New From WOSCOPS: Obesity Independently Associated With CHD Death

So much for the health at every size bulls**t and the idiots promoting it.

A new analysis of the landmark West of Scotland Prevention Study(WOSCOPS)has shown, for the first time, that obesity per se is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) death [1]. Dr Jennifer Logue (University of Glasgow, Scotland) and colleagues report their findings online February 14, 2011 in Heart.

Logue told heartwire there are already a number of studies relating body-mass index (BMI) to risk of CHD events, "but it has always been presumed that this is due to traditional risk factors. When people have adjusted for those factors in the past, looking at total events, the risk is gone. But because we had a high number of events, we were able to separate them into fatal and nonfatal. Even after adjusting for all traditional cardiovascular risk factors, any confounding such as medication use and socioeconomic deprivation, we still had a 60% increased risk for fatal CHD events in men with a BMI of 30 and above."

"There seems to be something extra happening, that's the crux of it," she says, but adds that more work is needed to confirm these findings in other data sets and to see whether they extend to other age groups, ethnic minorities, and women, because the WOSCOPS participants were middle-aged, white men from Scotland. Also there was far less obesity when this study was conducted compared with nowadays, so a more contemporary, "generally more obese cohort to try to power this would be helpful," she observes.

The "something extra"?



Lose the weight before it is too late.

Knee Replacement Surgeries Take More Time, Are More Costly In Overweight Individuals

Have the fatsos pay for the extra costs.

Knee replacement surgery takes far more time to conduct in overweight and obese patients than in normal weight patients, according to recent research at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting, held Feb. 15-19 in San Diego, Calif. The study has implications for hospital staff scheduling surgeries, operating room utilization and personnel staffing, and also raises the question of whether knee replacements should be reimbursed based on time.

"When we schedule surgery, the body mass index is never considered," said Geoffrey Westrich, M.D., an adult reconstruction and joint replacement surgeon and co-director of Joint Replacement Research at Hospital for Special Surgery who led the study. "If I have four or five knee replacements in a day, they will just put them on the OR schedule but they don't look at whether a person is heavy or obese class II or obese class III. What this study shows is that the utilization is greatly increased. If you have a 20 percent greater utilization for someone who is obese and if you multiply that by five or six knee replacements over the course of a day, at the end of the day the operating room staff could be finishing up two hours later. In many cases, the hospital has to pay the staff overtime which greatly increases hospital expenditures."

Obesity causes a variety of health problems, including an increased need for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or knee replacement surgery extra weight puts extra stress on knees. Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery wondered whether weight might impact the time it took to perform a knee replacement. "Intuitively, one would think that as people get heavier, knee replacement surgery may be more difficult and more time consuming because the fatty tissue makes surgery more difficult," Dr. Westrich said. "Now that we have collected data on the different stages of knee replacement surgery, we wanted to use the objective data to determine if there was an increase in the time of surgery based on a patient's weight and whether we could correlate a patient's weight or BMI with the different steps of knee replacement surgery."

It is time the rest of us stopped paying for the calorically irresponsible.

Link Between Obesity, High-Fat Meals And Heart Disease Reinforced By Study

Fat begets fat.

The effect of a high-fat meal on blood vessel walls can vary among individuals depending on factors such as their waist size and triglyceride levels, suggests new research at UC Davis.

The new research reinforces the link between belly fat, inflammation and thickening of the arterial linings that can lead to heart disease and strokes.

Kudos, fatsos, on your unique vicious cycle.

Mental Health Of Obese Children Is Primary Concern, Nursing Researcher Says

Another idiot researcher.

The mental health of obese children should be a primary focus of researchers studying childhood obesity, according to Christine Calamaro, PhD, CRNP, assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Nursing.

Calamaro, a leading research scientist in pediatric nursing, says, "My interest in this is not just about the weight of our kids anymore. It is about all the problems associated with obesity. When you start talking about adolescents [emerging] into adulthood, you have to consider co-morbidities, such as depression and diabetes."

This is drivel.

More concern should be on the mental health of parents who make their kids obese.

F**k you, Calamaro.

And when you see a fat kid, do your mandated by law duty and report them to child protective services.

Not only are you a moron, you are an IMHO lawbreaker.

Jerk.

Here is Maryland's definition of physical child abuse:

Abuse means:
The physical or mental injury of a child by any parent or other person who has permanent or temporary care, custody, or responsibility for supervision of a child, or by any household or family member, under circumstances that indicate that the child's health or welfare is harmed or at substantial risk of being harmed

Here is Maryland's definition of emotional child abuse:

Emotional Abuse
Citation: Fam. Law § 5-701

Mental injury means the observable, identifiable, and substantial impairment of a child's mental or psychological ability to function.

Here are the mandated reporters of child abuse and neglect in Maryland:

Professionals Required to Report
Citation: Fam. Law § 5-704

Persons required to report include:
Health practitioners
Educators or human service workers
Police officers

Here is where Calamaro and her ilk belong, IMHO, for enabling child abuse and neglect through their failure to report:

Weight Loss Improves Knee Pain from Common Arthritic Condition, Study Says

Stop your bitchin' and lose the darned weight, fatsos.

Knee pain related to osteoarthritis (OA) is a common complaint among obese individuals and retired professional athletes, especially former NFL players, but researchers presenting their work at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's Specialty Day program on February 19th say they have a simple solution: lose weight.

"Our research on patients who were obese with early-onset knee osteoarthritis showed that those individuals who underwent isolated weight loss via bariatric surgery and lost an average of 57 pounds within the first six months significantly improved their knee pain, stiffness and physical function. Quality of life, activities of daily living and sports activity also improved; all of this without other arthritic treatments," said lead researcher Christopher Edwards of the Penn State College of Medicine.

OA of the knee is one of the five leading causes of disability among elderly men and women in the U.S., and costs $185 billion in out-of-pocket expenditures each year. Obesity is one of the leading risk factors for the disease.

Fat whiners.

Childhood obesity almost "inevitable", say experts

Right and wrong.

Right:

“Children are relatively helpless in this regard because they do what their parents do and copy what’s going on around them.”

Wrong:

Childhood obesity is almost “inevitable” because of the way society is organised, experts are set to tell a major Welsh health conference.

It is not society.

It is the parents.

Fat parents have fat kids.

Study Linking Diet Soda And Stroke Risk Is Seriously Flawed

A good example of an "association" study, its pitfalls and the media frenzy surrounding research crap.

The Calorie Control Council stated today that research findings presented during a poster session at the International Stroke Conference claiming an association between diet soft drink consumption and increased risk of stroke and heart attack are critically flawed.

"The findings are so speculative and preliminary at this point that they should be considered with extreme caution. In fact, the study has not been peer reviewed by any independent scientists and has not been published in a scientific journal," stated Beth Hubrich, a registered dietitian with the Council.

The research, as well as the publicity regarding the study abstract, is drawing a growing body of criticism and skepticism from experts in the field of nutrition and science.

"I have to say this is one of the worst studies I've seen capturing headlines in a long time," said Dr. Richard Besser, Chief Health and Medical Editor at ABC News, commenting during a February 10 segment on Good Morning America. "It's bad because of the science, but it's also bad because of the behavior that it can induce and the fear that people have. I don't think people should change behavior based on this study."

Pointing out some of the flaws in the study, Besser added, "They didn't look at how much salt they took in, they didn't look at what other foods they ate. Those things we know are associated with stroke and heart attack. They didn't even look at obesity over time. And so to conclude from this, that it's all from the diet soda, just makes no sense whatsoever."

Dr. Walter Willett, chair of the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, echoed this criticism in comments presented on ABCnews.com: "It's important to keep in mind that his was really a preliminary report. It's not even published yet, and the study was fairly small. I think we have to interpret the findings about diet soda very carefully, in almost any first report, we shouldn't really change our behavior, because it could easily have occurred by chance."

