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Obesity
October 27, 2011
Are your hormones sabotaging your diet?
I recently learned I have a slow-acting thyroid. I took a certain amount of comfort as I told myself: No wonder it’s so hard to lose weight! I can’t help it.
Other new research spotlights hormones and weight gain.
An LA Times story published in today’s Statesman says that roughly four in five dieters wind up gaining back lost pounds within a year or two, possibly because hormones that regulate hunger signal the former dieters - more strongly than ever - to eat, eat, eat. They can’t help themselves.
Ugh.
This was a relatively small study, so time will tell if the results hold up.
Another study out of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas is intriguing, especially for women. It contends that estrogen has a profound effect on metabolism and affects weight gain, especially in post-menopausal women.
It was done in mice and is said to be the first to show how estrogen regulates weight. “The findings are potentially important for millions of postmenopausal women, many of whom have decided against hormonal replacement therapy,” a news release on the school’s website says. “The study could lead to new hormonal replacement therapies in which estrogen is delivered to specific parts of the brain that regulate body weight, thereby avoiding the risks associated with full-body estrogen delivery, such as breast cancer and stroke.”
So far, a magic pill to control weight gain has proved elusive. Maybe this research will open up new targets.
It’s been two months and the synthetic thyroid hormone I’m on has not made me svelte. The nurse told me not to expect it to. Double ugh.
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July 7, 2011
Texas ranks as 12th fattest state
Put another notch in Texas’ belt buckle.
It is now the 12th fattest state in the nation, up from last year’s 13th place ranking in adult obesity, according to a report released this morning, F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2011, by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Texas is one of 12 states with obesity rates above 30 percent. It joins Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee
and West Virginia. Four years ago, just one state had an obesity rate above 30 percent, the report says.
“Today, the state with the lowest obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995,” Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, says in a news release about the report. “There was a clear tipping point in our national weight gain over the last 20 years, and we can’t afford to ignore the impact obesity has on our health and corresponding health care spending.”
The report did not have data beyond 2007 on childhood obesity, which was 20.4 percent in Texas, causing it to rank 7th nationally, same as last year. Eight other states, plus D.C., had childhood obesity rates above 20 percent: Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and West Virginia.
Texas has one of the nation’s highest poverty rates, according to the report. It ranked 6th on the measure, which can contribute to obesity.
A separate report on Texas contained some sobering data, which shows how the obesity problem has worsened. For example, it says the state’s obesity rate has increased more than 80 percent in 15 years.
Texas has done some things right, according to the report, such as imposing stricter school meal standards than the federal government requires and limiting junk food sales in schools. Texas also requires physical fitness assessments at certain grades, although a lot of students and parents let me know when I wrote about the poor results that the tests are not taken seriously. Can’t say I was surprised.
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January 28, 2011
YMCA offering free day of fun Saturday to get you moving
Austin’s five YMCAs and the YMCAs in Buda and Dripping Springs are hosting a free day of fun Saturday in conjunction with the City of Austin to inspire healthy activities for all ages, from group exercise classes to indoor swimming to kids’ games.
Let’s Move Austin Day at the YMCA will run from 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at all seven locations and is open to all. The event is in response to First Lady Michelle Obama’s call to get people moving for better health.
“Let’s Move Austin is an opportunity for the community to come together and combat childhood obesity,” Mayor Lee Leffingwell said in a statement.
For information or the the nearest location, calll 730-YMCA, or visit the website.
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June 29, 2010
Texas adults: We're even fatter than last year, report says
A national report released this morning says that Texas adults are the 13th fattest in the nation, up one notch from last year’s 14th-place ranking.
The seventh annual “F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010” report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says the state’s adult obesity rate is 29 percent. Last year’s rate for Texas adults was 27.9 percent.
Adult obesity rates increased in 28 states in the past year, and declined only in the District of Columbia, the report says. Today, 38 states have obesity rates above 25 percent, the report says.
And here’s a a sobering thought: In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent.
