Association Discovered Between Children's BMI And Working Mothers

Childhood obesity in the United States has more than tripled in the past three decades, and prior research has linked maternal employment to children's body mass index (BMI), a measure of their weight-for-height. A new study in the January/February issue of the journal Child Development has found that children's BMI rose the more years their mothers worked over their children's lifetimes.

Researchers at American University, Cornell University, and the University of Chicago used longitudinal information from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which was sponsored by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). They looked at 900 children in grades 3, 5, and 6 who lived in 10 cities across the country.

The researchers found that the total number of years mothers were employed had a small but cumulative influence on their children's BMI, which, over time, can lead to an increase in the likelihood of overweight or obesity. The findings were strongest among children in 5th and 6th grades. Surprisingly, changes in children's physical activity, time spent unsupervised, and time spent watching TV didn't explain the link between maternal employment and children's BMI. Moreover, the time of day moms worked wasn't significantly associated with children's BMI.

The reasons for these findings are not entirely clear. According to the authors, one possibility is that working parents have limited time for grocery shopping and food preparation. This may contribute to a greater reliance on eating out or eating prepared foods, which tend to be high in fat and calories.

Given that more than 70 percent of U.S. mothers with young children work, the importance of providing support to these families is clear. Based on their findings, the researchers call for efforts to expand the availability of affordable, readily accessible healthy foods, and to support and educate working parents about strategies for providing nutritious meals despite busy schedules.

"About a fifth of American children are considered obese, and childhood obesity has been associated with health, behavior, and academic problems in adolescence and adulthood," according to Taryn W. Morrissey, assistant professor in public administration and policy at American University, who led the study.

"Community- and school-based programs offer promise for promoting healthy weight by providing information to children and their families about nutrition and exercise, as well as how to make quick, healthy meals."

The study was supported by NICHD.

Source:
Sarah Hutcheon
Society for Research in Child Development

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Solid Foods Before 4 Months Can Raise Obesity Risk For Bottle-Fed Babies

Bottle-fed babies who ate solid foods before the age of 4 months were six times more likely to be obese at the age of 3 years than those that started later, said US researchers who also found that the timing of solid food introduction made no difference in the case of breastfed babies.

You can read how Dr Susanna Y Huh of the Division of Gastroenterology, Children's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues, carried out their study, in the March issue of Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). An early edition appeared online on 7 February.

Huh and colleagues studied 847 children enrolled in Project Viva, which has been collecting data on a cohort of children from pre-birth onwards.

The main outcome measure they were interested in was obesity at age 3 years. This was defined as having a BMI (the child's weight in kilo divided by the square of the height in metres) equal to or above the 95th percentile on the standard growth chart for that age and gender.

The researchers also took note of when each child started having solid foods as a baby. They categorized this in three periods, before 4 months old, between 4 and 5 months old, and at 6 months old or later.

They analyzed the data for babies breastfed for at least 4 months (the "breastfed" group) separately from that on babies that were never breastfed or stopped breastfeeding before 4 months (the "formula-fed" group) and adjusted the results to take into account child and mother characteristics, including early infant growth.

The results showed that: 568 (67%) of the babies were breastfed and 279 (32%) were formula-fed for at least the first 4 months of their lives.
75 (9%) of the children were obese at age 3 years.
Among the breastfed babies, the timing of solid food introduction was not linked to risk of obesity (odds ratio OR 1.1, with 95% Confidence Interval CI ranging from 0.3 to 4.4).
Among the formula-fed babies, starting solid foods before the age of 4 months was linked to a six-fold increase in risk of being obese by age 3 years, and this was not explained by rapid early growth (OR after adjustment 6.3; 95% CI: 2.3-6.9).Huh and colleagues suggested sticking more closely to the guidelines on when to introduce babies to solid foods may reduce the risk of childhood obesity.

They also noted that about one in four babies in the US is never breastfed, and about half are breastfed for less than 4 months.

The AAP recommends waiting until babies are between 4 and 6 months old before introducing them to solid foods.

The World Health Organization (WHO) currently recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for their first six months of life, with "continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond".

However, in a recent BMJ study, researchers said while they supported the WHO recommendation of six months exclusive breastfeeding for babies in countries where access to clean water and safer weaning foods may not be available to everyone, they questioned whether waiting so long was right for babies in the UK.

"Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children."
Huh, Susanna Y., Rifas-Shiman, Sheryl L., Taveras, Elsie M., Oken, Emily, Gillman, Matthew W.
Pediatrics, Published online 7 February 2011
DOI:10.1542/peds.2010-0740

Additional sources: American Academy of Pediatrics (press release, 7 Feb 2011), MNT Archives, WHO.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

posted by M McMahon on 9 Feb 2011 at 12:35 am

If the author of this piece doesn't know the diference between a study and an opinion piece (BMJ article on the introduction of solids quoted) then I'm afraid I won't be reading this website in future.

