Weight Loss News

2010-12-14 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Taxing Sodas Won’t Spur Much Weight Loss, Study Says

MONDAY, Dec. 13 (HealthDay News) — Taxing sodas and other sweetened drinks would result in only minimal weight loss, although the revenues generated could be used to promote obesity control programs, new research suggests.

Adding to a spate of recent studies examining the impact of soda taxes on obesity, researchers from Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School looked at the impact of 20 percent and 40 percent taxes on sales of carbonated and non-carbonated beverages, which also included sports and fruit drinks, among different income groups.

Because these taxes would simply cause many consumers to switch to other calorie-laden drinks, however, even a 40 percent tax would cut only 12.5 daily calories out of the average diet and result in a 1.3 pound weight loss per person per year, researchers said.

A 20 percent tax would equate to a daily 6.9 calorie intake reduction, adding up to no more than 0.7 pounds lost per person per year, according to the statistical model developed by the researchers.

“The taxes proposed as a remedy are largely on the grounds of preventing obesity, and we wanted to see if this would hold true,” said study author Eric Finkelstein, an associate professor of health services at Duke-NUS. “It’s certainly a salient issue. I assumed the effects would be modest in weight loss, and they were.”

“I believe that any single measure aimed at reducing weight is going [to be small],” Finkelstein added. “But combined with other measures, it’s going to add up. If higher taxes get people to lose weight, then good.”

As part of a growing movement to treat unhealthy foods as vices such as tobacco and liquor, several states in recent years have pushed to extend sales taxes to the purchase of soda and other sweetened beverages, which, like other groceries, are usually exempt from state sales taxes.

Other motions have seemed to target the poor, such as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal earlier this year to ban sugared drinks from groceries that could be purchased by residents on food stamps.

Finkelstein’s study, reported online Dec. 13 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, showed that high soda taxes wouldn’t impact weight among consumers in the highest and lowest income groups. Using in-home scanners that tracked households’ store-bought food and beverage purchases over the course of a year, the data included information on the cost and number of items purchased by brand and UPC code among different population groups.

Researchers estimated that a 20 percent soda tax would generate about $1.5 billion in annual revenue in the United States, while a 40 percent tax would generate about $2.5 billion. The average household cost would be $28.

Finkelstein explained that wealthier households seemed impervious to the tax because they can afford to pay it, while poorer income groups weren’t as affected because they tend to buy lower-priced generic products or buy in bulk.

“It’s largely very cheap calories for them,” he said, adding that store brands such as Wal-Mart cola also contain more calories than the name-brand Coke.

Dr. Stephen Cook, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Golisano Children’s Hospital at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), said the study is valuable because it echoes the results of others similar to it.

“It’s good to see an amount of replication in the findings,” said Cook, also an assistant professor of URMC’s Center for Community Health. “It brings up an important point of how we should address obesity, as a disease or a public health threat.”

Despite the modest weight loss resulting from the soda taxes, both Finkelstein and Cook support such a measure as one of many possible ways to attack obesity, which affects one-third of Americans.

As for the revenue generated, it can also tackle obesity if it’s funneled toward weight-control programs and not other government initiatives, Cook said.

“The other side of the taxing coin is what we do with the money,” Cook said. “We need to take the revenue and use it for interventional programs instead of it being used as a money grab. I think it’s good when it’s properly done and the money is used for those strategies.”

Cook added that future measures could include taxing foods with added sugars as well as lowering the prices of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables and skim milk.

Imagining Eating Sweets Helps With Weight Loss

If you’re trying to lose weight, satisfying your sweet tooth — at least in your mind — could help.

Imagining that you’re eating a sugary snack or other specific food you love could actually help you stick to your diet and stop consuming the treat you’re picturing, say researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

The study, published in the journal Science, debunks the common wisdom that thinking about a particular food will fuel your craving for it even more and ultimately drive you to eat it.

“These findings suggest that trying to suppress one’s thoughts of desired foods in order to curb cravings for those foods is a fundamentally flawed strategy,” lead author Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor of social and decision sciences, said in a statement.

University of Pennsylvania psychiatrist Dr. Christos Ballas said the research demonstrates the power of visualization.

“It is counterintuitive, but when you dig a little deeper, it does make sense,” he told AOL Health. “You have to imagine the process of eating M&Ms. It’s similar to other studies where people practice visualizing.”

One such study found that people who play violin and didn’t practice but did picture practicing were better off than those who didn’t visualize playing or practicing at all. Another study found that people suffering from psychological pain felt better after taking a Tylenol, according to Ballas.

“Your mind takes the word and whatever associations go with that word — i.e. pain — and puts them together,” he told AOL Health. “The mind makes unconscious associations.”

