New Year’s Resolution #1 – Take the kids out for fast food less often
A highly healthy resolution for your family in 2016 would be to slowly reduce the number of trips you make to fast food restaurants. Why? (more…)
Encourage your kids to choose healthy snacks
Kids may crave chips and sweet treats, but parents should encourage their children to choose healthier options. (more…)
Exercise boosts kids’ academic ability
Promoting physical activity among young school kids can end up improving their academic performance, a new study suggests. (more…)
Lack of sleep opens door to health problems
In his column in the Los Angeles Times, Davis Lazarus writes that "according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 75 million Americans - more than one-quarter of the population - say they don't get enough sleep.” (more…)
Clinical trial finds childhood obesity can be controlled through portion size, carb cutting
Reuters reports on a Journal of Pediatrics study, which shows that parents can manage their children's obesity by cutting portion sizes, as well as cutting carbohydrates, although the low-carb method was found to be the toughest for kids to follow. (more…)
Study shows sleep deprivation leads to increased calorie consumption
ABC World News reported, "And in Healthy Living tonight, news for the sleep-deprived that will add insult to injury. Word that it's not just that you'll be squeezing into your clothes, but squeezing in while yawning. A study at the Mayo Clinic found that people who get less sleep tend to eat a lot more." (more…)
Research shows daily walk helps beat “obesity genes”
The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reports that a study to be presented at an American Heart Association meeting "shows that people who are genetically prone to obesity can offset that influence by half by walking briskly one hour a day." (more…)
Active video games do NOT result in more exercise for kids
Color me very surprised by this, but the Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reports, "A study finds that having active video games in the home may not translate into more exercise.” (more…)
FDA panel recommends new weight-loss drug
A panel of experts for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended a new diet drug called phentermine/topiramate [Qnexa] be approved. The recommendation comes despite concerns about heart and birth defect risks. (more…)
Report on cholesterol screening in children still controversial
In the New York Times "Well" blog, Perri Klass, MD, writes about the "Summary Report of the Expert Panel on Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents," which addresses the question: "What do we know about how the hearts of children become the hearts of adults?" (more…)
THE winning diets on all counts!
The topic: What's the best diet? The answer may surprise you and here's information on why it should matter to you. (more…)
Even for the overweight, exercise helps the heart
Getting and staying physically fit might help fend off heart disease even if you've put on a few pounds, new research suggests. (more…)
About half of US children still have access to unhealthy vending machines at school
The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reports that research published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine suggests that approximately "half of kids surveyed from public and private school had ready access to vending machines, snack bars, school stores and a la carte lines." (more…)
Physician: FDA should not approve weight-loss drug without being certain of safety
In a column for USA Today, Marc Siegel, MD, professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center, writes about concerns over the safety of Qnexa [phentermine/topiramate], a new obesity drug that has been recommended for approval by the Food and Drug Administration. (more…)
Scientists argue sugar should be regulated like alcohol, tobacco
In a front-page story, the San Francisco Chronicle, "Like alcohol and tobacco, sugar is a toxic, addictive substance that should be highly regulated with taxes, laws on where and to whom it can be advertised, and even age-restricted sales, says a team of UCSF scientists" in a commentary published in Nature. (more…)
Fructose consumption linked to evidence of heart disease in teens
HealthDay reported, "Teens who consume large amounts of the food and beverage sweetener fructose show evidence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk in their blood," according to a study published in the Journal of Nutrition. (more…)
Physicians with normal BMI more likely to diagnose, discuss obesity
Color me "stunned" by this report: The Baltimore Sun "Picture of Health" blog reports a study in the journal Obesity suggesting that "physicians with a normal body mass index were more likely than overweight doctors to engage their obese patients in weight loss discussions." The Sun goes on to say, "Normal weight doctors were also more likely to diagnose a patient as obese if they perceived the patient's BMI was equal to or larger than their own." The work was funded by in part by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. The Los Angeles Times "Booster Shots" blog reports, "In one of the most stunning figures in the paper ... the probability that a normal-weight doctor actually recording an obesity diagnosis for an obese patient was 93%.” For overweight…
New school nutrition guidelines issued
First Lady Michelle Obama teamed up with Rachael Ray to unveil the biggest overhaul on school meals in more than 15 years. There will be more whole grains, less salt and a wider selection of fruits and vegetables and all milk must now be low fat. But the new rules do not go as far as the Administration had hoped. (more…)
Do African mango supplements help with weight loss?
African mango supplements are touted to help shed pounds, but do they really work? (more…)
Gastric bypass trumps banding for weight loss
The Wall Street Journal reports that according to a six-year study of some 442 Swiss patients published in the Archives of Surgery, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery appears to produce quicker and more long-lasting weight loss than gastric banding. (more…)
Daily sugared cola consumption increases belly and liver fat
Reuters reports that according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, consumption of a liter of sugared cola on a daily basis may raise fat buildup in the liver, in muscles and around abdominal organs. (more…)
Eating frequently may lead to less weight gain in girls
Reuters reports that according to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, girls who ate meals and snacks frequently gained less weight than girls who ate only a few times every day. (more…)
Study: Soda tax reduces obesity-related illness
The National Journal reports, "A tax on sugary soft drinks could discourage consumption just enough to save 26,000 people from dying of strokes, heart attacks, or other obesity-related ills over the next decade," according to a study in Health Affairs. (more…)
Hormone produced by exercise helps control obesity, blood sugar levels
The San Francisco Chronicle reports a study in Nature showing that irisin, "a hormone naturally found in muscle cells ... rises during exercise, converting white fat into brown fat, a substance whose primary function is to generate body heat." (more…)
Weight-loss surgery reduces risk of death from cardiovascular disease
The Wall Street Journal reports that, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, weight-loss surgery may be linked to a reduced risk of death from heart disease. (more…)
Protein or carbs? It may not matter!
The Wall Street Journal reported on a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggesting that a person's total calorie intake, regardless of the nutritional source of the calories, determines how much fat accumulates in the body. (more…)
Diet, weight loss reduce knee joint pain in osteoarthritis patients
HealthDay reports, "A diet consisting of eight weeks of protein shakes and soup followed by adding low-calorie, high-protein foods can help people with knee osteoarthritis (knee OA) lose weight, which may lessen joint pain and improve their quality of life," according to a study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. (more…)
Report says Americans’ heart health in poor state
The National Journal reports, "Nearly every American has at least one risk factor for heart disease," according to a report from the American Heart Association. (more…)
CDC says American diet still falls short
This headline is no surprise to readers of this blog. Almost all of us can improve our nutritional habits. (more…)
1-800-GET THIN centers misleading customers
The AP reports that officials with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) "have issued warning letters to eight surgical centers and a marketing firm in California for misleading advertisements promoting the Lap-Band, a stomach-restricting device used to treat obesity." (more…)