Results tagged “obesity” from Weight Loss & Nutrition News

The number of obese people in Sweden has doubled in the past 25 years, with one in 10 Swedes now considered largely overweight, a Statistics Sweden study showed.

Obesity is now as common among women as men, according to the report, which was published on Tuesday and studied Swedes' weight from 1980 until 2005.

The problem has increased most among young women, non-labour workers and rural residents, though Swedes across all social groups registered weight gains during the period.

Obesity, blamed on changes in diet and lifedtyles, has long been a problem in the United States and is on the rise in many European countries. In France, nine percent of people are considered obese, compared to 12 percent in Germany and 23 percent in Britain.

Copyright © 2007 Agence France Presse

Obese couples have a more difficult time conceiving a baby than couples of normal weight, according to a study published on Tuesday identifying another consequence of putting on too much weight.

Researchers tracked nearly 48,000 Danish couples between 1996 and 2002, including about 7,600 couples with both the man and woman either overweight or obese according to standards set by the World Health Organization.

They measured how long it took couples to conceive a baby once they began unprotected sex in a bid to have a child.

A single protein in brain cells may act as a linchpin in the body's weight-regulating system, playing a key role in the flurry of signals that govern fat storage, sugar use, energy balance and weight, University of Michigan Medical School researchers report.

And although it's far too early to say how this protein could be useful in new strategies to fight the world?s epidemic of obesity, the finding gives scientists an important system to target in future research and the development of anti-obesity medications.

In the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, U-M researcher Liangyou Rui, Ph.D. and his team report their findings on a protein called SH2B1, and specifically on its activity in brain cells.

Britain's growing battle with obesity was underlined as new data showed that the number of prescriptions written for anti-obesity drugs has risen by nearly 600 percent in six years.

According to data released by the government-run National Health Service, nearly 871,000 prescriptions for anti-obesity drugs were written in 2005, compared to around 127,000 in 1999 -- a 586 percent increase.

The proportion of English men rated as obese -- defined as having a body mass index of greater than 30 -- rose to 22.1 percent last year, compared to 13.2 percent in 1993, while 21.9 percent of English women were classed as obese in 2005, against 16.4 percent in 1993.

Wow, what a research. How useful and encouraging. Your fat belly is caused by bacterias. Not by your bad eating habits, your lazy lifestyle and  barrels of coke that you drink every year. Blame someone else, not yourself.

WASHINGTON - The size of your gut may be partly shaped by which microbes call it home, according to new research linking obesity to types of digestive bacteria.

Both obese mice — and people — had more of one type of bacteria and less of another kind, according to two studies published Thursday in the journal Nature.

A “microbial component” appears to contribute to obesity, said study lead author Jeffrey Gordon, director of Washington University’s Center for Genome Sciences.

Dieters may find some welcome assistance from a new nasal spray that could help resist the appetizing aromas of cinnamon bun stands, pizza parlors or tempting bakeries.

Compellis Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Massachusetts said it will begin human trials next year of a nasal spray designed to fight obesity by blocking the senses of smell and taste. It won a patent for the product this month.

"The pleasurable effect of eating is all stimulated by smell and taste," Christopher Adams, the company's founder and chief executive, told Reuters on Tuesday.

"The premise is that olfactory activity that controls both smell and taste is a trigger and a feedback mechanism to eat. If you have some kind of reduced sense of smell or taste, you tend to eat less," he said.

Unhappy with her weight, Charmaine Tong decided two years ago to try a slimming tea, which supposedly contained only traditional Chinese herbs.

She was overjoyed when she lost her appetite and the bathroom scales began dipping, but her happiness vanished when she began suffering a racing heart beat a month later.

"I chose Chinese medicine as I thought it wouldn't have chemicals and would have fewer side effects, but my heart went out of control," said Tong, a marketing executive in Hong Kong.

She stopped drinking the tea at once, and has since regained the seven pounds she lost, and more.

India plans to introduce yoga in schools to fight rising obesity among middle-class youngsters, even as the country continues to battle widespread malnutrition and "shameful" infant and maternal mortality.

Health minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the country faced a "galloping" rise in heart disease, diabetes and cancer as India's 300-million-strong and increasingly wealthy middle class ate more junk food and lived more sedentary lives.

At the other end of the spectrum, the country had some of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates in the world, he told medical experts at a workshop.

NEWARK, N.J. - Along with the American waistline, the American plate and portion size have grown too.

A study at Rutgers University supports earlier research that people today eat bigger servings than they did 20 years ago.

“People aren’t realizing how much they are eating,” said Jaime Schwartz, a registered dietitian and one of the authors of the study. “The larger portion size they’re eating — even if it’s a healthy food — is still more calories.”

The research, done in 2003 and described in a recent issue of the American Dietetic Association, replicated a 1984 Penn State University study.

LONDON - Obese women can improve their health without dieting by changing their eating habits and exercising more, researchers said on Monday.

They showed that lifestyle changes including exercise programs such as tai chi, aqua aerobics and circuit training, coupled with behavior modification, can improve health risks in obese women even if they do not lose significant amounts of weight.

“People of all sizes and shapes can reduce their risk of poor health by adopting a healthier lifestyle,” Dr Erika Borkoles, of Leeds Metropolitan University in England, told a news conference.

Obesity is a growing public health problem worldwide and a leading preventable cause of death. An estimated 300 million people worldwide are obese.