Morewedge’s team tested the impact of repeatedly picturing eating a certain food on the consumption of that food. They learned that imagining eating the food seemed to lower the person’s appetite for it.

“People who repeatedly imagined the consumption of a morsel of food — such as an M&M or cube of cheese — subsequently consumed less of that food than did people who imagined consuming the food a few times or performed a different but similarly engaging task,” he said.

The researchers did five experiments designed to gauge the link between thinking about eating something and actually eating it.

In the first, participants were asked to imagine doing 33 repetitive tasks one at a time. One group was told to picture putting 33 quarters into a washing machine, another imagined inserting 30 quarters into the machine and then eating 3 M&Ms and a third group pictured feeding 3 quarters into the machine and then eating 30 M&Ms.

After the mental imagery exercise, the subjects were given access to a bowl of M&Ms. Those who had pictured eating 30 of them ate significantly fewer than those in the other two groups who imagined eating only three or none at all.

Another variation of the same test was performed, with similar results. The other three experiments were designed to measure whether imagining eating the specific food — not just thinking a lot about the food or thinking about eating a different snack — was what caused people to subsequently consume less of it. The researchers found that it was only the act of picturing the consumption of a certain food that led to a reduction in the actual consumption of it.

“To some extent, merely imagining an experience is a substitute for actual experience,” another study author, assistant professor of marketing Joachim Vosgerau, said in a statement. “The difference between imagining and experiencing may be smaller than previously assumed.”

The research teams says it hopes the study will help in the creation of products that stop unhealthy cravings, like those for cigarettes, junk food or drugs.

“We think these findings will help develop future interventions to reduce cravings for things such as unhealthy food, drugs and cigarettes, and hope they will help us learn how to help people make healthier food choices,” said Morewedge.

Avoid Depression for Successful Weight Loss, Omega-3 Fats Can Help

Clinical depression rates are rising in America almost as quickly as the number of overweight and obese individuals. It makes sense that people who may be depressed are less likely to be concerned over weight issues as they become less involved with physical health issues and their external environment.

While researchers are unable to say whether depression leads to excess weight or if the extra pounds contribute as an underlying cause of depression, those individuals who fall into the obese classification (BMI above 30) are 50 to 150% more likely to suffer from depression than normal weight individuals. Clearly there is a close relationship between the physical and psychological manifestations that contribute to excess weight and clinical depression.

Depression Closely Linked to Body Weight
Depression is a devastating condition that can have a detrimental effect on many aspects of a person’s life. Depressed people are more likely to eat a poor diet of processed junk foods and become less physically active. The results of a study conducted at the University of Washington and reported in the journal General Hospital Psychology demonstrates that treating obese individuals for depression can have a significant impact on their weight loss efforts.

Study Confirms That Treating Depression Leads to Weight Loss
The study involved 203 obese women for a period of 12 months who had been diagnosed with clinical depression. All participants were placed on a reduced calorie diet and broken into 2 groups. Both groups were monitored for caloric intake with food questionnaires and physical activity. Half of the participants were also treated for their depression and their progress was marked using a traditional symptom checklist.

Women who demonstrated the most marked improvement of their depression symptoms were able to lose the most weight. Researchers found that 38% of the women who experienced improved mood lost 5% of their body weight, compared with only 21% in the non-treated group. The study found that depression is closely linked to decreased physical activity, and most of the weight loss was due to an increased level of exercise.

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Weight Loss News

2010-11-17 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Weight loss drug ’caused death of 500 people’

A weight loss drug that has been taken by millions of French is likely to have been the cause of death of 500 people, the country’s drug safety body announced on Tuesday, amid claims that health authorities long ignored calls for the drug to be banned.

France’s second-largest pharmaceutical group was yesterday at the heart of a spiralling health scandal over Mediator, a drug initially reserved for obese people with diabetes that became a popular appetite suppressor.

Afssaps, the drug safety body, yesterday said expert epidemiologists believed Mediator, made by Servier, had been lethal for at least 500 people and had caused 3,500 others to be admitted to hospital since its launch in 1976.

Some 300,000 people were taking the drug when Afssaps pulled it from the market last November, saying it had little effect on diabetes and might lead to a dangerous thickening of heart valves. The European Medicines Agency followed suit.

Lose weight … and save money

MONTREAL — Frances Michaelson, a pioneer in fitness for more than 30 years, is passionate about all things health.

However, she feels the fitness industry is “failing those that need us the most” – the obese.

“We keep coming up with new toys and gadgets and workouts that are actually terrifying the very people we need to encourage to get moving,” she said.

