'Tell loved ones they are overweight this Chr...

Quoted by BBC News: "Christmas may be a time of indulging for many, but health experts believe it is the perfect time to tell a loved one they are overweight.

The National Obesity Forum and International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk said it was important to be upfront because of the health risks.

Being overweight - particularly around the waist - increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

But a poll by the groups suggests too many people shy away from the issue.

The survey of more than 2,000 people found 42% of 18 to 24-year-olds would not tell a loved one they should lose weight because of a fear they would hurt the other person's feelings.

For those aged 25 to 44 it was just over a third, while for older people it was about one in four.

Men find it hardest to tell their partners, while women were more worried about bringing up the issue with a friend.

But with families and friends getting together up and down the country over the festive period, the experts believe there is an opportunity that should not be missed.

Prof David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: "Suggesting to someone that they should consider losing a few pounds may not be a comfortable conversation to have.

"But if someone close to you has a large waistline then as long as you do it sensitively, discussing it with them now could help them avoid critical health risks later down the line and could even save their life."

Dr Jean Pierre Despres, scientific director of the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk, agreed.

"Start by encouraging someone close to you to make simple lifestyle changes such as becoming more active, making small alterations to their eating habits and replacing sugary drinks for water."

Could Carbohydrates in Infancy Lead Obesity? ...

According to new research conducted on animals, a diet that is high in carbohydrates given to babies, infants and young children could set them up for a lifetime of weight gain and obesity. The study was conducted in rats and it found that those that were given a diet featuring lots of carbohydrates became automatically ‘programmed’ to gain weight even if you calorie intake in limited during a period of adulthood. The US-based research published their results in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism. They revealed that their animal data suggests that if human babies are given solid food later in the life they will be less prone to obesity. This is also the first time it has been shown with a rat model that there is a resistance to the reversal of this in-built programming effect in adult life. Even though the research was conducted in rats, it still has enormous implications for the obesity policy and infant nutrition in the Western world.  Currently many of the earliest baby foods and juices are very high in simple sugars and carbohydrates. This research suggests that something needs to be done about that. The research team gave new born rats specially developed formulas that contained either a composition that is similar to rat milk, in that it derives most of its calories from fat, or a composition that is similar to enriched milk which derives most of its calories from carbohydrates. The rats that were given the high-carbohydrate formulas were more prone to obesity later in life, regardless whether they were put on a lower-calorie diet at some point in their adulthood.

How To Help Children Lose Weight...

Childhood obesity is a serious problem, affecting the wellness of millions of children across the world. It is very difficult to deal with weight issues in children, as they are at such a vulnerable age and any perceptions that they get about their bodies can have a serious effect on them throughout their lives. The effects of living with obesity, however, can have other serious effects on their wellbeing. Children who are overweight often have seriously negative feelings about themselves. These symptoms may include anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, feelings of emptiness and a fear of rejection. Due to the way that these symptoms make them feel, children often compensate by eating more, thus repeating the vicious cycle once again. Compulsive overeating may be an actual addiction, similar to hard drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Eating can stimulate the pleasure centres in the brain, and thus food causes children to feel happier and it becomes something that they seek out as part of their regular routine, but to excess. The relationship between overweight parents and children is more complex. Children often mimic their parents’ behaviour, and that can include overeating if they see their parents overeating, or indulging in unhealthy types of food if this is the food that they commonly observe being consumed. Children, who often fight for some semblance of power in an otherwise fairly powerless existence, may also use food as a weapon against their parents, and whilst some do this by depriving themselves of food, many do this by taking and eating all the food that they can. Breaking the unhealthy link between feelings and food can be hard work. Children must come to understand that food is merely fuel for the body and should not have any kind of emotional attachment. Parents who are aiming to help their children lose weight, really need to start on a psychological level, finding out why they overeat and making sure that they have their confidence built up in ways besides food, so that they can gradually stop needing food in this way.

Big Kids: Are Middle Class Children More Like...

