If I haven’t scared you enough already about how our country is overweight. Or how cities and schools are taking out playgrounds. Or how bad our diets can be for kids… here’s something else to think about.

Physicians have identified a risk factor for heart disease in adulthood that can be present in children as young as 10. They want kids as young as 3 years old to be screened for BMI. They hope to  help motivate children to exercise and lose weight. I’ll quote a lot from this study and past studies that illustrate just how serious this problem is, starting from a very young age.

“The researchers from Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center found an association between stiffness of arteries and function of the heart’s left ventricle later in life.” The study looked at more than 600 preteens and young adults.

“Screening for arterial stiffness and diastolic function – the ability of the left ventricle to relax and fill with blood before contracting and pumping it to the body – may be called for in obese teens or those with type II diabetes if we want to identify young people at increased risk for developing early cardiac disease,” says Tom Kimball, M.D., a pediatric cardiologist at Cincinnati Children’s and senior author of the study.”

Conclusion? there are risk factors in childhood that predict heart disease in adults.

This isn’t the first time the issue has been studied. In 2001, two studies showed that obesity in children directly affects structure and function of the heart, which could lead to increased risk for heart disease. “A 2003 study suggested that certain abnormalities of the heart are more common in obese children than in children of normal weight. A 2004 study showed that morbid obesity in children and adolescents directly affects the structure of their hearts and puts them at increased risk for future heart attack.”

“More recently, Dr. Kimball identified BMI rebound age as a risk factor: The earlier in young childhood that kids reach their lowest BMI and then begin to gain body mass, the greater the chance of having adverse changes in known cardiovascular risk factors, which can show up as early as age 7.”

Obviously there is a lot more we can do to prevent heart disease and other obesity-related problems. It’s just astounding how young these problems can show up. I think in those cases it starts with parents because they have a big influence on how their kids eat.

What do you think?

More at http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1925489/new_risk_factor_for_adult_heart_disease_identified_in_children/index.html?source=r_health

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We only have a few more days left in this series of posts about childhood obesity to honor National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

Before you dismiss this as a glorified excuse for overweight kids, look at this research. Some of the problem could be traced to a certain strain of the virus that causes the common cold.

It’s called adenovirus 36, and it causes the common cold. New research showed a surprising result. Children with this particular strain of virus were an average of 50 pounds heavier than children who hadn’t! Yes, 50 pounds! That is a lot of weight – especially for a child.

The researchers hope by learning about this unlikely cause, people will be less likely to blame children and focus more on the ways to combat childhood obesity. It also helps people see that obesity is not a simple issue with simple answers.

Even if the virus does cause extra weight gain it’s still important to eat healthy  and exercise. “There’s no question that eating healthfully and having regular, fun physical activity is good for you. The reason we care about these behaviors is improving health.”

The study was not large — it included 124 children between the ages of 8 and 18. 62% of the children were Hispanic, 27% were white and 11% were black. 56% were male. More than half of the children — 67 — were considered obese for their age and gender.

15% of the children had antibodies to adenovirus 36 (AD36). So they had been previously infected with this virus. Almost one in four (22%) obese children tested positive for AD36. Just 7% of the non-obese children showed exposure. On average, children who were positive for a previous adenovirus 36 infection were about 50 pounds heavier than those who tested negative.

“Even within the entire group of obese children, those who were AD36-positive weighed about 35 pounds more than obese children who hadn’t been infected with AD36.”

The study appeared in the Sept. 20 online issue of Pediatrics.

If this study holds true then hopefully there will be a vaccine to prevent AD36 at some point. But of course it could be that already obese children are more susceptible to this virus. While the weight differences are dramatic the number of children in the study is small.

Tips to help children avoid obesity:

• eat breakfast every day
• be sure kids get adequate sleep

• limit sweet beverages (soda and juice) and fast food

• make physical activity a daily habit and getting a dog may help

• families need to eat meals together
• parents need to limit time watching TV, computer time and time spent playing video games.

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It’s not a cure-all, but it’s certainly a cheap and simple addition to any weight-loss plan.

We talk a lot about getting kids to be more active. From personal experience I know that it’s not just getting exercise, but it’s how we eat too. I’ve always been curious if drinking water helps you lose weight. Well, according to this study, it does!

Perhaps the worst thing for kids to drink is soda – full of empty calories that can add up plus a lot of sugar. Even fruit drinks or drinks like “Vitamin Water” are not as healthy as you think. So turn your kids on to drinking plain water. Adults can learn from this study too.

Over 70% of Americans Want to Lose Weight

Now for the study: “A team led by Brenda Davy of Virginia Tech has run the first randomised controlled trial studying the link between water consumption and weight loss. A report on the 12-week trial, published earlier this year, suggested that drinking water before meals does lead to weight loss.”