Michaelson tours the country giving lectures and workshops on living a healthy lifestyle, and she attended an industry conference in Chicago in October where she listened to Richard Simmons (yes, that Richard Simmons) address a group of fitness professionals. Simmons told the group that something is obviously wrong with the way things are: Trainers are being certified almost by the hour, and there are more gyms offering more classes and more equipment than ever before, but obesity statistics keep rising almost as fast.
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“Simmons said it’s because as trainers we are training the same fit people over and over again,” Michaelson said, “instead of targeting the overweight and out-of-shape.”

Michaelson said she came home and was sitting in her Muscle Up personal training centre in Baie d’Urfé on a recent afternoon with Simmons’s words still resonating in her head. She looked around at the near-empty space and wondered what she could do that would really make a difference.

“And this light went on,” she said. “Why don’t I let people who have significant weight to lose come in and use the facility for free? Let’s get them moving, and hopefully they’ll see results and want to continue.”

So Michaelson is opening her training centre on afternoons and evenings, absolutely free of charge, to people who have at least 50 pounds to lose and who fear the gym scene.

Those who are interested will get an assessment, an introductory nutritional and fitness program, and six weeks free of charge; after that, Michaelson will work with clients to establish a sliding scale of payment, if necessary.

“I really don’t want it to be only about the money,” she said. “Let’s see if those who are interested – and committed – start to feel better after they’ve been moving and eating better for a short while.” And they had better “use it or lose it” – she’d like to see the people who sign up come in at least three days a week.

Michaelson said they should start to feel better after three weeks, and see results after six.

“I want people to come in and really start to feel comfortable in this environment, let them see how it feels to just sit on a stability ball, or pedal on an exercise bike, to try something new.”

Many people don’t even know the basics, like breathing, Michaelson said.

“Learning how to breathe properly can make a tremendous difference in your day-to-day life,” she said.

Michaelson knows how intimidating it can be for overweight people to even begin an exercise program.

She’s been working with Mary Vipond, an obese client in her 40s, since the summer and has helped Vipond gain a better understanding of herself and her body.

“It’s a very slow process,” Michaelson said. “We want to make lifestyle changes that will stick.

“Mary called me the other night and told me she had climbed the stairs – all 11 floors of her building – something she had never before done – to me that’s progress” she said.

Vipond said she had been at a point where she didn’t even know where to start anymore.

“I knew Frances and reconnected with her through friends, but I really didn’t know when I began where it would lead.”

Interestingly, Michaelson never told Vipond what she weighed at the outset of their working together. Vipond said that seems to be working out quite well.

“What happens when you have a lot of weight to lose is we get caught up in the numbers and fixate on them” she explained. “When you don’t reach those numbers, it can have a negative impact on your weight loss and your morale and you quit.”

Vipond said Michaelson, a certified naturopath, introduced her to a new way of eating, emphasizing fruits and vegetables with lean proteins and whole grains. She said the shape of her body has changed significantly, and her energy level has increased dramatically.

“My clothes are getting way too big and my co-workers keep commenting on my weight loss, so those are all good signs,” she said with a laugh.

Man Loses Weight After Unflattering Google Maps Street View Image

(CANVAS STAFF REPORTS) – A man in need of some weight-loss inspiration found it after seeing himself on Google Maps Street View.

The Daily Mail reported that Bob Mewse, 56, weighed 296 pounds a year ago when he saw himself on the mapping service that uses a 360-degree camera to record images. The camera shot a side view of the Bristol, England man wearing a gray shirt near a filling station.

“I was horrified when I saw that photo,” he told the Telegraph . “I was massive. My belly was sticking out and I looked huge.”

He said he was also having back problems and “sky-high” blood pressure. The Daily Mail said he was driving 30 miles to find clothes to fit him.

Mewse headed to a gym and got help from a personal trainer who also helped him develop a healthy eating plan. Cakes and other desserts were replaced with fruit, salads and protein-rich foods.

CBS News said the morbidly-obese man lost 98 pounds.

“If I can do this, anybody can,” he said. “I’m just an ordinary bloke. I feel much healthier now.”

Google Street View has long contributed to interesting stories. That has been the case recently as Ubergizmo.com reported Google has been under fire by privacy advocates in Germany who believe people have a right not to have a photo of them turn up online.

A graduate student has come up with a software that will digitally remove pedestrians from Street View images. Ubergizmo, though, said this could lead to some haunting effects since what’s left behind are ghost-like shapes, sometimes still connected to shoes and feet.

Google has also lent a hand to efforts to bust crime. The New York Post reported three heroin dealers were seen in images trying to peddle drugs on a street corner. Residents had been complaining about them selling drugs in the open.

They were recently among seven dealers arrested in an undercover New York Police Department sting.

Police had used their own surveillance cameras to get proof of the actual drug transactions. Law enforcement sources, though, had said Google Street View images had captured images of them working the corner.

Gawker.com reported in October that in one image it appeared as though blurry, possibly robed figures were caught hovering above a lake in Quarten, Switzerland.

