If People Don't Take Their Health Into Their Own Hands, Governments May Use Policies To Do It For Them

May?

Have these people been asleep the last few years?

Obesity rates in North America are a growing concern for legislators. Expanded waistlines mean rising health-care costs for maladies such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers. One University of Alberta researcher says that if people do not take measures to get healthy, they may find that governments will throw their weight into administrative measures designed to help us trim the fat.

Nola Ries of the Faculty of Law's Health Law and Science Policy Group has recently published several articles exploring potential policy measures that could be used to promote healthier behaviour. From the possibility of zoning restrictions on new fast-food outlet locations, mandatory menu labels, placing levies on items such as chips and pop or offering cash incentives for leading a more healthy and active lifestyle, she says governments at all levels are looking to adopt measures that will help combat both rising health-care costs and declining fitness levels. But she cautions that finding a solution to such a widespread, complex problem will require a multi-layered approach.

Only one policy needs to be adopted.

Having people pay for the consequences of their uncontrolled caloric intake.

No other policy will work.

No other policy is needed.

Period.

End.

You Can Be Overweight And Healthy, Research Suggests

And you can run traffic lights and STOP signs without hitting another vehicle.

According to a new study at the University of South Carolina, people can be obese yet just as physically healthy and fit, or "metabolically fit", as their counterparts with normal body weights, while having no greater chance of heart disease or cancer.

"Metabolically fit", scientists explained, means the person exercises regularly, has no high cholesterol, no high blood pressure, or raised blood sugar.

After analyzing 43,000 Americans, the results, which were published in the European Heart Journal, showed that even though some individuals are classified as overweight, it may not necessarily mean that they are in danger of any health issues.

It is only when your luck runs out that there is a problem.

And problems there will more than likely be.

Lose the weight, fatso.

If Parents Want To Increase Their Children's Activity, They Should Increase Their Own

Yes. (see here - The Fit To Parent (tm) Program)

What a concept!

Parents trying to be good examples to their children.

Parents concerned about their children's slothful ways can do something about it, according to research at National Jewish Health. They can increase their own activity. In the...Journal of Physical Activity and Health, Kristen Holm, PhD, Assistant Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health, and her colleagues report that, when parents increase their daily activity, as measured by a pedometer, their children increase theirs as well.

"It has long been known that parent and child activity levels are correlated," said Dr. Holm. "This is the first intervention-based study to prospectively demonstrate that when parents increase their activity, children increase theirs as well. The effect was more pronounced on weekends."

Too bad it will not catch-on.

The Benefits of Middle-Age Fitness

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Americans are living longer, with our average life expectancy now surpassing 78 years, up from less than 74 years in 1980. But we are not necessarily living better. The incidence of a variety of chronic diseases, like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, has also been growing dramatically, particularly among people who are not yet elderly.

The convergence of those two developments has led to what some researchers have identified as a “lengthening of morbidity.” That means we are spending more years living with chronic disease and ill health — not the outcome that most of us would hope for from a prolonged life span.

After around age 40, improving fitness becomes near-impossible since one is no longer anabolic.

This means that they cannot become anaerobically fitter.

To do so, one has to take anabolic substances.

There is no way around it.

For more info see here and here.

Organic Food Has No Benefits Over Conventional Food, Says Study

Not true.

Overall, organic foods are not nutritionally superior to conventional foods, neither are they safer regarding bacterial contamination, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine reported in Annals of Internal Medicine. The scientists emphasized that they did not find any significant evidence pointing to nutritional benefits linked to the consumption of organic foods. They did, however, find "weak evidence" of higher phenol levels in organic produce.

While eating organic vegetables and fruits does mean that the consumer has approximately 30% less exposure to pesticide residues, conventional foods are well below threshold limits set by regulatory authorities anyway, the authors explained.

They benefit IMHO predators like Whore Foods by making them a bundle from selling bulls**t.

Obesity And Metabolic Syndrome Associated With Impaired Brain Function In Adolescents

Why Jane and Johnnie can't read.

A new study by researchers at NYU School of Medicine reveals for the first time that metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with cognitive and brain impairments in adolescents and calls for pediatricians to take this into account when considering the early treatment of childhood obesity.

Perhaps this explains Detroit.

Lunch Trays Got Too Lean in City’s Fight Against Fat

More evidence that Michelle Obama is an idiot and the School Nutrition Lunch Program could not be the cause of childhood obesity,

Worried that children were losing the war on obesity, New York City began to slim down its school lunch offerings several years ago, replacing fries with baked potato strips and introducing nonfat chocolate milk, whole grain pasta and salad bars, among other tweaks. In the process, the city also cut calories. So much so, city officials now acknowledge, that it often served children fewer calories than required by the federal government.

The Bloomberg administration has often found itself stymied by the powers of Albany or Washington in its policy goals, including enacting congestion pricing, erecting a stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, taxing soda or banning the use of food stamps for sugar-sweetened beverages.

