School children need body image lessons - MPs

No they do not...

All school children should take part in compulsory body image and self-esteem lessons, MPs have recommended.

It comes after an inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on body image heard evidence that more than half of the public has a negative body image.

Girls as young as five now worry about how they look, the MPs' report said, while cosmetic surgery rates have increased by nearly 20% since 2008.

Media images of unrealistic bodies were said to be largely to blame, they said.

The MPs released the Reflections on Body Image report after a three-month inquiry, involving an online consultation and oral evidence given to the cross-party group.

...unless they are like this:

You are a fatso:

You are a fatso:

You are in great shape. Good for you!:

You are in great shape. Good for you!:

Low-Income Moms Under Stress May Overfeed Infants

Under stress? More likely over-stupid, uncaring, etc.

Efforts to prevent obesity among low-income infants should focus not only on what babies are being fed but also the reasons behind unhealthy feeding practices...

Yep.

When looking for reasons why people do stupid, hurtful things, look to stupidity and being uncaring as the reasons.

Optimal Nutrition, Physical Activity Recommended After Cancer Diagnosis

Could a headline be more stupid?

New guidelines from the American Cancer Society say for many cancers, maintaining a healthy weight, getting adequate physical activity, and eating a healthy diet can reduce the chance of recurrence and increase the likelihood of disease-free survival after a diagnosis. The recommendations are included in newly released Nutrition and Physical Activity Guidelines for Cancer Survivors, published early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Increasing evidence shows that for many cancers, excess weight, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition increase the risk of cancer recurrence and reduce the likelihood of disease-free and overall survival for cancer patients. "The data suggests that cancer survivors, just like everyone else, benefit from these important steps," said Colleen Doyle MS RD, American Cancer Society director of nutrition and physical activity and co-author of the guidelines. "While we've published previous reports outlining the evidence on the impact of nutrition and physical activity on cancer recurrence and survival, this is the first time the evidence has been strong enough to release formal guidelines for survivorship, as we've done for cancer prevention. Living a physically active lifestyle and eating a healthy diet should absolutely be top of mind for anyone who's been diagnosed with cancer."

First off, "optimal" is unknowable.

All optimization is lagging, i.e., there is no way to predict optimal.

Second, shouldn't one do the best he or she can nutritionally and physically whether they have a diagnosis of cancer or not?

If this is the kind of crap the ACS wastes donated bucks on, it may be time to consider donating elsewhere.

Georgia Davis: 'What kind of support was she getting

Wales? Whales.

Georgia Davis, "Britain's biggest teen", is in hospital today in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, being treated for major organ failure. In an eight-hour operation involving 40 social services staff, police, firemen, ambulance crew, builders and scaffolders, she had to be cut out of the bedroom to which she has reportedly been confined for the past several months, lifted by crane on to a ramp erected for the purpose, and wheeled on a specially strengthened stretcher to a reinforced ambulance.

Her weight has not formally been made public, but friends and neighbours have said it has "rocketed" since last August, when the 5ft 6in, 19-year-old student was weighed at 45st. Some apparently told reporters it could have increased to as much as 63st. How does someone get into such a condition – and is there a way back?

You get there from parental and societal neglect.

Nutritional child abuse.

Plain and simple.

A New Study Found That Certain Berries May Delay Memory Decline In Older Women

Berry, berry stupid.

Berries are good for you, that's no secret. But can strawberries and blueberries actually keep your brain sharp in old age? A new study by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that a high intake of flavonoid rich berries, such as strawberries and blueberries, over time, can delay memory decline in older women by 2.5 years. This study is published by Annals of Neurology, a journal of the American Neurological Association and Child Neurology Society.

"What makes our study unique is the amount of data we analyzed over such a long period of time. No other berry study has been conducted on such a large scale," explained Elizabeth Devore, a researcher in the Channing Laboratory at BWH, who is the lead author on this study. "Among women who consumed 2 or more servings of strawberries and blueberries each week we saw a modest reduction in memory decline. This effect appears to be attainable with relatively simple dietary modifications."

Absolutely no proof of cause and effect.

Idiot researchers.

No Association Found Between White Potato Consumption (Baked, Boiled Mashed) And Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes Or Systemic Inflammation

They're good, again.

Used to be bad.

Or still are? You decide.

Preliminary Research presented at The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Conference in San Diego demonstrates that habitual consumption of white potatoes (baked, boiled and mashed) is not associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes or levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of systemic inflammation once potential confounding factors are controlled for (e.g., age, gender, and education).

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

Early Menopause May Predict Osteoporosis, Fractures, Death

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Compared with those who underwent later menopause, women who experienced menopause before age 47 years were almost twice as likely to develop osteoporosis in later life and experienced a significantly increased risk for fragility fractures and death.

To understand how anabolics can help you prevent osteoporosis and/or avoid its bad consequences, go here, here and here.

Building Muscle Without Heavy Weights

K-rap.

Weight training at a lower intensity but with more repetitions may be as effective for building muscle as lifting heavy weights says a new opinion piece in Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism.

"The perspective provided in this review highlights that other resistance protocols, beyond the often discussed high-intensity training, can be effective in stimulating a muscle building response that may translate into bigger muscles after resistance training," says lead author Nicholas Burd. "These findings have important implications from a public health standpoint because skeletal muscle mass is a large contributor to daily energy expenditure and it assists in weight management. Additionally, skeletal muscle mass, because of its overall size, is the primary site of blood sugar disposal and thus will likely play a role in reducing the risk for development of type II diabetes."

The authors from McMaster University conducted a series of experiments that manipulated various resistance exercise variables (e.g., intensity, volume, and muscle time under tension). They found that high-intensity muscle contractions derived from lifting heavy loads were not the only drivers of exercise-induced muscle development. In resistance-trained young men a lower workout intensity and a higher volume of repetitions of resistance exercise, performed until failure, was equally effective in stimulating muscle proteins as a heavy workout intensity at lower repetition rates. An additional benefit of the low-intensity workout is that the higher repetitions required to achieve fatigue will also be beneficial for sustaining the muscle building response for days.

Note no data - just theory.

Will not work as shown by many decades of real-world training.

Learn to train properly.

Long-Overlooked Protein May Be The Gateway To The Storage And Burning Of Fat, Diabetes Treatment

This time for sure. This is the key. Really.

Humans are built to hunger for fat, packing it on during times of feast and burning it during periods of famine. But when deluged by foods rich in fat and sugar, the modern waistline often far exceeds the need to store energy for lean times, and the result has been an epidemic of diabetes, heart disease and other obesity-related problems.

Now, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have identified the linchpin of fat metabolism, a protein known as fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1), which may open new avenues in the treatment of diabetes.

Not.

Obesity Epidemic Fueling Rise in Rheumatoid Arthritis Among Women

Good news! Another illness of choice we do not have to pay for.

Obesity and the painful autoimmune disorder rheumatoid arthritis are each becoming more common, raising a logical question: Could one have something to do with the other? For women, it appears there is a link, Mayo Clinic researchers say. They studied hundreds of patients and found a history of obesity puts women at significant risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis.

Their findings are published online in the American College of Rheumatology journal Arthritis Care & Research.

In rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks tissues, inflaming joints and sometimes also affecting other organs and causing fever and fatigue. Rheumatoid arthritis tends to initially impact the hands and feet and then spread to the knees, ankles, hips and shoulders. It is more common in women than in men. Complications can include heart problems, lung disease, osteoporosis and carpal tunnel syndrome.

To examine a potential link with obesity, researchers pulled medical records covering 1980-2007 from the Rochester Epidemiology Project and studied 813 adults with rheumatoid arthritis and 813 adults as the control group, matched by age, gender and calendar year. Height, weight and smoking status also were noted; roughly 30 percent of the patients in each group were obese and 68 percent were women.

Rheumatoid arthritis cases rose by 9.2 per 100,000 women from 1985-2007, the study found. Obesity accounted for 52 percent of the increase.

Bad news.

You can bet that the s**t for brains politicians and their medical establishment enablers will veto any attempt at doing the right thing.