“Is it something on the camera lens?” Gawker asked. “Or is it maybe God …?”

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Obesity News

2010-11-04 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Fruit Fly Links Obesity and Heart Disease

Everyone knows that obesity strikes the heart sooner or later, but a new study on fruit flies detailed the link between obesity and heart disease.

With over a third of Americans being obese, many of them have a high risk of developing cancer, diabetes and heart disease, but because for these conditions there are other causes as well, this new study carried out by Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) was necessary.

A team of researchers led by Sean Oldham, PhD, and Rolf Bodmer, PhD, created a simple model that shows the connection between high-fat diet, obesity and heart dysfunction.

The team used fruit flies, and found that a protein called TOR, determines the fat accumulation in the heart, so manipulating it, actually protects the heart of fruit flies from high-fat damage-causing diets.

For the experiment, fruit flies were fed a high-fat diet of coconut oil; once they became obese, they presented the same symptoms as obese people, heart problems included.

In order to see the way that TOR works, Dr. Oldham and his team generated flies that had a lower activity of this protein.

TOR is normally restraining the enzyme that breaks down fat so by inhibiting it, the team boosted the fat-digesting enzyme, thus reducing fat accumulation in the heat, and improved the health of obese flies’ hearts.

The researchers got the same results when they blocked TOR in the whole fly, just in heart cells or just in fat tissue.

They chose the fruit fly for this study because, despite everything, most of its basic molecular mechanisms are very much like those of vertebrates.

Also, it is very easy to delete individual genes in the fly and find out the role that each one plays in heart development and function.

Dr. Oldham, which is also a co-senior author of the study, said that they “noticed previously that reducing TOR had a large number of beneficial effects on aging.

“We next wanted to look at TOR activity in obesity-related heart disease, but we didn’t have a good system.

“In this study, we establish the fruit fly as a model for obesity caused by a high-fat diet.”

“These results open the possibility that we can intervene with the effects of obesity by targeting TOR and other proteins it regulates – either directly in fat or in a specific organ like the heart,” explains Dr. Bodmer, co-senior author of the study and professor and director of the Development and Aging Program.

“One thing we’d like to know next is if fats themselves are toxic to the heart, or is it the byproducts of their metabolism that are harmful,” added Dr. Birse, post-doctoral researcher and lead author of the study.

“One good thing about using fruit flies is that, in theory, we could feed them whatever we want to screen – different fatty acids, molecules, drugs, etc. – to observe their effects on the heart or other systems.”

This should allow researchers to find answers to most questions about diet, heart and obesity.

The findings are published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Preventing Obesity in Young Black Girls Proves Challenging

A variety of interventions, including hip-hop dancing, group counseling, home/family interventions, and health education, failed to prevent obesity or body mass index gain in young African-American girls in a pair of research studies published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) — A variety of interventions, including hip-hop dancing, group counseling, home/family interventions, and health education, failed to prevent obesity or body mass index (BMI) gain in young African-American girls in a pair of research studies published in the November issue of the Archives of Pediatrics

Thomas N. Robinson, M.D., of the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues randomized a group of low-income 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls to either weight control interventions consisting of after-school hip-hop, African, and step dance classes and a home/family-based intervention to reduce television and computer use, or usual information-based health education. After two years, the dance and home/family interventions had not significantly reduced BMI gain compared to health education. However, it did result in possibly clinically important reductions in lipid levels, hyperinsulinemia, and depressive symptoms.

In a second study, Robert C. Klesges, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and colleagues randomized a group of overweight 8- to 10-year-old African-American girls who had a BMI at or above the 25th percentile for age or one parent with a BMI of at least 25 kg/m ² to behavioral counseling, the intent of which was to either encourage increased exercise and healthier eating or to improve self-esteem and social efficacy. At the end of the two-year program, BMI had increased in all of the girls, though a small reduction was seen in sweetened beverage consumption and small increases were seen in water and vegetable consumption.

“The lack of significant BMI change at two years indicates that this intervention alone is insufficient for obesity prevention. Effectiveness may require more explicit behavior change goals and a stronger physical activity component as well as supportive changes in environmental contexts,” Klesges and colleagues conclude.

