U.S. program targets obesity at grassroots level

As if heretofore they have been targeting the treetop level and not the hoi-polloi.

"A new program developed by the U.S. government is tackling the obesity epidemic by helping "tween" girls and their parents make small but important changes to build a healthier lifestyle.

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office on Women's Health launched BodyWorks in 2006 by training instructors in the hopes that they would bring the program home to their communities. All materials are provided free, but communities must find the resources to pay trainers and a place to offer the program."

No, the materials are not "provided free."

We are paying for them with our tax dollars.

"Richter is in the second year of offering the program at the Valley Children's Clinic in Renton, Washington, and has expanded it to two other centers in the region with funding from hospitals and a grant.

'What excites me as a practicing pediatrician is the fact that this is something I can offer to my patients which doesn't require any funding,' she said. 'There's no charge, you don't need insurance payments. All it requires is a commitment of time.'"

Richter is a moron.

There is no such thing as a free weight loss lunch, idiot.

We are all paying for it and likely paying for part of your income for these fat nutritionally abused children, one way or another.

Which, by the way, puts you in violation of CAPTA, assuming you have not fulfilled your mandated-by-law responsibility to report these kids to child and family services.

I'll bet that is a good assumption.

You are complicit in the child abuse, Richter.

Richter is also a lawbreaker.

Shame on her.

Death risk climbs as waist circumference grows

Kudos, fatsos.

"Among men, the researchers found, those in the top fifth based on their waist circumference were about 22 percent more likely to die during the study period than men with trimmer waistlines, independent of BMI. A similar risk was seen among women.

In addition, people considered to be abdominally obese based on World Health Organization guidelines -- a waistline of 35 inches or more for women, or 40 inches or more for men -- were 20 percent more likely to die over the nine-year study than their peers with slimmer waists.

The findings were true for smokers and non-smokers, healthy people and those with chronic illness, and across all the ethnic groups the researchers looked at, which included non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks, Hispanics, and Asians. In fact, there was evidence that mortality risk climbed more quickly with waist circumference among Asians, particularly men."

If you want to be dead from overfatness, that is your decision.

Just don't make the rest of society pay for your diseases of choice.

Low-fat diet as heart-healthy as Mediterranean

War with Spain!

"After a heart attack, adopting either a low-fat or Mediterranean-style diet similarly and significantly benefits overall and cardiovascular health, research suggests.

The diets provide similar amounts of protein, carbohydrates, cholesterol, and unhealthy saturated fats, but a Mediterranean diet has higher amounts of "healthy" monounsaturated fats, particularly omega-3 fatty acids found in fish.

Either diet, when applied with equal intensity, can be an effective component of post-heart attack lifestyle changes, researchers say. Post-heart attack patients who followed these diets for 4 years significantly reduced their risk for subsequent cardiovascular events, Dr. Katherine R. Tuttle and colleagues found."

How dare anything be as good as the international treasure known as the Mediterranean Diet.

Scientists identify possible Alzheimer's gene

More they will never find a genetic "cure" for your overfatness.

"Scientists have identified a gene that may raise the risk of getting the most common kind of Alzheimer's disease by about 45 percent in people who inherit a certain form of it...

Dozens of other genes are also under study as possibly affecting risk of the disease."

"Dozens."

Got it? "Dozens."

Not to mention their interactions.

And their interactions with other genes.

And their interactions with the environment.

And their interactions with a specific environment.

And so on.

And this one is merely a "possible" culprit.

Counting on a genetic "cure" for too fat?

You are an idiot.

"Dozens" of times over.

One in 10 had "silent strokes" - U.S. group study

At last an explanation.

"Routine brain scans in a group of middle-aged people showed that 10 percent of them had suffered a stroke without knowing it, raising their risk for further strokes and memory loss, U.S. researchers said on Thursday."

And they all went into the business of giving weight loss advice.

Now we know why Oprah, Mehmet and David are so damned stupid - silent strokes.

Too bad they are still IMHO dangerous.

New Obesity Treatment Option For NHS Patients As It Emerges Public Want Doctors To Help Obese Patients Lose Weight

Kill with a pill.

