FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - There is an epidemic in an old gold mining town in western Arizona: The wild burros that roam the town's single street are overweight, with rolls of fat on their necks and big, full bellies. But don't blame them. They'll eat anything.
It's the half million tourists who visit tiny Oatman each year. They're the ones who have been feeding these critters carrots, hay or anything else, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says.
The agency, which manages the burros, has launched a campaign it hopes will eventually steer the burros back into the desert to forage for grass and shrubs � and get them back into shape.
"The town has really encouraged burros to be down there; it's part of the draw of Oatman," said Roger Oyler, the program lead for wild horses and burros at the BLM in Phoenix. "We want to try to work with them to have burros around town, but we don't want the people feeding them."
Oatman attracts tourists wanting to see the honeymoon spot of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard and ogle the wild burros. The town of about 120 also boasts staged shootouts, tour bus holdups and shotgun weddings in a throwback to the Wild West.
The dozen burros that roam the street lined with antique, craft and gift shops are descendants of domesticated donkeys that miners released when the federal government shut down the gold mines after World War II.
"If it weren't for the burros, the rest of us wouldn't be here," says Jerry Love, who has worn many hats at the local chamber of commerce.
The BLM acknowledges that its campaign to stop feeding the burros will be a hard sell but likens it to when Yellowstone National Park told visitors there to stop feeding the bears. "As the feed is diminished over time, I think they'll start wandering out and remember what's out there for dinner," Oyler said.
Oatman storekeepers have been asked to stop feeding the burros or providing the treats the animals are so accustomed to. The BLM also has drafted scripts for gunfighters and shop owners that tell tourists quite bluntly that the burros are fat and are being loved to death.
Some slogans that could end up on posters or signs around town include, "No Diet-Busting Cubes or Carrots � Please!" "Keep Oatman Burros Happy and Healthy � No Extra Food," and "Give Burros Care, not Carrots."
The BLM says the burros that don't come into town are a lot healthier and don't have behavioral problems or pain caused by their hooves growing to a thickness that makes it hard for them to walk. "It's a matter of educating the public, but it's not going to happen overnight," Love said. "We don't want to discourage people from coming here because they can't feed the burros."
Love believes that the burros will roam the town regardless of whether they are hand-fed by tourists, but he said he doubts that all tourists will heed the BLM's message.
"BLM is certainly not going to put a carrot cop up here to make sure that nobody feeds the burros," he said. "They don't have the funding nor the manpower."
Jolene Brown, who owns Amargosa Toads, understands the premise of not feeding the animals, but said to cut them off completely from food is wrong.
The animals have been demanding, lately, kicking in the door to her gift shop and chewing at the door panel and on books because they're not getting the food they're used to, she said.
"I'm sure they can learn to forage, but people come from the entire world to feed the burros," said Brown, who refers to herself as the burros' grandma. "I don't agree to feed wild animals at all, but if they have been fed their whole lives, how can you take that away?"
If the burros are unable to fend for themselves and become too skinny, Oyler said the BLM has the option of rounding them up and putting them up for adoption.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
In serious debt? You're also more likely obese
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
People who are heavily in debt are more likely to be heavy themselves, too, according to new research from Germany.
"Overindebted" people - defined as those who would find it impossible to pay off debts in a reasonable time frame � were about twice as likely to be overweight as the general population. They were more than 2.5 times as likely to be obese, Eva Muenster of the University of Mainz and her colleagues found.
European countries, as well as the United States, have seen a sharp rise in the percentage of people who are overindebted, Muenster and her team say. Estimates are that 3 million households - 7.6 percent - of German households fit into the "over-indebted" criteria.
Socioeconomic status is clearly linked to health, the researchers add, but techniques now used to measure it don't take debt into account. To investigate how debt might affect health, they surveyed 949 people who were receiving counseling for debt and insolvency at centers in two German states, comparing them to 8,318 people who participated in a 2003 telephone health survey and were considered to represent a slice of the general population that was not indebted.
The indebted individuals were younger, less educated, and less wealthy, and were also more likely to be depressed, overweight, or obese, the researchers found. About 11 percent of the general population was obese, compared to 25 percent of the indebted group. The indebted individuals were also more likely to smoke every day.
After taking these factors into account, Muenster and her colleagues found that being overindebted was associated with a 1.97-fold greater likelihood of being overweight, and a 2.56-fold greater risk of obesity.