Top 5 anti-obesity medical devices at Cleveland Clinic summit

A panel at Cleveland Clinic’s Medical Innovations Summit focused on five companies developing innovative obesity-fighting medical devices that have yet to hit the market. The companies that participated were “handpicked” by Philip Schauer, director of the Clinic’s Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, who moderated the discussion. Here’s a list of the companies and brief descriptions of their devices.
BaroSense — The Redwood City, California, company’s TERIS cup-like device “partitions” a patient’s stomach to create a feeling of satiety. It’s implanted with a trans-oral procedure, held in place by “proprietary anchoring technology” and can be removed if a patient no longer needs it, CEO Daniel Balbierz said.
IntraPace — The Mountain View, California, company’s “abiliti” device uses gastric stimulation to create a feeling of fullness in patients. The device employs a sensor in the patient’s stomach to detect eating or drinking, which then prompts the system to deliver electrical impulses to the stomach.
ReShape Medical — The company’s device consists of two balloons connected by a flexible tube. The balloons are placed in the stomach using an endoscope and are designed to create a feeling of fullness in patients. The device is intended to be removed after about 6 months. The balloons are filled with blue dye that’s designed to alert a patient of deflation by producing blue urine, according to the San Clemente, California-based company. Talk of blue urine drew the largest reaction out of the just-before-lunch crowd that attended the discussion.
Satiety — The company that’s furthest along in both the clinical and regulatory processes, Satiety has developed the “TOGA System,” which involves stapling the tissue at the top of the stomach to create a “sleeve” that restricts the stomach’s size. Palo Alto, California-based Satiety has raised about $90 million over the last 10 years and plans to seek commercialization approval by the end of the year from the Food and Drug Administration, CEO Eric Reuter said. If all goes well, the device could hit the market sometime next year.
ValenTx — The company’s device aims to mimic gastric bypass surgery without surgery, CEO James Wright said. The device uses a sleeve that’s implanted through the mouth and into the stomach to restrict the stomach’s volume.

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Weight Loss Today

2010-10-23 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Weight-loss tips: Am I hungry?

Dr. Amy Zacharias, of Advocate Medical Group’s Integrative Health for Women, is a mother of four children who also teaches the Am I Hungry? non-diet approach to weight management. Here are some tips from Zacharias for people who want to lose weight:

Am I Hungry?

When you feel like eating, ask yourself, “Am I Hungry?” Consider drinking a glass of water first because you may be dehydrated.

Eat in moderation

If you’re truly hungry, eat something you enjoy but in moderation. Eat slowly and mindfully. Enjoy your food. About halfway through the meal, ask yourself “Am I Hungry?” If you are, eat until you’re full. If you’re no longer hungry, stop eating and get away from the table.

Respond to eating triggers

If you feel like eating but realize you’re not hungry, consider why you want to eat so you can respond to that trigger without food. If you’re upset, try to address the reason for your worry. If you’re stressed, breathe slowly and deeply, get up and walk around, exercise, phone a friend or pray. If you’re bored, get out of the house and do something, or stay home and clean house. If you’re fatigued, go to sleep. If you respond to triggers such as the candy tray on a colleague’s desk, avoid the trigger.

Fit in exercise

Look at your schedule and determine when you can fit exercise into your day. Consider that your health matters because you want to be there for your family for many years. On busy days when you can’t fit in 30 minutes of exercise, move for 10 minutes at a time three times during the day.

Weight loss tips from Weight Watchers ‘role models’

What was your weight loss wake up call?

When Aurora’s Sarah Vonhoff went through a divorce in 2008, she tried to eat and drink her way through the pain and the loss.

She wasn’t that big, she told herself. But her increasingly tight size 16 pants said otherwise.

Vonhoff, who was wary of diets, ultimately joined Weight Watchers on the advice of her mother, a lifetime member.

She dropped 75 pounds and was recently named the Weight Watchers Role Model of the Year for her efforts.

Today Vonhoff, the cover model in this month’s Weight Watchers Magazine, tells others who want to shed pounds to commit to a new way of life, make yourself a priority and then start by implementing small, manageable changes.

“I really took the time to adjust to the program into my lifestyle, so it didn’t feel like a diet,” said Vonhoff, a human resources executive. “Today I’ve been able to find a balance that works for me so I can enjoy things (such as wine and beer) you can’t normally have on a diet.”

For Catherine Parkinson, one of the finalists in the contest, the weight loss wakeup call came while she was watching the 2007 NFL draft on television. Parkinson, 29, realized she weighed more than all but a handful of football players.

“Celebrate the successes every step of the way,” advised Parkinson, who enlisted a team of friends to help her lose weight. “(My friends and I) told ourselves that no matter how long it took to lose the weight, we were going to do it.”

Obesity wake up calls come in many forms. Some women seek help when they realize they may not be able to have children at their current weight. Others are shocked into action by a number on the scale.

But perhaps the most powerful motivator is a picture. “It’s amazing how you really don’t think of yourself as “that big” until you see a picture and barely recognize yourself,” said Vonhoff, 30. “I still keep a few to remind me of how far I’ve come 75 pounds later.”

To kick off its third annual Lose for Good campaign in Chicago, Weight Watchers donated a garden to the Victor Herbert Elementary School in Chicago. The garden will be used for educational and nutritional purposes, though most school produce is forbidden fruit in Chicago Public Schools cafeteria.

