:
In the future, federal health policy will likely place more of an emphasis on preventing chronic diseases than just on treatment of disease. Resources such as the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans will help medical and public health professionals respond effectively to the new expectations and opportunities.
Feel the excitement.

Fish Oil Claims May be Snake Oil

C'mon. How can this be true?
Claims that fish oil supplements preserve cognition should not be swallowed hook, line, and sinker, researchers said.

In a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of nearly 900 septuagenarians, the omega-3 fatty acid supplements had no effect on cognition, according to Alan Dangour, PhD, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and colleagues.

Over a two-year period, there was no difference in cognitive decline in either the fish oil or placebo arm of the study, the longest yet conducted, Dangour and colleagues said online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

"There is no evidence of an important benefit for memory or concentration," Dangour said in a statement...

The findings come from the so-called OPAL study (for Older People And omega-3 Long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids), which enrolled 876 healthy and cognitively sound people in Britain, ages 70 through 79.

They were randomized to get either an olive oil placebo or the combination of 200 milligrams of eicosapentaenoic acid and 500 milligrams of docosahexaenoic acid daily for two years.

Eicosapentaenoic and docosahexaenoic acid are omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, commonly found in oily fish. They have been associated with cognitive benefits in observational studies, but there was no evidence of a positive effect in a recent six-month randomized trial, the researchers said.

"Current evidence of a benefit for cognitive health is not convincing," the researchers said.
Here is the problem.

The researchers did not test to see if the decline stopped when the subjects reached the cognitive level of a fish.

My bet is that the fish oil will work for that.

Clearly, more research is needed.
Adverse events were minor -- typically annoyances as flatulence, belching, abdominal discomfort, and loose stools -- and were not significantly different between the groups, the researchers found.
Preferably performed in a well-ventilated room.

AAN: Fitness Loss No Faster in AD than in Non-Demented

Good news or bad news depending on your perspective.
Over time, people with mild Alzheimer's disease lose cardiorespiratory fitness -- but no faster than people without dementia, a researcher said here.

The finding, from a longitudinal study of 108 older people, was "somewhat surprising," according to Eric Vidoni, PhD, of the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

But at the same time, a decline in fitness was correlated with more rapid progression of dementia, he said at the annual meeting here of the American Academy of Neurology.
Good news:
If you are a demented AD person, your fitness decline is apparently no worse than a non-demented person.

Bad news:
If you are supposedly not demented, you are no worse off than the demented. (maybe this is good news to some)

Bad news:
If you let your fitness decline, perhaps you are demented, only undiagnosed.

Bad news:
Fat people are either demented or at higher risk of dementia.

Bad news:
Fat people have already declined in their fitness.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Miller-McCune: 'Existing Beliefs' Can Stand In The Way Of Medical Research

Clearly.
After a scientist found that runners' widespread habit of using ibuprofen before long races didn't help them, and may even cause more inflammation than doing nothing, a group of runners presented with the evidence still said they would continue using the drug, reports Miller-McCune, a Santa Barbara-based public policy magazine. The researcher who conducted the study said, "They really, really think it's helping. ... Even in the face of data showing that it doesn't help, they still use it."

That reaction is not usual. "A surprising number of medical practices have never been rigorously tested to find out if they really work. Even where evidence points to the most effective treatment for a particular condition, the information is not always put into practice." But, the reticence to accept new ideas in medicine may be an obstacle for government officials who hope to spend billions of dollars on so-called comparative effectiveness research that would determine which treatments are most effective. "These efforts are bound to face resistance when they challenge existing beliefs" (Aschwanden, 4/20).
Which is why diets continue to fail, physical fitness programs do not succeed, workplace wellness programs are worse than useless, diseases are not prevented, exercise does not result in meaningful weight loss and eating healthily cannot be achieved.

Forecasting Rates of Overweight



And the nutritional child abuse beat goes on.
Obesity rates for American adults have stabilized while the rate of childhood and minority obesity is rising, according to a study in the journal Medical Decision Making, published by SAGE.
Fat parents have fat kids.