With childhood obesity rates also on the rise today, we are heading to a society rife with diabetes, heart disease and other ailments — all of which will overload the health care system and cause spending to soar. That’s a worry for everyone because we all pay for higher health care costs, whether through higher insurance premiums, hospital stays or taxes.
Income and geography are related to obesity, the report says, with poorer people tending to be more obese and 10 of 11 the ‘fattest states’ in the South.
The most obese state, again, is Mississippi.
“Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges the country has ever faced, and troubling disparities exist based on race, ethnicity, region and income,” said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health. “This report shows that the country has taken bold steps to address the obesity crisis in recent years, but the nation’s response has yet to fully match the magnitude of the problem. Millions of Americans still face barriers — like the high cost of healthy foods and lack of access to safe places to be physically active — that make healthy choices challenging.”
Texas men are more obese than women, and minorities in Texas, like in other state, had higher rates than whites, according to the Texas section of the report. In Texas, the adult obesity rate among blacks was 37.6 percent and for Latinos it was 34 percent, compared with 25.8 percent among whites, according to the report.
The report listed the state’s childhood obesity rate at 20.4 percent.
The report says that Texas has taken some steps to attack childhood obesity, including:
Setting nutritional standards for school lunches, breakfasts and snacks that are stricter than United States Department of Agriculture requirements.
Setting nutritional standards for competitive foods sold in schools on à la carte lines, in vending machines, in school stores and school bake sales.
Passing requirements for body mass index (BMI) screenings of children and adolescents or legislation requiring other forms of weight-related assessments in schools.
The state has not passed Complete Streets legislation, which aims to ensure pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities have safe access to a community’s streets, the report says.
The report notes that President Barack Obama has created a White House Task Force on Childhood Obesity and that First Lady Michelle Obama has launched the “Let’s Move” initiative to spotlight the issue. But it says more needs to be done at the federal level, including more funding for prevention programs and research on programs that work.
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March 2, 2010
Dell Children's opening up center to tackle childhood obesity
Armed with nearly $1 million from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Dell Children’s Medical Center will open a new clinic and education center for families in the fight to reduce childhood obesity.
A foundation grant of $997,663 will be used to establish the Texas Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Childhood Obesity. It will consist of a clinic that will provide medical and psychological treatment to kids; professionals working with community groups on obesity initiatives and research; and advocacy efforts to reduce childhood obesity, according to a news release from the foundation and Dr. Stephen Pont, the center’s medical director.
The center also will continue a 10-week program that teaches Central Texas families about eating healthy and fun ways to be more active.
The center is a collaboration with University of Texas Southwestern — Austin Programs, UT-Austin and the Texas Child Study Center. It also will do research with the Dell Center for Advancement of Healthy Living at the UT School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus.
Obesity has become a favored topic of the foundation, with Susan Dell narrating a 76-page paperback, Be Well, on the topic.
“As a parent, the scariest thing in the world is to learn your child is in danger,” Dell, chairwoman and co-founder of the foundation, said in a written statement. “Yet children in Central Texas are shortening their life expectancy every day in a combat zone of fast foods, sugar, limited physical activity, and the lure of electronic games and TV.”
Pont said that obese children are at risk for some of the same ailments that afflict middle-age adults: high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, joint problems, even heart disease.
“Some of these kids are going to die in five or 10 years if they are not empowered to make the healthy decisions to take control of their lives,” he said.
Pont said he was a chubby child and got “quite large in middle school, around the same time my mom died. We ate a lot of TV dinners,” he said.
“I feel like I can relate to the struggles of the kids. I have to make decisions every day about what I eat or I’ll gain weight.”
A more detailed article about the center will appear in the newspaper.
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July 1, 2009
We are so fat, report says
A new report, F as in Fat, says Texas ranks 14th in the nation — in how fat its adults are.
The ranking means 27.9 percent of Texas adults are overweight or obese, according to the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, two non profits dedicated to health issues. In the same report, the state had the 20th highest rate of overweight youths, ages 10 to 17, at 32.2 percent.
In no state did adults lose weight, the report says. Texas’ ranking didn’t budge from last year. (The new data are based on combined rates for 2006, 2007 and 2008, according to the executive summary.)
