Obesity And Diabetes Epidemics Continue To Grow In California

On September 2, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
Cover of this month's UCLA Health Policy Brief

A majority of adults in California are obese or overweight, and more than 2 million have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to a new study from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Both conditions – which are related to each other as well as to heart disease – increased significantly in just six years, with the prevalence of diabetes alone jumping nearly 26 percent between 2001 and 2007.

Physical Activity Can Reduce The Genetic Predisposition To Obesity By 40 Percent

On September 1, 2010, in Featured, Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
man excercising outdoorsw

Although the whole population can benefit from a physically active lifestyle, in part through reduced obesity risk, a new study shows that individuals with a genetic predisposition to obesity can benefit even more. The research, carried out by Dr. Ruth Loos from the Medical Research Council Epidemiology Unit in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and colleagues, published in this week’s PLoS Medicine suggests that the genetic predisposition to obesity can be reduced by an average of 40% through increased physical activity. Check the end of the report to download the freely available open-access study.

Moderate Drinking: Health Benefits Or Not?

On August 26, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
red and white wine

While moderate drinking – one to less than three drinks per day – is linked to a decrease in mortality in middle-aged and older adults, there is also concern that the health benefits of moderate drinking have been overestimated. A new study of the association between drinking and mortality during a 20-year period, which controlled for confounding factors such as previous problem drinking, confirms an association of moderate drinking and reduced mortality among older adults.

USDA-Backed Study Finds Federal School Lunches Linked To Childhood Obesity

On August 25, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
toasted sandwich

With children going back to school, parents are concerned that their youngsters are staying fit and eating right, especially those who dine in a school cafeteria. New research funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture finds that children who eat school lunches that are part of the federal government’s National School Lunch Program are more likely to become overweight.

Overweight American Children And Adolescents Are Becoming Fatter

On August 19, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
human weight scale

Overweight American children and adolescents have become fatter over the last decade, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and National Institute on Aging (NIA). They examined adiposity shifts across socio-demographic groups over time and found U.S. children and adolescents had significantly increased adiposity measures such as body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and triceps skinfold thickness (TST). The increases in adiposity were more pronounced in some sex-ethnic groups such as black girls.

Proposed Worldwide Policy Change To Increase Daily Vitamin D Intake

yellow fish oil supplements

Anthony Norman, a leading international expert in vitamin D, proposes worldwide policy changes regarding people’s vitamin D daily intake amount in order to maximize the vitamin’s contribution to reducing the frequency of many diseases, including childhood rickets, adult osteomalacia, cancer, autoimmune type-1 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, obesity and muscle weakness.

Adolescents With Type 2 Diabetes Have Diminished Cognitive Performance And Brain Abnormalities

Ilustration of the major cortex subdivisions of the brain

A study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found that obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes have diminished cognitive performance and subtle abnormalities in the brain as detected by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Identification of cognitive impairments as a complication of type 2 diabetes emphasizes the importance of addressing issues of inactivity and obesity, two important risk factors for the development of the disease among the young. The study appeared online in the journal Diabetologia on July 30, 2010.

Overcoming Childhood Obesity Means Also Addressing Mom’s Weight Issues

On July 22, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
Obese women sitting down

The information gap and general lack of understanding of obesity’s unique and disproportionate impact on women contributes to the challenges of the 65 million American women who are considered overweight or obese, said the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women at a meeting on Capitol Hill today. Through discussions with health experts and an extensive review of obesity prevalence research, the Task Force found women to be hit hardest by obesity – confounding efforts to turn the tide on the nation’s obesity problem, especially in children.

Obesity Worsens Memory And Brain Function In Women

Overweight family on the beach

The more an older woman weighs, the worse her memory, according to new research from Northwestern Medicine. The effect is more pronounced in women who carry excess weight around their hips, known as pear shapes, than women who carry it around their waists, called apple shapes. This the first study to link obesity and body shape to poorer brain function in older women. The study will be published July 14 in the Journal of the American Geriatric Society.

Actual And Perceived Body Weight Affect Adolescent Mental Health

Adolescent Girl

Adolescent girls who think they are overweight, but are not, are at more risk for depression than girls who are overweight and know it, according to Penn State sociologists. “Parents often worry about overweight girls’ mental health, but our findings show that it is girls who have a healthy weight but perceive being overweight who are most likely to feel depressed,” said Jason N. Houle, graduate student in sociology and demography. Check the end of this report for a link to download this open access article.

High BMI Linked To Proximity To Convenience Stores

On July 3, 2010, in Health | Fitness, by Christopher Fisher, PhD
women at a grocery store

Researchers at the University at Buffalo conducting a neighborhood-scaled exploratory study that tested the association between the food environment, the built environment and women’s body mass index (BMI) have found that women with homes closer to a supermarket, relative to a convenience store, had lower BMIs, and that the greater the number of restaurants within a five minute walk of a woman’s home, the higher her BMI.

Body-Image Distortion Predicts Onset Of Unsafe Weight-Loss Behaviors

Janet M. Liechty (Credit: L. Brian Stauffer)

Normal weight and underweight teenage girls who falsely believe they are overweight are at significantly greater risk of succumbing to unnecessary and unsafe weight-loss behaviors than girls who can accurately assess their weight status, according to new research by a University of Illinois expert in eating disorders and body-image perception.

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