Kudos, fatsos.

AACE: Bariatric Surgery May Just Mask Diabetes

Almost certainly true.
Bariatric surgery may appear to cure diabetes based on measurements such as fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c, but postprandial glucose may tell a different story, researchers here said.
In a case report, a patient who had had bariatric surgery achieved fasting blood sugar and HbA1c results that allowed him to stop taking insulin, but he frequently had postprandial blood sugar scores above 200 mg/dL, according to Anna Marina, MD, and Dace Trence, MD, of the University of Washington in Seattle...

"Fasting blood glucose and HbA1c are insufficient criteria to establish remission of diabetes after surgery," Marina said. "Glucose tolerance tests or continuous glucose monitoring should be considered to provide a better assessment of glycemic status in this group of patients."

Bariatric surgery has increasingly been championed as a cure for type 2 diabetes, potentially through improvement in insulin resistance and secretion. Fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c often provide evidence of that conclusion.

But, Marina said, while these results certainly improve diabetes outcomes, they shouldn't yet be called a cure.

She bases her conclusions on a case report of a 55-year-old patient with a body mass index (BMI) of about 45 kg/m2 who'd had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. He'd previously had a seven-year history of diabetes.

After surgery, the patient's insulin requirements dropped from 100 units to 30 units daily. At four months, he'd lost more than 100 pounds, and his HbA1c and fasting plasma glucose were markedly improved -- falling from 9 to 6.1%, and into the normal 90 to 150 mg/dL range, respectively.

At that point, he no longer needed insulin.

At seven months after surgery, the patient's HbA1c was 6.2%, and his fasting glucose was normal, but he had sporadic postprandial glucose of 180 mg/dL.

Subsequent three-day continuous glucose monitoring revealed spikes in postprandial blood glucose above 200 mg/dL, and peaking at 294 mg/dL.

The researchers gave him repaglinide to lower his postprandial hyperglycemia.

Marina said the findings are consistent with the results of a larger study by Roslin et al, which looked at 38 patients more than six months after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Six patients had diabetes before surgery, and five of them thought their disease had been cured until glucose tolerance testing proved otherwise.

The researchers also cited flaws in the 621 studies involved in a meta-analysis by Buchwald et al, which concluded that bariatric surgery was a cure for diabetes.

They said most of the studies were retrospective, single-armed, and made up of relatively young women. Also, only 1.6% of them provided Class I evidence.

Marina concluded that HbA1c and fasting blood glucose measurements aren't sufficient criteria to establish a "curing" of type 2 diabetes after gastric bypass surgery.

Rather, postprandial blood glucose or continuous glucose monitoring should be considered in order to "provide a clear assessment of glycemic status specific to gastric bypass surgery effects in those with established type 2 diabetes."

Arthur Chernoff, MD, chair of endocrinology at Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, said the results are feasible, as it's challenging to decide at which point the patient indeed has diabetes.

"It doesn't surprise me that some patients [who've had bariatric surgery] will have high blood sugar because I don't think that the procedure cures whatever it is that's causing diabetes in the first place," said Chernoff, who wasn't involved in the study.
Just keep telling yourself, "Weight loss, weight loss, weight loss and keep it off - naturally."

Thursday, May 20, 2010

BMI Underestimates Obesity in Young Women

So it is not as rosy as we think.
Body mass index thresholds for obesity miss nearly half of reproductive-age women who meet the criteria by percent body fat, researchers found.
Taking into account race or ethnicity could boost the accuracy of BMI in this group, said Mahbubur Rahman, MD, PhD, MPH, and Abbey B. Berenson, MD, MMS, both of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
BMI is still the best indicator of fatsoness there is.

This approach of including additional data may make it even better.

And demonstrates that the situation is even worse.

