Clinical review of efficacy of interventions aimed at changing lifestyle behaviors (increased physical activity, decreased sedentary activity, increased healthy dietary habits, and decreased unhealthy dietary habits) to prevent obesity. Pediatric obesity prevention programs caused small changes in target behaviors and no significant effect on BMI compared with control. Trials evaluating promising interventions applied over a long period, using responsive outcomes, with longer measurement timeframes are urgently needed.
Archive for category Nutrition and obesity
Breakfast cereal is associated with a lower prevalence of obesity among 10-12-year-old children
Jan 28
700 children from 18 schools located in Athens were enrolled. 8.6% of boys and 9% of girls were obese, whereas 33.9% of boys and 22.1% of girls were overweight. For boys, the adjusted odds ratio for breakfast cereal intake for being overweight or obese was 0.54 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.45-1.29), while for girls it was 0.41 (95% CI: 0.21-0.79). This study provides evidence that breakfast cereal as a most frequent choice, and daily consumption of breakfast, are inversely associated with the prevalence of overweight or obesity in 10-12-year-old children.
Results from over 100 separate studies reporting over 1000 distinct statistical estimates are remarkably consistent, and show without doubt that alcohol taxes and prices affect drinking,” said Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., a professor of epidemiology and health policy research at the University of Florida College of Medicine, and the senior author of the study. “When prices go down, people drink more, and when prices go up, people drink less.” Pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19149812?dopt=Abstract
People who have better access to supermarkets and limited access to convenience stores tend to have healthier diets and lower levels of obesity. Pdf available on http://download.journals.elsevierhealth.com/pdfs/journals/0749-3797/PIIS0749379708008386.pdf
A ground-breaking brain-imaging study at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory shows that men, but not women, are able to control their brain’s response to their own favorite foods. The study, which will be published online by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the week of January 19, 2009, may help explain why rates of obesity and eating disorders are higher among women than men, and why women typically have more difficulty losing weight.
National statistics show one in four children in Canada are obese, yet very little research has been done to find out what effects, if any, being overweight has on their self esteem and well-being. Pubmed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18647242?dopt=Abstract
The tobacco settlement anti-smoking program in Virginia could become a launching point for combating childhood obesity if a state senator who is also a pediatrician can convince the General Assembly his idea is good.
This Australian article describes and evaluates some of the criteria on the basis of which food advertising to children on television could be regulated, including controls that revolve around the type of television programme, the type of product, the target audience and the time of day.
Men’s Health and msnbc.com presented this list of the 20 saltiest foods in America.
Men’s Health, msnbc.com and Joy Bauer presents a list of simple steps to shed weight including: Omit the salad dressing; Toss whole milk and use only skim; Make all your sandwiches open-faced; Eat slower and Trim liquid calories.