But in the case of the 860,000 school lunches served daily, it ignored a set of United States Department of Agriculture requirements written in 1994, without seeking permission. City health and education officials said their aim was not to lower calories, but rather to increase the nutritional value of the foods reaching students’ mouths. But as it slowly began re-engineering those foods, there was a “secondary response,” said Cathy Nonas, a senior adviser in the city’s health department. “It dropped the calories and at sometimes below what the U.S.D.A. had as a minimum,” she said.

This is entirely consistent with what we were saying at Fitness Watch years ago based on the government's own data from SNDA II and SNDA III.

It remains impossible for anyone to get fat by consuming too few Calories.

Vitamin D Supplements Do Not Improve Cholesterol As Previous Research Suggested

Bad news for the cure du jour.

Vitamin D has been touted for its beneficial effects on a range of human systems, from enhancing bone health to reducing the risk of developing certain cancers. But it does not improve cholesterol levels, according to a new study conducted at The Rockefeller University Hospital. A team of scientists has shown that, at least in the short term, cholesterol levels did not improve when volunteers with vitamin D deficiency received mega-doses of vitamin D. The finding is published in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.

This stuff probably can't do 90% of what it is "touted" to do.

Almost all studies are association studies.

Very few are cause-and-effect.

Pressuring Children To Eat Increases Risk Of Obesity

Ya think it's the Calories?

New research in the September issue of Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, suggests that children's risk of obesity may become reduced if parents join an education program that shows them how to take the pressure off their kids to eat.

In order to take the pressure off of children to eat certain foods, parents should be educated in an approach based on "division of responsibility" (DOR) for eating, according to a team led by Dr. W. Stewart Agras of Stanford University.

How stupid are parents and researchers that there is a need for education to prevent moms and dads from force-feeding their kids like geese for pâté?

If you are that stupid, get educated, but pay for it yourself, moron.

Obese Parents, High Screen Time Top Child Overweight Risks

What we have been telling you for years.

To reduce the prevalence of overweight in children, interventions should be aimed at family and social environments, and children should spend less time with televisions and computers, according to an article published online...in Pediatrics.

Sandra Plachta-Danielzik, PhD, from the Institute of Human Nutrition and Food Science, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany, and colleagues conducted a systematic analysis of a subset of the population in the database for the International Consortium on Obesity Prevention in Children and Adolescents (PreVENT). From 4 population-based studies in the database conducted between 1996 and 2008, they reviewed the records of 34,240 children and adolescents aged 3 to 18 years.

For the first time, the researchers studied how the determinants of overweight in children relate to population characteristics, including parental weight and education levels, maternal smoking during pregnancy, physical activity (structured or unstructured), screen time, sleep duration, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and adolescent smoking. They also took under consideration parental smoking habits and single parenthood. Their primary measure was attributable risk (AR), which, as opposed to just a risk factor, takes into account the strength of the association between a determinant and outcome, plus the prevalence of exposure in a population.

"[A]ll determinants were significantly associated with overweight except for short sleep duration, low physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and smoking." the researchers write. "Premature infants had a lower risk of overweight ([odds ratio (OR),] 0.8 [95% (confidence interval [CI]): 0.6–0.9]). High ORs were found for parental overweight and obesity, followed by a high media time and a high birth weight."

Fat parents have fat kids.

Period.

End.

Scientists Have Way To Control Sugars That Lead To Diabetes, Obesity

So do laypeople.

Scientists can now turn on or off the enzymes responsible for processing starchy foods into sugars in the human digestive system, a finding they believe will allow them to better control those processes in people with type 2 diabetes and obesity.

It is called "don't eat so much of them."

Pressuring Children To Eat Increases Risk Of Obesity

Duh.

New research in the September issue of Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, suggests that children's risk of obesity may become reduced if parents join an education program that shows them how to take the pressure off their kids to eat.

In order to take the pressure off of children to eat certain foods, parents should be educated in an approach based on "division of responsibility" (DOR) for eating, according to a team led by Dr. W. Stewart Agras of Stanford University.

The finding supports the theory that the DOR approach can improve a healthy development of appetite and eating behaviors in young children.

Hogwash.

The finding supports the Law of Thermodynamics - the fewer the Calories you eat, the less your likelihood of getting fat.

Obesity Can Lower Children's IQ

Fat parents have fat kids. Fat parents have stupid kids.

Obese children, as well as kids with metabolic syndrome are more likely to be behind their normal-weight peers in spelling, mental flexibility, arithmetic and overall cognitive scores, researchers from New York University School of Medicine and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York, reported in the journal Pediatrics.

Stop the nutritional child abuse.

People can be fat yet fit, research suggests

But they are not.
At least most of them aren't.

People can be obese yet physically healthy and fit and at no greater risk of heart disease or cancer than normal weight people, say researchers.

The key is being "metabolically fit", meaning no high blood pressure, cholesterol or raised blood sugar, and exercising, according to experts. Looking at data from over 43,000 US people they found that being overweight per se did not pose a big health risk.

The results are published in the European Heart Journal. In the study at the University of South Carolina, more than a third of the participants were obese. Of these 18,500, half were assessed as metabolically healthy after a physical examination and lab tests.