A Leeds-based study has found that children are more likely to be obese if they come from middle-class areas. This is according to researchers from Leeds Metropolitan University, whose findings challenge the belief of many wellness experts that weight gain is a bigger problem among more ‘deprived’ children. For the three-year study, which was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Obesity, the investigators looked at the link between a measure of area-level deprivation and three measures of fatness in children; body mass index (BMI), waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio. The study’s authors pointed out that previous research, that indicates the prevalence of obesity is highest in more deprived groups, is limited by the fact that it relies on individual levels of deprivation (such as household income), rather than area-level deprivation (the proportion of households in a local area or community that are above or below a threshold for household income). The results of the study were that the three different measures of fatness provided difference statistics on the prevalence of obesity in the same 11 and 12 year-olds. Using BMI, the obesity levels were 18.6%, but they were 26.8% using waist circumference and 18.5% using waist-to-height ratio. The researchers also found no statistically significant linear relationship (a straight line on a graph) between area-level deprivation and obesity, but there was a non-linear pattern (more of a curve on a graph) between area-level deprivation and obesity across all three measures of fatness. This meant that middle-class children were the most likely to be obese, whereas obesity was the least probably in those in the highest and lowest areas of deprivation. There was also a distinct difference in the obesity-deprivation relationship between boys and girls, and the risk of being obese for girls peaked much higher in the middle deprivation range than it did for boys. The researchers also discovered that ‘non-white’ children were more likely to be obese than ‘White-British’ children. Based on the results, the researchers concluded there ‘are inconsistencies between the different measures of obesity’ and that ‘the relationship between obesity and deprivation does not seem to be linear’.

Obesity: Can a Microchip be the Answer?...

With obesity rates rising, doctors have been scratching their heads over the best – and safest way – to combat the disorder that seems to claim so many. Around the corner however, a new and mercifully-inexpensive augmentation may be key to curbing misbehaving appetites. You may be used to science fiction telling you the wonders (or the dilemmas) of microchips, but a small (“smaller-than-the-tip-of-your-finger” small!) one attached to your nerve may be key to quelling your need to over-eat. "This is a really small microchip and on this chip we've got the intelligence which can actually model the neural signals responsible for appetite control," Chris Toumazou, professor at Imperial College London and one of the inventors of the chip, told the BBC. The microchip would be attached to your vagus nerve – this is the nerve that controls your desire to eat, digest, heart rate and more. It's a very extensive range. In hindsight, Toumazou explained that the project was originally designed for children suffering from disorders such as cerebral palsy and epileptic seizures. The microchip in this case, used a piece of technology called MIMATE, which reads chemical signatures in the brain. Taking that very same technology, the microchip was then developed into something that could be beneficial for weight loss. What changed about the weight-loss microchip was that the chip didn't send stimulating impulses, but rather submits readings and signals to suppress the urge to eat. "As a result of monitoring these signals we can stimulate the brain to counter whatever we monitor," Toumazou said. "It will be control of appetite rather than saying don't eat completely. So maybe instead of eating fast you'll eat a lot slower." That's right – whether you know it or not, your body would be telling your brain off for eating more than you should! Creepy or creative? Inspiring or frightening? The microchip is still in development, but for many suffering from obesity, it may be the next best thing.

Free Diet App Helps Australians Count Calorie...

Obesity is considered a ticking health time bomb in the developed world with worldwide obesity having more than doubled since 1980. In Australia, around 14 million people (or 63% of the population) are considered overweight or obese, according to figures from the Australian Health Survey. Being overweight increases your risk of developing heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and osteoarthritis. In keeping with weight loss awareness campaigns, more than 100,000 Australians have so far downloaded a free calorie counter app, making the Easy Diet Diary the most popular diet app for iPhones in Australia. Developed by Brisbane company Xyris Software with the help of dieticians, the app helps users track their food intake daily and log their exercise and fitness. As smartphone users know, many apps are designed with weights and measures that are specific to their country of origin but don’t translate easily elsewhere. It was with that in mind that Xyris Software designed its app specifically for use in Australia, uploading up-to-date data and information on Australian foods. The app also allows savvy users to switch between calories and kilojoules. The app is useful for those who want to record their weight loss and fitness regime, and is also proving a useful tool for athletes who need to take note of everything they consume on a daily basis for their coaches and dieticians to monitor. The app works seamlessly with FoodWorks, nutritional analysis software that has also been developed and produced by Xyris Software. The Easy Diet Diary has a barcode scanner that works with more than 30,000 Australian food products. Users can track their intake of energy, nutrients and calories.