There have been NO new studies on weaning age and the science still clearly points to 6m exclusive breastfeeding as optimal. Please try not to take part the press campaign to undermine that message from the UK Govt and WHO

| post followup | alert a moderator |

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

People Warned Over Adulterated Herbal Weight Loss Pill, UK

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is advising people not to use the herbal weight loss product 'Herbal Flos Lonicerae (Herbal Xenicol) Natural Weight Loss Formula' due to concerns over possible side effects.

The product is believed to be widely available over the internet as well as in some traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) outlets in the UK.

Anyone currently using this product should stop taking it and consult their healthcare professional immediately.

This issue was bought to the Agency's attention by a concerned GP after one patient was hospitalised and several others reported suffering a range of side effects including palpitations, severe gastritis and abdominal pain, as well as insomnia after taking the capsules.

Herbal Flos Lonicerae (Herbal Xenicol) Natural Weight Loss Formula is believed to contain an undeclared pharmaceutical substance and is currently undergoing laboratory testing.

MHRA Head of Herbal Medicines Policy, Richard Woodfield, said: "Since 2005, the MHRA has found over 280 examples where so-called 'herbal' or 'natural' products have been adulterated with random quantities of powerful pharmaceutical substances. Such products pose a real risk to the public.

"It is situations such as this one that the Traditional Herbal Registration (THR) scheme is being introduced and why EU legislation has been changed in order to regulate herbal medicines.

"People have a right to know that what they are putting into their bodies to treat one condition will not directly cause a possibly more severe one simply as a result of very poor practice in parts of the sector.

"The THR scheme will make it possible to give people clear advice on which herbal products are safe to use, and provide an assurance that they were made in adequate conditions, and to the necessary standard."

Source:
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Study Links Physical Activity To Political Participation

How is going for a jog like voting for president? As far as our brains are concerned, physical activity and political activity are two sides of the same coin. Scientists found that people who live in more active states are also more likely to vote. And in an experiment, volunteers who were exposed to active words like "go" and "move" said they were more likely to vote than did people who saw words like "relax" and "stop."

The study was inspired by research showing that brains lump all kinds of activity together. For instance, a message that's meant to promote fitness - physical activity - can also trigger people to eat more - another kind of activity, and with the exact opposite result. Kenji Noguchi of the University of Southern Mississippi, Ian M. Handley of Montana State University, and Dolores Albarracín of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were inspired by the 2008 presidential election to see if the same was true for political activity.

For a new study published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, the researchers pulled together data on how often people exercise, diabetes rates, obesity, and use of amphetamines and other stimulants, to create an "action-tendency index" for the 50 states. They ranked states, from the movers and shakers of Colorado, Alaska, and Oregon to slower-paced Mississippi, West Virginia, and Tennessee. The states' ranking for physical activity roughly corresponded with voter turnout in the 2004 election.

The researchers also tested this link with experiments. In one experiment before the 2008 election, students completed words with some letters missing - so they were exposed to words like "go" and "active" or "relax" and "paralyze." Students who had encountered active words were more likely to say they would vote in the presidential election than students who worked with words like "freeze."

This link to physical activity could be used to encourage people to vote, says Albarracín. "It could be anything from promoting voting in a sports context to connecting voting to a self-help context that encourages being proactive - that's a big audience that's thinking about how to improve their own lives and may not otherwise think of doing so politically. This might be easier than getting politically naïve or uninvolved people to vote because they care about politics per se."

Source:
Keri Chiodo
Association for Psychological Science

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Gastric Bypass Could Improve Heart Function In the Severely Obese

Weight loss resulting from gastric bypass surgery could improve heart function in people with severe obesity, according to two-year findings from the Utah Obesity Study, published this week.

You can read about the study, by Dr Dr Theophilus Owan of the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, and colleagues, online in the 8 February issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Owan and colleagues wrote in their background information that while gastric bypass surgery, a type of procedure that leaves the functional part of the stomach much smaller, is increasingly being used to help severely obese people lose weight, there has been little research on other effects, such as risk factors for heart disease.

Also, while studies have shown there is a link between obesity and cardiovascular disease, it is poorly understood, except to say that obese people often show signs of changes to the structure of the heart.

So for this study, using data available from the two-year results of the Utah Obesity Study, Owan and colleagues set out to test the suggestion, as has been hinted at by other studies, that gastric bypass surgery changes the structure and function of the heart to the benefit of the patient.

They used data from 423 severely obese patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery and from a control group of 733 severely obese counterparts who did not have the surgery.

