Porn industry embraces plus-sized business

The porn industry has a long history of spotlighting women with Barbie-like figures and impossible proportions. But just as pop culture began to feature women with more natural figures in TV, movies and advertising, the adult industry began to realize that its stars don’t all have to be a size 0, either.

In the past year, Wicked Pictures produced a sex education video for plus-size people, which went on to become one of the fastest-selling titles in the line. Another studio, New Sensations, saw success with its plus-size feature films.

“Back up 20 or 30 years ago and the mindset or the cultural perception was that porn is all pretty blonde people,” says Dr. Chauntelle Tibbals, a sociologist who studies the adult entertainment industry. “Now, with body positivity getting into our cultural lexicon, a lot of different women are coming to the industry and saying, ‘I’m here to be a performer and I look like this.'”

Read MoreMore coverage of the Adult Entertainment Expo

The focus on plus-size women hasn’t been contained to adult film studios, either. Several sex toy manufacturers, including Rapture Novelties and Pipedream Products, have begun manufacturing products for larger customers, as well. And adult toy company Sportsheets (which in 2013 was named one of the country’s fastest-growing private companies by Inc.) rolled out a line of products for plus-size patrons last year.

“We’ve always known it has been an unaddressed consumer in our industry, but it’s half the population,” says Julie Stewart, president of Sportsheets. “So we decided to take a look at that and see what we could develop. … The response was great. I think people were excited that someone in the industry was recognizing that there was a plus-size market and they have the right to healthy sex lives, too.”

Plus-size porn is nothing new in the industry. It has been a fetish genre for many years. But in 2007, around the same time that the societal focus on body image came to the forefront of the national conversation, the genre began to move away from fetish and more toward the mainstream porn world.

Still, there’s inequality for the performers. Plus-size stars are paid less per scene than traditional porn stars, says Jessica Drake, a performer for Wicked Pictures and creator/director of the “Jessica Drake’s Guide to Wicked Sex” line of sex education films.

And many plus-size films use titles like “Whale Watchers” or “Scale Bustin’ Babes.”

via Porn industry embraces plus-sized business.

New jab could ‘cure’ double chins

double chin

A new jab to cure a double chin could soon be on offer.

The pioneering treatment means pockets of unsightly fat around the jaw could be banished without surgery or dieting, scientists say.

The treatment involves injecting a specially-formulated chemical – known as ATX-101 – into the skin to kill off fat cells under the chin, known as “submental fat”, or double chins.

Regulators are poised to consider an experimental drug which promises to contours the area without affecting surrounding tissue.

If US watchdogs approve the treatment, European regulators could follow, to bring the first injections aimed at double chins to the market.

While injectable drugs such as Botox and dermal fillers can plump and smooth the face, tackling a double chin usually means more radical surgery.

If ATX-101 gets the go-ahead it is set to be the first injection for the area to hit the market.

The drug is a version of deoxycholic acid, a molecule that occurs naturally in the body to help destroy fat. It reduces submental fat by irreversibly disrupting fat cell membranes and causing destruction of fat cells.

Advisors to the US Food and Drug Administration have scheduled talks to decide their advice ahead of an FDA ruling by May.

The injections have been tested on 1,600 patients in clinical trials across Europe and the United States. Manufacturers Kythera Biopharmaceuticals Inc said more than 90 per cent of those who tried the drug maintained a meaningful reduction of fat after two years.

At present, those who are unhappy with a double chin can try liposuction or neck and face lifts to get rid of the excess. But the invasive treatments are not suitable for everyone, and require anaesthesia, an operating room and qualified staff, increasing risks and costs.

via New jab could ‘cure’ double chins – Telegraph.

America Isn’t No. 1 Anymore: Here Are the Most Obese—and Slimmest—Countries in the World

worldwide obesity

Obesity rates are increasing everywhere.

Worldwide obesity has doubled since 1980, according to the Global Status Report released by the World Health Organization this week. In 2014, more than 600 million adults were obese and nearly two billion were overweight. Forty-two million children younger than five were overweight or obese in 2013.

Those numbers hardly come as news for many.

A study released last year reported similar findings. More recently, the U.K.’s Clinic Compare created a map (above) based on international obesity statistics by the CIA, which lists Pacific Island nations—American Samoa, Nauru, and Cook Islands—as the most obese countries in the world. (The United States is 18th on the CIA’s list. But among large populations, Mexico only two years ago unseated America as the fattest country in the world.)