Walking To Lose Weight? Then Don’t Forget T...

Walking is fantastic exercise for three main reasons. It’s our primary way of getting about so you’ll walk every day anyway, it doesn’t require any special training and it’s not going to cost you a bomb in equipment expenses. You’ll lose more weight than you’d expect if you take up walking and even doing a little bit of extra exercise a day will help boost your weight loss potential! Essentially, all exercise is good exercise. If you’re interested in taking up walking then there are a couple of important things to remember and bits of kit you should make sure you have: Pedometer – Your constant companion throughout the day. How are you going to know how far you’ve gone and then beat that record if you don’t have a way to record it? Invest in a better quality pedometer but don’t break the bank. Some of the more advanced versions work with your smart phone to help chart your progress! Decent Shoes – Walking shoes ideally but trainers will do. You want comfortable footwear which isn’t going to rub against your feet and cause blisters or discomfort over longer periods of time. Hydrate – While exercising there’s nothing more important than keeping hydrated. Keep a bottle of water with you at all times while walking and remember to keep swigging from it to help maintain your stamina! Enjoy - Pick a route that you like and only do as much as you want to. If you enjoy the exercise then you’re more likely to keep doing it! It can be exhilarating to be out in the open air and experiencing the world, it can also be a fantastic way to relieve the tension of a long day. Stretch – To make sure you don’t strain yourself make sure you stretch before and after any exercise. Hamstrings, calves and upper body should be stretched out before and after you do anything.  

Can The Lemonade Diet Help You Lose Weight?...

There can be no doubt about it: many people are completely obsessed with their weight and their body image. Many of these people will do almost anything to lose weight and are constantly trying diets and other forms of shedding the pounds. This means that dieting is big business with desperate people always willing to spend money on the next big thing in weight loss.

One of the newest crazes is known as the lemonade diet. It is based on the principle of detoxing by fasting. The lemonade diet claims that it works by dissolving as well as eliminating toxins that may have formed in any parts of the body. It is reported to cleanse the digestive system and help to purify the cells that run through the entire body. This is done by eliminating all of the unusable waste and relieving pressure in the nerves and blood vessels. This way it can help to keep one youthful too.

This diet is recommended to be followed for at least ten days or even up to 40 days. It has been suggested that this regime can be repeated three to four times in a year and will still be effective. The basis of this diet is the intake of only citrus fruits that contain vitamin C but might put you at the risk of malnutrition due to a lack of various nutrients that is gotten from other sources.

As far as the concept detoxification is concerned, medical experts argues that the capacity of the body to detoxify will be greatly reduced due to lack of essential nutrients such as those that you can get from other foodstuffs.

Smartphone App Helps Dieters Shed Weight More...

Losing weight and maintaining that weight loss is a matter of watching what you eat and doing more exercise than before. But often dieters struggle to stick to their weight loss program without a little support and that’s where a new smartphone app is stepping in. The NHS in the UK has set up My Meal Mate, an app that allows dieters to monitor their exercise and food intake, and a trial shows that the app is helping them lose weight and keep that weight off. My Meal Mate can be downloaded from the NHS Choices website for free. It sets a weight loss target for the user and sends a text message weekly to update the user on their progress. A trial run by Leeds University’s School of Food Science & Nutrition involved 128 slimmers who were split into three groups to monitor their food intake and weight loss over a six-month period. Group one used the My Meal Mate app; group two used an online diary; and group three used a paper diary. The slimmers who used the app lost an average of 10lbs while the dieters using the other forms of a diary lost 6.5lbs on average over the same period. The app was used on average every other day during the trial while those using the paper diary only wrote in it on average once a week. Obesity is a growing health problem in the developed world – in the UK, it is estimated that the annual cost of treating obese and overweight people for the related health conditions is £1.5billion. The Leeds trial demonstrates that the latest technology can be put to good use in helping people shed the pounds. Calorie counting can be done more effectively using the smartphone app while keeping a food diary that can be updated in a few keystrokes allows users to track their food intake quickly. My Meal Mate can be downloaded for Android smartphones from NHS Choices.