"The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued new guidance recommending use of Acomplia® (rimonabant) in England and Wales, within its licensed indications, as an adjunct to diet and exercise for adults who are obese or overweight and who have had an inadequate response to, are intolerant of or are contraindicated to other anti-obesity agents that have previously been reviewed by NICE."

NICE sounds so friendly, doesn't it?

But the drug, rimonabant, is not so nice. See here, here, here and here.

There ain't no drug "cure" for your too-fatness.

Disney Family.com Launches "Healthy Families" Initiative With Kaiser Permanente

The mouse that roared.

"While more than two-thirds of parents surveyed say they are concerned about the healthy ingredients in the food their child eats, just under half of parents know the correct number of recommended daily servings of whole grains for children. And more than half say their child exercises for an hour or less each day, while nearly nine of every 10 people eat fast food one to two times a week, according to a recent online survey about healthy living from Disney Family.com... Furthermore, according to general healthcare standards based on age, height and weight, one in five of the surveyed parents have children who are considered overweight or at risk for being overweight. Disney and Kaiser Permanente have joined to help close that gap on nutrition knowledge and to help parents encourage their children to become more physically active."

The survey proves that the responders have mouse brains.

They think there are "healthy ingredients" in foods, apparently vis a vis, weight control.

They think that there is a healthy number of servings of some foods.

And the people at Disney, who, through ABC (which it owns), bring you the IMHO killers Oprah, Mehmet Oz, David Katz, Jorge Cruise, slam so-called fast food, which is readily available at their parks.

Call the rodent exterminator before you and your kids are the ones exterminated.

Over 1,000 Professionals Credentialed As School Nutrition Specialists

Very bad news.

"Leuna Johnson SNS, Supervisor of School Nutrition Services for Assumption Parish Schools in Baton Rouge, La. became the 1,000th school nutrition professional to earn the School Nutrition Specialist credential offered by the School Nutrition Association (SNA.) The credentialing program that was begun by ASFSA in January of 1999 requires that school foodservice professionals fulfill academic requirements, have work experience in the field, participate in specialized training and pass a national exam. Ms. Johnson will be recognized at the SNA Annual National Conference in Philadelphia, Penn. on July 20, 2008."

The SNA is an organization apparently dedicated to causing as much nutritional harm to kids as it can via being ignorant of the principles of nutrition.

The most too-bad part, is that protecting children by homeschooling is not a feasible option as parents are generally incapable of teaching their kids and homes are nutritionally toxic environments.

This is just terrible.

In Canada Obese Women Are Less Likely To Be Screened For Cervical Cancer

And whose fault is that?

"Padwal says the results also showed obese women are two times more likely than normal-weight women to state that fear - including fear of pain, embarrassment or of finding something wrong - was the reason they did not have a pap smear."

Fatties' fault.

Their problem, should not be ours.

Too bad.

Take responsibility for yourself.

Lose weight.

Government Should Tell Parents If Their Child Is Obese, Parents Say

Yep.

"Parents are supporting the Government's intended plans to change whether parents are told if their child is obese, but want the plans to go even further than those currently proposed."

Then make the nutritional child abusers culpable under CAPTA (in the USA).

SNA Brings Home The Gold: School Nutrition Association Receives Several Awards

Hey, look! S**t floats!

"The Olympics may be underway halfway around the world in Beijing, China, but right here at home, the School Nutrition Association (SNA) is earning its share of bright and shiny honors. SNA was named the recipient of several prestigious awards for its flagship publication, School Nutrition, and the 2008 National School Breakfast Week campaign.

Earlier this summer, School Nutrition was the recipient of not one but two Gold EXCEL awards in the prestigious annual competition sponsored by the National Society of Association Publications. The magazine and its 2008 Media Kit were recognized for General Excellence. The judges lauded the combination of high-quality writing and design, citing the magazine as 'the complete package that has fresh, engaging editorial with the look to match.'"

Note that the awards were NOT for getting nutrition right.

Which makes sense since the SNA does not know squat about proper nutrition.

Not to mention that the SNA is filled with a bunch of self-serving, self-congratulatory IMHO cons:

"SNA members already have declared the Association's National School Breakfast Week (NSBW) theme 'Fuel Your Imagination with School Breakfast' a winner, with great participation in this year's promotional event. So it's only fitting that experts in public relations and association management do the same. The campaign took home a 2008 Hermes Creative Award from the Association of Marketing and Communications Professionals, as well as a Communicator Award from the International Academy of Visual Arts."

