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All are myths or at least presumptions that may not be true, say researchers who reviewed the science behind some widely held obesity beliefs and found it lacking. Their report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine says dogma and fallacies are detracting from real solutions to the nation's weight problems. "The evidence is what matters," and many feel-good ideas repeated by well-meaning health experts just don't have it, said the lead author, David Allison, a biostatistician at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Independent researchers say the authors have some valid points. But many of the report's authors also have deep financial ties to food, beverage and weight-loss product makers - the disclosures take up half a page of fine print in the journal. "It raises questions about what the purpose of this paper is" and whether it's aimed at promoting drugs, meal replacement products and bariatric surgery as solutions, said Marion Nestle, a New York University professor of nutrition and food studies. "The big issues in weight loss are how you change the food environment in order for people to make healthy choices," such as limits on soda sizes and marketing junk food to children, she said. Some of the myths they cite are "straw men" issues, she said.
But some are pretty interesting. Sex, for instance. Not that people do it to try to lose weight, but claims that it burns 100 to 300 calories are common, Allison said. Yet the only study that scientifically measured the energy output found that sex lasted six minutes on average - "disappointing, isn't it?" - and burned a mere 21 calories, about as much as walking, he said. That's for a man. The study was done in 1984 and didn't measure the women's experience. Among the other myths or assumptions the authors cite, based on their review of the most rigorous studies on each topic:
-Small changes in diet or exercise lead to large, long-term weight changes. Fact: The body adapts to changes, so small steps to cut calories don't have the same effect over time, studies suggest. At least one outside expert agrees with the authors that the "small changes" concept is based on an "oversimplified" 3,500-calorie rule, that adding or cutting that many calories alters weight by one pound.
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For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful. Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers. The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.
Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated. "Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools. The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.
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More than 24 million Americans have diabetes, mostly Type 2, the kind that is on the rise because of obesity. About two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight, including one-third who are obese. Weighing too much increases the chances of heart disease, cancer and premature death. But some small studies have suggested this might not be true for everyone, and that Type 2 diabetics might even benefit from a few extra pounds a "metabolic reserve" to help get them through sickness.
The new research which looked at deaths according to how much people weighed when they were diagnosed with diabetes dispels that idea. "We didn't see this protective effect at all," said one study leader, Diedre Tobias of the Harvard School of Public Health. "The lowest risk was seen in the normal-weight category." The National Institutes of Health and the American Diabetes Association paid for the work. Results are in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. "It's a very convincing study" and large enough to give a clear answer, said one independent expert, Dr. Patrick Remington, associate dean for public health at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
It involved 11,427 female nurses and male health professionals diagnosed with diabetes sometime after enrolling in two long-running health studies. They were grouped according to body mass index, a measure of height and weight. People with a BMI over 25 are considered overweight, and 30 or higher, obese. A 5-foot-8-inch person would be overweight at 164 pounds and obese at 197. During more than 15 years of follow-up, there were 3,083 deaths. The lowest risk was among those in the normal range BMIs of 22.5 to 25. For the rest, researchers saw a J-shaped curve deaths trended higher at both extremes. Being just a little overweight did not substantially raise the risk of death, but the trend was in that direction. The study was big enough that researchers could look at subgroups. For those under 65 when they were diagnosed with diabetes, the risk of death rose directly in relation to BMI. The same was true of people who had never smoked.
Trends for smokers and people over 65 were less uniform. Smokers had higher death rates in general. Smoking suppresses appetite and contributes to lower weight, but contributes so strongly to many diseases that it can overshadow and complicate efforts to measure the effect of weight alone, Tobias said. Older people have many other health conditions that also make it hard to see the effect of BMI. The results support guidelines urging people to keep a healthy weight, said Dr. Donna Ryan of Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Even though being modestly overweight did not raise the risk of dying very much in this study, many others show that it impairs quality of life by contributing to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and other problems, she said. Ryan said she doubted that overweight people would think it's OK to be a little pudgy. "Are you kidding?" she said. "Everybody is trying to lose weight."
Yahoo!
It's been alarming to watch my fellow American grow fatter and fatter and fatter over the last six decades.
Not a clue what's causing it, really but seriously...people are becoming fatter on average.
Its especially sad that so many kids are fat by the time they're in HS.
It was NOT like this 40 years ago.
If you were really fat it was not common.
Now not being fat is unusual.
It's been alarming to watch my fellow American grow fatter and fatter and fatter over the last six decades.