The results showed that: At the two-year follow up, gastric bypass patients had a significantly large reduction in BMI (Body Mass Index, a measure of obesity that compares a person's weight in kilos to their height in metres squared) compared to the controls (average of -15.4, plus or minus 7.2 kg/m2, versus -0.03 plus or minus 4.0, p<0.0001).
They also experienced significant reductions in waist size, systolic blood pressure, heart rate, triglycerides, LDL ("bad") cholesterol, and insulin resistance, and increase in HDL ("good") cholesterol.
The gastric bypass group showed reductions in "left ventricular (LV) mass index and right ventricular (RV) cavity area" (increases in these two areas have been linked to cardiovascular disease in obese people).
Also, while left atrial volume did not change in the surgery group it increased in the controls.
The surgery group also experienced structural changes in addition to reductions in chamber sizes: there was an "increased LV midwall fractional shortening and RV fractional area change".
Further analysis showed that age, change in BMI, severity of nocturnal hypoxemia, E/E' (a measure of LV filling pressure), and gender were independently associated with LV mass index.
However, whether a patient had surgery or not, change in waist circumference and change in insulin resistance were not linked with LV mass index.The researchers concluded that: "Marked weight loss in patients undergoing GBS [gastric bypass surgery] was associated with reverse cardiac remodeling and improved LV and RV function."

They suggested these findings "support the use of bariatric surgery to prevent cardiovascular complications in severe obesity".

Speculating on the underlying links between gastric bypass surgery and changes to heart function, such as the change in left-ventricular mass, they pointed out that losing a lot of weight after bariatric surgery could set off a number of changes that lead to this kind of outcome.

Some studies have suggested there is a link between "central obesity" and change in left-ventricular structure, but this study did not confirm that, leading Owan and colleagues to suggest it is perhaps obesity in general as opposed to being obese around the middle, that drives the links with cardiovascular risks.

Although this was not a randomized study, the authors also strongly suggest it was the weight loss and not some other effect such as changes in hormones caused by the surgery, that is responsible for the differences they found between the two groups.

"Favorable Changes in Cardiac Geometry and Function Following Gastric Bypass Surgery: 2-Year Follow-Up in the Utah Obesity Study."
Owan, Theophilus, Avelar, Erick, Morley, Kimberly, Jiji, Ronny, Hall, Nathaniel, Krezowski, Joseph, Gallagher, James, Williams, Zachary, Preece, Kevin, Gundersen, Nancy, Strong, Michael B., Pendleton, Robert C., Segerson, Nathan, Cloward, Tom V., Walker, James M., Farney, Robert J., Gress, Richard E., Adams, Ted D., Hunt, Steven C., Litwin, Sheldon E.
J Am Coll Cardiol, 8 February 2011, 57: 732-739.
DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2010.10.017

Additional source: theheart.org.

Written by: Catharine Paddock, PhD
Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

HHS Official, Dr. Koh, Joins Cambridge Officials To Celebrate 1st Anniversary Of First Lady's Campaign To End Childhood Obesity

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard K. Koh joined Cambridge Mayor David Maher and other local officials at the Haggerty School to celebrate First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! initiative. The campaign, which aims to end childhood obesity within a generation, was launched one year ago this week.

As part of the celebration, Dr. Koh - a Cambridge native, a former Massachusetts Commissioner of Public Health and a former Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at the Harvard School of Public Health - declared the city of Cambridge to be the nation's newest Let's Move! city. Cambridge officials committed their continued support of the city's comprehensive approach to promoting healthier foods, increasing physical activity opportunities, helping parents make healthy family choices and making healthy food more affordable and accessible.

Cambridge is considered a national leader in healthy weight promotion and was lauded for creating a healthier environment for children through its innovative approaches to physical activity, offering healthier and locally grown foods in its school meals' program, producing health and fitness progress reports, establishing school gardens in all elementary schools and developing model school nutrition policies.

The Cambridge ceremony is one of 18 similar events taking place across the nation to highlight progress achieved in the past year.

"Over the last year we've fundamentally changed the conversation about how we eat, how we move and how we get our food. Communities across the country, like Cambridge, are implementing creative solutions to ending childhood obesity," said Mrs. Obama. "Together, we're making a real difference in the lives of children and today there's a real sense of hope that we can end childhood obesity."

The Let's Move! campaign has an ambitious national goal of solving the challenge of childhood obesity within a generation through a comprehensive approach by engaging every sector impacting the health of children. It seeks to put children on the path to a healthy future starting with their earliest months and years, give parents the information they need to make healthy choices for their families, provide healthier foods in our schools, ensure that every family has access to healthy, affordable food; and help kids become more physically active.

"We salute the heroes who are dedicated to reducing childhood obesity," said Dr. Koh. "Cambridge has excelled in promoting and launching these elements into its 'Healthy Living Cambridge Kids' program. We encourage more communities around the nation to lead by example."