Useless people, harmful organization.

Happy Independence Day (Readers in USA)

Happy Fourth of July.

As you celebrate Independence Day, consider this.

Consider the independence that comes from:

• Not relying on drugs for weight control (they do not work, anyway),
• Not relying on surgery and its effects for the rest of your life,
• Not living life in service of diabetes, stroke, hypertension, heart disease, cancer,
• Not requiring nursing home care from bone fractures and osteoporosis,
• Not limiting your participation in life from being too fat,
• Not letting crooks, thieves, liars, charlatans and other diet/fitness experts fool you,
• Not contributing regularly to Big Pharma from purchasing its products,
• Not watching your children grow up fat and sick,
  
• Not being a victim of the MSM, its salespersons and false reporting, and
• All of the other controls in your life that are surrendered from being overfat.

If these are things from which you want independence, consider Independence Day a new year's day and start today.

Happy holiday.

Be well.

And readers from outside the USA, consider the above as well.

Freedom from the oppression of overweight/obesity and the tyranny of the sick care system of your country is just as important.

The Current Screening Test For Prediabetes In Children Results In Frequent Inaccurate Diagnoses

Kudos, fatsos. Nutritional child abuse is more prevalent than we think.

"Obese children, who are at increased risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, may not be getting the most appropriate test to screen for these conditions, a new Canadian study found. Results were presented at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco...

The authors studied 172 obese children, ages 5 to 17, who joined a program to help attain a healthy weight. All children had evaluation of risk factors for diabetes (or its precursor, prediabetes) and metabolic syndrome, including testing of blood sugar. Using the glucose stress test, the researchers found that 25 percent of the children met the diagnostic criteria for prediabetes. But when they relied on results of the fasting blood glucose test, as recommended by the American and Canadian diabetes associations, they found that only 8 percent of the children had prediabetes.

'A large proportion of the children with prediabetes would not have had their condition recognized,' Morrison said."

Stop the child abuse.

Intensive Interventions Increase Walking Behavior

A monumental waste.

"Intensive interventions can increase walking behavior, according to the results of a review reported in the July issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise."

If we have to pay for "intensive interventions" just to get fat-assed fu**s to walk, let 'em experience the consequences of their choices to become fat and lazy.

Besides, exercise is a terribly inefficient way to lose weight and will not work anyway.

Not a penny for them or the predatory sick care system to this fat end.

Low Leptin Levels Undermine Successful Weight Loss

Bulls**t.

"Individuals who are obese are at increased risk of many diseases, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. As 75%-95% of previously obese individuals regain their lost weight, many researchers are interested in developing treatments to help individuals maintain their weight loss."

They regain the weight because they starved themselves to lose it and did not learn proper caloric intake control.

The leptin crap is so you can send contributions from your wallet to Big Pharma, sick care and the researchers who IMHO conned you.

Few Employers Addressing Employees' Obesity Despite Increasing Costs

As if it is their responsibility.

"Obesity rates in the U.S. are driving up costs for employers that provide health insurance to workers, but few companies have introduced programs intended to curb the trend, the New York Times reports."

Good for them since wellness programs are at best unproven and most likely a waste of money as are the expensive Employee Assistance Programs implemented to support them.

Wellness programs are based on the same mistaken foundation as virtually all weight loss programs.

They will never work because they are impossible.

"Nationwide costs related to employees' obesity for companies are $45 billion annually, according to a report by the Conference Board and RTI International. In addition, a team of Emory University researchers -- led by public health professor Kenneth Thorpe -- found that obesity accounted for 27% of the rise in medical costs from 1987 to 2001.

Obese employees are more likely to miss work than other workers and typically are less mobile on the job than thinner employees, according to the Times. In addition, research by Roland Sturm, a senior economist for the RAND Corporation, found that obesity is a greater generator of chronic health problems than smoking or heavy alcohol use."

Better not to hire fatsos.

Or pay them less, or have them pay more for sick care insurance or fire them if they do not lose the weight.