AACR: No Statin Benefit in Colon Cancer, Maybe Some Harm

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?
Statins offer no protection against colorectal adenomas and might even increase the risk of the precancerous lesions with long-term use, according to a subset analysis of a large prevention trial.
Overall, statin users had a nonsignificant 24% increased risk of adenomas during five years of follow-up. However, the hazard jumped to almost 40% in patients who took statins for more than three years (P=0.024).

"Preliminary data suggesting that statins may prevent colorectal cancer are not supported by this prospective analysis of a subset," Monica Bertagnolli, MD, of Harvard, said at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting here. "More clinical data are needed to determine whether statins can actually increase adenoma risk, as this observational result was only significant in the subset of patients who were using statins for more than three years and who were also taking placebo."
Oops.

Dietary Assessment Method Affects Results Of Study Of Association Between Fiber And Colorectal Cancer Risk

Still trust the experts?
High dietary fiber intake was associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer when researchers used data from food diaries but not when they used data obtained from food frequency questionnaires, according to a study published online April 20 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
If you are inclined to, do so with many grains of salt.

At least for as long as the IOM and FDA allow you access to the stuff.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Perception: Skinny People Aren't Lazy But Overweight People Are

Perception?
Research at the University of Alberta shows that when a thin person is seen laying down watching television, people assume they're resting. But when people see an overweight person relaxing, it's automatically assumed they're lazy and unmotivated.
Clearly, almost all fat people are unmotivated enough to succeed at either consuming fewer Calories than they burn or burning more Calories than they consume.

Or too lazy to do either.

Perception is not the problem, anyway.

Fat people being fat is.

Body Mass Index Gain Throughout Adulthood May Increase Risk Of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer

You have to be a boob to lose a boob or two to getting fat.
Reported mid-life increase in body mass index (BMI) may lead to substantially higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, according to results of a prospective cohort study presented at the American Association for Cancer Research 101st Annual Meeting 2010.

In previous studies, excess weight has been linked with increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer. Scientists have speculated that in postmenopausal women, estrogen produced in adipose tissue, or body fat, may promote breast cell proliferation.
There are better ways to lose weight than lopping off a breast.

At least I think so.

Shouldn't you?

FDA Adds New Precautions to Old Anti-Thyroid Drug

As they will find more problems with the IMHO malpractice known as diet drugs.
The FDA has added a black box warning -- its strongest caution -- to the label of the hyperthyroidism drug propylthiouracil, alerting patients to a risk of severe liver damage or failure with use.
Oops.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

FDA Wants You . . . to Snitch on Illegal Drug Ads

But FTC won't do crap when AdipOprah and her IMHO crook cronies make false ads.
A new FDA program seeks to enlist healthcare professionals in flagging improper sales tactics for prescription drugs.

Although the agency calls the program "Bad Ad," its interest goes beyond broadcast and print advertisements to include misleading in-person presentations.
Here is the FDA letter.

Bad drug ads are bad, but they do not harm as many people IMHO as AdipOprah and her experts. (e.g., see here, here, here and here)

No Facts to Back Up This Secondhand Smoke Claim

This claim and more.
The pervasive claim that secondhand smoke is 23 times more toxic in cars than in the home does not appear to be based on scientific evidence.

The widely reported 'fact' appears to have originated in a 1998 Rocky Mountain News story about proposed legislation to ban smoking in cars containing children, according to Ross MacKenzie, MA, and Becky Freeman, MSc, of the University of Sydney School of Public Health in Australia.

In the story, the state legislator who introduced the legislation was quoted as saying she had become concerned about the issue upon hearing the now ubiquitous claim.

The statement continues to pop up in the medical literature, on government and advocacy organization Web sites, and in the mass media to this day.

However, MacKenzie and Freeman were unable to find an original scientific source for the figure.

Perpetuation of the claim presents a credibility problem, MacKenzie and Freeman wrote in an analysis in CMAJ.
Still think you should believe what the experts say?