They divided 48 Americans who are not active into 2 different groups. They were  ages 55 to 75. One group drank about a pint of water shortly before they ate breakfast, lunch and dinner. All participants had been eating between 1,800 and 2,200 calories a day. All were restricted as to how many calories they could eat per day. Women could eat up to 1,200 calories, and the men could eat 1,500 calories. After 3 months the group that drank water before meals had lost about 15½lb (7kg) each, while those in the other group lost only about 9 lbs (5kg).

That is a pretty significant difference! If you could lose 6 additional lbs by drinking water, would you do it? In the study the people who drank water were allowed to drink whatever other drinks they chose to drink. Also, remember this was for 12 weeks – what if you made this lifestyle change forever? It could help a lot!

Source: http://www.economist.com/node/16881791

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40% of children kindergarten through 8th grade in New York City are either overweight or obese. Of that, 22% are obese and 18% are overweight. The study was based on the  254,076 children from 2008-2009. It was conducted by the Departments of Education and Health.

Pretty shocking.

Also sad is that the poorest children tended to be the heaviest. What to do? The schools have gone to 1% fat milk instead of whole milk. They’ve banned drinks with sweetened with sugar from school vending machines. They plan to focus on getting kids to be more active.

I hope New York City can turn things around. Maybe community gardens? More education and offering healthy choices in school lunch (that wasn’t addressed in the article).

More at: http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90777/90852/7131826.html

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September starts the nations’s first  National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. The month-long focus on childhood obesity was passed by Congress earlier this year. The focus is on ways to prevent and educate about this serious health risk.

A new website www.HealthierKidsBrighterFutures.org has resources including a toolkit with fact sheets, sample letters to the editor, and  scripts for public service announcements.

A study released about the issue asserts that as much as 21% of children who are obese have not been categorized that way. That’s because parents tend to underestimate their kid’s weight.

When we have an obesity rate of over 30% for our children it is alarming! However, as I’ve pointed out before, reversing it would take a huge cultural shift. We would have to approach food differently. Restaurants serve food with loads of hidden fat and calories – more than we need in an entire day. Our schools are full of pop and candy machines that help pay for education. Stressed out parents grab dinner from a fast food drive through.

I like the focus on the issue but until we change policy and make cultural changes I’m afraid this problem will be like our bellies — growing larger by the year.

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If you thought the US was bad.  The obesity rate among Saudi men and women has risen to 70%! That’s according to the Saudi Diabetes and Endocrinology Society. So globally we’re having a collective problem with our weight.

Report Gives America an ‘F,’ and that Stands for ‘Fat’

As a side note I saw my neighbor last night who has lost considerable weight. I asked her what she did – her response? “I work out 70 mins. a day.” I guess if you work out that much you don’t have to diet as much (is that true?).

34% of middle-aged men are obese, the figure rises to 45% of middle-aged women. Also, like the US children are gaining and more of them are obese.

The culprits? Saudis are getting richer, there are more fast food restaurants, they aren’t eating as healthily and not getting enough exercise. Sound familiar?

Dr. Basim Fota, head of the Society’s Health Education Unit, said there have been adverse changes in the quantity and quality of food people eat and a four-fold increase in amount of fat in current meals. So like them we’re getting fat because we’re eating A LOT more of the substance.

The organization is working to help teach women how to prepare healthy food. They hold programs on healthy shopping, preparing food lists, cooking healthy dishes, nutritional analysis, nutritional evaluation of prepared dishes, arranging the dining table and the healthy Ramadan table.

I wish I had better news – but so far the trends show obesity is a growing problem.

He said the program is the first of its kind to provide information about preparing healthy meals, healthy shopping and low-calorie meals to emphasize the role of healthy nutrition in countering obesity, diabetes and osteoporosis among women in Saudi Arabia.

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Saginaw County in Michigan has an obesity rate near 40%, and a health insurance company is stepping in with grants to help reverse the trend.

A grant program by insurer UnitedHealthcare is offering grants of up to $1k to help schools and organizations fight rising obesity rates in youngsters.

To quality the programs are to be proposed by the community. They must encourage youth participation, help student academic achievement and improve workplace skills.

The insurer knows that obese children lead to obese adults — and obesity can be costly. It’s best to start early to fight it. According to the 2009 America’s Health Rankings,43% percent of adults will be obese by 2018 at a cost of over $340 billion in health care costs.

The current obesity rate among all people in Saginaw County is almost 37%

Past projects funded by the grants include healthy cooking classes, planting gardens, runs and walks. Some organizations used the grant to raise more funds for programs.