But perhaps more notable from WHO’s report is the disparity of obesity rates between sexes. Women in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Eastern Mediterranean are twice as likely to be obese than men:

The difference in body fat distribution between men and women can account for the numbers, but some studies have argued that social and economic factors also play a role.

These numbers may be grim, but WHO emphasizes the one positive thing about obesity: We can do something about it.

“The world now has a truly global agenda for prevention and control of [noncommunicable diseases], with shared responsibilities for all countries based on concrete targets,” writes WHO Director-General Margaret Chan. “This is an historic opportunity…no country can afford to miss.”

via America Isn’t No. 1 Anymore: Here Are the Most Obese—and Slimmest—Countries in the World – Yahoo News.

U.S. Obesity Rate Inches Up to 27.7% in 2014

BMI over time

The percentage of U.S. adults who are obese continued to trend upward in 2014, reaching 27.7%. This is up more than two percentage points since 2008 and is the highest obesity rate Gallup and Healthways have measured in seven years of tracking it. More Americans who were previously overweight have now moved into the obese category, while the percentage who are at normal weight has remained stable since 2013.

The percentage of Americans who are underweight has remained steady at 2.0%.

These results are based on more than 167,000 interviews conducted in 2014 as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Unlike government estimates of obesity, the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index uses respondents’ self-reported height and weight to calculate body mass index (BMI). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government estimates of obesity are slightly different, as they are calculated using clinical measurements of height and weight as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). The latest NHANES results from 2011-2012 reported a 34.9% obesity rate for adults aged 20 or older, not significantly different from data collected since 2003. Another self-reported government survey, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, says the obesity rate for U.S. adults aged 18 and older was 29.4% in 2013.

via U.S. Obesity Rate Inches Up to 27.7% in 2014.

Obesity epidemic affecting millions of pets

obese dog

The obesity epidemic is affecting not only people but their pets as well.

More than half the dogs and cats in the U.S. are at least overweight, and one out of five is obese, according to the Association for Pet Obesity and Prevention.

Just like their human companions, excess weight can bring on a host of health problems for pets. Being overweight can increase risk of osteoarthritis, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart and respiratory disease, cranial cruciate or anterior knee ligament injury, kidney disease and some cancers. It can decrease an animal’s life expectancy by up to 2.5 years.

Banfield Pet Hospital, which operates more than 850 veterinary facilities across the U.S., found that dog diabetes rose 32 percent between 2006 and 2010, while the number of cats with the disease went up 16 percent during the same time frame.

Senior veterinary surgeon Sean Wensley previously told CBS News one of the biggest issues is that weight problems can affect a pet’s quality of life.

“For cats, you’ll see they’re reluctant to play and they are unable to enjoy life,” he explained.

Without a scale, you can tell if your pet is overweight by looking a few key factors, known as body conditioning scoring. Wensley said if you look from above the animal, you should see where their waist comes in below the rib cage near the pelvis. You should be able to feel their ribs, but not see them. They also shouldn’t have excess abdominal fat if they are a cat or fat near the base of their tail if they are a dog, because this signifies they have a lot of unhealthy fat around their internal organs.

The U.K. organization the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) has an annual contest known as the Pet Fit Club to help encourage owners of overweight pets to help them lose some weight. The most recent winner was a Jack Russell terrier named Ruby who slimmed down from 20 pounds to 13.2 pounds.

“This is a fantastic slimming success story – well done Ruby!… The weight loss means she will feel much fitter and happier, and her life expectancy is likely to be longer now than she has shed the excess weight,” PDSA senior veterinary surgeon Elaine Pendlebury said in a press release.

How do you get pets to lose the extra weight? One study suggested that when cats are given small, frequent feedings with the appropriate amount of food to maintain a healthy weight, along with more water to drink, they also start exercising more.

Wensley also suggested that pet owners should cut down on treats and other food outside of meals. Most pet food these days is balanced to include all necessary nutrients, so anything else you give them — whether it comes from the table or from a treat jar — is all extra calories.

“A little piece of cheese for a cat is like giving a human a hamburger,” he said.

via Obesity epidemic affecting millions of pets – CBS News.