What Everyone Should Know About The Benefit o...

Coconut water is one of the most undervalued food stuffs on the earth, even by those who  are very in tune with their diet and nutrition. It is actually one of the most important and useful super foods that there is, as well as being a naturally refreshing drink. Consumed all over the world, coconut water is absolutely packed full of benefits for your wellness. Second only to water itself, water is one of the most pure liquids known to man, and a regular intake is essential for your wellbeing. Naturally refreshing, coconut water is a great drink for a summer’s day, as it is filled with electrolytes, which the body often uses through perspiration in warmer weather. This includes potassium, which is essential for the function of the human body, and so a simple drink can help to replenish stores and make you feel better than any energy drink, fruit juice or soda. Unlike most drinks on the market, it is pure and natural, containing absolutely no additives and preservatives. Many drinks also include artificial sweeteners, but coconut water is naturally sweet without the need to resort to any of these chemicals. Coconut water can also be a natural weight loss aid, as it is a nourishing drink that allows people to feel full for longer, but is actually low in fat, chlorides and cholesterol. Diabetics may be particularly interested in trying coconut water, as it is naturally sweet but contains no sugar, and also contains many of the nutrients that actually help diabetics to keep their sugar levels under control. Drinking coconut water can also help to ward off some health complaints, such as kidney stones, because it works as a natural diuretic and helps to improve urine output, keeping the kidneys working and flowing.

How to Improve Your Fitness in a Few Very Eas...

Spring has arrived, and that means that there is no longer any excuse for not getting out of the house and enjoying the weather whilst improving your fitness at the same time. The benefits of exercise are well proven, and if you are seriously committed to improving your wellness and taking care of your wellbeing, you really need to get started on an exercise programme soon – and soon means today! Fitness doesn’t come for free – it requires lots of hard work and dedication, but we fully recognise that it is difficult to get started on a new exercise regime, particularly after such a long and cold winter as the one that we have just experienced. By following our simple steps, you will soon find that your fitness is increasing, your mood is improving, and your wellness is significantly altered.

1. Getting outdoors is the best thing that you can do. Even if it’s just walking rather than taking the bus, going for a gentle stroll or pottering around the garden, you will be unconsciously taking exercise, letting your blood flow increase and improving your health. Being active all day is even better for you than taking one short burst of structured exercise during the day.
2. Joining a sports club can be a really wise step. Spending time with other people who are exercising at the same time, and sometimes relying on you to turn up and plan, can be really motivating. You’re also likely to make new friends and the competitive spirit of clubs can also help to push you towards being the best that you can be.
3. Start slowly, rather than going at it full pelt and ending up injuring yourself. Fitness has to be built up gradually and the saying is quite literally true, that you should not try to run before you can walk!

Running Could Help You Develop a Healthy Hear...

Some recent newspaper reports have claimed that running is not as healthy for your body as walking, whilst others suggest that walking is as good as a run when it comes to reducing the risk of heart disease. So, how healthy is running for your body? Studies have found that both running and walking provide similar benefits for the body, such as lowering blood pressure, cholesterol, reducing the risk of diabetes and possibly lowering the risk of coronary heart disease. While there are limitations to the studies that have taken place, the moderate intensity of the exercises can really offer great benefits for your body and wellbeing. There are some downfalls to this theory. To start with, the study compared the risks in association with the same amount of energy expenditure, from walking or running. Of course, running is an intense and vigorous exercise which means that runners use more energy than walkers. If you intend to burn the same amount of energy from walking, you'd need to cover more ground. Participants in the study comprised of over 33,000 runners and nearly 16,000 walkers. These people were aged between 18 and 80 years old and were asked to complete a questionnaire about their height, weight, medical background and lifestyle. Other risk factors were taken into account, such as alcohol consumption and smoking. Researchers found that moderate exercise such as brisk walking helps to improve your wellbeing. While there are limitations, exercise such as this help to increase your metabolism, burn calories and increase your heart rate, which helps boost your circulatory system. Doctors and medical experts recommend regular exercise as part of a healthy lifestyle, so this could be a great way to boost your wellbeing and lower your risk of health concerns. It's advised that adults get around 150 minutes of physical activity each week, or walking 10,000 steps a day, in order to stay fit.