Weight Loss Tips Do Not Have To Be Complicated

Weight loss tips that suggest limiting your intake of unhealthy fats, cholesterol and excess carbs can be beneficial for losing weight and maintaining an overall healthy body. A low cholesterol diets , can provide healthy weight loss and natural weight loss .

Weight loss tips for women do not have to be complicated. One of the major reasons why women remain at a heavier weight is because they do not want to starve or to deprive themselves of their coveted foods.

Weight loss tips are designed to help people get started with weight loss, but they are not something you should rely on. The information provided may not always be information that will work with your needs, so do not feel that the tips you receive are your only options for losing weight.

Exercise addiction are characterized by their compulsive exercise behaviors, an overinvolvement in exercise, and the presence of an activity disorder. Exercise addicts may be driven to work out despite exhaustion or injury.

Exercise is probably the most important key to increasing your metabolism and burning off excess fat. Research shows that you burn more stored fat for energy when you do aerobic exercises on an empty stomach than on a full stomach. Exercising, however, builds muscle mass, which is a good thing.

Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than other body tissue, so the more you have, the more calories your body burns at rest.

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Obesity News

2010-10-12 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Researchers piece together gene, obesity and fat distribution puzzle

EU-funded scientists have identified 18 new gene sites that impact overall obesity and 13 new sites associated with distribution of fat. The researchers from Europe, as well as Australia, Canada and the US, used a near 250,000-strong sample to investigate genetic links with human traits. The findings of the two studies, published in the journal Nature Genetics, shed light on why some people are more susceptible to obesity while others are not.

Part of the Genetic Investigation of Anthropometric Traits (GIANT) consortium, which comprises 400 experts from 280 research institutions worldwide, the scientists carried out a large-scale meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) providing insights on waist-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI).

‘Different people have different susceptibilities to obesity,’ explains Dr Joel Hirschhorn from Children’s Hospital Boston and the Broad Institute in the US, one of the senior authors of the obesity paper who was involved in both studies. ‘Some don’t rigorously watch what they eat or how much they exercise and still resist gaining weight, while others constantly struggle to keep their weight from skyrocketing. Some of this variability is genetic, and our goal was to increase understanding of why different people have different inherited susceptibility to obesity.’

These studies succeeded in pinpointing genes that were never before suspected of influencing obesity. The results will help improve the categorisation and treatment of obesity in the future, according to Dr Hirschhorn.

The overall obesity study investigated the genetic determinants of BMI, which is determined by measuring a person’s weight in kilograms over height in metres squared. Data from 124,000 people from 46 studies uncovered 32 sites (of which 18 are new). The team found two novel variants, one of which is in the gene encoding for a receptor protein that responds to signals from the gut to influence insulin levels and metabolism, and another that is located near a gene known to encode proteins affecting appetite.

‘One of the most exciting parts of this work is that most of the BMI-associated variants identified are in or near genes that have never before been connected to obesity,’ comments Dr Elizabeth K. Speliotes from Massachusetts General Hospital and the Broad Institute, lead author of the BMI study and involved in both studies as well. ‘Through this work we are discovering that the underlying biological underpinnings of obesity are many, varied and largely uncharacterised.’

Their findings show that people with more than 38 BMI-increasing variants were about 15 to 20 pounds heavier than those who carried less than 22 such variants.

The second study investigated associations between gene sites and fat distribution. Evaluating the genetic determinants of WHR of 77,000 people in 32 studies, and checking against data of more than 113,500 individuals in 29 studies, the researchers found 14 gene regions associated with WHR, adding 13 new sites. It should be noted that seven of the identified genetic variations have stronger effects in females than in males, hinting that they trigger some of the differences in fat distribution between women and men.

‘By finding genes that have an important role in influencing fat distribution and the ways in which that differs between men and women, we hope to home in on the crucial underlying biological processes,’ says Dr Cecilia Lindgren of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Human Genetics at Oxford University in the UK, a senior researcher on the WHR study, who was involved in both papers.

The results in this study indicate that specific biological mechanisms play a role in regulating where the body stores fat. Genes that regulate cholesterol, triglyceride levels, and insulin and insulin resistance are associated with the regions impacting fat distribution.
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EU funding for the studies came from projects under Fifth and Sixth Framework Programmes (FP5 and FP6), specifically: EURO-BLCS (Biological, clinical and genetic markers of future risk of cardiovascular disease’), which was supported under the Quality of life and management of living resources budget line of FP5; as well as EUROSPAN (European special populations research network: quantifying and harnessing genetic variation for gene discovery’), MOLPAGE (‘Molecular phenotyping to accelerate genomic epidemiology’), PROCARDIS (‘A genome-wide mapping and functional genomics approach to elucidating precocious coronary artery disease’), and EURODIS (‘Functional genomics of pancreatic beta cells and of tissues involved in control of the endocrine pancreas for prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes’), which between them received over EUR 25 million from the EU under the ‘Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health’ Thematic area of FP6. The studies were also backed by an EU Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship grant.

