Suppose you stick to a five-times-a-week gym regimen, as I do, and have put in a lifetime of hard cardio exercise, and have a resting heart rate that’s a significant fraction below the norm. That doesn’t inoculate you, apparently, from the perils of sitting.

The research comes more from observing the health results of people’s behavior than from discovering the biological and genetic triggers that may be associated with extended sitting. Still, scientists have determined that after an hour or more of sitting, the production of enzymes that burn fat in the body declines by as much as 90 percent. Extended sitting, they add, slows the body’s metabolism of glucose and lowers the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol in the blood. Those are risk factors toward developing heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

“The science is still evolving, but we believe that sitting is harmful in itself,” says Dr. Toni Yancey, a professor of health services at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Stand-Up Desks Gaining Favor in the Workplace – NYTimes.com

Kids who live in states with strict laws regulating the sale of junk food and sugary drinks in school gain less weight than their peers in states with weak or no such laws, according to a new study published online in the journal Pediatrics.

The study looked at data on 6,300 students in 40 states, tracking their height and weight between 2004 and ’07, from fifth to eighth grade. Six states had strict laws restricting the sale of so-called competitive foods — snacks and drinks sold in vending machines, school stores and during fundraising projects, which compete with school-served meals; seven states had weak laws; and 27 states had no laws governing competitive foods in middle schools.

Laws were considered strong if they included specific nutrition standards — like limiting sugars and fats. They were labeled as weak if they were vague, suggesting the sale of “healthy” foods, for example, without giving detailed guidelines.

Fat Thanks to Sona S. for the tip!

Study: Strict Laws on School Snacks Linked to Slimmer Kids | TIME.com

“Many believe the critical time for the development of obesity is between ages zero and five—before kids go to school,” says lead study author Philippe Froguel, from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. “Each year after age five is too late, and we wanted to find a way to predict the likelihood at birth. There are many non-genetic factors that are easy to analyze and are costless.”

To develop their formula, called the obesity risk calculator, the researchers analyzed data from the 1986 Northern Finland Birth Cohort that tracks a population of over 4,000 participants who were born in 1986.

Fat Thanks to Sona S. for the tip!

Predicting Obesity At Birth | TIME.com