Can Exercise Help Ease The Pain Of Fibromyalg...

For any sufferer of Fibromyalgia, every painful muscle may cringe at the concept of exercise for fears that it may worsen the condition. Fibromyalgia symptoms are one of the grey areas of muscular disorders, with very few doctors able to tell who has it or whether it is “all in the mind”. Painfully misunderstood, the disorder causes joint pains, depression, tenderness and severe sleep disorders. The harsh reality of Fibromyalgia is that often, sufferers are treated like mental cases, rather than genuine sufferers of a debilitating illness. If diagnosed at all, the treatment can be just as severe as the disorder, with drugs such as Co-Codamol bearing some severe side-effects – of which also have to be combated by a further amount of drugs. With no known cure and no universal reason as to why it happens in the first place, sufferers are faced with an uphill struggle where everything and anything can cause a painful disturbance for their bodies. It's natural that as a result, their physical activity would hit a low. As such, the concept of exercise can become something of a morbid joke – but what if exercise was the answer? At first, many sufferers of Fibromyalgia may flinch at the idea of vigorous exercise – the concept is daunting because, understandably, they don't want to suffer pain. Depending on their current fitness levels, it has been suggested that Fibromylalgia sufferers can benefit from a “prescription” of aerobics, which can last between twice-weekly 10 minute to four-times weekly, 30 minute sessions. The intensity isn't high-level, but low to medium, which means that whilst earning a 60% maximum heart-rate, the body can still benefit without causing too much agony. Vigorous exercise means that the body benefits in the long-run. Starting off too harshly will cause more pain, but starting low and gradually building up is key to muscular improvement. In doing so, it is noted that pain doesn't increase, but that there were positive changes in symptoms that could suggest a lessening of a pain-killing cocktail of drugs.

Should we stop calling people 'overweight'?...

An MPs' report on body image has advocated the use of "weight-neutral language". So should we stop calling people "overweight"?

There are many people who would agree that using the term "fat" to somebody's face is neither helpful or pleasant.

But there's a growing movement to get doctors and other public health professionals to stop using words such as "overweight" and "obese" as well.

MPs think the terms have a negative impact on body image and self-esteem, and want doctors to promote broader health and lifestyle messages instead.

The idea has been gaining momentum for a while. A study by the University of Pennsylvania in January found the word "obesity" offensive, while Liverpool City Council considered banning the word in its literature aimed at children in 2010.

And in March, draft guidance issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence said those who were obese should merely be encouraged to get down to a "healthier weight".

But not everyone agrees. In 2010, the Public Health Minister for England, Anne Milton, said GPs should tell people they were fat rather than obese as it was more likely to motivate them into losing weight.

So does weight terminology need a rethink?

Dr Sarah Jarvis, a presenter on the BBC's One Show, says when it comes to a medical context, the words "overweight" and "obese" are necessary, largely because they are the framework for the body mass index (BMI).

"I don't want to make people feel bad, and appreciate some people may have problems with self-esteem, but when it comes to it, as a doctor, if you are too careful, you run the risk of people not understanding the health implications.

"The fact is BMI is the best indicator of likelihood of surviving to a later date - and if you get into the obese range, the chances are you are going to die from a condition related to obesity like heart disease. If you are overweight rather than obese, you are more likely to die early and have medical conditions," she says.

Jarvis says there are occasions when she chooses her language carefully, for example by never encouraging people to go on a diet - "as 90% of people that lose weight on a diet will put it, and more, back on within a year" - but to adopt a lifestyle instead.

But she says although she would never use the word fat in her surgery, as it has "childhood playground associations", she thinks talk of banning overweight is "political correctness gone mad".

"I do see how it is a delicate balancing act - on the one hand I don't want to be pejorative, or be mean, but at the same time the pendulum must not swing too far the other way.

"The facts are when I started training in 1993, 10% of the UK was obese and now 25% are. We are absolutely not moving the goalposts - we are getting fatter," she says.