The poster presentation is also at odds with statements on the website of the American Heart Association, sponsor of the conference where this poster was presented. Regarding the low-calorie sweeteners used in diet soft drinks, AHA states: "Try non-nutritive sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose or saccharin in moderation. Non-nutritive sweeteners may be a way to satisfy your sweet tooth without adding more calories to your diet. The FDA has determined that non-nutritive sweeteners are safe."

You have been warned.

Again.

Increased Rates Of Breast Cancer In Offspring Of Female Rats Given Folic Acid Supplements

Oops.

The daughters of rats who took folic acid supplements before conception, during pregnancy and while breast-feeding have breast cancer rates twice as high as other rats, according to a new study.

They also had more tumours and developed them at a faster rate, according to the study led by Dr. Young-in Kim, a gastroenterologist at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.

Kim stressed more research needs to be done to determine whether the findings also apply to humans. While there are similarities in breast cancer in rats and humans, there are differences in how rats and human metabolize folic acid. "We don't want pregnant women to panic," he said.

The amount of folic acid to which fetuses are exposed has increased dramatically in North America in the past decade. Women are routinely advised to take folic acid supplements before becoming pregnant and while pregnant to prevent neural tube birth defects such as spina bifida. Since 1998, the Canadian and U.S. governments have required food manufacturers to add folic acid to white flour, enriched pasta and cornmeal products as a way of ensuring women receive enough of the B vitamin. In addition, up to 40 per cent of North Americans take folic acid supplements for possible but as yet unproven health benefits.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Fiber Intake Associated With Reduced Risk of Death

Immortal animal.

Dietary fiber may be associated with a reduced risk of death from cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases, as well as a reduced risk of death from any cause over a nine-year period, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the June 14 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Fiber, the edible part of plants that resist digestion, has been hypothesized to lower risks of heart disease, some cancers, diabetes and obesity, according to background information in the article. It is known to assist with bowel movements, reduce blood cholesterol levels, improve blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, promote weight loss and reduce inflammation and bind to potential cancer-causing agents to increase the likelihood they will be excreted by the body.

Yikyung Park, Sc.D., of the National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Md., and colleagues analyzed data from 219,123 men and 168,999 women in the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study. Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire at the beginning of the study in 1995 and 1996. Causes of death were determined by linking study records to national registries.

Participants' fiber intake ranged from 13 to 29 grams per day in men and from 11 to 26 grams per day in women. Over an average of nine years of follow-up, 20,126 men and 11,330 women died. Fiber intake was associated with a significantly decreased risk of total death in both men and women - the one-fifth of men and women consuming the most fiber (29.4 grams per day for men and 25.8 grams for women) were 22 percent less likely to die than those consuming the least (12.6 grams per day for men and 10.8 grams for women).

The risk of cardiovascular, infectious and respiratory diseases was reduced by 24 percent to 56 percent in men and 34 percent to 59 percent in women with high fiber intakes. Dietary fiber from grains, but not from other sources such as fruits, was associated with reduced risks of total, cardiovascular, cancer and respiratory disease deaths in men and women.

Feed your inner beaver.

Stop snickering.

Obesity 'epidemic' weighing on ICUs

Patient transfer.

It can take six nurses -12 experienced hands grappling with great masses of flesh -to turn some of the alarmingly growing number of obese patients in Canada's intensive care units.

There are men and women with so much abdominal fat that they can't lie flat on their backs and still breathe.

They spill over the sides of a normal hospital bed and require extra-wide bariatric beds that can support up to 1,000 pounds. Some of them are so large it can be difficult for nurses to find their patients' veins to insert intravenous lines.

They may weigh 400 pounds, 500 pounds or more.

In the latest fallout from Canada's obesity epidemic, intensive care units across the country are reporting a rise in the number of patients with "morbid" or extreme body weight.

The phenomenon is posing significant challenges for the health care system, from patients too large to fit inside CT scanners or MRI machines, to what doctors have described as the "nightmare" of trying to insert breathing tubes into patients whose airways are layered in fat.

Recently, an ICU bed in Montreal's Royal Victoria Hospital nearly collapsed under the weight of a patient who weighed 435 pounds.

Kudos, fatsos.

Obesity training proposed for child care workers

Another hare-brained scheme.

Nevada's licensed child care providers could soon be required to take annual training about childhood obesity.

Members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday approved SB27, a bill that requires training each year in nutrition and fitness. Curriculum is free online.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Valerie Wiener, D-Las Vegas, said the goal is to combat an obesity epidemic. The bill now goes to Senate floor.

Supporters said 36 percent of children entering kindergarten in Nevada are overweight. As more mothers work outside the home, child care providers play a larger role in a child's health and development.

Not hardly.

If kids entering the system are fat, the proof of who is at fault is clear - parents.

Making others responsible for reversing the failings of the parents, besides being unfair, cannot work.

Holding these nutritional child abusers, i.e., the parents, accountable will work.

International Scientists Broaden The Debate On Saturated Fat And Cardiovascular Disease

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

For generations, the consumption of dairy products has been positively associated with the health and wellness of families and communities. Nevertheless, the recent shift in dietary trends has focused on "what not to eat" instead of emphasizing "what to eat," resulting in demonizing the naturally occurring fats in dairy, while overlooking its many essential nutrients.

However, the long-held beliefs about the impact of saturated fatty acids (SFA) on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are being challenged by a new perspectives paper from an international symposium, held at the University of Copenhagen in May, 2010 and chaired by Professors Arne Astrup and Walter Willet.

You might want to rethink that.

And, BTW, who put out this piece?

Source:
Melanie Nimrodi
Global Dairy Platform

So, rethink all of it.

Childhood obesity in Sefton is on the increase according to latest figures

Another resounding success of intervention.

CHILDHOOD obesity is still rising in Sefton despite action by the NHS and Sefton Council.

In Sefton 10.3% of reception children and 19.3% of Year 6 children are obese, revealed figures for 2009 to 2010.

The number of overweight youngsters increased in 2009 to 2010, according to results from the National Child Measurement Programme.

In the north west 9.9% of reception children and 19.3% of year six are obese. Nationally 9.8% of reception class youngsters and 18.7% of year six children fall into that category.

The figures for Sefton are up on last year, which recorded 9.7% of reception children and 17.8% of year six youngsters as having childhood obesity.

More than 5,300 Sefton children aged four to 10, including 93% in reception class and 96.6% in year six, were weighed and parents opted to take part in the programme.

Despite the scheme by NHS Sefton there was still a rise in the number of overweight children recorded.

"Despite"?

Because.

To understand why conventional interventions MUST fail, go here and here.

Thousands spent to adapt ambulances to cope with obese patients

To the fatmobile!

Overweight patients are being carted off to hospital in specially adapted ambulances equipped to carry wider and heavier loads.

South East Coast Ambulance Service has spent £12,000 of taxpayers’ money converting two of its vehicles to accommodate fat people, reflecting the increasing burden obesity places on society.

The refits are in addition to standard trolleys and stair chairs found on all the trust’s existing ambulances, which can already carry patients weighing up to 50st and 35st respectively.

"Just like the rest of the NHS, ambulance services have to deal with the fact patients are getting larger," said Jo Webber, director of the national Ambulance Service Network.

For more fatcare implements/devices, go here.

Kudos, fatsos.

BMA Calls For Action To Tackle Rising Obesity, Scotland

A call to action. That'll do it.

Commenting this week on figures revealed by the Liberal Democrats which show that the number of people dying as a result of obesity has gone up by over 40% since 2004, Dr Dean Marshall, Chairman of the BMA's Scottish General Practitioners Committee said:

"The rise in deaths related to obesity is of grave concern. Currently around one third of children are either overweight or obese. We are in danger of raising a generation of children burdened with long term chronic health conditions. Doctors have a role to play in supporting overweight patients and talking about the dangers of obesity but there is a limit to what they can do. The BMA believes that the government must take action on this issue in order to achieve a real improvement in the future health of our children."

