Obesity
Obesity 'worse for teen girls' blood pressure'
High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease and stroke in later life.
The study of 1,700 teenagers, presented to the American Physiological Society conference, found girls had three times the risk of higher blood pressure.
A British Heart Foundation spokeswoman said a third of young people in the UK were overweight or obese.
The teenagers, aged between 13 and 17 had their blood pressure measured as part of school district health surveys and health checks. Their body mass index (BMI) - a measure of weight/height ratio - was also recorded.
Source:
BBC News 14 October 2011
Diet and exercise alone will not stem obesity
They’ve tried the diets, they've tried the protein shakes, they've tried the pills, but for many of Australia's obese nothing seems to be working.
The number of obese Australians has more than doubled in the past 20 years and 60 per cent of the population is now classified as overweight or obese.
The disease cost the economy $8.3 billion in 2008, Access Economics says. But taxpayers could save billions of dollars by sending the obese to dietitians, fitness coaches or even surgeons to lose weight, rather than waiting until they end up in hospital.
Source:
by Cosima Marriner, Sydney Morning Herald October 2, 2011
Demonising damaging dietary habits
We all know about the perils of smoking, but, as Michelle Bridges notes, obesity and poor dietary habits are just as unhealthy.
"My daughter is probably 30 kilos overweight, but she just can't find the motivation to lose any of it."
"I am a mum of three boys and 20 kilograms too heavy. I'm unhappy and desperate to find someone to help me lose this weight."
It takes a bit for me to get disillusioned, but sometimes our obesity epidemic pushes me to the edge.
Source:
Michelle Bridges, Sydney Morning Herald September 26, 2011
Call to measure duration of obesity
Risk calculations have focused on severity of weight gain alone and not how long it persists.
Latest research suggests every additional decade of being obese more than doubles death risk.
The researchers told the International Journal of Epidemiology a new measure is needed - the "obese-year".
Similar to the "pack-year" used for smoking, it gives a further quantification that can be used to help estimate the associated health risks.
Growing problem
A quarter of UK adults are overweight.
Source:
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News 22 August 2011
Snacking clue to obesity epidemic
The influence of bigger portion sizes and excessive snacking outweighs the shift towards high-calorie foods, say experts.
Focusing on reducing how much and how often people eat could help tackle obesity, they report in PLoS Medicine.
Obesity levels have risen sharply in many Western countries since the 1970s. In the US, where the study was carried out, a third of all adults - more than 72 million people - are now categorised as obese.
Source:
By Helen Briggs Health editor, BBC News website, 29 June 2011
Potato chips driving kilo creep
And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't stop at just one.
"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr F Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Centre in New York.
Source:
Sydney Morning Herald, June 24 2011.
A City Tries to Slim Down
beckoning along a 2.8-mile corridor bookended by low-income neighborhoods on the front lines of a multimillion-dollar battle against obesity.
The street symbolizes one of many hurdles facing officials here working to put a severely overweight population on a diet. After all, Kentucky is where Colonel Harland Sanders first made his famous fried chicken and a hotel invented the Hot Brown, a turkey-bacon sandwich drowning in Mornay sauce.
Source:
By Stephanie Strom, New York Times June 13, 2011.
If you dream of weight loss, try having a good sleep
Scientists have found that you can double your chances of reaching your target weight if you get between six and eight hours sleep a night.
If you have any more, you will become too inactive and if you have any less your stress levels will increase along with cravings for unhealthy food.
The research in Portland, USA, by Kaiser Permanente, a health care consortium, found that people trying to lose at least 10lb were more likely to reach their goal if they had lower stress levels and slept moderately.
Source:
By Richard Alleyne, Science Correspondent, The Telegraph, 29 March 2011
Many women 'unaware they have a weight problem'
But ask a woman if she thinks she is overweight and you may be surprised by the answer you get.
When US researchers asked 2,000 women this question, many were unable to give a correct answer.
A quarter of those who were overweight were unaware that they had a weight problem and perceived their size to be "average", even though they clearly were not.
In fact 1,000 of the women in the survey were found to be clinically obese or overweight.
Source:
By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News, November 24,2010.
Obesity's link to sense of smell
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth say their early findings may go towards explaining why some people struggle to stay slim.
Experts already know that part of the brain that processes information about odour is also connected to the feeding centres of the brain.
The latest research is published in the journal Chemical Senses.
In the UK, a quarter of adults are obese and doctors fear that the incidence will only rise in the future as more and more people continue to pile on excess weight.
Source:
BBC News, 15 November 2010