This subset of metabolically healthy obese people who did not suffer from conditions such as diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure, were generally fitter and exercised more than the other obese people. And their risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease or cancer was identical to people of ideal weight and was half that of "metabolically less fit" obese people.

"These studies remind us that it is not always your weight that's important, but where you carry fat and also how it affects your health and fitness”

Lead researcher Dr Francisco Ortega, who currently works at the University of Granada in Spain, said the findings show that getting more exercise can keep you healthier, even if you still carry a bit of extra weight. "This research highlights once again the important role of physical fitness as a health marker."

Most of the men and women in the study came from a similar background, meaning the results may not apply to everyone. They were mostly Caucasian, well educated, and worked in executive or professional positions.

Amy Thompson, of the British Heart Foundation, said: "In the majority of cases, obesity is an undeniable risk factor for developing coronary heart disease. However, these studies remind us that it is not always your weight that's important, but where you carry fat and also how it affects your health and fitness.

"It is particularly important to be aware of your weight if you are carrying excess fat around your middle. The fat cells here are really active, producing toxic substances that cause damage which can lead to heart disease.

You're still better off not being fat.

Knee Replacements on the Rise in the U.S.

'cause of the fat.

More seniors are getting their knees replaced with artificial joints, according to a new study of Medicare data.

Researchers found that over the last two decades, the number of first-time knee replacements and re-do procedures more than doubled in the U.S...

Dr. Cram and his colleagues found that between 1991 and 2010, the number of people seeking primary or revision knee replacements grew much faster than the number of elderly patients covered under Medicare: the rate of primary surgeries doubled and the rate of re-dos increased by almost 60%.

At the same time, the proportion of knee replacement patients with underlying health problems such as diabetes and obesity also doubled.

Kudos, fatsos.

Reubin Andres, an Advocate of Weight Gain, Dies at 89

I agree that older folks should weigh more.

I advise older people to shoot for BMIs in the 23+ range.

Dr. Reubin Andres, a gerontologist who advanced the study of diabetes but gained his widest attention for arguing controversially that weight gain in older people increases longevity, died on Sept. 23 at his home in Baltimore. He was 89.

The issue is the energy needed to fight illness as one ages.

The body's tissues contain Calories.

Diseases are catabolic, i.e., they break tissue down.

The more tissue, i.e., Calories, an older person carries on his or her body (up to a point), the better able they are to sustain and survive the loss of tissue.

That is another reason why Anabolic Medicine ^tm is so important.

Peter Praeger, a Surgeon With a Health Food Company, Dies at 65

There are no "healthy" foods.

There is only eating healthily.

Dr. Peter Praeger, a heart surgeon who saved a man’s life and as a result wound up owning a gefilte fish company — and who as a result of that wound up starting a successful natural-foods company — died on Sept. 22 in Hackensack, N.J. He was 65.

BTW, is that the picture of a fit person?

And this guy sells/sold his stuff to others.

Just like Barry Sears, et al.

What Is Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD)?

It's a disorder?

Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder, also known as PGAD or Restless Genital Syndrome or Persistent Genital Arousal Syndrome, is a condition characterized by unrelenting, spontaneous and uncontainable genital arousal in females. The condition may or may not include arousal with orgasm and/or genital engorgement. The patient's arousal is not linked to sexual desire.

PGAD has only recently been classed in medical literature as a distinct syndrome. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV does not recognize PGAD as a diagnosable medical condition. There are a growing number of reports describing a similar condition in males.

And I thought it was normal.

(Sorry, could not resist)

Healthy Lifestyle May Improve Longevity Even Into Old Age

Duh.

A healthy lifestyle may improve longevity even into old age, according to a population-based cohort study published online...in the British Medical Journal.

I repeat.

Duh.

Kids' Sleep Problems Linked to Educational Issues

Guess who has sleep problems. Fat kids!

Pediatric sleep disorders have long been associated with cognitive, behavioral, and linguistic problems in the children who have them. Now a new study suggests that sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and other sleep problems in the first 5 years of life are associated with an increased chance that a child will have special educational needs (SENs) at age 8 years... The 18-, 30-, 42-, and 57-month questionnaires also contained 7 questions about behavioral sleep problems (BSPs), such as the child's refusal to go to bed, early awakening, and regular nightmares or inability to sleep through the night. Affirmative answers on at least 5 questions were considered indicative of a BSP. Children of multiple births, those who survived less than 1 year, and those who had conditions related to sleep disorders or SENs were excluded. The analysis was adjusted for many confounders, such as maternal cigarette smoking, child's ethnicity, adequacy of housing, presence of family stressors such as crime or financial adversity, birth weight, and gestational age. Children with a BSP had a cumulative mean IQ of 101.80 (standard deviation [SD], 15.61) across all time points compared with a mean of 105.76 (SD, 16.28) for children without BSPs (P < .001). The mean IQ for children with the "worst" SDB symptom cluster (elevated symptom levels that begin at 18 months of age, remain high, and peak at 30 months) was 102.4 (SD, 16.25) compared with a mean of 106.41 (SD, 16.07) for children deemed "normal" (asymptomatic at all time points; P < .001).

More nutritional child abuse.