Ten-Minute Nutrition and Exercise Counseling Makes a Difference

Does not.

Nurse practitioners see patients for the primary or secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease. Most patients have multiple risk factors. Although some patients require medication to treat their risk factors, healthy lifestyle changes (good nutrition, portion control, and regular exercise) can benefit all risk factors. Many people know what they should eat, but often they eat too much.

They need help with motivation and strategies to make healthy dietary changes. It is a challenge to provide this level of counseling during a single patient encounter. Often it takes a few visits and telephone/email follow-up to assist patients in making changes. While it can be a challenge to fit heart-healthy lifestyle counseling into limited visit times, this counseling is essential to preventing and managing cardiovascular disease.

See?

IMHO, liars.

Protection Against Many Cancers Provided By Vitamin E In Diet But Not The Form Commonly Used In Supplements

Save the money you would otherwise foolishly spend at Whore Foods.

Next time you need to choose between vegetable oil and margarine in that favorite recipe, think about your health and reach for the oil.

While the question of whether vitamin E prevents or promotes cancer has been widely debated in scientific journals and in the news media, scientists at the Center for Cancer Prevention Research, at Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and the Cancer Institute of New Jersey, believe that two forms of vitamin E - gamma and delta-tocopherols - found in soybean, canola and corn oils as well as nuts do prevent colon, lung, breast and prostate cancers.

"There are studies suggesting that vitamin E actually increases the risk of cancer and decreases bone density," says Chung S. Yang, director of the center. "Our message is that the vitamin E form of gamma-tocopherols, the most abundant form of vitamin E in the American diet, and delta-tocopherols, also found in vegetable oils, are beneficial in preventing cancers while the form of vitamin E, alpha- tocopherol, the most commonly used in vitamin E supplements, has no such benefit."

End up richer and maybe even healthier, to boot.

Parent Diet Choice Knowledge Doesn't Prevent Child Obesity

Duh.

A study of the families of 150 preschoolers suggests that parents of healthy-weight and overweight preschoolers are generally well aware of dietary risk factors that fuel childhood obesity.

The research, conducted by the Johns Hopkins Children's Center and All Children's Hospital in Florida, suggests that awareness alone is not enough to effect meaningful weight change, and that pediatricians should help parents with specific and tailored guidance on how to apply their knowledge in daily practice, the researchers said.

All the knowledge in the world will make no difference unless it is applied properly.

Speaking of which, the last thing you want is for pediatricians, or any of the believers in the faith of medicine, to give you weight loss advice.

Diets fail because of expert diet advice.

See here, here, here and here to find out why.

In IVF Preconception Study, 96 Percent Of Women Faced Multiple Lifestyle Issues And Health Risks

Even Nature is telling fat people not to reproduce.

Ninety-six per cent of women who attended a preconception clinic before undergoing IVF had three or more lifestyle problems and risk factors, according to a study in the May issue of the Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Half of the obese women lost weight and nearly a third of the smokers decided to quit after receiving advice at the clinic. But the nurses were surprised that some women had no motivation to lead healthier lifestyles, even though they were prepared to go through IVF to get pregnant. For example 30% of the smokers refused to quit and 16% of the obese women weren't prepared to lose weight.

Researchers from the University Medical Center in Utrecht, The Netherlands, analysed the results of questionnaires completed by 101 women who had received preconception care before IVF, together with the seven nurses who advised them.

"Medical professionals are increasingly recognising that there are important links between preconception health and positive IVF outcomes, both in terms of the success of the procedure and the health of the baby" says nurse researcher Henrietta Ockhuijsen from the Department of Reproductive Medicine and Gynaecology at the Center. "Despite this, preconception care is rarely offered to couples undergoing IVF."

Just as well.

Medical advice re: weight loss is worse than useless.

Why?

See here, here, here and here, for starters.

Pumping Iron to Prevent Dementia?

Train.

Resistance training could be an important part of reversing memory decline in elderly women with mild memory problems, according to a new study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

It is the smart thing to do.

Hypertensive Patients Who Exercise Have Lower Death Risk

Not exercising, training.

That notwithstanding:

According to a presentation at the World Congress of Cardiology, people with hypertension (high blood pressure) could reduce their risk of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) or all-cause mortality to a level equivalent a reduction of 40~50 mmHg in blood pressure, simply by exercising.

High blood pressure is one of the major preventable risk factors for premature CVD deaths worldwide, contributing to about 50% of all CVDs. The risk of developing CVD doubles for every 10-point increase in diastolic blood pressure, and if left untreated, hypertension can dramatically raise a person's risk of developing CVD. Hypertension treatment has been linked to reducing the risk of stroke by 35 to 40%, as well as reducing the risk of a heart attack by at least 16%.

The researchers conducted a prospective study that involved 434,190 Taiwanese people over a 12-year period, of which 54% were classified as being inactive, 22% as having a low level of activity and 24% as having a medium or higher activity level. The researchers compared the all cause and CVD mortality risk in between all activity levels and subsequently identified the blood pressure equivalence of physical activity by the difference in mortality risks between physically inactive and active participants.

The findings revealed that all-cause and CVD mortality risks were considerably higher at all blood pressure levels in participants that did no physical exercise, as compared with those who were physically active. Furthermore, when the higher death risk due to physical inactivity was converted into a measurement of "blood pressure equivalence of physical activity", the findings demonstrated that being physically inactive was similar to a higher death risk equivalent to a 40-50 mmHg higher blood pressure.

Learn how to train, here.

Link Between Childhood Obesity And Increased Risk Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Adulthood

Another result of nutritional child abuse.

Childhood obesity is a widespread global epidemic and in parallel with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)is now the leading cause of liver disease among children. New data presented at the International Liver Congress™ 2012 furthers this concern by showing that childhood obesity is positively linked with developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) - the most common form of liver cancer - in adulthood.

Hold the parents responsible.

Cancer Prevention Efforts Outlined In Report

Funny how cancer prevention efforts target the too fat.

An annual report from the American Cancer Society says much of the suffering and death from cancer could be prevented by more systematic efforts to reduce tobacco use, improve diet and physical activity, reduce obesity, and expand the use of established screening tests. The report, Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Facts and Figures (CPED), outlines gaps and opportunities that contribute to cancer mortality, and says social, economic, and legislative factors profoundly influence individual health behaviors. Since 1992, the American Cancer Society has published CPED as a resource to strengthen cancer prevention and early detection efforts at the local, state, and national levels.

Are the extra Calories worth the extra risk?

Really?

Calcium Supplements Linked to Heart Attack Risk

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Taking calcium supplements to build stronger bones may be bad for the heart, according to a new study that suggests getting similar doses from calcium-rich foods is a safer alternative.

The study, which followed nearly 24,000 German men and women between the ages of 35 and 64, found those who regularly took calcium supplements were 86 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those who did not. Study subjects who relied completely on supplements for their daily calcium intake were 139 percent more likely to have a heart attack.

"Calcium supplements, which might raise [heart attack] risk, should be taken with caution," the authors wrote in their report, published Wednesday in the journal Heart.

Calcium is critical for strong bones and teeth. But the new study suggests supplements, many of which are sold as tasty gummy candies and chocolates, are no replacement for healthy foods.

"Calcium supplements have been widely embraced by doctors and the public on the grounds that they are a natural and therefore safe way of preventing osteoporotic fractures," Ian Reid and Mark Bolland of the University of Auckland in New Zealand wrote in an editorial accompanying the study. "It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food."

Osteoporosis is not a disease of low calcium.

All the calcium in the world will not "cure" osteoporosis if you have it.

Nor will it prevent osteoporosis.

Anabolic substances will.

To learn more, go here, here and here.

Encouraging Healthy Eating To Avoid Childhood Obesity

More just plain stupid research.

Obesity among children has long been a rising problem in large parts of the world. Parents play a crucial role in shaping good childhood eating habits, according to new research from the University of Stavanger.

Really?

Does more money need to be wasted to re-demonstrate that parents are the ones who are responsible, at nearly all levels, for their kid's fatosity?

This is such k-rap.