Idea: “We had a program that, instead of a spelling bee, it was a health bee competition between Boys and Girls Clubs in different cities,” Thompson said.

In 3 years, UnitedHealth has given grants to 361 schools and communities across the nation; 6 were awarded to Michigan communities last year.

See www.YSA.org/HEROES to apply. Applications are due Oct. 22; recipients will be notified in December and January.

We like to see these private partnerships – like how Whole Foods Donated Salad Bars to Schools) where companies contribute to solving this serious problem. The government is also involved. Can we do it without major cultural changes? That’s the question.

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Over the weekend I read an interesting book called Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. In it there are many studies about childhood including a segment about obesity.

The authors note that watching TV isn’t as much of an issue as we might think when it comes to obesity. Instead, it could be linked to sleep deprivation. Also that parents don’t do very well at guessing how many hours of sleep their kids actually get. We tend to underestimate it.

“Several scholars have tried to figure out how accurate parents are at accessing their children’s amount of sleep…parents frequently overestimate the time their kids are asleep by at least a half-an-hour — even as much as an hour and a half.”

How much are we off?

One report said in 1997 children age 3-5 years old were getting 10.8 hours of sleep at night. The National Sleep Foundation said 3-5 year olds in 2004 were getting 10.4 hours. Older kids were down to 9.5 hours. The data comes from all over the world saying that kids are not sleeping as much as they once did. Overall kids sleep about an hour less every day in 2010 than they did in 1997.

Lack of sleep contributes to ADD issues and emotional ups and downs. It affects how kids do in school. But here’s the startling data – scholars have found that getting less sleep in elementary school means they can predict the chance of the kids being obese by age 32. There seems to be a correlation. While not conclusive, there’s enough research to suggest it should be one of the possible things contributing to the problem.

So when recommending solutions to childhood obesity, we should remember to talk about eating healthy foods and exercise.  Another often overlooked recommendation is to get a full night of sleep – including putting children to bed on time and eliminating distractions. I know many parents who don’t give their kids bedtimes at all. (See http://www.webmd.com/parenting/guide/sleep-children)

WebMD gives a list of recommended hours of sleep by age. For a 3-6 year old it  is 10-12 hours per day. How much are your kids getting?

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A new study shows surprising numbers of Americans are concerned about their weight. 70% say they are concerned about their weight status, and 77% are trying to lose or maintain their weight.

What are we doing about it? 69% are eating less; 63% are changing the type of foods they eat; and 60% are getting more active. 65% of Americans report weight loss as the reason they are trying to eat healthier. Still there’s a lot more to be done.

This comes from the International Food Information Council Foundation’s 5th annual Food & Health Survey.

We need to do something — just 2 countries have more obese people than the United States. And the rates are headed up not down.

What is the culprit? According to the study we don’t understand the impact of calories. To avoid gaining weight we have to burn more calories than we eat. For many of us that means tracking calories. It means knowing how many calories we use in a day. It’s also an economic problem – cheap food and fast food is often very high in calories. Combined with a more sedentary lifestyle and yes, we have a collective weight problem.

I think they should start with Disneyland – the happiest place on earth has the worst foods for our waistlines. Walt Disney couldn’t stay slim on the kinds of foods for sale. I was recently on a trip to Disney World and got a look at kids from all over the country. Many were overweight.

I also saw a movie showing the first men to walk on the moon. I was surprised at how trim the astronauts were.

Almost all of us have a few extra pounds to lose. We hope to not only become more educated but to make better choices about food and exercise.

More at www.foodinsight.org

Did you know there was a Childhood Obesity Task Force? Their aim is to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation. They have a new report and got  input from 12 federal agencies. Citizens also weighed in with 2,500 submissions  from parents, teachers, doctors, nurses and others. The Let’s Move program has a YouTube channel that you can check out.

Quick Facts about Childhood Obesity

The report makes recommendations on how to fight childhood obesity in 5 key areas:

1. Getting children a healthy start on life which means good prenatal care.
2. Empowering parents and caregivers with clear information to help make healthy choices for children
3. Providing healthy food in schools and educating kids about healthy food choices.
4. Improve access to healthy, affordable food and reducing hunger.
5. Getting children more physically active which includes “improving access to safe parks, playgrounds, and indoor and outdoor recreational facilities.”

I’m impressed by the effort and involvement of citizens and we’re glad that you’re building playgrounds around the country where kids can be active.

Please tell us ways your community is getting involved or what you’re doing as a parent to prevent obesity. As for me – my son is so skinny that so far it hasn’t been a worry – I worry more about keeping him well fed!

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