I love my healthy active childhood

Fri. Feb 06, 2009

The International Union Against Cancer (UICC) has launched a campaign to raise awareness about the link between excess body weight and cancer. The campaign called "I love my healthy active childhood," hopes to reverse some cancer related beliefs and behaviors and demonstrate how lifestyle choices influence the risk of cancer.

"Three to four million new cases of cancer could be prevented every year by avoiding overweight and obesity," says Isabel Mortara, executive director of the UICC. "Good habits start early in life, so our focus is on encouraging children to eat a healthy diet and be physically active. An estimated 22 million children under 5 are overweight, and the problem is growing."

A recent survey conducted by UICC found that only 40% of people in the Americas, Australia/New Zealand and western Asia were unaware that being overweight increased their risk of cancer.
 
"Overweight and obesity are part of the causal chain for many cancers," says Professor David Hill, the president of the UICC. "This is well established in science but not adequately understood in the community. In fact, current lack of public understanding of the link between body weight and cancer probably parallels our attitudes to smoking and cancer in the late 1950s."

"The accumulated evidence linking overweight and obesity with cancer is largely based on adult studies," says Hill. "But healthy lifelong habits are best established in early childhood."

SOURCE: International Union Against Cancer

TV habits predict diet in teens

Fri. Jan 30, 2009

Teenagers who watch too much TV are likely to have bad eating habits five years in the future.

Dr Daheia Barr-Anderson from the University of Minnesota says, "To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the association between television viewing and diet over the transition from adolescence into young adulthood. We've shown that TV viewing during adolescence predicts poorer dietary intake patterns five years later".

Stronger and more consistent patterns were seen during the transition from high school to young adulthood than during the transition from middle school to high school. Both are critical developmental periods, where lifelong behaviors are formed. The authors found that those high-school kids who watched more than five hours of television per day had a lower intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and calcium-rich foods; and higher intakes of snack foods, fried foods, fast food, sugar-sweetened beverages, and trans fats five years later.

According to Barr-Anderson, "These less than healthy foodstuffs are commonly advertised on television while healthy foods rarely receive the same publicity. Although young people may be aware that many foods advertised on television are not healthy, they may chose to ignore or do not fully realize the consequences, because the actors they see advertising and eating the foods in the commercials are usually not overweight".

Barr-Anderson and her colleagues have called for action to tackle television adverts for food and drinks. They say, "The potential negative impacts of advertising and marketing campaigns on dietary quality and purchasing behavior show that, as well as devising interventions to reduce television viewing time, we need to promote healthy food choices, in general and while watching television, to overcome harmful media influences".

SOURCE: International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity

Behavior therapy can work for child and adolescent obesity

Wed. Jan 21, 2009

Family-based lifestyle interventions that not only modify diet and physical activity but also include behavior therapy programs can help obese children lose weight and maintain that loss for at least six months. This Cochrane Review also found that in adolescents the effect lasts for at least 12 months. Adding weight controlling drugs orlistat or sibutramine to behavior change programs for adolescents may provide additional benefits.

These findings mark a change in opinion. A systematic review performed in 2003 could not find enough data to draw any conclusions about the effects of different programs. This time the researchers identified 64 randomized controlled trials involving 5230 participants, enabling them to see some definite effects.

"It is now clear that family-based, lifestyle interventions that include a behavioral program aimed at changing diet and physical activity provide significant and clinically meaningful decreases in overweight and obesity in both children and adolescents compared with standard care or self help regimes," says lead researcher Hiltje Oude Luttikhuis, who works at Beatrix Children's Hospital and the Department of Epidemiology in Groningen, Netherlands.

The worldwide obesity epidemic in young people is continuing to gain pace. The International Obesity Taskforce now claims that, worldwide, 10% of 5-17 year olds are overweight and 2-3% are obese. Pediatric obesity rates now stand at 30% for the Americas and 20% for Europe. Socio-economically disadvantaged children in developed countries and children of higher socio-economic status in developing countries are more likely to be overweight. "This highlights the importance of effective treatment strategies for children and young people already affected by the problem of obesity," states Oude Luttikhuis's collaborator, Professor Louise Baur, a pediatrician at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, and the University of Sydney.

SOURCE: Cochrane Library

Active lifestyle requires a state of mind

Mon. Jan 19, 2009

How you think about your ability to maintain a healthy lifestyle appears to be a strong indicator for whether or not you will maintain a physical activity program, say researchers from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

After surveying over 5000 people about their self perceived ability and desire to exercise, the researchers conclude that psychological concerns are the most important barriers to an active lifestyle.