Prisoner Body Weight Compared To General Population

An argument in favor of universal conscription as a method for improving national health.

A new study reveals that worldwide, male prisoners are slimmer than men in the general population, and female prisoners are more obese than the general population - apart from in the UK.

Conducted by Dr. Katharine Herbert, Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, UK and her team, the study is the first systematic analysis of diet, exercise, overweight, and obesity in prison populations worldwide.

Researchers have the opportunity to address major public health risk factors by studying vulnerable populations like prisoners. Not taking advantage of this opportunity translates into a high cost to society.

Captive populations can have their caloric intakes controlled.

Caloric intake control is the absolute key to weight management.

In the case of fat female prisoners, all that needs to be done is serve them fewer Calories.

In the case of a fat general population, once conscripted, all that needs to be done is serve them fewer Calories than they burn.

Plus, the drafted will provide service to the country and learn some self-discipline.

It is a win-win.

Unless some silly PC BS supersedes doing the right thing.

Paying the Price of a Fat Pet

Fat people have fat kids pets? Either way, animal abusers.

...As the number of Americans who are overweight has grown, studies show that they have gained some four-legged company. About half of all dogs and cats in American homes are overweight or obese, up slightly from 2010, according to a recent study by the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. In a nation of 170 million pets, many of them as beloved as children, that means that roughly 85 million are carrying too much weight. And many pet owners are finding that the extra pounds on a pudgy cat or dog can lead to severe – and costly – health problems.

“Seeing animals suffering from health conditions secondary to their obesity is a common situation,” said Dr. Louise Murray, vice president of the Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital, run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, in New York.

Just as diabetes and heart disease are more common in people who are obese, these diseases also are more common in overweight animals. The average cost of veterinary care for a diabetic dog or cat in 2011 was more than $900, according to Petplan USA, a pet insurance company. Treatment for arthritis and cruciate ligament tears, which can be caused by the strain of an overweight frame that weakens joints, especially in dogs, cost pet owners an average of $2,000.

In 2011 alone, pet insurance claims for diabetes increased by 253 percent, according to Petplan. Claims for heart disease rose by 32 percent, while claims for arthritis soared by 348 percent.

Just as the costs of unintended-size human, i.e., fatso, sick care have increased.

And the rest of us sit still and pay for them.

Stupid, stupid us.

With Classroom Breakfasts, a Concern That Some Children Eat Twice

Statism and corrupt parents = fat kids.

It is an innovative, intuitive and increasingly common way to ensure that food reaches the mouths of hungry children from low-income families: give out free breakfast in the classroom at the start of each school day.

The results, seen at urban districts across the country, are striking. Without the stigma of a trip to the cafeteria, the number of students in Newark who eat breakfast in school has tripled. Absenteeism has fallen in Los Angeles, and officials in Chicago say children from low-income families are eating healthier meals, more often.

But New York City, a leader in public health reform, has balked at expanding the approach in its own schools, and City Hall is citing a surprising concern: that all those classroom Cheerios and cheese sticks could lead to more obesity.

Some children, it turns out, may be double-dipping.

The city’s health department hit the pause button after a study found that the Breakfast in the Classroom program, now used in 381 of the city’s 1,750 schools, was problematic because some children might be “inadvertently taking in excess calories by eating in multiple locations” — in other words, having a meal at home, or snacking on the way to school, then eating again in school.

Very likely, especially since a huge percentage of the so-called impoverished are not.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids of No Benefit in Multiple Sclerosis

Say it ain't so.

Omega-3 fatty acid supplements failed to reduce disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS), either as monotherapy or in combination with standard immunomodulatory treatment, according to new results of a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

The finding, from the 4-year Omega-3 Fatty Acid Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis (OFAMS) trial, goes against those of preliminary studies that suggested omega-3 supplementation would have a protective effect in MS, lead author Øivind Torkildsen, MD, PhD, from Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway, told Medscape Medical News.

"It has been estimated that about a third of all MS patients are using or have tried supplementation with omega-3 to control disease progression and neurologists have traditionally recommended omega-3 supplementation to their MS patients," Dr. Torkildsen said. "Although this is the most commonly used and recommended complementary treatment for MS, there have not been any randomized controlled studies to document if omega-3 actually has an effect on MS disease activity."...

Dr. Torkildsen admitted he and his group were surprised by the study findings, given preclinical results that suggested a positive effect with omega-3 supplementation. "This shows how important it is to perform controlled studies," he said.

Duh.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Appears Useful for Obesity

No it does not.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, has better efficacy than placebo and lifestyle interventions and similar efficacy to antiobesity drugs, with fewer side effects, according to the findings of a systemic review.

Got it?

Less Than 6 Hours Of Sleep Can Impact Appetite Regulation And Increase BMI

You are fat because you slept 5:59:59.

Yep, this is the key to fatosity.

Can lack of sleep make you fat? A new paper which reviews the evidence from sleep restriction studies reveals that inadequate sleep is linked to obesity. The research, published in a special issue of the The American Journal of Human Biology, explores how lack of sleep can impact appetite regulation, impair glucose metabolism and increase blood pressure.

"Obesity develops when energy intake is greater than expenditure. Diet and physical activity play an important part in this, but an additional factor may be inadequate sleep," said Dr Kristen Knutson, from the University of Chicago. "A review of the evidence shows how short or poor quality sleep is linked to increased risk of obesity by de-regulating appetite, leading to increased energy consumption."

Not.

It is the overconsumption of Calories and the sleep thing is a red herring (don't eat it).

Fat tax: Mike Rayner on unhealthy foods

Mike Rayner? More like No Brainer.

A fat tax could raise money and help get people eating more healthily, says a director at the University of Oxford.

Health promotion research group director Mike Rayner said at least a quarter of British adults are obese, and that is costing the health services billions of pounds of year every year.

Will never work and penalizes the calorically responsible.

F**k you, moron.

You want people to behave differently?

Then stop paying for their diseases of choice, have them pay for their self-inflicted illnesses and leave the rest of us alone.

Large Weight Gain in Pregnancy Tied to Increased Infant Size

More early nutritional child abuse.

Obese mothers who gain excessive weight during pregnancy are nearly 7 times more likely to give birth to a large infant at risk for a lifetime of obesity. Moreover, excess gestational weight gain (GWG) increases the risk of having a large infant, even in mothers who have a healthy prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), according to a study published April 17 in the Journal of Maternal-Fetal and Neonatal Medicine.

Stop the abuse.

Hold parents accountable.

Anti-Diabetic Substance Found In Liquorice Root

Twizzler therapy.

It provides the raw material for liquorice candy, calms the stomach and alleviates diseases of the airways: liquorice root. Chosen as the "Medicinal plant 2012", the root has been treasured in traditional healing since ancient times. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Berlin have now discovered that liquorice root also contains substances with an anti-diabetic effect. These amorfrutins not only reduce blood sugar, they are also anti-inflammatory and are very well tolerated. Thus, they may be suitable for use in the treatment of complex metabolic disorders.

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.

You can bet that more of the new health food, licorice, and its Calories, will enter the pie-holes of fatsos.

Forget the Twizzlers.

Just lose the pounds.

Extreme Obesity Adds More Risk in Hysterectomy

Kudos, fatsos.

Increasingly severe obesity drives up complication rates after hysterectomy, and outcomes continually worsen with rising body mass index, according to results from a study reported here.

As women's body mass index (BMI) increased from obese to morbidly obese to super obese, so did the likelihood of conversion from minimally invasive to open surgery, Lauren Winfree, BS, said at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology meeting. Among the 16% of patients slated for minimally invasive procedures who required conversion to open surgery, the need for conversion was associated with a significantly higher BMI (47.3 versus 40.6, P<0.001).

You found another way to make the rest of us pay more for your sick care.

Diet Fad of 'Eating Through the Nose' Could Be a Nightmare, Nutrition Expert Says

And who ever thought that fat people are stupid?

What should be a fairy-tale day -- a woman's wedding -- could turn into a nightmare for a bride-to-be who goes on a new feeding-tube diet to lose 20 pounds fast, says a Baylor University professor and a former chair of a public policy committee for the American Dietetic Association.