Over the past three decades, childhood obesity rates in America have tripled. Today, almost one in every three children in our nation is overweight or obese. The numbers are even higher in African American, Hispanic and American Indian/Alaska Native communities, where 40% of the children are overweight or obese. If we don't solve this problem, one third of all children born in 2000 or later could suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives. Many others will face chronic obesity-related health problems like heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma.

Since the First Lady launched her initiative last year, individuals and organizations around the country have come together to develop innovative solutions and implement new programs. Key accomplishments achieved in the first year of the Let's Move! initiative include:

- For the first time in three decades, the President signed groundbreaking legislation (Healthy, Hunger Free Kids Act) into law, allowing for changes people had sought for years, and enacting the most meaningful and comprehensive change to food in schools we've seen in a generation.

- Walmart, one of the nation's largest retail stores, announced a new Nutrition Charter that is designed to bring healthier and more affordable foods to the 140 million customers who shop at its stores each week.

- Sport leagues, including the National Hockey League, the US Tennis Association, and Major League Baseball, have teamed up with Let's Move! to air public service announcements. Last summer we launched the Presidential Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition. Through this outreach, kids are inspired by their favorite athletes to play sports and get active.

- The American Academy of Pediatrics has pledged that 100 percent of its doctors will screen for BMI and we're working with family physicians to measure BMI during Well Child visits. The new Affordable Care Act right now requires all new health insurance plans to cover screening for childhood obesity and counseling from doctors without a co-pay or any other payment.

- And faith groups from all across the country have committed to walking 3 million miles and hosting 10,000 community gardens or farmers markets.

- Nearly 500 communities across the country have become Let's Move! Cities and Towns.

To learn more about the Let's Move! initiative and download action plans for communities, schools and parents, go here.

Source:
HHS

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here

Researchers Receive NIMH Brain Awards

Two Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) faculty members, Pietro Cottone, PhD, an assistant professor of pharmacology and psychiatry and Michael Silverstein, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics, were each awarded the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientisits (BRAINS) grant with ten other investigators from around the country. The BRAINS award called for innovative and groundbreaking research projects from early stage investigators to explore the complex mechanisms underlying mental disorders or novel treatments and prevention strategies.

The BRAINS initiative was created to support the research programs and career development of outstanding scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers and who plan to make a long term commitment to research most relevant to NIMH. This award seeks to assist these individuals in launching an innovative clinical, translational, or basic research program that holds the potential to profoundly transform the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, or prevention of mental disorders.

Cottone, whose research explores the neural mechanisms underlying addictive disorders summarizes his proposal. "We propose that a history of dieting and relapse represents a vicious circle between stress and compulsive eating. In other words, the next attempt to avoid junk food is going to be more painful and stressful than the previous one, and the likelihood of relapse will progressively increase. We propose that during dieting the endocannabinoids (chemicals of the brains that protect from stress and promote the consumption of our favorite foods) are released to try to fight this stressful condition but on the other side they also increase our craving for junk food. Therefore blockade of the endocannabinoid action on one hand reduces compulsive eating, but on the other hand it induces anxiety and depression. This proposal will clarify the mechanisms linking eating disorders and obesity to anxiety and mood disorders."

Silverstein is studying maternal depression and is exploring detection and treatment options in the community setting, using for example, programs like Head Start and Early Intervention. He is experimenting with motivational interviewing and cognitive behavior therapy. "Our project is a community-based maternal depression prevention trial that enrolls young mothers at risk for developing major depressive disorder. The project takes place in Head Start and aims to enroll 230 women over five years."

"While these awards fund specific projects, they are truly an investment in specific people," said NIMH director Thomas R. Insel, MD. Inspired by the success of the NIH Director's Pioneer Awards and New Innovator Awards, both of which are designed to provide support for innovative research that has the potential for unusually high impact on health science. "The hope is that BRAINS awards will give early stage investigators enough flexibility to take risks on tough problems that are central to neuroscience and to the understanding of mental illness, such as the nature and development of neural circuits and the genetic factors and environmental influences that both shape and disrupt them," he adds.

The BRAINS program awards up to $1.625 million over five years for early career scientists focusing on a gap area identified in the Institute's Strategic Plan.

Source:
Gina DiGravio
Boston University Medical Center

Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions.

All opinions are moderated before being added.

Please note that we publish your name, but we do not publish your email address. It is only used to let you know when your message is published. We do not use it for any other purpose. Please see our privacy policy for more information.

If you write about specific medications or operations, please do not name health care professionals by name.

Contact Our News Editors

For any corrections of factual information, or to contact the editors please use our feedback form.

Please send any medical news or health news press releases to:

View the original article here