Preventing Type 2 Diabetes: Launch Of Europe-Wide Recommendations

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.
Researchers and clinicians from across the UK have been part of a pan-European team that has developed the first Europe wide strategy for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. The project received substantial funding of 1.2 million euros from the European Union (EU).

Entitled IMAGE (Development and Implementation of a European Guideline and Training Standards for Diabetes Prevention), the final recommendations produced by those involved in the project was launched at the 6th World Congress on Prevention of Diabetes and its Complications, Dresden, Germany on 9th April 2010. The IMAGE project involved experts from 20 countries, including diabetes specialists, GPs, nurses, patient organisations, public health and policy experts, health researchers, epidemiologists and behavioural scientists.

Prevention programmes aimed at preventing people who have high risk of type 2 diabetes from developing the illness have been proven to work, yet prevention strategies in Europe are fragmented. Programmes in Finland and Germany have led the way, but with the number of people with type 2 diabetes rising across Europe, the need for evidence based guidelines for putting prevention into practice is seen as a public health priority.

It is predicted that one in 10 Europeans aged 20-79 will have developed diabetes by 2030. Its reach is growing - once a disease of old age, diabetes is now affecting adolescents and children and the highest increase is in the 30-40 year old age group. Diabetes now accounts for up to 18 per cent of total healthcare expenditure in Europe and costs an estimated £9 billion per year in the UK.

However, recent evidence has proven that people who are on a 'metabolic trajectory' towards developing diabetes (which is largely driven by excess reserves of fat in the body) can be prevented from developing the disease. People who are at high risk of type 2 diabetes who can achieve relatively moderate changes in their lifestyle (5% weight loss, 150 minutes of moderate activity per week, changes in diet (fat and fibre intake) have a much lower chance of developing diabetes. In a number of recent, high quality trials, the rate of progression (after three to seven years) for people receiving interventions to support changes in diet and physical activity was halved (49%) compared with people receiving usual healthcare. Furthermore, the more lifestyle changes people made, the better they did - amongst people who made four of five lifestyle changes, the rate of progression to type 2 diabetes was 0 per cent...

"Lifestyle interventions have been proven to work and the potential healthcare cost savings are immense. If high quality programmes, based on the IMAGE guideline are implemented to support lifestyle change in people at risk, the incidence of type 2 diabetes can potentially be halved.

"However, to deliver national strategies for diabetes prevention and reap these benefits would require substantial investments - well-trained prevention personnel working alongside GPs and nurses on a large scale. These systems could also be applied to managing cardiovascular risk. The question now is what will politicians and health services do with this information? In short, we know that diabetes prevention is possible and that the cost savings for health care and for society would be substantial - but do we have the courage to do it?"
After all is said and done, weight loss is the fix.

But the nutcases in Europe "do not have the courage to do" what is right.

Stop rescuing the fat from their diseases of choice.

In short order, that will work to cut the incidence of Type 2 diabetes.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Low-Income Women Living In Small Cities Have Higher Chance Of Obesity

So much for low access to food stores as a cause of fatosity.
A recent Kansas State University study found that the availability of supermarkets -- rather than the lack of them -- increased the risk of obesity for low-income women living in small cities. This suggests that policies to increase healthful eating behaviors might need to be tailored based on geographic location.

K-State researchers studied the availability of food stores for low-income women in Kansas to see whether there was a link to obesity. The findings showed that limited availability of grocery stores did not contribute to an increased risk of obesity in metropolitan or rural areas, but it was associated with an increased risk of obesity in micropolitan areas in Kansas, defined as cities with fewer than 40,000 people.
Still think they have any idea what is going on?

BTW, "improving access to healthy foods" is what the First Cow calls "a major barrier to healthy eating."

Michellesie "The Cow" Obama is an idiot. A fat idiot, to boot. (see images below)

Just consume fewer Calories than you burn if you want to lose weight.

That is all it takes.

Nothing more, nothing less.

And you can do it anywhere; population size is irrelevant.