The diet of about 800 calories a day for 10 days has a potential to be even more harmful and less long-lasting than the so-called liquid "starvation diets," of fewer than 1,000 calories a day -- far below standard recommended weight-loss diets, said Suzy Weems, Ph.D., chair of Baylor University's family and consumer sciences and a consulting dietitian who has worked for hospitals and extended-care facilities.

Not to mention the fact that short of amputation it is virtually impossible to lose 20 pounds in 10 days.

Idiots.

Sugar warning for 'healthy' soft drinks

All food kills. Stop eating if you want to live forever.

People underestimate the amount of sugar in drinks which are perceived to be "healthy", research suggests.

The Glasgow University study asked more than 2,000 people in the UK to estimate how much sugar was in a range of drinks.

While many overestimated the amount in fizzy beverages, they underestimated levels in smoothies and fruit juices.

The research also found soft drinks could be accounting for a large chunk of their recommended calorie intake.

The British Soft Drinks Association says the sugar in soft drinks is not hidden because beverages carry clear labelling of nutritional content, including calorie and sugar content.

Everything you know is wrong or will be proven wrong one of these days.

Obesity Linked to Foot Disorders

Increased body mass index (BMI) is strongly linked to nonspecific foot pain in the general population and chronic plantar heel pain in nonathletes, according to a systematic review published online...in Obesity Reviews.

Not to mention the foot probs associated with Type 2 diabetes, aka, fat person diabetes.

Doctors unite to combat obesity

No more lone wolf diet advisers among physicians.

Organisations representing nearly every doctor in the UK have united in a single campaign to tackle rising levels of obesity.

The campaign will start by reviewing the case for fat taxes, promoting exercise, restricting food advertising and other measures.

They criticised sponsorship of the Olympics by fast food firms as sending "the wrong message".

The Department of Health said it was taking action to combat obesity.

A spokesman for the campaign, Prof Terence Stephenson, said the government's current strategy of "partnering" food firms in order to tackle obesity "might be seen as counter-intuitive".

Almost a quarter of adults in the UK are thought to be obese and some predictions suggest half of children will be obese or overweight by 2020, with Prof Stephenson saying they were "storing up problems for the future".

BFD.

Won't work. Can't work. Since conventional medical diet advice is wrong from the get-go.

Does Exercise Make You Overeat?

No.

Some people respond to exercise by eating more. Others eat less. For many years, scientists thought that changes in hormones, spurred by exercise, dictated whether someone’s appetite would increase or drop after working out. But now new neuroscience is pointing to another likely cause. Exercise may change your desire to eat, two recent studies show, by altering how certain parts of your brain respond to the sight of food...

What all of this suggests, Dr. Hagobian of Cal-Poly says, is that “exercise has a definite impact on food reward regions. But that impact may depend” on who you are and what kind of exercise you do.

If who you are is "lack of self-control," then you gain weight.

“Four or five years ago, it really looked like appetite hormones” controlled what we eat, says Dr. Habogian, who conducted some of the first studies of exercise and the hormones. “But I’m more and more convinced that it’s the brain. Hormones don’t tell you to go eat. Your brain does. And if we can get the dose right, exercise might change that message.”

What is left of fat people's brains lacks self-control.

That is all.

Can Fat Cells Be Taught To Burn Calories?

No.

In the war against obesity, one's own fat cells may seem an unlikely ally, but new research from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) suggests ordinary fat cells can be reengineered to burn calories.

While investigating how a common drug given to people with diabetes works in mice, a UCSF team discovered that a protein called PRDM16, found in both men and mice, can throw a switch on fat cells, converting them from ordinary calorie-storing white fat cells into calorie-burning brown fat cells.

This discovery makes PRDM16 a possible target for future obesity drugs. Compounds that promote the action of this protein may help people burn calories faster. Though they would have to prove safe and effective in the clinic, such compounds would represent a completely different approach to weight loss. Existing diet drugs aim to restrict the intake of calories - by blocking the absorption of fat in the gut, for instance, or by decreasing appetite.

"If you think about the energy balance, the other way to tackle obesity is through energy expenditure," said Shingo Kajimura, PhD, who led the research in the UCSF Diabetes Center and the Department of Cell & Tissue Biology in the UCSF School of Dentistry. The work is published this week in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Just eat fewer Calories than you burn.

Done.

As to whether fat cells can be taught to burn Calorie, just ask these folks:

Doubt Cast on the ‘Good’ in ‘Good Cholesterol’

Oops, redux (see yesterday's first post).

The name alone sounds so encouraging: HDL, the “good cholesterol.” The more of it in your blood, the lower your risk of heart disease. So bringing up HDL levels has got to be good for health.

Or so the theory went.

Now, a new study that makes use of powerful databases of genetic information has found that raising HDL levels may not make any difference to heart disease risk. People who inherit genes that give them naturally higher HDL levels throughout life have no less heart disease than those who inherit genes that give them slightly lower levels. If HDL were protective, those with genes causing higher levels should have had less heart disease.

Researchers not associated with the study, published online Wednesday in The Lancet, found the results compelling and disturbing. Companies are actively developing and testing drugs that raise HDL, although three recent studies of such treatments have failed. And patients with low HDL levels are often told to try to raise them by exercising or dieting or even by taking niacin, which raised HDL but failed to lower heart disease risk in a recent clinical trial.

“I’d say the HDL hypothesis is on the ropes right now,” said Dr. James A. de Lemos, a professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who was not involved in the study.

Dr. Michael Lauer, director of the division of cardiovascular sciences at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, agreed.

“The current study tells us that when it comes to HDL we should seriously consider going back to the drawing board, in this case meaning back to the laboratory,” said Dr. Lauer, who also was not connected to the research. “We need to encourage basic laboratory scientists to figure out where HDL fits in the puzzle — just what exactly is it a marker for.”

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

A Sharp Rise in Retractions Prompts Calls for Reform

A reason why the diet literature is corrupt.

In the fall of 2010, Dr. Ferric C. Fang made an unsettling discovery. Dr. Fang, who is editor in chief of the journal Infection and Immunity, found that one of his authors had doctored several papers.

It was a new experience for him. “Prior to that time,” he said in an interview, “Infection and Immunity had only retracted nine articles over a 40-year period.”

The journal wound up retracting six of the papers from the author, Naoki Mori of the University of the Ryukyus in Japan. And it soon became clear that Infection and Immunity was hardly the only victim of Dr. Mori’s misconduct. Since then, other scientific journals have retracted two dozen of his papers, according to the watchdog blog Retraction Watch.

“Nobody had noticed the whole thing was rotten,” said Dr. Fang, who is a professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Dr. Fang became curious how far the rot extended. To find out, he teamed up with a fellow editor at the journal, Dr. Arturo Casadevall of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. And before long they reached a troubling conclusion: not only that retractions were rising at an alarming rate, but that retractions were just a manifestation of a much more profound problem — “a symptom of a dysfunctional scientific climate,” as Dr. Fang put it.

Dr. Casadevall, now editor in chief of the journal mBio, said he feared that science had turned into a winner-take-all game with perverse incentives that lead scientists to cut corners and, in some cases, commit acts of misconduct.

“This is a tremendous threat,” he said.

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

They actually might. That is how they know how to lie about it.

The Importance Of Fruit And Vegetable Consumption

Hype and hoax alert!

Fruit and vegetable consumption is correlated with changes in skin redness and yellowness, as reported in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

The researchers, led by Ross Whitehead and David Perrett of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, investigated whether the amount of fruit and vegetables eaten affects skin color. They monitored the fruit and vegetable intake for 35 individuals over six weeks and found that skin redness and yellowness increased with increasing fruit and vegetable consumption.

They also found that changes in skin color associated with increased fruit and vegetable consumption were correlated with increased attractiveness, suggesting that the skin color changes reflect improved health.

Important if you want to be attractive?

Really?

'Good' cholesterol doctrine may be flawed: study

Oops.

Researchers on Thursday challenged a tenet of modern medicine that higher levels of "good" cholesterol automatically boost cardiovascular health.