European scientists that took part in the studies were from Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.

Childhood obesity ad likens junk food to heroin

A controversial new ad which compares feeding children junk food to injecting them with heroin has restarted debate about the best way to tackle childhood obesity.

The Sydney-based agency which produced the ad says existing health advertising is not working to curb the problem.

It says it wanted to shock parents into action. But health experts say it has gone too far.

In the advertisement, a mother walks into a room carrying a brown paper bag. She sits down at a table next to her little boy who is colouring in.

She takes out some heroin and a syringe and ties a tourniquet around her son’s arm. The words on the screen say: “You wouldn’t inject your children with junk – so why are you feeding it to them?”

The producer of the Break the Habit ad and managing director of the Sydney-based agency The Precinct, Henry Motteram, says not resolving the signs of childhood obesity is “tantamount to child abuse”.

“We wanted the conversation to start. We wanted that conversation to be as big as possible and involving as many people as possible, hence why we decided to go down a shock tactic [path],” he said.

“Both obesity and drugs in general have a similar impact on people’s lives, both physically and psychologically in the long run.

“By no means are we saying that eating a hamburger is the same as taking a hit of drugs. The visual metaphor is about the long-term impact of this.”

The ad was posted on YouTube and attracted more than 500 comments. There was a diverse range of opinions from: “Thank you. Addiction is addiction, no matter what item or drug you put in there. Stop abusing your children!”

But others disagreed:

“Heroin will destroy your life and easily kill you. An occasional hamburger will not do either. They have nothing in common and this video is pure garbage,” said one commenter.

“That was bullshit. Somebody ought to slap the person who came up with that,” said another.

“If they want to do something about fat kids then the parents need to take the kids to a park or do something that involves running. Or maybe they should just get off their lazy arse and do something fun with their kids.”

‘Over the top’

Director of the Public Health Advocacy Institute, Professor Mike Daube, says childhood obesity is a massive problem in Australia, where 25 per cent of kids are now considered obese.

But he says the ad is over the top.

“This ad puts all the emphasis on kids. Then it puts all the blame on parents instead of people writing junk food [ads]. And then just for good measure it shows you how to inject heroin,” he said.

“So I’m not a fan of the ad. I admire anybody who has concerns about the obesity problem which is very real, but I don’t think this ad is the way to deal with it.”

It is a view shared by nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton.

“Heroin is dangerous, even in a small dose. And junk food isn’t dangerous in a small dose,” she said.

“But I do think that we need to make parents aware that it’s not safe to give their kids so much junk food [to eat]. And they currently aren’t aware of that.”

Dr Stanton says the first step to tackling childhood obesity is to get rid of junk food advertising.

“Sure it’s the parents who actually buy the junk food, but they buy it because the kids pester them to buy it,” she said.

“The kids pester them to buy it because they’ve seen the ads.

“So I think any society that is serious about doing anything about obesity in children and obesity in adults for that matter should look at stopping these highly persuasive, clever adults from encouraging kids to pester the parents.”

This afternoon, the Break the Habit advertisement was pulled from YouTube.

The agency says the parents of the young boy in the ad were concerned about all the media attention.

Study Says HFCS Does Not Cause Obesity

October 12, 2010

For years, high fructose corn syrup has been erroneously implicated as a prime suspect in the obesity epidemic. Inexact scientific reports and inaccurate media accounts have increased confusion about the sugar made from corn. New research proves otherwise.

A new study, presented on Saturday October 9, at the Obesity Society’s 28th Annual Scientific Meeting, further reinforces the facts about high fructose corn syrup. Results from the double-blind study revealed that fructose containing sweeteners (sugar, high fructose corn syrup) do not uniquely contribute to obesity when consumed as part of a healthy weight maintenance diet. The study also found that high fructose corn syrup no more contributes to caloric intake than table sugar (sucrose).

In the study, overweight or obese adults were placed on a 10-week eucaloric diet (an eucaloric diet provides your body with just the right number of calories necessary to maintain current body weight) which incorporated either high fructose corn syrup or sucrose-sweetened, low-fat milk. Participants’ consumption of low-fat milk accounted for between 10 to 20 percent of the daily allotted calories, representing typical levels of sweetener consumption. Study participants did not experience a change in body weight, percent of body fat, fat-mass, or percent of abdominal body fat. Additionally, there were no statistical differences between people given high fructose corn syrup and those given sucrose.