Role modelette, Michellesie "The First Fatty" Obama:











Remarkable Effects of Fat Loss on the Immune System

Remarkable.
Australian scientists have shown for the first time that even modest weight loss reverses many of the damaging changes often seen in the immune cells of obese people, particularly those with Type 2 diabetes.

The immune system is made up of many different kinds of cells that protect the body from germs, viruses and other invaders. These cells need to co-exist in a certain balance for good health to be maintained. Many factors, including diet and excess body fat, can tip this balance, creating immune cells that can attack, rather than protect, our bodies.

It has been known for some time that excess body fat, particularly abdominal fat, triggers the production of 'pro-inflammatory' immune cells, which circulate in the blood and can damage our bodies. In addition, other inflammatory immune cells, known as macrophages, are also activated within fat tissue.

The recent study looked at obese people with Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes who were limited to a diet of between 1000 and 1600 calories a day for 24 weeks. Gastric banding was performed at 12 weeks to help restrict food intake further. The study determined the effects of weight loss on immune cells
Isn't it?

SNA Supports White House Childhood Obesity Task Force Recommendations For Funding For School Meals

A confederacy of dunces.
The School Nutrition Association (SNA) commends the Obama Administration for its continued efforts to combat childhood overweight and obesity. Today the White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity unveiled its action plan, Solving the Problem of Childhood Obesity within a Generation, and called for increased resources for school meals as a critical part of the solution.

"We are very excited that President and Mrs. Obama have recognized how crucial the school nutrition programs are to the health and academic success of our nation's children, particularly as Congress prepares to reauthorize the Child Nutrition Act," said SNA President Dora Rivas, MS, RD, SNS. "The Task Force's report recognizes the many challenges school nutrition programs face as they provide healthy, nutritious school meals to students everyday and emphasizes the need to increase funds for school meal programs as they work to build on this success"
These are the same morons who got us here:
Federal School Nutrition Programs Linked To Obesity

With obesity becoming an epidemic among school-aged children in this country, a Georgia State University professor has found a link between overweight children and federal school nutrition programs.
Morons all the way down.

Michellesie Obama, The First Fatty:












Sunday, May 16, 2010

Erectile Dysfunction a Red Flag for Mortality, Cardiovascular Events

Of course, the flag is at half-mast, if you know what I mean.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a robust predictor of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular events in men with cardiovascular disease or those with risk factors, new data show.

ED and cardiovascular disease both are associated with endothelial dysfunction, "so it was reasonable to assume that ED was related to cardiovascular outcomes and possibly both cardiovascular-related and all-cause death."
And guess what is linked to ED.

Obese-ET.

Obesity Task Force Urges Docs to Measure BMI

More data confirming that The First Cow does not know s**t.
Physicians should record body mass index (BMI) of their pediatric patients during routine offices visits, according to a sweeping new plan laid out by a White House task force on ways to shrink childhood obesity rates over the next 20 years...

The 124-page report to the president calls for actions that can be taken by the federal government, state and local governments, schools, and healthcare professionals, as well as the agricultural and food industries, but it does not call for any new funding or legislation.

Besides tracking changes in BMI, the report calls on doctors and other providers to share the information with parents, who often don't accurately perceive the weight of their overweight or obese child, the task force said.
Actually, "The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended since 2003 that pediatricians track BMI; federal growth charts have included BMI since 2000." (from here)

Michellesie Obama, The First Fatty:












Regulate Salt, IOM Says

More regulatory efforts with little hope of succeeding.
The Institute of Medicine has called on the FDA to regulate the amount of salt added to foods and gradually decrease sodium content as American palates adjust to the change.

Public health and education campaigns have not worked, the authors of an IOM report argue, so a new model that levels the playing field industrywide is needed.

"The goal is to slowly, over time, reduce the sodium content of the food supply in a way that goes unnoticed by most consumers as individuals' taste sensors adjust to the lower levels of sodium," they wrote.