In Scotland, over 40 people a day are diagnosed with diabetes, and most of these cases are Type 2 diabetes, which is closely linked with obesity. Increasing rates in childhood obesity will also lead to more future cases of heart disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers. The estimated overall cost of obesity to Scottish society is £457 million every year.

If you stop paying for people's diseases of choice, the cost to society goes down.

Let the natural attrition take care of the rest.

If people are interested in living longer and better, they will make the necessary changes on their own.

Calorie Labeling Has No Effect on Teenagers' or Parents' Food Purchases, Study Finds

And the news is?

A new study led by an NYU School of Medicine investigator and published in the February 15, 2011, Advance Online Publication, International Journal of Obesity, challenges the idea that calorie labeling has an effect on the purchasing behavior of teenagers or what parents purchase for their children. Teens appear to notice the calorie information at the same rate as adults, however they respond at a lower rate. The conclusions are similar to a previous study about adult eating behavior by Dr. Brian Elbel, assistant professor and colleagues, which showed that although labels did increase awareness of calories, they did not alter food choices...

In the new study, Dr. Elbel and his colleagues gathered receipts and surveys from 427 parents and teenagers at fast-food restaurants both before and after mandatory labeling began in July 2008. They focused on lower income communities in New York City and used Newark, New Jersey (which did not have mandatory labeling) as a comparison city. Data were collected before labeling began, and one month after labels were present in restaurants. As parents and teens were leaving fast-food restaurants, their receipts were collected and the foods they purchased were confirmed, along with a brief survey.

Before labeling began, none of the teens in the study said they noticed calorie information in the restaurant. After labeling began 57% in New York and 18% in Newark said they noticed the calorie information. A total of 9% said that the information influenced their choices, and all of these teens said they used the information to purchase fewer calories. This number is considerably smaller than the percentage of adults who said the information influenced their choice (28%). "While the same percentage of adolescents and adults noticed calorie information, fewer adolescents report actually using the information in their food choice," Dr. Elbel said.

However, the study did not find a change in the number of calories purchased at fast-food restaurants after labeling went into effect. Teens purchased about 725 calories and parents purchased about 600 calories for their children.

The way food tastes was considered the most important reason that teens bought it, while price was a consideration for slightly over 50%. Just over a quarter of the group said that they often or always limited the amount of food they ate in an effort to control their weight. The study also reported that most teenagers underestimated the amount of calories they had purchased, some by up to 466 calories.

The only way to keep the pigs from over-slopping at the trough is for them to pay for the consequences.

Period.

Obesity in York County: Couple fights to conceive

Stop the fat from having kids.

Maternal obesity during pregnancy is associated with complications including:

--- Cesarean delivery -- A delivery surgery in which a baby is taken out through the mother's abdomen. In the United States, about one in four women have babies this way. Most C-sections are done when unexpected problems happen during delivery. The surgery is relatively safe but could cause problems with an attempted vaginal birth later.

--- Macrosomia -- Large body size, often used to describe a fetus. The most common cause of macrosomia is diabetes in the mother. Macrosomia can lead to trauma during birth and a greater chance of a Cesarean delivery.

--- Gestational hypertension -- High blood pressure during pregnancy can cause low birth weight or premature delivery of the baby.

--- Preeclampsia -- A sudden increase in blood pressure after the 20th week of pregnancy that can be life-threatening for mother and baby.

--- Gestational diabetes mellitus -- A type of diabetes that is first diagnosed in a pregnant woman. Usually gestational diabetes goes away after pregnancy, but sometimes diabetes doesn't. If not controlled before and during pregnancy, type 1 and type 2 diabetes can cause the baby to have birth defects and cause the mother to have problems such as high blood pressure, kidney disease, nerve damage, heart disease or blindness.

--- Fetal death

--- Birth defects

--- Other problems -- Children born to obese mothers are twice as likely to be obese and to develop type 2 diabetes later in life. Obesity during pregnancy is also associated with greater use of health care services and longer hospital stays.

Source: www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth

It is the responsible thing to do.

Let's give children a healthy start

What a concept! See post above. Though, this piece is a piece of s**t as the approach is that of idiots. Still, what a concept, if done right.

The facts are in: Nationwide nearly one in every three children is overweight or obese; in Virginia 40 percent of fourth-graders are overweight. Obese children and adolescents are more likely to become obese as adults.

One study found that 25 percent of obese adults were overweight as children and if that overweight condition begins before 8 years of age, obesity in adulthood is likely to be more severe.

Do it right.

First Lady Taking Health Work Global

Up, up and away!

Michelle Obama, who has planted a vegetable garden, swiveled a hula hoop, done yoga poses, lobbied Congress and crisscrossed the United States to promote the virtues of healthy eating and exercise, wants to take her campaign to reduce childhood obesity to a bigger audience: the global one.

During a wide-ranging luncheon interview with reporters, Mrs. Obama said she intended to spend part of the coming year shaping a more international message, with a possible focus on issues of maternal and child health. She expects to talk about fighting obesity when she travels with President Obama overseas, she said.

“What I find internationally, and Barack says the same thing, is whenever he meets with a world leader, one of the first things they ask him about is the garden, because the issue of obesity is becoming an international issue,” Mrs. Obama said, adding that “many first ladies have begun to think about how they’re going to deal with this issue.”

Michellesie "The Cow" Obama is taking her toxins on the road.

Let's hope she visits enemy states first.

More than a cow:

Are Fat People Driving Up The Price Of Gas? Are They The Source Of The Greenhouse Effect?

Why not?

Yes, and yes, says a study of the Resources for the Future (RFF) institute. The Washington think tank’s study examined “the unexplored link between the prevalence of overweight and obesity and vehicle demand” for bigger and more gas guzzling cars.

RFF brands itself as a “nonpartisan organization that conducts independent research.” Their study found “that the prevalence of overweight and obesity has a sizable effect on the fuel economy of new vehicles demanded. A 10 percentage point increase in the rate of overweight and obesity among the population reduces the average miles per gallon (MPG) of new vehicles demanded by 2.5 percent, an effect that requires a 30 cent increase in gasoline prices to counteract.” Basically what they are saying: Fat people choose fat cars. More fat people, more fat cars.

Kudos, fatsos.

Obesity Is Heart Disease Killer in Its Own Right, Irrespective of Other Risk Factors

Kudos, fatsos.

Obesity is a killer in its own right, irrespective of other biological or social risk factors traditionally associated with coronary heart disease, suggests research published online in Heart.

Increasing weight is associated with a higher prevalence of known risk factors for coronary artery disease, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. And it has been assumed that these have been responsible for the increased risk of heart disease seen in obesity, say the authors.

The research team tracked the health of more than 6,000 middle aged men with high cholesterol, but no history of diabetes or cardiovascular disease, for around 15 years.

After excluding men who had cardiovascular problems or died within two years of the start of monitoring, to correct for any bias, 214 deaths and 1,027 non-fatal heart attacks/strokes occurred during the whole period.
The risk of a heart attack was compared across categories of increasing body mass index (BMI), using two different approaches.

One simply corrected for any differences in the age or smoking status of the men, while the second corrected for cardiovascular risk factors such as high cholesterol and blood pressure, deprivation and any medications the men were taking.
Not unexpectedly, the results showed that the higher a man's weight, the higher was his likelihood of having other risk factors for cardiovascular disease. And there was no increased risk of a non-fatal heart attack with increasing BMI, (when using either approach).

But the risk of death was significantly higher in men who were obese -- a BMI of 30 to 39.9 kg/m2.

And the rest of us pay for their care.

High School Students Graduating To Be Tomorrow's Cancer And Cardiovascular Patients, Australia

Good to see so many kids choosing to go into sick care - with encouragement from their nutritionally abusive parents.

Results of a national diet and physical activity survey of high school students, released today (9 Feb), will ring alarm bells among educators, health professionals and parents.

The research, by Cancer Council and the Heart Foundation, reveals excessive prevalence of overweight and obesity among students (highest in low SES areas), inadequate rates of physical activity, insufficient fruit and vegetable intake and a high proportion of students making food choices based on advertising.

The participation of 12,000 students in years eight to 11 across 237 schools provides the first truly national sample for a physical activity survey of young Australians since 1985.

Key findings:

- One in four students are overweight or obese, with a significantly higher rate in low SES areas.

- Eighty-five per cent of students don't engage in sufficient activity to provide a health benefit.

- Low fruit and vegetable intake, with 76% not meeting the daily recommended intake of four vegetable servings daily and 59% not meeting the daily recommended intake of three servings of fruit daily.

- One third drink four or more cups of soft drink, cordial or sports drink a week

- More than half (51%) tried a new food or drink product in the past month they had seen advertised.

Cancer Council Australia CEO, Professor Ian Olver, said the findings confirmed what health experts had been saying for years, that poor nutrition and inadequate exercise were contributing to an unprecedented number of overweight and obese adolescents and a "chronic disease time bomb".

"If ever there was a wake-up call for Australians, this is it," Professor Olver said. "As obese kids move into adulthood the heightened risk of chronic diseases like cancer means previous gains in life expectancy may be reversed. We may see today's teenagers die at a younger age than their parents' generation for the first time in history"

Fat parents have fat kids.

Kudos, fatsos.

For Kids, Healthy Eating Starts At Home, According To GfK MRI

It is not school lunches as that overweight imbecile Michellesie "The Cow" Obama would have us believe?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree when it comes to healthy habits, according to GfK MRI's American Kids Study and its supplemental Parents Study. According to newly released data, parents who purchase low-calorie or organic foods and parents who don't keep junk food at home have children who are more likely than the average child to express healthy eating-related attitudes.

Parents who teach their children to read nutrition labels appear to have the most health-conscious kids. The children of these parents are 88% more likely than the average child to read nutrition labels, 47% more likely to avoid fattening foods, 37% more likely to stay away from sugary foods, and 31% more likely to play sports to stay in shape.

On the other hand, parents with no nutrition rules have children who are far less concerned with healthy lifestyles. Kids with no rules regarding food and nutrition are less likely to pay attention to sugar or far content, to read nutrition labels, or play sports for exercise. Moreover, they are 68% more likely to eat whatever they want.

"These data clearly show the impact parental rules and behavior can have on children," said Anne Marie Kelly, SVP, Marketing & Strategic Planning at GfK MRI. "This is just one of the many new insights available in The American Kids Study. For the first time, subscribers can now access the American Kids Study and Parents Study within the same database -- a new benefit that allows marketers to take a much closer look at how parents and their children sync up."

Duh.

Obese Women May Be Less Likely to Develop Glaucoma

Can't claim that they did not see themselves getting porkulent.

Obesity may be associated with higher eye pressure and a decreased risk of open-angle glaucoma in women but not men, according to a report posted online February 14 that will appear in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.

Among women, there was a significant association between increased body mass index and intraocular pressure. However, each one-unit increase in body mass index was associated with a 7 percent decreased risk of developing open-angle glaucoma. These associations were not present in men.

Excess fat tissue could place increasing pressure on the eye sockets, thereby increasing pressure within the eye, the authors note. The higher intraocular pressure among obese women should have resulted in an increased risk for glaucoma.

"However, this effect was not observed and thus the multivariate analysis yielded a protective effect of body mass index on open-angle glaucoma incidence in women," they write. "Another explanation might be that high estrogen levels and hormone therapy might be protective to open-angle glaucoma, and obesity seems to be positively related with postmenopausal plasma estrogen levels."

"Obesity appears to be associated with a higher intraocular pressure and a lower risk of developing open-angle glaucoma," the authors conclude. "These associations were only present in women. Other lifestyle-related factors, such as socioeconomic status, smoking and alcohol consumption, were not associated with open-angle glaucoma."

Excuse gone.

See yourselves for what you are.

Lose the weight.

SMFM: BMI Matters in Pregnancy

Discourage the fat from reproducing - keep women and babies safe.

For instance, women whose body mass index (BMI) exceeded 25, classifying them as overweight, had a risk ratio for cesarean section of 1.37 (95% CI 1.23 to 1.52) compared with women with a normal BMI, according to Tamula M. Patterson, MD, and colleagues from the University of Alabama in Birmingham...

"Prepregnancy weight and excessive weight gain during pregnancy may have an adverse effect on perinatal outcomes as well as a lasting effect on women's health," the researchers cautioned in a poster session at the annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

Among women of reproductive age, 57% are overweight and almost one-third are obese. In an attempt to quantify the maternal and fetal morbidities associated with different levels of BMI, Patterson's group looked at pregnancies among 18,057 women between 2000 and 2009...

With increasing BMI, the likelihood of most adverse outcomes was greater. For instance, with cesarean section, the risk ratio increased for obese women, whose BMI ranged from 30 to 39.9, to 1.86 (95% CI 1.68 to 2.05), and to 2.84 (95% CI 2.49 to 3.24) for morbidly obese women, whose BMI was 40 or higher (P for trend <0.0001).

For gestational diabetes, the risk ratios according to BMI were:

Underweight, 1.20 (95% CI 0.55 to 2.64)
Overweight, 1.97 (95% CI 1.47 to 2.65)
Obese, 3.95 (95% CI 3.02 to 5.17)
Morbidly obese, 5.30 (95% CI 3.88 to 7.24, P for trend <0.0001)
For other maternal outcomes, similar findings were seen. The risk ratio for gestational hypertension rose from 1.65 (95% CI 1.34 to 2.03) for overweight women to 3.54 (95% CI 2.80 to 4.46) for those who were morbidly obese (P for trend <0.0001).

And the risk for preeclampsia increased from 1.29 (95% CI 1.08 to 1.55) among the overweight to 2.76 (95% CI 2.24 to 3.41, P for trend <0.0001) among the morbidly obese.

Adverse fetal outcomes also were affected by excess maternal weight, such as neonatal birth weight being above 4,000 g:

Overweight, RR 1.83 (95% CI 1.50 to 2.22)
Obese, RR 2.37 (95% CI 1.96 to 2.87)
Morbidly obese, RR 3.33 (95% C 2.63 to 4.22, P for trend <0.0001)
Among women of childbearing age, inadequate emphasis is placed on the importance of achieving a normal weight before becoming pregnant, and then maintaining optimal nutritional status during and after pregnancy, the researchers stated.

"Thus, interventions are warranted to promote a normal BMI to decrease adverse consequences in pregnant women and their infants," they concluded.

Lose the weight.

Then have the kid.

ASA: Stroke Patients Getting Younger

A high price to pay for a Benjamin Button experience.

The number of young people -- including children and teens -- who are being hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke is rising, researchers found.

From 1994 to 2007, the prevalence of hospitalization increased for both males and females ages 5 to 44 (P<0.01 for trends), according to Mary George, MD, MSPH, of the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention in Atlanta.

Guess who is more likely to have a stroke:

Study: Eating more fiber could mean longer life

No s**t.

Eat more fiber and you just may live longer.

That's the message from the largest study of its kind to find a link between high-fiber diets and lower risks of death not only from heart disease, but from infectious and respiratory illnesses as well.

The government study also ties fiber with a lower risk of cancer deaths in men, but not women, possibly because men are more likely to die from cancers related to diet, like cancers of the esophagus. And it finds the overall benefit to be strongest for diets high in fiber from grains.

Most Americans aren't getting enough roughage in their diets. The average American eats only about 15 grams of fiber each day, much less than the current daily recommendation of 25 grams for women and 38 grams for men, or 14 grams per 1,000 calories. For example, a slice of whole wheat bread contains 2 to 4 grams of fiber.

In the new study, the people who met the guidelines were less likely to die during a nine-year follow-up period.

Eat, s**t, live - or whatever.