When Doctors Told John Compton He Was Too Heavy For A Life-Saving Procedure, He Lost More Than 300 Pounds

John Compton

How I Lost It: I took baby steps. Being so overweight, it was hard to find the right place to start. I worked with my doctor and nutritionists. I was so heavy I couldn’t really do anything physically active, so they suggested I start journaling my meals. Journaling was eye opening because I had never given any thought to what kind of food I was putting into my body or even how much I was eating. I used MyFitnessPal to help me track my daily food consumption, including my caloric intake for the day. For the first time in my life I was reading nutritional labels. In the first 7 months I was down 50 pounds.

At that point I began to have the courage to join a gym. I chose my local Planet Fitness with the hope that their motto of a “Judgement Free Zone” was true, because I had never worked out and I needed an environment that would be safe and welcoming. I started by walking on the treadmill for three 10-minute intervals at 1.2 miles per hour, six days a week. After three months, I added strength training, which helped further accelerate my weight loss. I really began to see and feel the difference when a fellow Planet Fitness member came up to me and let me know how great I looked. That really energized me to continue on this journey.

I’m now able to breathe and sleep better, and I can do more physical activities than I ever thought. I’ve created a “Fat-Free Bucket List” which includes activities that I’m going to try now that I’ve lost the weight. I started to really jog on the treadmill and have plans of running my first 5K sometime this spring.

My new diet consists of high-protein, low-calorie foods. If I have a snack, I cap it at about 100 to 200 calories, and I make sure to stay away from starches like pasta and breads. When I do get those cravings, I found it helps to keep healthier options on hand. I portion treats into smaller baggies or containers so I don’t mindlessly snack away. I’ve told myself to slow down while I eat, which allows my stomach to feel full and prevent overeating. This took the most practice, as I was always taught to never waste food.

The biggest fear I have is that I will slip, but knowing how good I feel and just remembering how miserable I was three years ago is the motivation that keeps me going every day. My message to anyone looking to lose weight is that you need to have support. This change doesn’t come overnight, and you need to have realistic expectations. There will be hiccups along the way. Take a step beyond your fear, then take another step and then one more. My world has changed and I could not be more excited about the future.

via When Doctors Told John Compton He Was Too Heavy For A Life-Saving Procedure, He Lost More Than 300 Pounds.

Even for the active, a long sit shortens life and erodes health

sitting

Maybe those of us who sit for long hours in meetings, on phone calls, and tapping away at keyboards should be getting hazard pay. New research that distills the findings of 47 studies concludes that those of us who sit for long hours raise our average risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and early death.

Even for those of us who meet recommended daily levels of exercise, sitting for long periods of time boosts our likelihood of declining health. (In fact, I just worked out intensively for 90 minutes, and am now risking life and limb to bring you this news. You’re welcome.)

To be sure, the latest research — published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine — finds that the risk of poor health “is more pronounced at lower levels of physical activity than at higher levels.”

Those who engage in regular physical activity but still spend a large proportion of their day in sedentary activity were found, on average, to be 30% less likely to die of any cause in a given period than were those who get little to no exercise. But even those who punctuate a long day of sitting with a vigorous workout were estimated to be 16% more likely to die of any cause in a given time than were those who do not sit for long.

The studies that formed the basis for such aggregations defined prolonged sitting, as well as high levels of physical activity, quite differently. While one study included participants who spent as little as an hour a day seated, the rest defined prolonged sitting as those who watched television for at least five hours a day on up to those who had more than six and, in one study, more than 11 hours of “sitting time” a day.

Any way you read it, these studies probably sweep most of us into the long-sitting category, since researchers estimate that more than half of the average American’s waking life is spent sitting.

The compensating effects of exercise were also measured differently in each study. High levels of physical activity were variously defined as “meeting physical activity guidelines” — at least 20 minutes a day of moderately vigorous exercise — to spending at least seven hours a week engaged in moderately vigorous exercise.

The amount of time spent sitting was found to drive up health risks independently of other factors that would often contribute to poor health and which might also be linked to sedentary behavior, such as smoking, age and obesity. That suggests, for example, that although long hours spent sitting might indeed contribute to weight gain, it is probably harmful even if it doesn’t make you obese.

Five of the 47 studies included in this round-up of research looked at the effect of time spent sitting and the risk of developing diabetes, and the association was the strongest found in the current study.

The authors extrapolated from available research that those who spend long hours in sedentary activity are 90% more likely than those who don’t to develop type 2 diabetes. That figure averages completely sedentary people with regular exercisers, and the study findings that researchers worked with weren’t powerful enough to discern whether regular exercise mitigated that risk.