Psychological factors could contribute to the greater risk of being overweight or obese among indebted people, Muenster and her team note, who may eat to cope with stress and depression. Healthy foods may be less affordable for them, the researchers add, while "energy-dense food such as sweets or fatty snacks are often less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as fruit or vegetables."
The findings don't rule out the possibility that overweight or obese people are more likely to get into debt because they have a tougher time finding a job or make less money than slimmer people, the researchers note.
Muenster and her colleagues conclude by calling for investigators looking at socioeconomic status and health to include indebtedness in their analyses, along with standard measures like income and education.
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online August 7, 2009.
People who are heavily in debt are more likely to be heavy themselves, too, according to new research from Germany.
"Overindebted" people - defined as those who would find it impossible to pay off debts in a reasonable time frame � were about twice as likely to be overweight as the general population. They were more than 2.5 times as likely to be obese, Eva Muenster of the University of Mainz and her colleagues found.
European countries, as well as the United States, have seen a sharp rise in the percentage of people who are overindebted, Muenster and her team say. Estimates are that 3 million households - 7.6 percent - of German households fit into the "over-indebted" criteria.
Socioeconomic status is clearly linked to health, the researchers add, but techniques now used to measure it don't take debt into account. To investigate how debt might affect health, they surveyed 949 people who were receiving counseling for debt and insolvency at centers in two German states, comparing them to 8,318 people who participated in a 2003 telephone health survey and were considered to represent a slice of the general population that was not indebted.
The indebted individuals were younger, less educated, and less wealthy, and were also more likely to be depressed, overweight, or obese, the researchers found. About 11 percent of the general population was obese, compared to 25 percent of the indebted group. The indebted individuals were also more likely to smoke every day.
After taking these factors into account, Muenster and her colleagues found that being overindebted was associated with a 1.97-fold greater likelihood of being overweight, and a 2.56-fold greater risk of obesity.
Psychological factors could contribute to the greater risk of being overweight or obese among indebted people, Muenster and her team note, who may eat to cope with stress and depression. Healthy foods may be less affordable for them, the researchers add, while "energy-dense food such as sweets or fatty snacks are often less expensive compared to food with lower energy density such as fruit or vegetables."
The findings don't rule out the possibility that overweight or obese people are more likely to get into debt because they have a tougher time finding a job or make less money than slimmer people, the researchers note.
Muenster and her colleagues conclude by calling for investigators looking at socioeconomic status and health to include indebtedness in their analyses, along with standard measures like income and education.
SOURCE: BMC Public Health, online August 7, 2009.
Friday, August 28, 2009
New fat-fighting drug has anti-diabetes action too
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
Researchers searching for a cure for obesity said on Thursday they have developed a drug that not only makes mice lose weight, but reverses diabetes and lowers their cholesterol, too.
The drug, which they have dubbed fatostatin, stops the body from making fat, instead releasing the energy from food. They hope it may lead to a pill that would fight obesity, diabetes and cholesterol, all at once.
Writing in the journal Chemistry and Biology, Salih Wakil of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, Motonari Uesugi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues said the drug interferes with a suite of genes turned on by overeating.
"Here, we are tackling the basics," Wakil said in a telephone interview. "I think that is what excited us."
Scientists are painfully aware that drugs that can make mice thin do nothing of the sort in humans. A hormone called leptin can make rats and mice drop weight almost miraculously but does little or nothing for an obese person, for instance.
But Wakil, whose team has patented the drug and is looking for a drug company to partner with, hopes this drug may be different. "I am very, very optimistic," he said.
Fatostatin is a small molecule, meaning it has the potential to be absorbed in pill form.
It works on so-called sterol regulatory element binding proteins or SREBPs, which are transcription factors that activate genes involved in making cholesterol and fatty acids.
"Fatostatin blocked increases in body weight, blood glucose, and hepatic (liver) fat accumulation in (genetically) obese mice, even under uncontrolled food intake," the researchers wrote.
Genetic tests showed the drug affected 63 different genes.
The idea of interfering with SREBP is not new. GlaxSmithKline has been working on a new-generation cholesterol drug that uses this pathway.
After four weeks, mice injected with fatostatin weighed 12 percent less and had 70 percent lower blood sugar levels, the researchers wrote.
Now they plan to test rats and rabbits, Wakil said.
The drug also had effects on prostate cancer cells they said � something that may help explain links between prostate cancer and obesity.
Researchers searching for a cure for obesity said on Thursday they have developed a drug that not only makes mice lose weight, but reverses diabetes and lowers their cholesterol, too.