Not a clue what's causing it, really but seriously...people are becoming fatter on average.
Its especially sad that so many kids are fat by the time they're in HS.
It was NOT like this 40 years ago.
If you were really fat it was not common.
Now not being fat is unusual.
It's been alarming to watch my fellow American grow fatter and fatter and fatter over the last six decades.
Not a clue what's causing it, really but seriously...people are becoming fatter on average.
Its especially sad that so many kids are fat by the time they're in HS.
It was NOT like this 40 years ago.
If you were really fat it was not common.
Now not being fat is unusual.
don't eat too much and you won't be fat.
Period.
Where is my Noble prize award?
it's amazing to which lengths idiots will go to avoid the simply truth - obesity is linked to eating TOO MUCH - that's ALL
btw. so-called "study" which has not adjusted for any other biases is laughable, to say the least.
if you follow a group of people for 18 years you might find that wearing sneakers and flat shoes is linked to obesity as well
I can even guarantee you that
Honest to God if we want to do something about the obesity problem among our kids, the answer is simple. Make physical education a required part of our kids' education on a daily basis from grade 1 through 12. They can make the school day longer, and yes it would cost school districts some money, but the benefit would far outweigh the cost. Truthfully, we should be looking at obesity as a national epidemic, because it is one. As much as many people worry about what our kids are eating, the food really is not the biggest problem; it's the lack of exercise.
Importance of Physical Education
Myth number 5: Physical-education classes, in their current form, play an important role in reducing or preventing childhood obesity.
Physical education, as typically provided, has not been shown to reduce or prevent obesity. Findings in three studies that focused on expanded time in physical education indicated that even though there was an increase in the number of days children attended physical-education classes, the effects on body-mass index (BMI) were inconsistent across sexes and age groups. Two meta-analyses showed that even specialized school-based programs that promoted physical activity were ineffective in reducing BMI or the incidence or prevalence of obesity. There is almost certainly a level of physical activity (a specific combination of frequency, intensity, and duration) that would be effective in reducing or preventing obesity. Whether that level is plausibly achievable in conventional school settings is unknown, although the dose–response relationship between physical activity and weight warrants investigation in clinical trials.
It's been alarming to watch my fellow American grow fatter and fatter and fatter over the last six decades.
Not a clue what's causing it, really but seriously...people are becoming fatter on average.
Its especially sad that so many kids are fat by the time they're in HS.
It was NOT like this 40 years ago.
If you were really fat it was not common.
Now not being fat is unusual.
don't eat too much and you won't be fat.
Period.
Where is my Noble prize award?
Starving the body is not a good thing. Lack of exercise is the bigger problem. People who get enough exercise can eat quite a bit and not gain weight. The body is meant to be used, not just to sit around and get fat. I eat over 3000 calories per day, and I only weigh 140 lbs.
Researchers found 17% of boys and 9% of girls under the age of 19 were obese in 2014, up from 1% for each in 1985. The 29-year study, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, involved nearly 28,000 students in Shandong province. The study used a stricter cut-off of the Body Mass Index (BMI) than the World Health Organization standard. "It is the worst explosion of childhood and adolescent obesity that I have ever seen," Joep Perk from the European Society of Cardiology told AFP news agency.
The study said China's rapid socioeconomic and nutritional transition had led to an increase in energy intake and a decrease in physical activity. The traditional Chinese diet had shifted towards a diet "with high fat, high energy density and low dietary fibre".
A nurse taking the blood pressure of an overweight youth during his acupuncture and exercise treatment at the Aimin (Love the People) Fat Reduction Hospital in the northern port city of Tianjin.
'Preference for sons'
The data was taken from six government surveys of rural school children in Shandong aged between seven and 18. The percentage of overweight children has also grown from 0.7% to 16.4% for boys and from 1.5% to nearly 14% for girls, the study said. On the reason for the higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in boys, the study says: "The traditional, societal preference for sons, particularly in rural areas, may mean that boys are likely to enjoy more of the family's resources."
The WHO classifies a BMI - the ratio of weight-to-height squared - of 25-29.9 as overweight and from 30 upwards obese. This study used a lower cut-off of 24-27.9 for overweight and 28 and above for obese. The researchers recommend that "comprehensive strategies of intervention should include periodic monitoring, education on the pattern of nutrition, physical exercises and healthy dietary behaviour".
China: Obesity 'explosion' in rural youth, study warns - BBC News