In a study published in The Lancet, investigators said they found no evidence to back the belief that higher levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol routinely reduce the risk of a heart attack.

High concentrations of HDL are one of the big markers for blood tests.

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

Overweight Moms With Moderately High Blood Sugar At Greater Health Risk

As are their fetuses.

Pregnant women who are overweight with moderately elevated blood sugar never set off any alarms for their physicians. The big concern was for women who were obese or who had gestational diabetes because those conditions are known to cause a host of health risks to the mom and baby.

But a new study shows these women who are just above average for weight and blood sugar are at a higher risk of bad pregnancy outcomes than previously known. In fact, this group is at higher risk than pregnant women who are obese with normal blood sugar or pregnant women who have gestational diabetes and a normal weight.

More early nutritional child abuse.

Consumers Of Tree Nuts Likely To Have Lower Body Weight And Lower Prevalence Of Health Risks

Really?

In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition[i], researchers compared risk factors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome of nut consumers versus those who did not consume nuts. Tree nut (almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamias, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios and walnuts) consumption specifically, was associated with higher levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (good cholesterol) and lower levels of C-reactive protein, a marker for inflammation which can lead to a variety of chronic diseases including heart disease.

"One of the more interesting findings was the fact that tree nut consumers had lower body weight, as well as lower body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference compared to nonconsumers. The mean weight, BMI, and waist circumference were 4.19 pounds, 0.9kg/m2 and 0.83 inches lower in consumers than non-consumers, respectively," stated Carol O'Neil, PhD, MPH, RD, lead author on the paper and Professor at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center...

Maureen Ternus, M.S., R.D., Executive Director of the International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation (INC NREF), adds, "In light of these new data and the fact that the FDA has issued a qualified health claim for nuts and heart disease with a recommended intake of 1.5 ounces of nuts per day, we need to educate people about the importance of including tree nuts in the diet. And, since February is heart month, this is a great reason to go nuts for your health!"

Will have to see how the frying/roasting/salting affect things.

Discovery Of Genetic Regulator Of Fat Metabolism And Muscle Fitness

At last. They discovered the laziness, low-self esteem, let other people pay for my illnesses of choice gene.

While exercise is accepted universally as the most beneficial prescription physicians can write for patients, little is known about the molecular mechanisms that generate its widespread health benefits. Researchers from Case Western Reserve School of Medicine have shed light on this mystery by discovering that a genetic factor, Kruppel-like Factor 15 (KLF15), governs the body's ability to burn fat during exercise...

Exercise is the first choice of treatment for many metabolic disorders, particularly obesity and diabetes. With the discovery that KLF15 mediates important beneficial effects of exercise, scientists may be able to induce similar effects using medication. In the long run, such therapies could be used as a compliment to exercise.

And therein lies the problem.

Caloric intake control, not exercise, should be the "first choice of treatment."

Exercise is an idiot's game or a strategy for the idle rich when it comes to obesity and diabetes. See here, here and here.

This whole gene thing is a distraction - plainly and simply bulls**t.

Women Risk Metabolic Syndrome Through Lack Of Exercise

Wrong. If there is any increased risk, and this is iffy, it is due to lack of training, not exercise.

The results of a national US study suggest that women are at greater risk for developing metabolic syndrome than men because they are less likely to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. It found that although regular physical activity is linked to better health in both sexes, it appears to make a bigger difference for women.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of poor health indicators, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and too much weight around the middle, that increases the risk for chronic diseases such as stroke, heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

This is what fat people get.

To not get fat, or to reverse fatosity, there is no need for "exercise."

In fact, "exercise" can make things worse.

Go here to learn why and how to succeed sans exercise.

Genetic Adaptation Of Fat Metabolism Key To Development Of Human Brain

Now it is clear why fat people have problems thinking.

About 300 000 years ago humans adapted genetically to be able to produce larger amounts of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids. This adaptation may have been crucial to the development of the unique brain capacity in modern humans. In today's life situation, this genetic adaptation contributes instead to a higher risk of developing disorders like cardiovascular disease. The human nervous system and brain contain large amounts of polyunsaturated fatty acids, and these are essential for the development and function of the brain. These Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids occur in high quantities in just a few foods, such as fat fish. Our bodies can also produces these important fatty acids themselves from certain vegetable oils.

They do not process fat properly and add it to their bodies instead of metabolizing it properly for use by their brains.

Not.

If they could have used their brains properly to begin with, they would not have gotten fat in the first place.

Hospitals Told To Give Big Macs The Boot

Idiots.

Leading pediatricians, cardiologists, and child psychologists in the United States who belong to a network of more than 1,900 healthcare professionals have called on McDonald's to cease marketing their products to children. The Ronald Macdonald style advertising and toys with happy meals started coming under scrutiny some years ago and the pressure is growing against the junk food behemoth.

It seems surprisingly behind the times, but 22 hospitals, including Cleveland Clinic and Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago have contracts with the restaurant chain to have outlets in their facilities. The doctors are joining a campaign called Corporate Accountability International and have called on the administrators of the nation's healthcare providers and institutions to remove McDonald's franchises from all healthcare premises.

Dr. Francine Kaufman, former president of the American Diabetes Association and professor Emeritus of pediatrics and communications at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, one of the hospitals with a McDonald's restaurant, clarified their position:

"Kids are being treated for diet-related conditions like diabetes on one floor in the hospital and given the wrong message by being offered the world's most recognized junk food brand on another floor in the hospital ... The practice earns McDonald's an undeserved association with healthfulness among parents and children alike... and it should be curtailed."


It's been six years since the journal Pediatrics made the announcement that condemned allowing a McDonald's store to operate inside a hospital and saying that it affects hospital guests' consumption on the day of their visit, and boosts the perception of the "healthfulness" of McDonald's food.

If I were Mickey D, I would explore suing.

There is no way that eating "fast food" will result in obesity absent the consumption of more Calories than are burned.

Period.

Association Between Maternal Obesity, Diabetes And Autism, Other Developmental Disorders

More early nutritional child abuse.

A major study of the relationships between maternal metabolic conditions and the risk that a child will be born with a neurodevelopmental disorder has found strong links between maternal diabetes and obesity and the likelihood of having a child with autism or another developmental disability.

Conducted by researchers affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute, the study found that mothers who were obese were 1-2/3 times more likely to have a child with autism as normal-weight mothers without diabetes or hypertension, and were more than twice as likely to have a child with another developmental disorder.

Mothers with diabetes were found to have nearly 2-1/3 times the chance of having a child with developmental delays as healthy mothers. However, the proportion of mothers with diabetes who had a child with autism was higher than in healthy mothers but did not reach statistical significance.

The study also found that the autistic children of diabetic mothers were more disabled -- had greater deficits in language comprehension and production and adaptive communication -- than were the children with autism born to healthy mothers.

Hold the parents accountable.

More Weight Loss: Eat Less Fat, Exercise More

Duh.

Here's what doesn't really work well if you want to lose weight: "diet" foods, non-prescription weight loss supplements, and liquid or fad diets.

So what does work? Eat less fat, get more exercise, join a weight loss program, and ask your doctor about prescription weight loss pills.

Duh. (Forget the pills. They do not work.)

Eliminating 64 Calories Per Day On Average Would Allow the US Childhood Obesity Prevention Goals to Be Met

Johnny come latelys. Nearly a decade ago, I demonstrated how few Calories need to be cut for one to lose weight successfully. See here, here and here, for examples.

In order for the nation to achieve goals set by the federal government for reducing obesity rates by 2020, children in the United States would need to eliminate an average of 64 excess calories per day, researchers calculated in a study published April 10 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

This reduction could be achieved by decreasing calorie intake, increasing physical activity, or both. Without this reduction, the authors predict that the average U.S. youth would be nearly four pounds heavier than a child or teen of the same age was in 2007-2008, and more than 20% of young people would be obese, up from 16.9% today.