TORONTO (CP) - Jokes about cops and doughnuts might be the reflex reaction to a new survey that shows nearly two-thirds of Toronto Police Service workers are overweight, but the general public isn't doing much better when it comes to battling the bulge, experts say.

A health survey of 2,110 police officers and civilian employees conducted by Connex Health found almost 90 per cent admitted to poor nutrition habits, while 65 per cent said they were overweight.

A further 44 per cent reported an unhealthy fitness level, while around 20 per cent said they had been diagnosed as obese.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Africa, a continent usually synonymous with hunger, is falling prey to obesity. It's a trend driven by new lifestyles and old beliefs that big is beautiful. Ask Nodo Njobo, a plump hairdressing assistant. She is coy about her weight, but like many African women, proud of her "big bum." She says she'd like to be slimmer, but worries how her friends would react.

"Here, if you lose a lot of weight, people automatically think you have TB or AIDS. It's not like in America and Europe where you go on a diet to lose weight," Njobo said.

More than one-third of African women and a quarter of African men are estimated to be overweight, and the World Health Organization predicts that will rise to 41 percent and 30 percent respectively in the next 10 years.

Avoiding health risk factors in midlife such as smoking, being overweight, excessive drinking and hypertension is associated with a longer and healthier life in men, according to a study in the November 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on men's health.

Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., of the Pacific Health Research Institute and Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu, presented the findings of the study today at a JAMA media briefing on men's health in New York.

Persons alive at age 85 years or older are the fastest-growing age group in most industrialized countries and are among the largest consumers of health care resources. Identifying strategies for remaining healthy, vigorous, and disability-free at older ages has become a major priority, according to background information in the article. Studies with substantial numbers of long-lived participants and characteristics associated with longer survival are rare but essential to identify risk factors for health and survival at older ages.

Experts at the Medical Research Council found most fast food is very dense in calories - you only need a small amount to bump up your calorific intake.

They found that these "energy dense" foods can fool people into consuming more calories than the body needs. The research is published in the journal Obesity Reviews.

A typical fast food meal has a very high energy density. It is more than one and a half times higher than an average traditional British meal and two and a half times higher than a traditional African meal.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Heavier patients with clogged heart arteries have lower death rates in the short term than their leaner counterparts because they get more aggressive treatment, a study said on Wednesday.

This so-called obesity paradox could occur because overweight patients were younger and doctors might be more willing to perform invasive treatments on them, said the study's author, Benjamin Steinberg, a visiting medical student at Johns Hopkins University.

The analysis of 130,139 patients found that heavier patients did better because doctors were more likely to follow standard treatment guidelines, including performing surgeries like angioplasty, which may improve their outcomes.

LAS VEGAS - The American Medical Association on Tuesday decided against a proposal to call for taxes on soft drinks as a way to curb consumption of the sugar-laden beverages blamed for contributing to obesity.

"We don't want sugared soft drinks in schools. But a federal tax made a lot of people uncomfortable," said Dr. William Hamilton, a Salt Lake City anesthesiologist who attended the group's meeting at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.

The AMA instead approved a proposal for a broader effort to fight obesity.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The European Commission on Thursday hailed several food and beverage multinationals — often seen as culprits in obesity — for pledging to help fight the flab in Europe.

EU Public Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou praised, among others, Unilever NV, PepsiCo, The Coca Cola Company, McDonald's Corp. and Kraft Foods Inc. for committing to voluntary steps to reverse Europe's widening girth and promote physical fitness at a time when the number of overweight children in the EU is rising by 400,000 a year.

At a press conference with top executives of these companies, he said it was crucial food and drink companies cooperate in the fight against flab because the EU cannot legislate against products that are not dangerous.

Almost four in every 10 Europeans (38 percent) feel they are overweight, according to results of a health survey published Thursday.

According to the survey, only 55 percent of European Union (EU)citizens think that their weight is about right. Ninety-five percent agree that obesity is harmful for health.

"This survey provides us with valuable insights into the concerns of EU citizens on health and nutrition. EU citizens are aware there is a problem with overweight and obesity in Europe, and that much depends on their willingness to address it and change their lifestyle," said EU Health Commissioner Markos Kyprianou.

by Tom Angotti, Gottam Gazette

In the news recently we have seen the controversial proposal by the City’s Health Department to address the epidemic of obesity by limiting the use of transfats by restaurants and fast food outlets. The city’s health professionals are also working in neighborhoods with high rates of obesity and diabetes to promote the sale of healthy foods. At the same time, city officials are moving to improve the quality of food in school cafeterias. Obesity has reached epidemic proportions in the city, with 43 percent of elementary school children found to be obese or overweight. Health specialists acknowledge that diet and exercise are two key factors related to this epidemic, and they are working seriously on diet.

But what about exercise? Can the city do anything more to increase physical activity? This is a more difficult issue, and not as simple to address. Physical activity is also related to another serious epidemic in the city –- asthma.

LONDON (Reuters) - Europe is facing an obesity epidemic by the end of the decade which will increase health costs and hamper economic development, health experts said on Thursday.

Up to 23 percent of men and as many as 36 percent of women in Europe are obese and one third of children are overweight.

"If we do not act now, we expect to have 150 million adults and 15 million obese children by 2010. That means between 2002 and 2010 we will have 20 percent more obese people compared to about 10 years ago," Dr Francesco Branca, of the World Health Organization (WHO), told a news conference.