The likelihood of dying from cardiovascular disease rises less dramatically (about 18%) with long hours of sitting, as did the risk of cancers (between 13% and 16%). Studies observed higher rates of breast, colon, colorectal, endometrial and endothelial ovarian cancer among those who logged long hours in a chair.

The problem for researchers and for all of us, says an accompanying editorial, is that even this study of studies leaves us asking, exactly how much sitting is bad for you? At what level of prolonged sitting are you putting yourself at risk, and what effect would strategies such as periodic light exercise breaks have in mitigating added risk? The study also fails to tell us who is at greatest risk from sitting for long periods.

So what to do if your job, your commute or your choice of leisure-hours entertainment has you pinned to a chair for many hours a day? Although they do have a legion of new fans, not everybody has the space, flexibility and budget to use one of those standing desks that we hear so much about.

Dr. David Alter, senior scientist at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and a senior author of the paper, did offer some tips on ways to limit sitting and its impact. He recommends:

While working at a desk, be sure to get up for one to three minutes every half-hour or so and move around.

While watching TV, stand or exercise during the advertisements (and no, don’t go stand at the open fridge or the pantry).

Monitor how much you sit, and try to reduce it by realistic increments every week. You should aim for two to three fewer sedentary hours in a 12-hour day. A wearable monitor can help establish a baseline and assess progress toward a goal.

Know that getting regular exercise is good for you regardless of what you do for the rest of the day: It will not only help reduce your sedentary time, it should lower your risk of illness and improve your survival prospects if you have no alternative to logging long hours in a chair.

via Even for the active, a long sit shortens life and erodes health – LA Times.

Experts zero in on pizza as prime target in war on childhood obesity

child eating pizza

Kids love pizza, but a new study shows that it doesn’t love them back.

On days when children eat pizza, they consume an average of 408 additional calories, three additional grams of fat and 134 additional milligrams of salt compared with their regular diet. For teens, putting pizza on the day’s menu adds 624 calories, five grams of fat and 484 milligrams of salt.Fast food isn’t making our kids fat. It’s the rest of their diet.

The analysis, published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics, examines pizza’s contribution to the childhood obesity crisis because it is so widely consumed. On any given day, 22% of kids between the ages of 6 and 19 eat pizza. (That compares to 14% of toddlers and 13% of Americans overall.) The only foods more popular with kids are “grain desserts,” a category that includes cakes, cookies and doughnuts.

Health policy researcher Lisa M. Powell of the University of Illinois at Chicago and her colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to assess pizza’s impact on children’s diets. Participants in NHANES, a project of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, complete dietary recalls that list all the foods and drinks they consumed in the previous 24 hours. Responses from 7,443 children between the ages of 2 and 11 and 6,447 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19 were involved in the new study.

The results revealed that younger kids eat 83 calories’ worth of pizza a day and teens eat 143 calories of the dish each day, on average. Those amounts were high enough to account for 5% and 7% of total daily calories, respectively.

On days when pizza is eaten, it composes 22% of children’s calories and 26% of teens’ calories, the researchers found.

Those figures reflect pizza consumption in 2009 and 2010. Though high, they were were even worse in 2003 and 2004. Compared with the earlier period, the more recent figures were 25% lower for younger children and 16% lower for teens, according to the study.

The decline in pizza consumption was seen mainly in younger children who are white or African American, bringing them closer to the consumption levels of Latino children. Children from middle-income and high-income families – but not low-income families – ate a little less pizza at the end of the study compared with the beginning, though the change wasn’t big enough to be statistically significant.

The amount of pizza eaten by teens remained basically the same throughout the study.

To the extent that kids cut back on pizza, they did so at dinnertime. Calories consumed in the form of pizza dinners fell by 40% for younger children and 33% for teens. By the end of the study period, the amount of pizza eaten for dinner was comparable to the amount eaten for lunch.

Kids also ate a small amount of pizza for breakfast or as snacks. The snack pizza was particularly troubling to the researchers. On days when children had this indulgence, they ate 202 more calories over the course of the day compared with days when they didn’t. For teens, pizza snacks added 365 calories to the daily total.

Powell and her colleagues stopped short of declaring a war on pizza, but they said its effect on kids’ diet was similar to that of sugary drinks. Pizza “should become a target for counseling for the prevention and treatment of obesity in pediatric practice,” they wrote.

Fat Thanks to Ketul P. for the tip!

via Experts zero in on pizza as prime target in war on childhood obesity – LA Times.

Comfort Foods Can’t Relieve Your Misery, Study Says

But despite our cravings for sweets, like cookies and candy, or warm foods, like mac and cheese, new research seems to show there’s no emotional benefit to eating those kinds of foods.

WCCO took a look at the University of Minnesota study on comfort foods that’s getting national attention.

Shoppers at Kowalski’s Market in St. Paul shared what they like to eat to boost their mood when they’re feeling down.

“Macaroni and cheese or french fries,” one woman said.

“Chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate kisses,” another said.

Researchers wanted to know whether giving people certain foods would improve their mood.

They took 100 people and showed them scenes from depressing movies. Then they divided them up and gave each group a different type of food

Later, a mood questionnaire revealed there was no real difference among the groups who ate feel-good foods, instead of healthy snacks–like nuts, popcorn and granola bars–or no food at all.

It’s a finding that some find questionable.

“It makes people feel loved,” Kristin Skare said. “It reminds them of home. It reminds them of grandma or maybe mom, and so I think there are a lot of emotional benefits for it.”

“I think that sometimes statistics are misleading, and I’d want them to do further research,” Linda Strader said.

The study was funded by NASA, which is trying to find ways to improve the mood and health of astronauts on space missions.

Space is stressful, and the food options limited, so astronauts tend to lose weight.

Shoppers said they’ll keep buying what they think spreads joy.

“My kids–they love the macaroni and cheese,” Nick Coleman said. “I can’t stand macaroni and cheese, but when they glop that in a bowl and they are eating it up, they know that they’re loved.”

The study concluded that we believe comfort foods provide us with some type of mood benefits, but there’s really no difference from eating other foods or no food at all.

It also found that women tend to prefer sweets, and men identify more savory, hearty foods as comfort foods.

via Comfort Foods Can’t Relieve Your Misery, Study Says « CBS Minnesota.

Wendy’s removes soda option from kids’ meal

Wendy's

Wendy’s is the latest fast-food chain to remove the soda option from kids’ meal menus.

That means when parents drive through a pick-up window, they won’t see soda as an option on the menu board, but if they decide to order one, they won’t be turned down.

The fast-food chain is the most recent to cave to pressure from children’s health advocacy groups. McDonald’s made a similar commitment to drop soda from Happy Meals in 2013, after partnering with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a group aimed at fighting childhood obesity.

The Center for Science in Public Interest released a statement Thursday saying that Wendy’s was removing the soda option from menu boards and kids’ meals.

The statement said they hoped Wendy’s would also offer healthier choices including, “whole grain rolls, offering more fruit and vegetable options, reducing sodium across the menu, and dropping Frostys from the children’s menu.”

Unlike some fast-food chains, Wendy’s default drink choice was never soda, Bob Bertini, a spokesman for Wendy’s said in an e-mail to USA TODAY Network.

“When ordering a kids’ meal, the customer is asked what beverage they prefer,” Bertini wrote. “The change is the kids’ meal beverage options which are shown on our menu boards.”

Bertini says the fast-food company began displaying images of “healthful beverage options,” including 1% white or chocolate milk, bottled water and 100% juice.

He says the kids’ meal soft drink option no longer appears on the chain’s menu boards, inside the restaurants, at the pick-up windows or on the mobile app in the U.S. and Canada.

While soda is no longer the default drink, it still remains one of the most profitable items for fast-food chains like McDonald’s and Wendy’s, according to Jesse Bragg, media director for Corporate Accountability International.

Bragg says nothing will be solved until the marketing practices that draw kids to fast food is curbed.

“It’s incredibly difficult to enforce on a local level in the fast food industry,” Bragg said.

For children’s health advocates the battle is far from over. In the soda wars, other restaurants such as Subway, Arby’s and Chipotle do not offer soda on the kids’ menu.

But, one of the giants is still left standing — Burger King.

“Two down, one to go,” says Howell Wechsler, chief executive officer of Alliance for a Healthier Generation.

An email statement from Burger King said the company is, “currently in the process of analyzing the removal of fountain drinks from our kids’ menu boards.”

via Wendy’s removes soda option from kids’ meal.