"Sixty-four calories may not sound like much individually, but it's quite a consequential number at the population level, and children at greatest risk for obesity face an even larger barrier," says Y. Claire Wang, MD, ScD, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and lead author of the study. "Closing this gap between how many calories young people are consuming and how many they are expending will take substantial, comprehensive efforts."

Still won't work since parents are too abusive to cut back on their kids Calories.

Omega-3 May Not Be Effective For Preventing Cardiovascular Events

Another supplement myth on its way to biting the dust and another reason not to patronize Whore Foods.

Results of a meta-analysis published Online First by Archives of Internal Medicine, indicate that there is not enough evidence that omega-3 fatty acid supplements have a secondary preventive effect against overall cardiovascular events among individuals who have a history of heart disease.

Don't waste your money on this.

Eat healthily instead.

Traditional Chinese Medicines: Deep Sequencing Reveals Undeclared, Potentially Toxic, And Trade-Restricted Ingredients Within 15 Samples

Oops.

Researchers at Murdoch University have used new DNA sequencing technology to reveal the animal and plant composition of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Some of the TCM samples tested contained potentially toxic plant ingredients, allergens, and traces of endangered animals. 

"TCMs have a long cultural history, but today consumers need to be aware of the legal and health safety issues before adopting them as a treatment option," Dr Bunce, research leader and Murdoch University Australian Research Council Future Fellow, said. The 15 TCM samples, seized by Australian border officials, in the form of powders, tablets, capsules, flakes, and herbal teas were audited using the DNA preserved in the samples. The results are published in the journal PLoS Genetics.

"In total we found 68 different plant families in the medicines - they are complex mixtures of species," Dr Bunce said. "Some of the TCMs contained plants of the genus Ephedra and Asarum. These plants contain chemicals that can be toxic if the wrong dosage is taken, but none of them actually listed concentrations on the packaging." 

"We also found traces from trade restricted animals that are classified as vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered, including the Asiatic black bear and Saiga antelope." Until now it has been difficult to determine the biological origins of ingredients contained within TCMs because processing into pills and powders makes identification difficult.

It is still difficult for consumers, including the fools who shop at Whore Foods.

Obese Kids: Genes and Junk Food Share Blame

Bulls**t.

Fat parents have fat kids. The blame is all on the parents.

Common childhood obesity -- the kind we usually blame on overindulgence and inactivity -- also has a genetic component, an international collaboration of researchers has concluded.

Using genome-wide association techniques, the researchers showed that several genetic variants associated with adult obesity are also active in childhood obesity, according to Struan Grant of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues.

IMHO liars and excusinators.

There is not a single creature on the planet that will get fat unless it is fed more Calories than it consumes.

Period.

End.

Believe the pinhead researchers at your own risk.

Zip Code as Important as Genetic Code in Childhood Obesity

Probably true since the genetic code contributes zero to childhood obesity.

Nearly 18 percent of U.S. school-aged children and adolescents are obese, as the rate of childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. The prevalence of obesity puts children at greater risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and other illnesses, and of suffering severe obesity as adults. New study results indicate that where a child lives, including factors such as the neighborhood's walkability, proximity to higher quality parks, and access to healthy food, has an important effect on obesity rates. Researchers found that children living in neighborhoods with favorable neighborhood environment attributes had 59 percent lower odds of being obese.

One can eat healthily in any zip code. To see how to lose weight and eat healthily on "fast food," go here.

More Exercise, Eating Less Fat and Weight Loss Programs Are In, Popular Diets Are Out, Study Suggests

And the results are that the USA is getting fatter.

Contrary to popular perception, a large proportion of obese Americans can and do lose weight, say researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. What's more, they say, the old tried and true methods of eating less fat and exercising are some of the most effective paths to weight loss success...

"This is great news because studies have shown that even a 5 percent reduction in weight can lead to improved health," says lead author Jacinda M. Nicklas, MD, MPH, MA, a clinical research fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. "With more than a third of Americans now obese and fifty to seventy percent of them trying to lose weight, this is important because the health risks associated with carrying that extra weight are substantial."

"Great news"?

Your fat ass, it is.

Autism may be linked to obesity during pregnancy

More early nutritional child abuse.

Obesity during pregnancy may increase chances for having a child with autism, provocative new research suggests.

It's among the first studies linking the two, and though it doesn't prove obesity causes autism, the authors say their results raise public health concerns because of the high level of obesity in this country.

Study women who were obese during pregnancy were about 67 percent more likely than normal-weight women to have autistic children. They also faced double the risk of having children with other developmental delays.

The fat should not reproduce.

Scientists Pinpoint Childhood Obesity Genes

Bulls**t.

For the first time, scientists have isolated mutations at two gene locations that seem to predispose children to becoming obese.

"We see a clear genetic signature to childhood obesity, showing that there is more than just an environmental component to this disease," Struan Grant, senior author of the research, said at an April 5 press conference.

Although known genes have been linked to adult obesity and also to extreme forms of childhood obesity, the newly identified genes confer only a modest risk of developing common childhood obesity. But they are "very common in the population," Grant added in a telephone interview.

There is nothing, including genes, that will result in overweight or obesity in the absence of more Calories in than out.

Period.

This research is K-rap and a waste of resources.

Fish Oil Delivers Few Heart Benefits, Study Finds

A bad day for woo-woo.

Millions of Americans take fish oil supplements, hoping to keep their hearts at their healthiest. But a new study has raised questions about these popular dietary supplements, especially whether they can replace a healthy, balanced diet.

Fish oil, a combination of omega-3 fatty acids, is a centuries-old staple of pharmacy shelves, and scientists have devoted much research to investigating its effects on heart health. So far, the evidence has been inconclusive -- some studies have found fish oil has been major in preventing heart attacks, strokes and sudden cardiac death, while others have found fish oil has no benefits at all.

Oops.

Higher Energy Density Diets Linked To Higher Body Weight

More moronic research.

Strong and consistent evidence indicates that adults consuming a higher energy density (ED) diet have a higher body weight, whilst those who eat a relatively low ED diet experience weight loss and maintain their weight, whilst there is moderate proof that children and adolescents who eat higher ED diets are linked to higher weight.

Higher energy density = higher Calories.

Now what is it about the relationship between a higher Calorie diet and heavier weight that needed research by these imbeciles?

Embarrassment, Social Stigma May Discourage Obese White Women From Seeking Colon Cancer Screening

Embarrassed of what?

File in the "not my problem, not my fault" bin.

A new study by Johns Hopkins researchers shows that obese white women may be less likely than normal-weight counterparts and African-Americans of any weight or gender to seek potentially lifesaving colon cancer screening tests.

Results of this study follow the same Johns Hopkins group's previous research suggesting that obese white women also are less likely to arrange for mammograms, which screen for breast cancer, and Pap smears, which search for early signs of cervical cancer.

"No group is perfect when it comes to screening, and overall rates of colonoscopy are low, but if you're obese, female and white, our data show you're probably even less likely to be screened," says study leader Nisa M. Maruthur, M.D., M.H.S., an assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Maruthur notes that the reluctance to be screened is especially serious in this group because obesity is linked to higher risk for colon cancer and an increased risk of death from the disease.

The consequences are your responsibility and your responsibility solely.

Report Suggests That Your Supermarket May Affect Your Weight

Wrong. Report suggests that your stupidity affects your weight.

The study, conducted in Paris from 2007 to 2008, found that participants who shop at discount supermarkets, in supermarkets in areas with poorly educated consumers, or in supermarkets far from their own neighborhood had higher body mass indices (BMI) and waist circumferences. As Basile Chaix indicates, "shopping at discount supermarkets was more strongly associated with higher body weight and abdominal fat among low educated than among high educated participants."

Note you have to be "low educated," i.e., a moron.

Dietitians And Dietary Supplements

Dietitians do more to keep people obese than just about anybody, IMHO.

Why? See here.

Registered dietitians are one of several groups of healthcare professionals who report using dietary supplements as part of their health regimen, according to a newly published study in Nutrition Journal, a peer-reviewed, online journal that focuses on the field of human nutrition. According to data from the 2009 "Life...supplemented" Healthcare Professionals (HCP) Impact Study, 74 percent of dietitians use dietary supplements regularly while 22 percent reported using them occasionally or seasonally. The data also indicated that an overwhelming percentage of dietitians, 97 percent, recommend dietary supplements to their clients.