Fructose does not increase food intake or impact weight: Extensive study

Of course not - at least no more than any other sugar. This, despite the hyperventilations of the IMHO con AdipOprah and her hand-picked IMHO crooked diet experts, e.g., Mehmet Oz.

Fructose does not increase food intake or impact body weight or blood triglycerides in overweight or obese individuals, according to a new comprehensive review.

The review examined data regarding the normal consumption of fructose and any subsequent development of alterations in lipid or and/or glucose metabolism or weight gain in overweight people.

Researchers were unable to find any relationship between fructose and hyperlipidemia or increased weight.

These findings support the results of a similar review that analyzed the role of fructose on blood lipids, glucose, insulin and obesity among the healthy, normal weight population.

Dr. Laurie Dolan, lead author of both studies concluded that "there is no evidence that ingestion of normal amounts of fructose is associated with an increase in food intake or body weight (compared to other carbohydrates), when it is not consumed in caloric excess. This is true for both normal weight people and people that are overweight or obese."

Fructose is a natural simple sugar found in fruits, vegetables and their juices, as well as honey. In its pure form, fructose has been used as a sweetener since the mid-1850s and has advantages for certain groups, including people with diabetes and those trying to control their weight. Fructose in crystalline form has been widely used for the past 20 years as a nutritive sweetener in foods and beverages.

Although many consumers have confused crystalline fructose with high fructose syrups [also known as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and isoglucose], they are not the same. Like sucrose, high fructose syrups contain nearly equal amounts of glucose and fructose. This change in composition is chemically significant and leads to differences in food applications and specific physiological responses.

Both of the recent fructose reviews utilized an evidence-based approach employed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration when evaluating potential health claims for foods, beverages and food ingredients. The conclusion drawn from the two studies was that consumption of fructose does not increase triglycerides, body weight, or food intake in either normal weight or overweight/obese people. Researchers limited their analysis to the 95th percentile level of intake and below, which is considered the high end of dietary ingredient consumption.

After studying all of the research, the reviews' authors concluded that there was "no evidence to suggest that ingestion of fructose" had an adverse effect on body weight or serum triglycerides.

These data are consistent with data from the ADA and AMA which demonstrate that fructose is the caloric equivalent of table sugar.

But see below.

Researchers Find Some Answers In The Brain To What Makes Fructose Fattening

And see above.

The dietary concerns of too much fructose is well documented. High-fructose corn syrup has become the sweetener most commonly added to processed foods. Many dietary experts believe this increase directly correlates to the nation's growing obesity epidemic. Now, new research at Oregon Health & Science University demonstrates that the brain - which serves as a master control for body weight - reacts differently to fructose compared with another common sweetener, glucose. The research is published in the online edition of the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and will appear in the March print edition.

"We know from animal models that the brain responds uniquely to different nutrients and that these responses can determine how much they eat," said Jonathan Purnell, M.D., an associate professor of medicine (endocrinology, diabetes and clinical nutrition) in the OHSU School of Medicine.

"With newer technologies such as functional MRI, we can examine how brain activity in humans reacts when exposed to, say, carbohydrates or fats. What we've found in this case is that the brain's response to fructose is very different to the response to glucose, which is less likely to promote weight gain."

Functional MRI allows researchers to watch brain activity in real time. To conduct the research, nine normal-weight human study subjects were imaged as they received an infusion of fructose, glucose or a saline solution. When the resulting brain scans from these three groups were compared, the scientists observed distinct differences.

I vote in favor of the preceding post.

In any event, this is a good demonstration of how little is actually known and how the data conflict.

With one overridingly important exception - caloric content - and that is all that matters, practically speaking.

Eating Spinach Makes For More Efficient Muscles

Nitrates are good, again.

After taking a small dose of inorganic nitrate for three days, healthy people consume less oxygen while riding an exercise bike. A new study in the February issue of Cell Metabolism traces that improved performance to increased efficiency of the mitochondria that power our cells.

The researchers aren't recommending anyone begin taking inorganic nitrate supplements based on the new findings. Rather, they say that the results may offer one explanation for the well-known health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and leafy green vegetables in particular.

"We're talking about an amount of nitrate equivalent to what is found in two or three red beets or a plate of spinach," said Eddie Weitzberg of the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. "We know that diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent cardiovascular disease and diabetes but the active nutrients haven't been clear. This shows inorganic nitrate as a candidate to explain those benefits."

In fact, up until recently nitrate wasn't thought to have any nutritional value at all. It has even been suggested that this component of vegetables might be toxic.

And we used to consider them "toxic" and bad.

Still think they have any idea what they are talking about?

Strokes are rising fast among young, middle-aged

Guess who?

Strokes are rising dramatically among young and middle-aged Americans while dropping in older people, a sign that the obesity epidemic may be starting to shift the age burden of the disease.

Kudos, fatsos.

At least 25% of Canadian kids eating their way into childhood obesity

More mystery. From where are the Calories coming?

The numbers are mind boggling and daunting.

Canada has a major problem on its hands and it seems little is being done.

Twenty-five to 30 per cent of children in Canada are overweight or obese.

Think about it. That is one-quarter to nearly one-third of all children.

Could it be the parents?

Nah.

Gotta be a virus.

BTW, note how stupid the readers of this publication are considered to be by the editors since 25-30% needs to be translated into fractions.

Schools are 'chronic disease time bombs'

Hoisted by their own petards.

The largest survey of Australian secondary students in 25 years has revealed a "chronic disease time bomb", with weight problems, lax exercise habits and poor diets as the norm.

The survey involved 12,000 teenagers across almost 240 schools and found one in four were overweight or obese.

Just 14 per cent of the students were found to meet both the recommended daily intake of vegetables and fruit, while 85 per cent did not engage in enough activity for it to have a health benefit.

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These results should sound an alarm bell among educators, health professionals and parents, said Cancer Council Australia chief executive Professor Ian Olver.

It showed a "chronic disease time bomb" which would pose a rising threat to the health system, as well as expectations of longevity, in Australia's not too distant future.

"If ever there was a wake-up call for Australians, this is it," Prof Olver said.

The response?

Yawn.

Study: Global obesity rates double since 1980

Welcome to Planet Girth.

The world is becoming a heavier place, especially in the West.
Obesity rates worldwide have doubled in the last three decades even as blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped, according to three new studies.

People in Pacific Island nations like American Samoa are the heaviest, one of the studies shows. Among developed countries, Americans are the fattest and the Japanese are the slimmest.

"Being obese is no longer just a Western problem," said Majid Ezzati, a professor of public health at Imperial College London, one of the study's authors.

In 1980, about 5 percent of men and 8 percent of women worldwide were obese. By 2008, the rates were nearly 10 percent for men and 14 percent for women.

That means 205 million men and 297 million women weighed in as obese. Another 1.5 billion adults were overweight, according to the obesity study.

Fat world.

Obesity Linked To Income, Education; Not Sprawl

And income is linked to education, so stupid is the common factor in low income and fatosity.

Obesity is more prevalent in areas with lower educational attainment and certain ethnic profiles than in areas of suburban sprawl, according to researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Researchers at UIC's Urban Transportation Center revisited their 2005 analysis of data from about 7 million northern Illinois drivers licenses, which found that body-mass index scores in most city neighborhoods differ little from those in the farthest outlying areas.

The 2005 findings contradicted the conventional wisdom that city dwellers are thinner because their dense, centralized environment encourages walking, while suburbanites and rural residents tend to drive to widely scattered destinations.

The new analysis expanded the data set by comparing personal and environmental attributes at the zip-code level throughout the 2005 study area: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will counties in the Chicago metropolitan area, and the more rural DeKalb, Kendall, Grundy and Kankakee counties.

The data confirmed that sprawl is not significantly associated with obesity, the researchers said, although drivers living in most neighborhoods closer to downtown Chicago have slightly lower body-mass indexes than those living very far from the city.

Of course it is not the sprawl.

Unless you consider the distance from the truth necessary to make the sprawl excuse.