"However, some companies might believe that 'obesity is not their problem to solve,' especially in industries with high employee turnover rates, because costs do not rise immediately with weight gain, and employees who change jobs 'tak[e] their health care costs with them,' according to the Times. Eric Finkelstein, director of the Public Health Economics program at RTI, said, 'For most companies, it's not a smart business move' to have obese employees. He added, 'Putting on a public health hat, you might say it's unfortunate that companies don't do more for employees. But it doesn't make sense from an employer's point of view.'"

Implementing an impossible program makes even less sense.

BTW, this study seems to contradict the Times article.

Tick, Tock On The Obesity Clock - Battle Against The Bulge

What? Did you just wake up?

"'We have to act now to address this critical health issue. The link between obesity and cardiovascular disease, and other health conditions, makes this one of Australia's number one health priorities,' said Dr Kelly Seach, GP and RACGP Registrar Representative.

'This is not only an issue for the health of our patients; it is also about the health of our medical system, which is nearing breaking point. Unless the obesity epidemic is halted, it may tip the scales.'"

Same for here in the USA.

Any successful attempt to address the issue, must include:

prosecuting the IMHO predators who are killing adults and children (media, Oprah, diet gurus, the sick care system players, nutritional child abusing parents, the AMA, Big Pharma etc.),

stopping payment for the malpractices of bariatric surgery and diet drugs and

stopping the rescue of fat people from their diseases of choice.

One way or another, the problem will then go away.

With certainty.

BTW, overweight/obesity are not "health issues."

They may be math problems, they may be physics problems, they are certainly self-control problems. but they are clearly not medical problems.

Once we decide to stop treating them as what they are not, we will be a long way towards dealing with them successfully.

Health Care Reform Needs Team Work Not Turf Wars, Dietitians Say

For once, the docs have it partly right.

"Australia's leading nutrition organisation has welcomed debate on reforms to the primary health care system, but hit back at doctors for devaluing the role of other health professions as part of the healthcare team."

The mistake is that the physician is as bad a sick care partner to patients as are the other health professionals.

"According to Executive Director of the DAA, Claire Hewat, health professionals, such as doctors and dietitians, must work together in mutual respect for the best outcomes for patients. 'Best patient care demands teamwork from the key players, not mud-slinging between health professions - that is simply not helpful. The health of our nation should be our priority, and there should be more opportunities for the health professions to collaborate to improve patient health,' commented Ms Hewat."

Wrong.

For patients to have the best outcomes, docs and dietitians have to step aside and stop impeding patients from achieving success.

This is clearly true in the domain of overweight/obesity where these health predators are the cause of most diet failure.

It is likely true in other domains, as well.

The goal of any sick care system should be to downsize by removing all the needless interference of the foxes in charge of the sick care henhouse and upsize where their interference is of value.

Food Ads Aimed At Kids Need Regulating: Study

Will never work.

"The Australian Government needs to regulate laws concerning junk food advertising directed at children if the current rates of childhood obesity are ever to reduce, according to a QUT researcher."

Kids do not earn money and cannot buy food without the complicity of parents.

"The television is often used as a babysitting tool, and if a child is sitting through more than an hour of television, then he or she is seeing a lot of advertisements, which influences a child's perception."

Then turn off the tube, parents.

"'If the level of junk food advertising does not change, I don't think the rates of obesity among children will go down, and at the moment, one in four children in this country is overweight or obese.'"

It is not the food, it is the Calories.

"'Research has shown that around one in 10 parents regularly takes their children straight from school to a fast food place, and the amount of advertising is the main causative factor,' said Dr Oommen."

And whose fault is that? And how will advertising changes to kiddies make parents more responsible?

Look, I am not opposed to making changes in various areas in order to stop the overweight/obesity/nutritional child abuse problems.

But to do something that will not work just because you can is not problem-solving.

It is meaningless scapegoating and time/resource wasting to boot.

Shut this scum down and go after the real culprits - parents.

Obesity-Related Cancer On The Rise

Kudos, fatsos.

"As Americans' collective waistline has continued to expand, so has the prevalence of obesity-related cancer.

According to the June issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter, an estimated 14 percent of cancer deaths in older men and 20 percent in older women can be attributed to excess body fat."

Grow your waistline, grow a tumor.

For those of you who have failed at dieting, get back at the bastards, and give yourself a fighting chance to live.