At best, supplements are useless.

That dietitians use them is irrelevant.

What is interesting is that 31% more dietitians recommend the stuff than use it regularly.

Why?

'Cause they can make a buck selling them.

Caveat Emptor.

Confirming The Link Between Fast Food And Depression

But they look so happy.

According to a recent study headed by scientists from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and the University of Granada, eating commercial baked goods (fairy cakes, croissants, doughnuts, etc.) and fast food (hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza) is linked to depression.

Published in the Public Health Nutrition journal, the results reveal that consumers of fast food, compared to those who eat little or none, are 51% more likely to develop depression.

And he looks happy, too.

Maybe it is one of these:

Sleeping With Parents May Help Sleep Quality Which Reduces Obesity Risk

What could possibly go wrong here?

Dr Nanna Olsen from the Research Unit for Dietary Studies at the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Copenhagen University Hospitals in Denmark presented new research at the 19th European Congress on Obesity in Lyon, France, which reveals that children who come into their parent's bed during the night are less likely to be overweight than children who do not.

According to research, children that come into their parents' bed after waking up in the night are linked to short sleep duration and sleep fragmentation. Research has shown that obesity is also linked to a low quality and quantity of sleep, which therefore concludes that children who enter their parents' bed should theoretically have a higher tendency of becoming overweight or obese.

Children who venture into their parents' bed at night may also sense a feeling of security due to the positive parental social responses.

Ask Oedipus.

Weight Loss and Fitness May Enhance Mobility in Diabetes

One of the more embarrassing titles of the year.

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes.

What about getting fitter and lighter and improved mobility is not self-evident?

An intensive lifestyle intervention to lower weight and improve fitness appeared to improve mobility among overweight patients with type 2 diabetes, according to the findings of a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial.

W. Jack Rejeski, PhD, from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and colleagues published their findings in the March 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The authors note the importance of maintaining mobility among patients with type 2 diabetes, particularly as they age: "An insidious consequence of aging in persons with type 2 diabetes is physical disability, particularly the loss of mobility," the authors write. "Reduced mobility puts patients at risk for loss of independence, leads to muscle loss (which compromises glucose storage and clearance), and compromises the quality of life."

Dumb, friggin' morons.

Study Shows That The Increase In Obesity Among California School Children Has Slowed

But the kids are still getting fatter and fatter.

After years of increases in the rates of childhood obesity, a new UC Davis study shows that the increase slowed from 2003 to 2008 among California school children.

While encouraged by the results, the authors expressed concern about a group of youngsters currently driving the increase in obesity: children under age 10.

"Children who were obese entering the fifth grade remained obese in subsequent years as well, despite improvements in school nutrition and fitness standards," said William Bommer, professor of cardiovascular medicine at UC Davis and senior author of the study. "And we suspect that this trend begins before kindergarten."

Pyrrhic victory.

Link Between Low Birth Weight And Obesity May Be Reversed By Caloric Moderation

Waste.

Babies who are born small have a tendency to put on weight during childhood and adolescence if allowed free access to calories. However, a new animal model study at UCLA found when small babies were placed on a diet of moderately regulated calories during infancy, the propensity of becoming obese decreased.

Wonder what it is about feeding kids not too many Calories that keeps them from getting fat?

Duh.

Knowing The Nutritional Content Of Foods Doesn't Equate To Healthy Eating

Duh.

A study by Universite Laval's Maurice Doyon and French and American researchers shows that U.S. consumers know surprisingly more about the fat content of the foods they buy than their French counterparts. Paradoxically, the obesity rate is nearly three times higher in the United States (35%) than it is in France (12%). In light of these results, published in a recent edition of the British Food Journal, the researchers cast doubt on the notion that providing nutritional information is an effective way to encourage healthy eating habits.

Because healthy eating is almost all about consuming the right number of Calories to result in a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 (on a population basis).

Bisphosphonates May Increase Risk for Uveitis and Scleritis

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Patients taking oral bisphosphonates for the first time may be at higher risk of developing scleritis and uveitis, according to a large, retrospective cohort study published online April 2 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

More complications from bisphosphonates, the wrong drug (IMHO) for osteoporosis.

Better to use anabolic substances.

Why?

Go here and find out.

Mammography Screening Linked to Overdiagnosis of Cancer

Of course it does.

Mammography screening is linked to overdiagnosis of breast cancer, according to findings from the Norwegian Screening Program reported in the April 3 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. The investigators suggest that overdiagnosis not only poses a significant ethical dilemma but also burdens the patient and the healthcare system.

"Mammography screening increases breast cancer incidence owing to earlier detection of cancer that would otherwise have been diagnosed later in life and to overdiagnosis of cancer that would not have been identified clinically in a lifetime," write Mette Kalager, MD, from the Harvard School of Public Health, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues. "Overdiagnosis can theoretically occur because the tumor lacks potential to progress to a clinical stage or because the woman dies of other causes before the breast cancer surfaces clinically.... In both instances, however, the woman would be diagnosed and treated with no possible survival benefit."

That is the nature of screening procedures.

The Health Of Obese Diabetic Mice Improved By Compounds In Hops

Why fat winos don't get diabetes.

A class of compounds found in hops, the crop generally known for its role in beer production, reduces weight gain in obese and diabetic mice, according to a study published...in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

Eight weeks of treatment with the compounds, called tetrahydro iso-alpha acids, also reduced gut permeability and normalized insulin sensitivity markers in the mice, among other beneficial metabolic effects.

Really?

Compounds Created That Dramatically Alter Biological Clock And Lead To Weight Loss, Metabolic Changes

What could possibly go wrong here?

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have synthesized a pair of small molecules that dramatically alter the core biological clock in animal models, highlighting the compounds' potential effectiveness in treating a remarkable range of disorders-including obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, and serious sleep disorders...

The study showed that when administered in animal models the synthetic small molecules altered circadian rhythm and the pattern of core clock gene expression in the brain's hypothalamus, the site of the master cellular clock that synchronizes daily rhythms in mammals; circadian rhythms are the physiological processes that respond to a 24-hour cycle of light and dark and are present in most living things.

When given to diet-induced obese mice, these same small molecules decreased obesity by reducing fat mass and markedly improving cholesterol levels and hyperglycemia - chronically high blood sugar levels that frequently lead to diabetes.

"The idea behind this research is that our circadian rhythms are coupled with metabolic processes and that you can modulate them pharmacologically," said Thomas Burris, a professor at Scripps Florida who led the study. "As it turns out, the effect of that modulation is surprisingly positive - everything has been beneficial so far."

So far.

Resistance Training May Delay Dementia Onset

Train.

Six months of twice-weekly resistance training (RT) improved executive function, associative memory, and regional patterns of functional brain plasticity in a group of older women with probable mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

"We provide novel evidence that RT can benefit multiple domains in those at risk for dementia," the researchers report.

"We found improvement in both cognitive and brain function with resistance training — not just maintenance — over the 6 months. Thus, our results imply that resistance training can delay the onset of dementia in older adults," first author Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT, from the Aging, Mobility, and Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.

In a previous study reported by Medscape Medical News, she and her colleagues found that 12 months of twice-weekly RT significantly improved executive function in cognitively healthy older women. Their latest study found improvement after only 6 months and in women with MCI. Thus, the benefits of RT on executive function "may be more potent among those at greater risk for dementia," the researchers say.

Repeat.

Train.

Improving Heart Health With Hot Pepper Compound

Why there is no heart disease in Mexico.

The food that inspires wariness is on course for inspiring even more wonder from a medical standpoint as scientists report the latest evidence that chili peppers are a heart-healthy food with potential to protect against the No. 1 cause of death in the developed world. The report was part of the 243rd National Meeting and Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world's largest scientific society, being held here this week.

Oh, there is?

Oops.

Public Health Researchers Outline Obstacles Standing In The Way Of Cancer Prevention

Being too fat is an obstacle.