Nigel Mercer, the president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, agrees that when it comes to someone who is seriously overweight, and it is a medical issue, "there is no pussyfooting around the issue".

But he says the key is "appropriate use of terminology for appropriate use".

"It depends on who comments are being levelled at - to a class of children, where there will be a distribution of body sizes, it is important to know being overweight can lead to diabetes, but it is more of a psychological issue than a health issue - and children can be extremely cruel," he says.

Mercer says for adults, part of the problem is people no longer filter what they say, and society should really keep more of its opinions to itself.

"I am a big bloke, and I would have no problem if a professional told me I was obese, but it would be entirely different if someone told me that in the street," he says.

Go Figure: Will we really keep getting fatter...

Quoted by BBC News: "Ready to play a data detective game? The case is obesity.

Your task is to decide which way the trend is going. Isn't that obvious? Here's the first piece of evidence.

Exhibit A: What people say about obesity in the UK.

We're in the midst of a fat explosion, basically, would be my summary of the public argument and media coverage, with recent projections that half of UK men will be obese by 2030 - and women not far behind.

That's the top end of expectations, rounded upwards, of course. The bottom end is that about 40% of UK men will be obese by 2030.

Exhibit B: The source of the reports.

The figures came from a series of articles in the Lancet. The authors point out that they are extrapolations of current data and the past might not be a good guide to the future.

Exhibit C: What is the currently available data?

Here in a chart is the latest data for England - not the whole UK, note.

Where do you reckon these wobbly lines are going? Still soaring upwards or turning flat-ish? And if flat-ish, what does that mean? Is it a temporary break in a long-term rise, or a real and lasting change of direction?

Some commentators suggest that this is not a rising tide but flat water.

What's your judgement? Time for more evidence.

Exhibit D: The data for obesity only, excluding the merely overweight.


What do you reckon now? Not such an evident flattening in the last decade but still a slower rate of increase, perhaps. Or still too soon to tell? And then there's the figure for 2009, the latest available, dipping like that. What do we make of it, if anything? It is only one year, after all. Mass weight-loss during the recession?

Whatever the explanation, if even the best-case recent projections are to prove accurate we'll need about a 90% rise in obesity in 21 years, after something a little above flat in the preceding nine years.

Exhibit E: Predictions for obesity made in the past.

These have tended to be on the high side. The one reported here suggested the figure for men would reach 33% by 2010 and 28% for women. That now looks way too pessimistic. But does the past, including past projection errors, provide any guide?

Exhibit F: How the latest projections look compared with the latest data.


Is it plausible that we will go from here to there? I wouldn't rule it out. But I'd also say that it looks as if the 2030 projections assume the recent decade is an aberration. But what do you think?

All right, enough with the exhibits. But you might still say you want more evidence. Good. Like, what's happening among children?

Or you might want international comparisons, or methodological evidence about whether the measurement changed in any way, by altering who's included in the survey or adjusting for non-response, which these surveys used not to do.

And how about the most serious cases of obesity, the morbidly obese or the numbers operated on for obesity by the NHS? Both sharply up in the last few years.

Then of course there's the rest of the UK. Scotland continued to go up a bit throughout the 2000s for adults, not so for children.

But perhaps most interesting of all, since these are average rates of obesity, are there differences of class?

Then it's decision time.

So, what do you think, Sherlock? We're all capable of a bit of sleuthing here, once presented with some data.

So you might say there's a lot of hype in obesity stats. You might say the lines are still mostly on the way up, even if not so fast, and that's bad enough. We're much fatter than we used to be a generation ago, no doubt about that.

But current trends are less clear, despite the headlines, let alone what will happen in the longer term. Or maybe you don't think so.

Go Figure has trouble understanding why data like this can't simply be presented to the public so that we can listen to the experts, look at their figures, then make up our own minds.

Interpreting ups and downs is seldom easy. Even when numbers go clearly in one direction, they tend to go up and down along the way. And whenever there are significant ups and downs and flats and wobbles, the question is how long you need to look before you know which way things are really going.

And this is only the "what" question, as in "what's happening?" We haven't touched the "why?".

The next few years will be fascinating. But watch the evidence, not the headlines. Fat could be in the balance."