Poll: Obesity, Not Drugs, Biggest Threat to Kids' Health

So what?

Unhealthy eating is the single biggest health problem California’s kids now face, according to a survey of voters released today. And obesity is considered a serious problem for youth by an overwhelming majority.

In a dramatic shift in public perception, 31 percent of voters surveyed for the latest Field Poll chose bad eating habits as the greatest risk, trumping illegal drug use (17 percent) and violence (13 percent). When the question was asked in two previous surveys, 27 percent named illegal drug use as the chief threat to kids’ health.

Overall, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said that obesity is a very serious problem for California’s young people.

BFD.

What are they gonna do about it?

My bet?

More of the same failed approaches and a whole lot of hand-wringing.

More Than Half Of Texans Lie About Health And Fitness Habits

Only in Texas?

At a time when many people are working to lose weight and get healthier, more than half of Texans admit to lying to family or doctors about their health and fitness habits such as nutrition and amount of exercise, according to the True Results Health Honesty Survey. Forty-six percent are not honest with family members and 32 percent admit to lying to doctors. True Results is a team of leading weight loss experts based in Texas.

Of those that lie, the majority (70 percent) do so only a few times per year and the main reasons for lying are embarrassment about one's real habits (57 percent) and not wanting to explain the truth (33 percent). Only 30 percent have been confronted about their dishonesty.

"Lying about your health and fitness, if even only a few times per year, can signify a fundamental issue in your ability to achieve your health goals," said Jessica Diaz, nutritionist and exercise physiologist for True Results. "Numerous studies have shown, the key to achieving any health or fitness goal is support from those around you and that cannot happen if you're not honest with yourself or others."

Gender and Weight Play a Role

True Results' survey also revealed that slightly more women lie about their health and fitness habits to family than men (50 percent versus 43 percent) and to their doctors (34 percent versus 28 percent.) The poll also showed that overweight people are less honest with others. Weight categories were calculated by determining each respondent's Body Mass Index (BMI), or measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Weight - % That Lie to Friends & Family - % That Lie to Doctor

Normal (BMI 18.5 - 24.9) - 36 - 23
Overweight (BMI 25 - 29.9) - 45 - 26
Obese (BMI 30 - 34.9) - 50 - 37
Obese (BMI 35 - 39.9) - 63 - 45
Morbidly Obese (BMI 40+) - 65 - 50

Fat people are legend for lying about themselves.

That is a reason why self-reported data are so lousy.

NHS STAFF SUFFER REPETITIVE STRAIN INJURY FROM OBESE MOTHERS-TO-BE

Kudos, fatsos.

ULTRASOUND scan operators are suffering from fat mother syndrome, a repetitive strain injury caused by constantly having to press hard on the stomachs of overweight women.

In far too many cases, this is the only way they can get a clear image of a foetus they are trying to ­monitor.

They may have to perform up to 20 scans a day.

A shocking statistic quoted at a recent conference on obesity in pregnancy puts the number of hospital sonographers off work at any given time at one in 10.
Many technicians now want to see an end to what they call a misplaced sense of diplomacy shown to overweight mothers and advocate a poster campaign to warn all pregnant women that obesity might mean an unsuccessful scan.

However, as Richard Evans, chief executive of the Society of Radiographers, says: “It is a sensitive issue as pregnancy is not the ideal time to tell a woman that she’s obese. There is already a shortage of trained sonographers in the health service so when a large percentage are off work this just puts more pressure on those still working.

“We did a general survey of our members and found that 28.3 per cent of them have been off work because of what we call Work Related Upper Limb Disorder.

“For a very few people it becomes so bad that they have to leave the profession and find other work.

Yet another group of persons you injure from your caloric irresponsibility.

The Incredible Edible Egg: Less Cholesterol Than Previously Thought, Lots Of Vitamin D

Now they are "better" for you.

Eggs' nutritional value has been re-examined by the USDA, and the findings are promising for egg lovers. Eggs in actuality contain 14% less cholesterol than the story previous examinations have told. In addition, eggs turn out to be a huge supplier of Vitamin D, which was the most ingested single vitamin pill in 2010. Vitamin D came out the big winner in 2010 as the "most used single vitamin" at 56.2% usage amongst those surveyed, and also won the "most improved" category with a 52% increase in usage since 2008.

Says who?

Says:

Source: American Egg Board

Who else?

The fact remains that there are no "healthy foods."

There is only healthy eating.

Children's BMI Found to Rise the Longer Their Mothers Work

Welfare or workfare, makes no difference. If kids are getting fat at both ends of the spectrum, maybe the only fare that matters is the fare that gets in their mouths.

Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past three decades, and prior research has linked maternal employment to children's body mass index (BMI), a measure of their weight-for-height. A new study in the January/February issue of the journal Child Development has found that children's BMI rose the more years their mothers worked over their children's lifetimes.

Researchers at American University, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago used longitudinal information from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which was sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). They looked at 900 children in grades 3, 5, and 6 who lived in 10 cities across the country.

The researchers found that the total number of years mothers were employed had a small but cumulative influence on their children's BMI, which, over time, can lead to an increase in the likelihood of overweight or obesity. The findings were strongest among children in 5th and 6th grades. Surprisingly, changes in children's physical activity, time spent unsupervised, and time spent watching TV didn't explain the link between maternal employment and children's BMI. Moreover, the time of day moms worked wasn't significantly associated with children's BMI.

Too many Calories do not care about employment status.

Perils of Pregnancy: Obesity and Advanced Age

Imperiling themselves and their piglets.

Why fat people should not get pregnant.

Preeclampsia -- out-of-control hypertension in pregnancy -- is the number-one cause of maternal death around the world. But another disease is taking a toll on mothers and babies, especially in the United States -- obesity.

"The number-one health condition that affects pregnancy is obesity," said Dr. Katharine Wenstrom, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Women and Infants Hospital at Brown University in Rhode Island. "It changes everything with an increased risk for all pregnancy complications."

More than half of all women in the U.S. are overweight or obese when they become pregnant, and most go on to gain more than the recommended amount during pregnancy, according to Kaiser Permanente.

Doctors now know that fat cells are not inert and can produce inflammation. For pregnant women, that inflammation affects the placenta, according to Wenstrom. Obese women have smaller babies, more pre-term labor, airway problems and chances of serious complications during a C-section.

"The chance of death is higher and it's a real risk," she said.

More early nutritional child abuse.

Help stop it.

Solid Foods Before 4 Months Can Raise Obesity Risk For Bottle-Fed Babies

Crap.

Bottle-fed babies who ate solid foods before the age of 4 months were six times more likely to be obese at the age of 3 years than those that started later, said US researchers who also found that the timing of solid food introduction made no difference in the case of breastfed babies.

Has nothing to do with the method of feeding.

Has everything to do with the home and parents.

Red herring.

Consumer Group Demands Crackdown on Vitamin Water Advertising Claims

The IMHO whore for the money, AdipOprah, rears her fat, ugly head again through one of her fitness gurus, Jorge Cruise.

Cruise, a two-time CACA winner, who, according to Yale University, apparently engaged in false advertising with another Oprah IMHO whore, David Katz, was pushing this stuff with rapper 50 Cent on The View.

Of note, 50 reportedly made $400 million when he sold his interest in Glaceau (Coke bought Glaceau), the maker of this s**t.

The National Consumer League, a Washington consumer-advocacy group, filed a formal complaint with the Federal Trade Commission requesting it investigate Coca-Cola's marketing claims for Vitamin Water. The league said the brand touts more benefits than it can deliver.

"Vitamin Water: Flu shots are so last year," reads one advertising poster for the product.

In its complaint, the league said Vitamin Water ads say the drink not only promotes a healthy immune system but can also replace the flu shot.

"It's not only deceptive but potentially dangerous to consumers," said Courtney Brein, a food safety and nutrition fellow at the National Consumers League. "There's a difference between stating that certain elements of a product are good for you and implying that the product will actually prevent the consumer from catching the flu or coming down with the common cold."