And while Baby Boomers may work out more than their parents, they are fatter, the report says, which does not bode well for future Medicare costs.
“In 1991, no state had an obesity rate above 20 percent,” a summary of the report says. “In 1980, the national average for adult obesity was 15 percent.”
For the fifth consecutive year, Mississippi topped the list as the fattest state, with a third of its adults overweight or obese. Mississippi also has the highest rate of obese and overweight children — 44.4 percent.
Three other states have adult obesity rates above 30 percent: Alabama, West Virginia and Tennessee. Eight of the 10 states with the worst adult obesity rates are in the South, the report says.
Colorado again has the lowest adult obesity rate at 18.9 percent.
One spot of cheer: Childhood obesity rates may have peaked. The report says researchers have not seen statistically significant increases for the first time in several years.
The report not only ranks the states but critiques federal and state policies on obesity prevention. It contends they are failing. Adult obesity rates may have worsened because of the economic crisis, the report says. Families are finding it more difficult to buy healthy foods and social service nutrition safety nets are fraying, the report says.
The report recommends:
Making sure that adults and children have access to medical coverage for preventive care, including nutrition and obesity counseling and screening for such obesity-related ailments as type 2 diabetes.
Increasing programs that offer nutritious foods and making them more affordable.
Providing safe places for people to engage in physical activity.
Promoting programs that improve nutrition and increase physical activity among adults ages 55 to 64.
Increasing access to healthy foods and drinks and increasing physical activities in schools.
Encouraging workplace wellness programs.
Why care?
“Our health care costs have grown along with our waist lines,” said Jeff Levi, executive director of the Trust for America’s Health, said in a statement. “The obesity epidemic is a big contributor to the skyrocketing health care costs in the United States. How are we going to compete with the rest of the world if our economy and workforce are weighed down by bad health?”
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April 13, 2009
'Big' boss man is okay; fat boss woman, not so much
New research indicates that corporate America happily tolerates overweight male chief executives, but it hires women CEOs who are far slimmer.
The researchers contend their work illustrates that weight discrimination is one more way the “glass ceiling” holds women down.
The abstract published in the British journal Equal Opportunities International says “it is estimated that between 5 and 22 per cent of US top female CEOs are overweight … Compared to the general US population, overweight and obese women are significantly underrepresented among top female CEOs. Among top male CEOs, it is estimated that between 45 and 61 per cent are overweight … Compared to the general population overweight men are overrepresented among top CEOs … This demonstrates that weight discrimination occurs at the highest levels of career advancement and that the threshold for weight discrimination is lower for women than for men.”
For the study, researchers had two groups of people who are experts at estimating weight analyze the photos of CEOs, according to a news release posted by Michigan State University, one of the leading schools in the study.
“The results suggest that while being obese limits the career opportunities of both women and men, being ‘merely overweight’ harms only female executives - and may actually benefit male executives,” Mark Roehling, a human resource management scholar at Michigan State, said in the release. “This pattern of findings is consistent with previous research indicating that, at least among white Americans, there is a tendency to hold women to harsher weight standards.”
Roehling co-authored the study with his wife, Patricia Roehling, a psychology professor at Hope College in Holland, Mich., and others.
The work is the first to focus directly on the potential effect of weight on career advancement to the top levels, Mark Roehling said.
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January 7, 2009
Researchers question whether physical activity contributes to weight loss
I don’t seem to lose weight from exercise, and I’m beginning to understand why.
A study led by a team at Loyola University in Maywood, Ill., questions whether physical activity is important for weight loss.
The study compared African American women in Chicago who weighed an average of 184 pounds with women in rural Nigeria who women weighed 127 pounds. The scientists guessed that the Nigerians would be more physically active, but they found that those women burned just 40 more calories per day than the Chicagoans.
“We would love to say that physical activity has a positive effect on weight control, but that does not appear to be the case,” said Richard Cooper, co-author and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Epidemiology, in a news release about the study.
So why did the Nigerian women weigh less? Food.