According to researcher, Sai Yi Pan, "Our findings highlight the need for health promotion programs to enhance people's confidence and motivation, as well as providing education on the health benefits of physical activity".

One interview question asked participants how confident they were that they could regularly do a total of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity three or four times a week and a total of 60 minutes of light physical activity each day. This 'self-efficacy' score was consistently found to be related to higher physical activity.  According to the authors, "Confidence in one's personal ability to carry out exercise plays a central role in the direction, intensity and persistence of health-behavior change. People who have higher self-efficacy will perceive fewer barriers to physical activity, or be less influenced by them, and will be more likely to enjoy physical activity ".

A similar result was seen when participants were asked to what extent they intended to be physically active over the next six months. This was called the 'intention score' and, people who were motivated to maintain a higher level of physical activity, or had a higher intention score, maintained higher physical activity throughout the study.

The strong effects of self-efficacy and intention on physical activity suggest that interventions designed to increase physical activity should target these factors. The authors conclude that, increasing self perception of ability and motivation/intention to be physically active will most likely result in a more physically active lifestyle.

SOURCE: BMC Public Health

Small change can lead to big success

Wed. Jan 14, 2009

Maintaining a healthy weight may be more a matter of making many small changes over time, instead of the trying to make a major lifestyle change all at once reports a joint task force attempting to bridge the gaps between nutrition, food, and health.

James O. Hill, PhD, president of the, American Society for Nutrition, one of the organizations involved in the task force says, "By shifting our focus to small changes in diet and physical activity, we can prevent weight gain and potentially reduce the magnitude of the obesity problem. Large permanent changes in diet and activity are much harder to implement and sustain. Significant benefits to society are possible by promoting small, achievable changes."

Examples of the small changes that Hill is talking about include:

• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Walk an extra 2,000 steps a day
• Reduce food portion size by 5%
• Replace sweetened beverages with non-caloric beverages
• Eat a nutritious breakfast

By instituting small changes in our daily lives, society can move in a positive health direction, according to the Task Force. "Obesity is a complex matter, but starting with one small step can lead to significant progress in achieving energy balance," says Hill.

In 2006, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), American Society for Nutrition (ASN), and International Food Information Council (IFIC) formed a Joint Task Force on Food and Nutrition Science. The purpose of this initiative is to bridge the gaps between nutrition, food, and health by forming a unique partnership aimed at improving consumer health and addressing food and nutrition science opportunities and challenges. The goal of the task force is to advance the dialogue between the food science and nutrition communities to impact nutrition policies, public health, and research opportunities.

SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Phone may help busy people with weight loss

Mon. Jan 12, 2009

Counseling over the phone and internet can help with weight management say researchers from the University Medical Center in Amsterdam. This conclusion comes after the researchers compared issuing self-help literature, the standard method used by doctors of overweight patients, with a more proactive telephone and internet-based weight management counseling program.

Globally, obesity rates are increasing. However, relatively few people receive professional help from weight management programs. The face-to-face counseling of these programs requires frequent visits to a treatment facility, making it less appealing for those with busy lifestyles. In cases like this, counseling by phone or via the internet may be of greater use. Trials evaluating phone counseling for weight loss programs have shown mixed results, and few trials have evaluated e-mail based counseling, but those that have found the results encouraging. The impacts of the two have not, however, been compared.

The study set out to assess the effects of fortnightly counseling sessions by phone or internet on weight loss and diet in overweight workers after six months.

Overall, all the groups had significant weight loss and reduced their fat intake, but those receiving phone counseling lost the most weight and had the greatest improvement in diet. There were no overall significant differences between the phone and internet groups and both groups that received counseling lost more weight than participants who received only self-help brochures. Those in the phone group also increased their physical activity to a greater extent.

The authors concluded that lifestyle counseling by phone and e-mail is effective for weight management. According to Willem Van Mechelen, the studies lead author, "this could form the basis of improvements in weight management programs for those unwilling to seek face-to-face counseling."

SOURCE: BMC Public Health

Taking time for healthy meals

Wed. Jan 07, 2009

Eating alone or on the run may result in less healthy choices

As adolescents mature into young adults, increasing time constraints due to school or work can begin to impact eating habits in a negative way. In a study published in the January 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, researchers observed that while young adults enjoy and value time spent eating with others, 35% of males and 42% of females reported lacking time to sit down and eat a meal. They further noted that "eating on the run" was related to higher consumption of unhealthy items like fast foods and lower consumption of many healthful foods.