What we know, according to Colditz and his co-authors, is that lifestyle choices people make and that society can influence in a number of ways - from tobacco use to diet and exercise - play a significant role in causing cancer. Specifically, the researchers cite data demonstrating that smoking alone is responsible for a third of all cancer cases in the United States. Excess body weight and obesity account for another 20 percent.

Lose the weight, prevent the cancer.

Diets High In Beta-Carotene Have A Potential 'Dark Side'

Killer carrots. Another antioxidant that kills.

New research suggests that there could be health hazards associated with consuming excessive amounts of beta-carotene.

This antioxidant is a naturally occurring pigment that gives color to foods such as carrots, sweet potatoes and certain greens. It also converts to vitamin A, and foods and supplements are the only sources for this essential nutrient.

But scientists at Ohio State University have found that certain molecules that derive from beta-carotene have an opposite effect in the body: They actually block some actions of vitamin A, which is critical to human vision, bone and skin health, metabolism and immune function.

Because these molecules derive from beta-carotene, researchers predict that a large amount of this antioxidant is accompanied by a larger amount of these anti-vitamin-A molecules, as well.

Vitamin A provides its health benefits by activating hundreds of genes. This means that if compounds contained in a typical source of the vitamin are actually lowering its activity instead of promoting its benefits, too much beta-carotene could paradoxically result in too little vitamin A.

The findings also might explain why, in a decades-old clinical trial, more people who were heavily supplemented with beta-carotene ended up with lung cancer than did research participants who took no beta-carotene at all. The trial was ended early because of that unexpected outcome.

Caveat Bugs.

Pay-for-Performance Not Linked to Better Patient Outcomes

Funny. Pay-for-performance works so well in other settings.

Hospitals participating in the Medicare Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration (HQID) had no improvement in 30-day mortality or other patient outcomes compared with control hospitals participating in public reporting alone, according to the results of a study using Medicare data published online March 28 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"These results suggest that the way we have currently conceived of pay-for-performance is unlikely to have any meaningful impact on patient outcomes," lead author Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, associate professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in Boston, Massachusetts, said in a news release.

A silly idea doomed from the start.

Performance cannot be separated from patient compliance and their contribution to illness and complications. Never had a chance.

Better to get back to pay-for-performance basics.

Interventional Radiology Treatments Coming For Weight Loss, Disc Disease

Zapping the fat away.

A minimally invasive treatment may target hunger at its source, another uses X-ray visible embolic beads to block arteries to the stomach and suppress hunger and a third explores the use of stem cells to repair vertebral disc degeneration. Initial results from all these studies were reported at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 37th Annual Scientific Meeting in San Francisco, Calif.

Nothing takes the pounds off like a good radiation-induced cancer.

Good luck, fatsos.

Increased Risk Of Breast Cancer Recurrence In Overweight And Obese Women

Calories or breasts? Calories or breasts? Should this choice really be difficult?

Women who are overweight or obese when they are diagnosed with breast cancer are at higher risk of cancer recurrence or related death than are leaner women, according to a new study to be presented to the 8th European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC-8). This finding held true even though the study mandated that chemotherapy dosage be adjusted for body weight, and adds further to the evidence that lifestyle factors can influence cancer prognosis, a researcher told the conference.

You wouldn't think so, but...

Dietary Trans Fats Linked to Aggression

Whoa. Easy on the trans fats, fella.

Consumption of dietary trans fatty acids is associated with irritability and aggression, new research shows.

The cross-sectional study of 945 adult men and women provides the first evidence linking trans-fat consumption to adverse behaviors that affect others. These range from impatience to overt aggression, lead author Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD, from the University of California, San Diego, told Medscape Medical News.

The Age of Aquarius is just a trans fat-free diet away.

Sitting Too Much May Boost Odds of Dying

Too late.

Don't take this sitting down, but spending too much time in a chair is bad for your health -- really, really bad.

New research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine shows that people who spend a lot of time sitting may be up to 40% more likely to die from any cause, compared to people who don't sit as long.

The study tracked nearly 222,500 Australian adults for about three years. During that time, people's odds of dying dovetailed with how much time they spent sitting.

Compared to people who spent less than four hours per day sitting, the odds of dying were:

15% higher for people who sat for at least eight hours
40% higher for people who sat for 11 or more hours a day
“Our findings add to the mounting evidence that public health programs should focus not just on increasing population physical activity levels, but also on reducing sitting time,” the researchers write.

Ban sitting for public health reasons.

Genetic Mechanism Of Fatty Liver Disease In Obese Children

Kids get fatty liver disease because they are fatty kids.

Obese youths with particular genetic variants may be more prone to fatty liver disease, a leading cause of chronic liver disease in children and adolescents in industrialized countries, according to new findings by Yale School of Medicine researchers.

Even if some kids are "more likely," it is still a disease that fat kids get.

Don't let the kids get fat.

Then they won't get fatty liver disease.

No matter their genetics.

Combating Childhood Obesity, The Budget Case - Rep. Ron Kind and Donna Katen-Bahensky

The premise is a lie.

Parents' biggest health concern nowadays is the obesity epidemic that affects one-third of American children. Their concerns are shared by policymakers, business leaders and health care professionals, who recognize that childhood obesity is not just a serious health epidemic, but that it also represents a serious problem for the budget.

Fact is, childhood overweight/obesity is not a "concern" of parents.

If it were, they would do something about it.

But they don't - at least far too rarely, if they do.

The authors highlight the fact that several evidence-based obesity interventions and treatment methods can prove cost-effective, as well as offering major long-term savings. They not only reduce obesity, but also prevent or decrease dangerous and costly secondary diseases, including cancer and diabetes.

$147 billion are currently spent every year on obesity-related health care expenses, a figure that does not include the additional billions in costs to businesses, communities and families. If the obesity epidemic is not controlled, the health care toll will continue to shoot up.

The money spent rescuing the fat, kids or adults, is why they get and/or remain fat, i.e.,there is a safety net for them and the rest of us pay for it.

Stop the flow of rescue money and the flow of Calories down the gullets of fat people will also stop.

Joint Pain Common Among Obese People

How ironic. The joints of the too-fat-to-move ache.

The most recent News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reveals that in 2009, joint pain was experienced by 58% of obese adults aged 20+ in the USA and nearly 69% of extremely obese adults.

In addition, researchers found that 15% of obese adults said they had diabetes, 42% reported having a heart condition, and 42% reported having high cholesterol. Among individuals classified as extremely obese (BMI of 40 or more), the percentages with diabetes or heart conditions were generally higher.

And look at all the other benefits of fatosity!

Kudos, fatsos.

Regular Chocolate Consumption Linked To Leaner Bodies

Not on this planet.

People who eat chocolate regularly tend to be thinner than those who never or very rarely consume chocolate, researchers from the University of California, San Diego, reported in Archives of Internal Medicine. The authors added that some kinds of chocolate had previously been found to improve factors related to metabolism, including insulin sensitivity, blood pressure, as well as cholesterol levels.

Because of the high-calorie values of most chocolates, many people avoid them in their attempts to control their body weight.

Beatrice A. Golomb, M.D., Ph.D., and team gathered data on 1,018 adults, both male and female. None of them had any known chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or unfavorable LDL-C (bad cholesterol) levels - they were all screened for overall health when the study began.

The volunteers were given questionnaires which included questions about their weekly chocolate consumption rates. 975 of them completed the chocolate-related questions. 972 of them had their body mass indexes (BMIs) measured.

The authors noted:

"Adults who consumed chocolate more frequently had a lower BMI than those who consumed chocolate less often."


The volunteers' average as was 57 years. Among the males (making up 68% of total participants), their average BMI was 28. Their chocolate consumption was, on average, twice weekly. The males exercised 3.6 times weekly.

Despite being leaner than non-chocolate eaters (or those who rarely ate chocolate), the authors found that regular chocolate eaters consumed more calories, including higher amounts of saturated fat.

Besides the fact that questionnaire-based nutrition data are notoriously bad, this method cannot determine how "lean" the participants were.

Foolishness.