The Nigerian women ate more fiber and carbohydrates and little fat and animal protein. The Chicagoans porked out on fat and processed foods.
I have long believed that weight loss was much more dependent on what I put in my mouth than how much I moved around each day. But this study won’t convince me to stop working out every day, as much as I don’t like doing it. Nor do I think it’s intended to do that.
Those of us who exercise know of its benefits. I’m convinced I have lower blood pressure, cholesterol and stress because I work out every day. Even if exercise doesn’t cause the numbers on the scale to go down, I swear I will start gaining weight if I go two days without working out. Life is so unfair.
My friends who are runners say at times in their lives when they’ve stopped running, they’ve piled on the pounds. Most likely, high-intensity workouts have a bigger impact on weight loss than the mild-to-moderate physical activity that was measured by these researchers. And you can put me in the mild-to-moderate group. If I exercised harder and longer, I might get some weight-loss benefit to my workouts.
The abstract seems to suggest as much. It says, “The possibility remains that variation in type and duration of activity plays a role not captured by total (activity energy expenditure),” the scientific name given to the physical activity they measured.
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October 16, 2008
'Reward circuit' blunted in overweight women, research says
New research on obesity suggests that an impaired “reward circuit” in the brain raises the risk for weight gain.
The research is based on a study of 76 women between the ages of 14 and 22 and is being published Friday in the journal Science.
Eric Stice, a research fellow at the University of Texas in Austin and a research scientist at the Oregon Research Institute in Eugene, led the team that did the work. Stice and his collaborators, including scientists from Yale University and the John B. Pierce Laboratory in New Haven, Conn., used chocolate milkshakes and brain imaging scans to measure activation of the striatum, or part of the brain that is stimulated when a person eats tasty food. The striatum releases varying amounts of the brain chemical dopamine, a pleasure indicator.
They found that overweight women in the group were more vulnerable to current and future weight gain if they had the impaired reward system, and the problem was even worse if they also had a gene that hinders dopamine.
In women who had the impairment, Stice said, “The more you overeat, the more it escalates the reduction in dopamine receptors. People are overeating because they’re experiencing less reward.”
But isn’t that counterintuitive? Wouldn’t a person who feels less satisfied by eating consume less?
That’s exactly what Stice and his team expected to find, he said.
“We started the study thinking obese people experienced more reward from food,” he said. But what they found was a suggestion that children who have a history of overeating or indulging in rich, fatty foods can experience an effect like addicts and drugs.
“They’re compensating for the reward deficit in the same way a person with a lower-tar cigarette” smokes, Stice said. “They’re smoking more efficiently to get the same amount of nicotine. … They will draw 15 times instead of 10 times by taking, deeper and bigger draws. They get the same amount of carcinogens and nicotine.”
A more-detailed report on this study, including reaction from other scientists, will be posted later and will appear in tomorrow’s Statesman.
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August 11, 2008
Fight the fat in Second Life
We had a competition at work to lose weight, but it wasn’t anything like this.
The University of Houston’s Department of Health and Human Performance is launching an obesity prevention project that isn’t like any academic research I’ve heard about. Researcher Rebecca Lee is recruiting 500 people from the United States, Canada, Mexico and Switzerland to compete in a healthy eating, exercise and awareness contest that will take place entirely in Second Life.
For the uninitiated, Second Life is a virtual online world in which participants assume identities, or avatars, and earn Lindens — the currency of Second Life — for their efforts. For the project they will walk on treadmills, ride bikes and try new fruits and vegetables, according to Lee. The country team earning the most points wins.
Lee hopes contestants will take what they learn about healthy eating and exercise in Second Life and translate that into their real lives.
Second Life also provides “a great place to meet other avatars and share information and experiences,” said Lee, director of the Texas Obesity Research Center, in a news release. “Reducing obesity is an international priority, and (Second Life) provides a portal to an international community.”
People must sign up at Second Life to take part. For more information, participants can instant message Sirena Felisimo or Samu Sirnah in Second Life or call the University of Houston’s Texas Obesity Research Center at (713) 743-9310.