The results suggest that perceived time constraints may be a common barrier to sitting down for meals. Social eating was associated with greater intake of several healthful foods (e.g., vegetables) and with higher intakes of calcium and fiber among males. In contrast, "eating on the run" was associated with higher intakes of soft drinks, fast food and fat, and with lower intake of several healthful foods among females.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Dietetic Association

Weight control difficult in rural communities

Mon. Dec 22, 2008

Rural adults have higher levels of obesity and are less active in their leisure time than urban and suburban U.S. adults, says Ross Brownson, Ph.D., a researcher at Washington University in St. Louis

"It's not that people don't want to get physical activity or eat healthy foods, but we've made it difficult in many communities," says. Brownson. "People in small towns spend a great deal of time in cars, and they also may not have easy access to fresh fruits and vegetables in their markets."

Thirty percent of U.S. adults are obese, which increases their risk for health conditions such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

In a survey of 1,258 randomly selected adults in 12 rural communities in Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee, Brownson found that respondents who ate out often, especially at buffets, cafeterias and fast food restaurants, were more likely to be obese. Those with a high school education or less reported limited access to fruits and vegetables and were more likely to shop at convenience stores

Additionally, obese participants tended to have less education and lower annual incomes than normal weight respondents. They also were more likely to view their community as unpleasant for physical activity, such as lacking sidewalks for walking or biking or to have few places to be active.

Brownson points out that a lot of travel planning focuses on how to increase the numbers of automobiles on our roadways, not on how to make travel friendly by foot or bicycle.

Possible interventions to enhance safety for people who want to walk or bicycle along rural roads include widening the shoulders, using signage to identify pedestrian and cycle areas and reducing speed limits. Options to increase availability and affordability of healthy foods could involve working with food outlet owners and changes in state or federal taxation and agricultural policies to reduce the relative price of healthy foods compared to unhealthy foods.

Society, Brownson stresses, will be better off finding ways to prevent obesity instead of trying to treat the condition. "We need to take these issues into account when we're making transportation and city planning decisions," he says. "Everyone will benefit if we make the healthy choice the easy choice."

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine

Beware of truffles in jewelry stores

Tue. Dec 16, 2008

A single truffle can pack more of punch than the 180 calories it provides.  According to researchers from the University of Miami, a single truffle can induce cravings for more unhealthy foods and even lead to a desire for other indulgences like clothes, computers, and jewelry.

When allowed to eat a seemingly harmless truffle, study participants desired ice cream, pizza, and potato chips more than people who were told to resist eating the truffle.

The study authors explain that eating a truffle unconsciously activated a goal of indulgence, while those who were asked to resist the treat activated health goals.

However, once people felt their goals were met, they tended to reverse their behaviors. For example, when people who resisted the truffle were told they did a good job, they indicated that they desired fatty foods more than healthy foods.

Interestingly, people who were allowed to eat the truffle also reported a greater desire for status products like computers and watches, than people who were told to resist the truffle.

The implications of this reversal may be important for health conscious people who think that one small indulgence may be enough to curb a craving. This research shows that not only is the craving unsatisfied, additional cravings for even more indulgences may be triggered.

This behavior is well known in consumer marketing where free samples are offered to motivate consumers to buy.  However, the implication that a sample of chocolate could lead to an unconscious desire for luxury merchandise may lead some upscale stores to try truffle inducements more frequently.

SOURCE: Journal of Consumer Research

Reduce Your Appetite with Aerobic Activity

Mon. Dec 15, 2008

A brisk walk for 60 minutes appears to work better at suppressing appetite than 90 minutes of non-aerobic activity such as weight lifting. Researchers have found that aerobic activity affects the level of hunger hormones grehlin and peptide YY, while non-aerobic activity only affects grehlin. Understanding this difference may allow researchers find more effective exercise strategies for weight control.

There are several hormones that help regulate appetite, but the researchers looked at two of the major ones, ghrelin and peptide YY. Ghrelin is the only hormone known to stimulate appetite. Peptide YY suppresses appetite.

Ghrelin was discovered by researchers in Japan only about 10 years ago and was originally identified for its role as a growth hormone. Only later did its role in stimulating appetite become known. Peptide YY was discovered less than 25 years ago.

David J. Stensel of Loughborough University in the United Kingdom, says that the results of the study are consistent with previous studies showing that aerobic exercise provides a short term reduction in appetite. However, previous studies had inconclusive results about whether grehlin levels were affected.  This study will help explain the mixed results.

While the study showed that exercise suppresses appetite hormones, the next step is to establish whether this change actually causes the suppression of eating.

SOURCE: American Journal of Physiology - Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology