A woman weighing 900 pounds left her bedroom for the first time in two years on Tuesday, with a large community effort now allowing her to seek physical therapy.

Sharon Hall-Dodson says she can now work on losing weight with the right equipment after a six-month effort by workers from several state agencies, KPTV reports. Health care workers, contractors and firefighters all volunteered time to remove a section of her bedroom wall and move Hall-Dodson to her living room.

Hall-Dodson has not been outside of her home for years, and now she will be able to use appropriate physical therapy equipment in her living room instead of moving to an expensive, skilled nursing facility.

“The crews and everybody have been so wonderful. They have all gone over and above, and it’s made it a lot easier,” Hall-Dobson told KPTV.

Hall-Dodson expressed her commitment to losing weight and improving her health after the sustained effort from the state agencies and local volunteers.

“She wants to stay in a safe living environment and we made her home safe by all coming together in the community as a partnership,” said Sherry Nutter, Trillium Community Health Plan nurse care coordinator, told KEZI-TV.

via 900-Pound Woman Has Wall Removed To Leave Bedroom For First Time In 2 Years « CBS Seattle.

Children who regularly eat breakfast and dinner with their parents are considerably less likely to be overweight, according to a new European study.

Experts said that parents who ate with their children were not only more likely to be ensuring meals were nutritious and healthy, but that togetherness at mealtimes was a marker for “family cohesion”, which carried other health benefits.

In a study of nearly 8,000 children living in eight European countries, researchers found that those who ate breakfast with their parents five to seven times per week were as much as 40 per cent less likely to be overweight, than those who had a family breakfast just two to three times a week.

The effect was similar, but slightly smaller, for dinner. Children from families which ate together more regularly were 30 per cent less likely to be overweight than those who sat down for dinner less often.

Intriguingly, the same effect was not seen in children who regularly ate lunch with their parents, who were in fact more likely to be overweight, said researchers from the University of Adger in Norway.

via Children who eat breakfast with their families ‘less likely to be obese’ – Health News – Health & Families – The Independent.

The obesity epidemic is global: 2.1 billion people, or about 29% of the world’s population, were either overweight or obese in 2013, and nearly two out of three of the obese live in developing countries.

Nearly 29% of World Population Is Overweight – WSJ.

You’ve probably heard the complaints since you were a kid yourself – children aren’t getting enough exercise. Now there are numbers behind this notion.

According to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than half of adolescents aged 12 to 15 are considered physically unfit.

The authors of the report tested more than 600 young teenagers on treadmills to measure cardiorespiratory fitness, a measure of how well the heart and lungs can move blood to supply muscles during exercise.

They found that just half of all boys and only a third of all girls in the study met the bare minimum threshold of being called “fit.” Taken as a whole, this meant that only 42 percent of kids were fit. In 2000, by comparison, this figure was 52 percent – lackluster for sure, but still a majority.

Not surprisingly, overweight and obese children were less fit than those who had a healthy weight; only 30 percent of overweight children and 20 percent of obese passed the minimum standards to be called fit. But even so, only 54 percent of children with normal weight – barely half – had adequate levels of cardiorespiratory fitness.

Dr. Jaime Gahche, the lead author of the report, said the solution is clear – children simply need to get up and move.

“Children should spend at least 60 minutes daily,” Gahche said, “mostly doing aerobic exercise, like walking, running, participating in team sports or martial arts.”

Keith Ayoob, director of nutrition at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Rose R. Kennedy Clinic, agreed that the findings are a clear signal that American children need more physical activity.

“We have got to make sure that no kid is left on his behind,” said Ayoob, who was not involved with the study.

Competing for kids’ time with these activities, of course, is a growing proportion of the day devoted to computers, tablets and other forms of screen time.

“Kids come home after school nowadays and don’t even leave the house,” said Dr. Dyan Hes, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medical College, who was also not involved with the study. “Especially teenage girls – they chat, they text, they go online. It’s really a sad state.”

It’s Official: Most American Kids Are Physically Unfit – ABC News

A pregnant woman working out at a Planet Fitness gym claims that she was asked to leave because her “belly was hanging out.”

Melissa Mantor, who is 18 weeks pregnant, said she was mid-workout Monday evening when an employee came up to her and told her she had to leave the Sam Rittenberg gym location.

“I was on the treadmill for about 10 minutes before I was approached by a girl who came up to me telling me that she is going to have to ask me to leave,” Mantor said to WCIV. “I was very confused by this and thought I may have heard her wrong. She told me again that I am not able to continue my workout until I change my clothes because I am in violation of their dress code.”

Exposed midriffs are not mention in the Planet Fitness Corporate Dress Code that does ban “string tank tops” which Mantor was wearing at the time.

Mantor explained that she has several of the same tank top in various colors that she wears to the gym all the time and that gym staff have never had a problem with them. In her membership file, she is wearing a gray tank top for her photo taken at the gym.

“I was very confused. She continued telling that my belly was hanging out and I need to get it covered up,” Mantor explained to WCIV. “I told her at that time ‘Of course my belly is hanging out, I am pregnant.’ She handed me a very large t-shirt while telling me that what I was wearing was inappropriate and in violation of their dress code.”

Mantor admits that the tank top does ride up when she moves around while working out but it was never a problem at the gym before.

Pregnant Woman Claims Gym Asked Her To Leave Because Of Her Baby Bump « CBS Charlotte

A new UCLA psychology study provides evidence that being overweight makes people tired and sedentary — not the other way around.

Life scientists led by UCLA’s Aaron Blaisdell placed 32 female rats on one of two diets for six months. The first, a standard rat’s diet, consisted of relatively unprocessed foods like ground corn and fish meal. The ingredients in the second were highly processed, of lower quality and included substantially more sugar — a proxy for a junk food diet.

After just three months, the researchers observed a significant difference in the amount of weight the rats had gained, with the 16 on the junk food diet having become noticeably fatter.

“One diet led to obesity, the other didn’t,” said Blaisdell, a professor of psychology in the UCLA College of Letters and Science and a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute.

The experiments the researchers performed, Blaisdell said, also suggest that fatigue may result from a junk food diet.

As part of the study, the rats were given a task in which they were required to press a lever to receive a food or water reward. The rats on the junk food diet demonstrated impaired performance, taking substantially longer breaks than the lean rats before returning to the task. In a 30-minute session, the overweight rats took breaks that were nearly twice as long as the lean ones.

Does a junk food diet make you lazy? UCLA psychology study offers answer | UCLA

Sales of the Arizona Diamondbacks’ $25 corn dog have been so brisk that the team’s concessionaires can’t wait for a week-long road trip that starts Friday so that they can prep enough to be ready for the team’s April 11-13 homestand against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks are selling the D-Bat — an 18-inch corn dog stuffed with cheddar cheese, jalapenos and bacon and served with fries — for $25.

The 18-inch corn dog, called the D-Bat, is stuffed with cheddar cheese, jalapenos and bacon and is served with a side of fries.

The corn dog became a social media star when the team announced the item two weeks ago. Team president and CEO Derrick Hall said at the time that he didn’t have any expectations, but Hall told ESPN.com on Wednesday that the item has been so successful, the team needs some catch-up time.

“We sold 300 on the first night,” Hall said. “And we only sold 100 last night because we ran out. We can’t make them fast enough. We have 100 ready for tonight and we’ll have 100 ready for tomorrow. And then when the team goes on the road, we’ll get to work to make more.”

On opening night, some fans waited nearly an hour to be able to buy a D-Bat, and Hall said that if sales remain as brisk as they are, the team will have to extend the sale of the corn dog beyond the two concession areas that are selling it now.

Supersized concession items by major league teams have garnered a lot of attention in the past couple of weeks. The Texas Rangers unveiled the “Choomongous,” two feet of Asian-spiced beef on a bun for $26, and the Chicago White Sox announced plans to sell a 3-pound, 12-scoop sundae in a full-size batting helmet for $17.

 
Fat Thanks to Rob K. for the tip!

Arizona Diamondbacks running out of supersized corn dogs – ESPN