The IOM wants the FDA to amend the level of salt consumption generally recognized as safe (GRAS) to a safer one. Currently, the agency recommends no more than 2,300 mg per day, which amounts to about a teaspoon.

Most Americans, however, get 50% more than that, or about 3,400 mg per day.

According to a report in the Washington Post, the FDA will follow the recommendations with an initiative later this year that would lead to the first legally-enforceable limits on the amount of salt allowed in food products.
Really, if they wanted to regulate something that would make a real difference, wouldn't outlawing cigarettes be a better idea?

Or having fat people pay their own way?

Salt shakers/packets will likely remain on the tables at home and in restaurants.

Though this effort may be more "noble" and even reasonable than others, its chances of success are poor.

We will have to see.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Falls, Fractures Linked to High-Dose Vitamin D

Shelf-life expired? The cure du jour bites the dust.
Older women given a single high dose of vitamin D every year had an increased rate of falls and fractures, compared with placebo, researchers said.

Although researchers had expected a benefit for the supplements, those getting the vitamin had a 15% increase in the risk of falls and a 26% increase in the risk of falls with a fracture, according to Kerrie Sanders, PhD, of the University of Melbourne in Geelong, Australia, and colleagues.

Women in the treatment arm of a large randomized double-blind trial also had an increased risk of fracture for any reason, Sanders and colleagues said in the May 12 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The result was surprising, the researchers said, since other studies had shown a benefit for vitamin D supplements, albeit given at lower doses and more often.
Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Body Shape Linked To Kid's Popularity - British Psychological Society

The wisdom of children.
Obesity reduces a child's social status at school and is also associated with negative personal characteristics. These are the findings of a study being presented on the 16th April 2010 at the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Stratford-upon-Avon.
The stupidity of adults.
Dr Kornilaki said: "This study highlights the need for early preventive educational programmes, which address the high levels of anti-fat bias and social stigmatisation of overweight /obese children and challenge the negative stereotypes involved, held by children of either gender or all body types. It is interesting that as children get older this bias and stigma does seem to reduce to some degree. Further research identifying the factors contributing to this is very much needed."
The study highlights the need for more kids to have enough self-esteem to avoid getting fat.



'Fatism' Within The Health Professions Needs To Be Curbed By Better Training

More likely the victim card being played than any "fatism."
Prejudice towards obese people is rife among trainee health professionals, but can be modified, new research has found.

The study, published in the journal Obesity, says weight-based discrimination by the public has increased by 66% over the past decade with anti-fat prejudice among health professionals found to be high in western nations, and often exceeding that found within the general population.

The research, by scientists at the Universities of Manchester and Hawaii and Yale University, suggests that medical and allied health professions need to present a balanced view of the causes of, and treatment for, obesity when training young professionals in order to reduce the strong prejudice towards obese people.
The balanced view is that fat people are in a caloric imbalance and calorically irresponsible.

And there is no widespread fatism, to boot. (There will always be individual actors who are statistical outliers and darlings of the MSM and/or researchers looking to create trouble - with the latter being out and out liars.)

Friday, May 14, 2010

Brain Scans Of Healthy Women Reveal Fear Of Getting Fat

Right response, wrong conclusion.
A group of women in a new study seemed unlikely to have body image issues - at least their responses on a tried-and-true psychological screening presented no red flags.

That assessment changed when Brigham Young University researchers used MRI technology to observe what happened in the brain as these women viewed images of complete strangers.

If the stranger happened to be overweight and female, it surprisingly activated in women's brains an area that processes identity and self-reflection. Men did not show signs of any self-reflection in similar situations.

"These women have no history of eating disorders and project an attitude that they don't care about body image," said Mark Allen, a BYU neuroscientist. "Yet under the surface is an anxiety about getting fat and the centrality of body image to self."
Not an "anxiety about getting fat."

It is the horror they experienced when they were exposed to fatsettes who damaged themselves so severely - a condition these normal women with self-esteem and health consciousness could not abide.

Who can blame them?