With a seemingly endless array of fast food restaurants and high-calorie meal options throughout the nation, Seth Doane finds out “Where America Stands” in the ongoing fight against obesity.
With flu season looming comes the first study showing flu shots dont work as well on the obese – a finding that suggests obesity, like old age, is a major risk factor for severe influenza-related sickness and death.
U.S. researchers have found that the antibody levels produced in response to flu shots fall faster and further in obese people than those of a healthy weight, and that obese people produce defective killer cells, which would usually help fight off flu and other infections.
Obesity lessens flu shot effects
Obesity rates are about one-fifth lower in women who moved from poor neighborhoods into low-poverty neighborhoods than those who did not move, according to results from a federal housing program initiated in the mid-1990s.
The ‘Moving to Opportunity’ program, originally intended to help single-mother households in poor neighborhoods relocate to low-poverty areas in order to gain access to better homes, jobs and schools, found little impact on employment and income, but found a huge impact on health instead.
Obesity Risk May be Lowered by Moving into a Better Neighborhood | ThirdAge
DANVILLE, Ill. — Five-year-olds dance hip-hop to the alphabet. Third-graders learn math by twisting into geometric shapes, fifth-graders by calculating calories. And everyone goes to the gym — every day.
In the middle of America’s heartland, a small public school, Northeast Elementary Magnet School, has taken on a hefty task — reversing obesity.
And it’s won a gold medal for it, becoming the first elementary school in the country to receive that award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Alliance was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation to reduce childhood obesity. Only two other schools have taken the gold.
The cafeteria here serves fresh fruit and veggies, low-fat or no-fat milk, no sodas or fried foods and no gooey desserts. There are no sweets on kids’ birthdays and food is never used as a reward. Teachers wear pedometers and parents have to sign a contract committing to the school’s healthy approach.
Northeast Elementary is not in some posh, progressive suburb. It’s in Danville, Ill., an economically struggling city of 30,000 in farm country some 150 miles south of Chicago. But teachers, parents and students have embraced the rigorous curriculum and kids even call it “fun.”
Health | No cupcakes here! Gold-medal school fights obesity | Seattle Times Newspaper
The researchers from the University of California say the link may be counteracting the known protective effect of the hormone oestrogen on the heart.
Dr Rudy Ortiz, who led the study, said: “Overall, there is a higher likelihood that those who present with both higher BMI and blood pressure will succumb to cardiovascular complications as adults.
“But the findings suggest that obese females may have a higher risk of developing these problems than males.”
Dr Ortiz said the significant difference between boys and girls could be explained by exercise levels.
“Obese adolescent females participate in 50 to 60% less physical activity than boys in the population surveyed.”
BBC News – Obesity ‘worse for teen girls’ blood pressure’
As expected, I’m far from impressed with the government’s empty, pointless obesity strategy. It’s clear they don’t know what to do and are incapable of any vision.
Simply telling people what they already know – that they need to eat less and move more – is a complete cop out. The country’s bill of health is shocking, and it’s not going to get any better over the next 30 years if a clearly-defined plan isn’t put into place soon. We simply can’t afford the financial or health costs of doing nothing.
This whole strategy is just worthless, regurgitated, patronising rubbish. Any of us could walk into any primary school in the country and find plenty of eight-year-olds with more creative solutions to these problems. It’s a farce.
Education is the key here. We need to give people the knowledge to be able to make better choices before we start making empty noises about encouraging people to eat better food. I have seen myself that giving practical information and teaching within schools and communities can make a real difference. We need more practical help and less hot air.
Jamie Oliver: This obesity strategy is a cop out | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Is America’s obesity epidemic slowing? A new poll found there more normal-weight Americans than overweight ones for the first time in more than three years.
Don’t get too excited, though – the Gallup and Healthways poll still showed almost 62 percent of Americans are overweight or obese.
“Although the majority of Americans are still overweight or obese, it is an encouraging sign that obesity rates are trending downward in the U.S. and among demographic subgroups,” Elizabeth Mendes, deputy managing editor at Gallup, said in a written statement.
Obesity epidemic slowing? What new poll says – HealthPop – CBS News
A type of obesity surgery, known as lap band surgery, is now being offered to teens in Colorado, according to a recent news release.
The Bariatric Surgery Center at Rose, one of the top lap band providers in Colorado, recently launched the Teen Obesity Weight Loss Program — a program aimed at improving the health of obese teens.
“This program’s main goal is to improve the health of young people who need help,” Dr. Michael A. Snyder, medical director for the Bariatric Surgery Center at Rose, said in the news release. “This isn’t just about having surgery, and it’s not some quick fix. Teens and their families go through months of counseling and classes before any surgical options are considered.”
Teen Obesity Weight Loss Program is a comprehensive, medical weight loss management program available for any young person wanting to improve weight and overall health.
“Being a teenager is never easy. Being a teenager in high school who’s had bariatric surgery isn’t easy, either, but going through high school overweight is a nightmare,” said Dr. Snyder. “We want to help these kids. We want to improve their health, extend their lives, and boost their self-esteem at the same time. That’s why this program is so important.”
The program’s team includes a nutritionist, an exercise therapist, and a pediatrician — all of whom have experience with patients receiving the gastric sleeve in Colorado. A psychology group with vast pediatric experience is also part of the team. Additionally, the program partners with pediatric specialists in pulmonary medicine, cardiac medicine and endocrinology, who can provide any specialized care the patient may need.
Obesity Surgery Now Available to Teens in Colorado | ThirdAge
Pregnant women who are obese put their children at higher risk of developing asthma compared to mothers of normal weight, a large study in Sweden has found.
The study, which covered over 129,000 mothers in Stockholm and their 189,000 children, found that mothers who were very obese, or with a body mass index of 35 and over, had a 61 percent increased risk of their children developing asthma by the time they were between 8 and 10 years of age.
“We found that there was a clear increased risk of childhood asthma, medication use and hospitalization with increasing degree of obesity and overweight in mothers in early pregnancy,” said lead author Adrian Lowe from the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and University of Melbourne.
Obese mothers put children at higher risk of asthma | Reuters
France is to impose a ‘fat tax’ on sugary soft drinks in a bid to combat soaring child obesity.
The new tax will add just over 1p to a can of fizzy drink like Coca-Cola or Fanta but zero-calorie ‘diet’ drinks will be exempt from the charges, the government said.
The new measures – a hike of from 3 to 6 Euro cents per litre on sugary drinks – are also expected to raise more than £100 million a year for government coffers.
The revenue would be used to fund lower social security charges for farm workers, the government said.
The move comes days after France also announced it would be rationing tomato ketchup and salt in school canteens.
Under the rules, tomato sauce and mayonnaise will only be on dinner tables once a week when chips are served and would be removed when traditional French dishes such as roast veal are served.
France to impose fat tax on sugary drinks such as Coca-Cola and Fanta | Mail Online