These results are meaningful for the food and beverage industry because they provide further scientific evidence that products containing high fructose corn syrup do not promote weight gain more than products containing sugar.

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Obesity News

2010-09-23 / Weight Loss & Obesity / 0 Comments

Childhood Obesity Blamed on Virus

By Christopher Wanjek, LiveScience’s Bad Medicine Columnist

Doctors have found more evidence that a viral infection can trigger obesity. And no, the virus doesn’t live on cheese puffs and Twinkies.

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, found traces of adenovirus 36 (AD36) in an alarming number of obese children and went so far as to claim that there is a positive association between the presence of the virus and obesity, as reported this week in the journal Pediatrics.

Excess calories and inactivity are clearly associated with obesity. And yet some children who have junk-food-filled diets and an exercise routine comprising entirely of walking back and forth from the refrigerator and sofa do manage to remain relatively thin. Why?

In my blood

Genetics, a popular rationale for all that’s right or wrong with any given person, can’t explain all cases of obesity, doctors say, particularly the sharp rise in childhood obesity. Bad habits among children have remained constant over the last two decades, but the child obesity rate has nearly tripled during this time.

AD36 is one of dozens of adenoviruses that are common causes of respiratory infections. Studies dating back to the 1990s have shown that lab animals deliberately infected with this human virus can get fat. In recent years, other studies have shown that upwards of 30 percent of obese adults have been infected by AD36, compared with only 10 percent of normal-weight individuals. The theory is that the virus targets immature fat cells and gets them to mature and proliferate rapidly.

This latest UC San Diego study, led by Jeffrey Schwimmer, examined 124 children; slightly over half were obese. Among all the children, only 19 (or about 22 percent) had been infected with AD36, a fact determined by the presence of AD36-specific antibodies in their blood. But among these infected kids, nearly 80 percent were obese.

More surprising to Schwimmer’s team, the infected obese children were much heavier than the non-infected obese children. The average BMI of the obese kids was about 33; but among the infected obese kids, the average BMI was over 36.

This translates to an average, extra bulk of 35.5 pounds (16 kilograms) for those with the AD36 virus antibodies. That’s a huge amount of extra weight for adults, let alone kids. Sadly, most obese kids will be obese adults and have a lifespan shortened by up to 20 years. A study out this year suggested obese men could die eight years earlier than other men.

Fat chance

Clearly you don’t need a virus to get fat; bad food and eight hours of daily TV-watching can work well for you in that regard. But as skeptical as you (and I) might remain, some doctors are becoming increasingly convinced that AD36 is playing some role in the obesity epidemic. Schwimmer’s team indeed has upped the ante by finding that those once infected have a high probability of being even heavier than other obese individuals.

What Schwimmer and others haven’t been able to establish, though, is cause and effect. Is AD36 a cause of the weight gain, or is the infection the result of having certain kinds of fat cells that the virus happens to like? Or, are obese people predisposed to persistent AD36-specific antibodies after infection? That is, maybe most people have been infected, but obese people maintain the presence of antibodies longer.

So many unknowns. Makes you want to do something crazy like eat better and exercise, just in case.

Cold Virus Linked to Childhood Obesity?

I just read a new study that was published in the online version of the journal Pediatrics on September 20th that links childhood obesity to adenovirus 36 – one of the viruses that cause the common cold. Sounds crazy, right? Perhaps, but it does raise some interesting questions.
Researchers studied 124 children between the ages of 8 and 18. Fifty four percent (67) of the children were considered obese based on their body mass measurements. On average, children who tested positive for adenovirus 36 weighed about 50 pounds more than those who tested negative. And even among the obese children, those who tested positive weighed about 35 pounds more than the obese children who tested negative.

However, only about 15 percent of all of the children tested positive for the virus at all – 22% percent of obese children and 7% of children who were not obese.

So what does all of this mean?

At this point, it’s hard to say. There certainly isn’t enough evidence to say the virus causes obesity and the researchers don’t seem to be suggesting that either. However, there may be more to childhood obesity than just a lack of exercise and poor diet.

We all seem to be so quick to judge parents when it comes to obese children, but like most health problems, it is probably a more complicated issue.

On the flip side, this was a very small study that did not cover an accurate cross-sample of the population (67% of the children were hispanic, 27% white and 11% black) and only 15% of those (18 children) studied had ever had this virus. So drawing a conclusion that there is a link between the virus and obesity at all seems like a stretch. It’s almost like saying a majority of the obese children had brown hair so brown hair must be related to obesity – which of course is ridiculous.

In reality, it could even mean that children who are obese are more likely to get adenovirus 36. To me, this actually makes more sense, because people who are obese typically have weaker immune systems and get sick more often.

What do you think? Share your thoughts on this new study and read more about it from Catherine Holecko, About.com’s Guide to Family Fitness.

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