With more than $700 million in sales last year, Vitamin Water has become one of the most popular sports drinks. Coca-Cola said in a statement that the content of its beverages is clearly marked on the label.

"Vitamin Water has always had a fun, humorous and engaging personality," the company said in a statement. "And our ads reflect that."

But some legal experts said it's easy to blur the line between clever advertising and overpromising.

"If you talk about what's in your product, then it has to be there," said Howard Beales, an associate professor of strategic management and public policy at the George Washington University School of Business. "If you talk about the effects of that substance, then you have to have evidence that documents the substance really does have those effects."...

Research suggests the evidence as to whether the vitamins in Vitamin Water -- mainly vitamin C and zinc -- work to suppress the flu is conflicting. But there is no evidence that the drink can prevent the flu or is as effective as a flu shot.

Oprah - the IMHO liar/con who keeps on giving.

Grants target childhood obesity in Asheville area

A waste.

The region's youngest residents will learn the importance of nutrition and exercise thanks to a grant from the North Carolina Partnership for Children and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation.

The organizations announced that eight Smart Start programs in the state, including much of Western North Carolina, will get money to help fight childhood obesity.

Smart Start is a public-private partnership aimed, in part, at preparing children ready for school.

The grants will help improve nutrition, physical activity and outdoor recreation at child care centers and fund community outreach to fight obesity. In North Carolina, at least 31 percent of children 2-4 years old are overweight or at risk for obesity.

“It will create a starting point for communities to address the obesity epidemic,” said Adele Spitz Roth, program manager for the Shape NC initiative. “It will lay the groundwork for the rest of their lives.”...

“Obesity prevention is a very important goal for us for young children in our community and child care is a very important place for us to start with that goal,” she said. “We've got a captive audience.”

Not even close.

They go home, which is where the nutritional child abuse happens.

Link Between Tonsillectomy And Excess Weight Gain In Children

Must be the ice cream.

Tonsillectomy is the most common major surgical procedure performed in children. Children who undergo the surgical removal of their tonsils (tonsillectomy), with or without the removal of their adenoids (adenoidectomy), are at increased risk for becoming overweight after surgery, according to new research published in the February 2011 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

Yep, that's got to be it.

Trained Labrador Can Sniff Out Colon Cancer, Researchers Say

But can dogs find colon cancer in humans?

With powers of smell far superior to those of humans, dogs can sniff out buried earthquake victims. They can unearth hidden bombs or drugs. They can also apparently detect colorectal cancer, Japanese researchers suggest.

That's the trick.

Probably more research is needed.

A real advantage would be (dog?) house calls. Or beach canine booty calls.



A kind of "drive by" colon cancer check.

New York City Celebrates Let's Move! One Year Anniversary

Speaking of assh**es (see post above) - Why? Has it worked?

U.S. Surgeon General Regina M. Benjamin joined New York City Health Commissioner Thomas Farley and a group of celebrities and area teenagers in downtown Manhattan to celebrate First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative to end childhood obesity within a generation, launched one year ago this week.

The Times Square event, hosted by Modell's Sporting Goods at Times Square, is one of 18 taking place in Let's Move! Cities and Towns around the nation to highlight progress achieved while inspiring elected officials from all levels of government, schools, faith and community-based organizations, private companies, families and health care professionals to take action. In the past year, nearly 500 communities across the country, including New York, have signed on as Let's Move! Cities and Towns.

It sure hasn't worked for that fatso Regina Benjamin, US Surgeon General and the other fatso, Michellesie "The Cow" Obama:

Takeaways face £1,000 fat tax to help battle against obesity

Madness from the Brits.

TAKEAWAYS could be forced to pay a hefty tax as health chiefs battle the obesity epidemic.

Fast food businesses – including giants such as McDonald’s and KFC – would have to cough up the £1,000 charge before being allowed to trade.

The money would then be spent on litter-picking and campaigns promoting healthy eating.

It is estimated that 62% of the population is overweight or obese and the fat tax is designed to help tackle the problem by forcing takeaways to charge more or by persuading them to serve healthier food so they do not have to shell out on the levy.

There are no "healthy foods."

There is only healthy eating.

This type of action punishes everybody for the caloric irresponsibility of the fat.

Better to have the fat pay more for their sick care. That is a targeted approach.

Here is more about how to do a fat tax properly.

Survey suggests Canadians deluding themselves about their health

With Americans too stupid to know that they and their kids are fat, why shouldn't the Canadians join the stupid-fest?

Two thirds of the men and half of the women with heart disease have no early warning signs, according to a cardiologist. Their first symptom is a heart attack, or sudden death.

"The lucky ones make it to the hospital," said Dr. George Honos, chief of cardiology at the Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal.

Cardiovascular disease is one of the country's leading killers. But a new survey suggests many Canadians are deluding themselves about their risk factors for heart disease.

The survey of 2,000 Canadians, conducted in December for the Heart and Stroke Foundation's annual report on Canadians' health, found the following:

- Only 31 per cent of Canadians said they are physically inactive during their leisure time (people were asked if they were active for at least half an hour, three or more times a week, yes or no). In the 2009 Canadian Community Health Survey, 48 per cent Canadians were classified as inactive;

- Eighteen per cent of Canadian adults say they are obese. According to the 2007 Canadian Health Measures Survey, which was based on direct measurements of about 5,000 Canadians, 24 per cent of Canadian adults are obese; and

- Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed rated themselves as healthy, when nine out of 10 Canadians have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, such as elevated blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and being overweight.

"What people think they're doing and what in fact they're doing are very different things," said Honos, a spokesman for the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Why?

Because they are too stupid to know.

Study links food assistance program, obesity

The obesity entitlement program.

Food assistance programs are designed to keep children fed who otherwise would be hungry, but a recent Southern Rural Development Center study found they often contribute to obesity in cities with a high cost of living.

The only way these kids are getting fat is from too many Calories.

Clearly, the recipients of the entitlement have too much money to spend on Calories.

The only way to rein in the spending is to give them less, so they buy less.

Good luck with that.

School Lunches Weigh Heavily in Childhood Obesity

It is not the lunches.

Obese sixth graders pack on the pounds in much the same manner as their adult counterparts -- too much TV, poor dietary habits, and too little physical activity.
All three factors had significant associations with obesity in a cohort study involving 1,003 sixth graders.

The strongest predictors of obesity were school-lunch consumption (OR 1.29, 1.02 to 1.64) and spending two or more hours in front of a TV or video game within the past day (OR 1.19, 1.06 to 1.33), as reported recently in the American Heart Journal.

Moderate physical activity reduced the likelihood of obesity by 11% (OR 0.89, 0.82 to 0.90).

The unhealthy behaviors translated into an unfavorable metabolic profile, including lipids, blood pressure, blood glucose, and heart rate.

It is the home.

Obesity Rates Weigh Down Cities' Budgets

News Flash!

Cities searching for ways to trim the fat and stretch their budget dollars may want to start looking at residents’ waistlines.

A new study suggests that trimming high obesity rates in the nation’s most overweight cities could help local governments save more than $32 billion annually nationwide in associated health care costs.

New information from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index shows more than 6 in 10 or 62.9% of American adults were either overweight or obese in 2010, slightly more than the 62.2% reported in 2008.

Researchers estimate that direct health care costs associated with obesity are about $50 million each year per 100,000 residents in U.S. cities with the highest obesity rates.

That means if the nation’s 10 most overweight cities -- each with more than a third of its residents classified as obese with a body mass index (BMI) over 30 -- reduced their obesity levels to the 2009 national average of 26.5%, they could collectively save nearly $500 million in health care costs each year.

Probably more.

Charge the bronto sapiens more for the things they use: über-sized clothes, zoo-level scales, ton-tested toilets, Nimitz-class wheelchairs and Bunyan-esque caskets, flabulances, etc.

Otherwise, the calorically responsible among us have to foot the bill.

Fight back.

AMA Urges Governments To Adopt Food Labelling Recommendations, Australia

Won't work. (this might)

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said that Australia is facing a growing epidemic of chronic disease and obesity.

"It is important that food products are all appropriately labelled so that Australian families have all the relevant information they need to make healthy choices about what they eat," Dr Pesce said.

"The Labelling Logic report has set out practical achievable goals to help Australians become more knowledgeable about their food and to make better choices.

"Many of the Review's recommendations reflect positions that the AMA put forward in its submission to the Review, and which we have consistently promoted to governments and the public for many years."

These recommendations include:

- the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand Act be amended to include a definition of public health that focuses on the importance of the promotion of health and prevention of illness, as well as protecting health;

- mandatory declaration of all trans fatty acids above an agreed threshold be introduced in the nutrition information panel (NIP) if manufactured trans fatty acids have not been phased out of the food supply by January 2013;

- improvements be made to labelling in relation to the presence of potential allergens in foods;

- warnings be placed on alcohol products concerning the harms of alcohol consumption to pregnant women;

- the energy content (eg. calories/kilojoules) of alcohol products be included in labelling;

- the Perceptible Information Principle be used as a guide for labelling presentation to maximise label comprehension among a wide range of consumers; and

- a front-of-pack labelling system be developed, including a traffic-light labelling system, which should be mandatory for products making health claims.

Despite the brilliant and easy to understand Perceptible Information Principle.

That'll work.

Not.

New dietary guidelines released amid 'crisis' of obesity and diet-related diseases

A "crisis"! That'll get everybody's atttention.

Though the new guidelines don't differ greatly from the last recommendations, there's a greater sense of urgency as the majority of American adults and one in three children are deemed overweight or obese.

An urgent sense to overconsume Calories, that is.

How To Lose Weight

No. How NOT to lose weight.

On average, an adult female needs at least 1,200 calories per day to stay healthy, while a male needs around 1,500. If either gender were to stick to those numbers of calories they would lose weight and not risk their health.

These are starvation diet numbers. See here, here, here and here.

Here is how to lose weight.

Guidelines urge Americans to clean up their diets

News flash!

Many Americans' diets are a train wreck loaded with junk food, fast food, sugary beverages and too few healthful foods.

The USDA and the Department of Health and Human Services are taking another stab at getting Americans to pay attention to what they are eating.

So it's no surprise that the federal government's new dietary guidelines, being released today, recommend people get back on track and eat healthier by slashing sugar, salt and solid fats such as butter and stick margarine from their diets and eating more seafood, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

The latestDietary (sic) Guidelines for Americans, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, are designed to help people reach a healthy weight and reduce their risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer.

Hey, it worked so well before, why not take "another stab"?

Oh, I know why.

More of the same will not work.

Do something different that will work.

Smoking, obesity why US lifespans lag a bit

The benefits of being first.

The U.S. spends more on health care than any other nation yet has worse life expectancy than many — and a new report blames smoking and obesity.

That may sound surprising, considering that public smoking is being stamped out here while it's common in parts of Europe. And obesity is a growing problem around the world.

But the U.S. led those unhealthy trends, lighting up and fattening up a few decades ahead of other high-income countries. And the long-term consequences are life expectancy a few years shorter than parts of Europe and Japan, the National Research Council reported Tuesday.

Lucky US.

Salt, Sugar And Fat Preferred By Preschool Kids

And adults, too.

Crap research.

A child's taste preferences begin at home and most often involve salt, sugar and fat. And, researchers say, young kids learn quickly what brands deliver the goods.

In a study of preschoolers ages 3 to 5, involving two separate experiments, researchers found that salt, sugar and fat are what kids most prefer -- and that these children already could equate their taste preferences to brand-name fast-food and soda products.

In a world where salt, sugar and fat have been repeatedly linked to obesity, waiting for children to begin school to learn how to make wise food choices is a poor decision, says T. Bettina Cornwell, a professor of marketing in the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business. Children even are turning to condiments to add these flavors -- and with them calories -- to be sure that the foods they eat match their taste preferences.

"Our findings present a public policy message," Cornwell said. "If we want to pursue intervention, we probably need to start earlier." Parents, she said, need to seriously consider the types of foods they expose their young children to at home and in restaurants. "Repeated exposure builds taste preferences."

This study is stupidity.

You have to ask yourself, why these tasty substances, more specifically the salt and sugar, were introduced into foods to begin with as additives.

I am willing to bet, it was not because some clan/tribe/village preschoolers discovered them and realized how much better food tasted to them when they were added and went around to the adults in order to call a meeting to reveal this find so they could start the commercial venture of adding sugar and salt.

People, or at least an awful big percentage of them, are going to prefer these flavors at any age.

Yep, crap research.

It is not the salt, sugar or fat.

It is Calories in vs. Calories out and self-control (or lack thereof).

No more, no less.

State tries again at encouraging Hoosiers to lose weight

This will not work, either.

Indiana state health officials today released a new broad plan for helping Hoosiers eat healthier and exercise more, with an eye towards slimming down the state.

Despite the launch of the InShape Indiana initiative six years ago, obesity remains a significant problem here, with 29 percent of all teens and 65 percent of all adults counting as overweight or obese.

"Despite"?

Because.

Here is a listing of the insanity:

The plan released this morning, which aims to make the healthy choices easier, includes a wide range of goals, from encouraging people to drink less sugary sodas to urging more women to breastfeed their babies longer...

The plan sets out the following goals for the state to reach by 2020:

> Increase the percentage of healthy weight adults from 35 to 38 percent and decrease the percent of obese adults from 30 to 25 percent. Increase the percent of high school students of a healthy weight from 71 to 76 percent and decrease the percent of obese students from 13 to 10 percent.

> Increase the percent of adults who do the recommended amount of daily physical activity from 64 to 68 percent and the percent of high school students who do daily exercise from 41 to 55 percent.

> Increase the percent of adults who eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables daily from 21 to 24 percent and the percent of high school students from 16 to 21 percent.

> Increase the percentage of mothers who breastfeed their babies from 71 to 75 percent. Increase the percent of mothers who do so exclusively from 29 to 40 percent at three months, from 38 to 50 percent at six months, and 17 to 25 percent at one year.

> Decrease the percent of adults who drink one or more sugary beverage a day from 69 to 59 percent and the percent of high school students who drink soda at least once a day from 30 to 22 percent.

Not in a million years.

Bets?

Some People Choose Smaller Meals When Offered

Some don't. So?

Offering downsized meal portions in addition to normal ones at cafeterias may help some people cut their calorie intake, Dutch researchers say.

They say the smaller portions could work in other settings, too, and might help curb obesity, although it's too soon to know if people compensate by eating more the rest of the day.

Seems like a critical piece of missing information.

Why bother doing this garbage study, then?

Winning Linked To Higher Testosterone Levels

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

The winners of wrestling matches have greater increases in testosterone levels than losing wrestlers, reports the January issue of The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, official research journal of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

The study is not the first to suggest that winning competitors have greater increases in testosterone. Previous studies have reported such differences not only in wrestlers and other athletes, but also in chess players-"even in games of chance such as those that involve a coin toss," the researchers note.

The new findings confirm the difference in testosterone responses between winners and losers, and may also help in understanding the mechanisms responsible for this difference. Testosterone has been linked to aggressive behavior in animals-especially males competing for territory, food, and breeding mates. "Numerous studies exist supporting the challenge hypothesis throughout the animal kingdom," Dr. Fry and colleagues write. They believe that the link between testosterone and winning wrestling matches "may present an excellent example of survival of the athlete within the construct of competitive sport performance."

The results may even have implications for athletic training, with an eye toward improving future sports performance. "What has not been fully appreciated is the critical role of establishing social dominance in sport," according to Dr. Fry and colleagues. "Based on data from the animal kingdom, winning wrestlers appear to establish a mechanism conducive to future success and long-term survival as a wrestler," they write.

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