The drug, which they have dubbed fatostatin, stops the body from making fat, instead releasing the energy from food. They hope it may lead to a pill that would fight obesity, diabetes and cholesterol, all at once.
Writing in the journal Chemistry and Biology, Salih Wakil of Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, Motonari Uesugi of Kyoto University in Japan and colleagues said the drug interferes with a suite of genes turned on by overeating.
"Here, we are tackling the basics," Wakil said in a telephone interview. "I think that is what excited us."
Scientists are painfully aware that drugs that can make mice thin do nothing of the sort in humans. A hormone called leptin can make rats and mice drop weight almost miraculously but does little or nothing for an obese person, for instance.
But Wakil, whose team has patented the drug and is looking for a drug company to partner with, hopes this drug may be different. "I am very, very optimistic," he said.
Fatostatin is a small molecule, meaning it has the potential to be absorbed in pill form.
It works on so-called sterol regulatory element binding proteins or SREBPs, which are transcription factors that activate genes involved in making cholesterol and fatty acids.
"Fatostatin blocked increases in body weight, blood glucose, and hepatic (liver) fat accumulation in (genetically) obese mice, even under uncontrolled food intake," the researchers wrote.
Genetic tests showed the drug affected 63 different genes.
The idea of interfering with SREBP is not new. GlaxSmithKline has been working on a new-generation cholesterol drug that uses this pathway.
After four weeks, mice injected with fatostatin weighed 12 percent less and had 70 percent lower blood sugar levels, the researchers wrote.
Now they plan to test rats and rabbits, Wakil said.
The drug also had effects on prostate cancer cells they said � something that may help explain links between prostate cancer and obesity.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Obese People Have 'Severe Brain Degeneration'
A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than
normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the
brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.
normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the
brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.
Those classified as overweight have 4 percent less brain tissue and their brains appear to have aged prematurely by 8 years.
The results, based on brain scans of 94 people in their 70s, represent "severe brain degeneration," said Paul Thompson, senior author of the study and a UCLA professor of neurology.
"That's a big loss of tissue and it depletes your cognitive
reserves, putting you at much greater risk of Alzheimer's and other
diseases that attack the brain," said Thompson. "But you can greatly
reduce your risk for Alzheimer's, if you can eat healthily and keep
your weight under control."
The findings are detailed in the online edition of the journal Human Brain Mapping.
Obesity packs many negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and some cancers. It's also been shown to reduce sexual activity.
More than 300 million worldwide are now classified as obese,
according to the World Health Organization. Another billion are
overweight. The main cause, experts say: bad diet, including an increased reliance on highly processed foods.
Obese people had lost brain tissue in the frontal and temporal
lobes, areas of the brain critical for planning and memory, and in the
anterior cingulate gyrus (attention and executive functions),
hippocampus (long-term memory) and basal ganglia (movement), the
researchers said in a statement today. Overweight people showed brain
loss in the basal ganglia, the corona radiata, white matter comprised
of axons, and the parietal lobe (sensory lobe).
"The brains of obese
people looked 16 years older than the brains of those who were lean,
and in overweight people looked 8 years older," Thompson said.
Obesity is measured by body mass index (BMI), defined as the weight
in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters. A BMI over
25 is defined as overweight, and a BMI of over 30 as obese.
The research was funded by the National Institute on Aging, National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Center for
Research Resources, and the American Heart Association.
10 Ways to Keep Your Mind Sharp
Never Too Late: 5 Bad Habits You Should Still Quit
More Obesity News & Information
Original Story: Obese People Have 'Severe Brain Degeneration'
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Saturday, August 22, 2009
Obesity Tied to Prostate Cancer Recurrence
FRIDAY, Aug. 21 (HealthDay News) � Obesity increases the risk of
prostate cancer recurrence in both black and white men, says a U.S. study
that challenges previous research suggesting obesity may be more
significant for black men.
prostate cancer recurrence in both black and white men, says a U.S. study
that challenges previous research suggesting obesity may be more
significant for black men.
"Not so. Obesity leads to worse cancer in both groups," study senior
author Dr. Stephen Freedland, an associate professor of urology and
pathology at the Duke University Medical Center Prostate Center, said in a
news release from the school.
Freedland and study author Dr. Jayakrishnan Jayachandran, a urology
oncology fellow, examined the medical records of 1,415 prostate cancer
patients who had undergone a radical prostatectomy. They found that race
had no influence on the relationship between obesity and the
aggressiveness of the cancer.
"We found that higher BMI [body-mass index] was associated with
significantly increased risk of cancer recurrence for both blacks and
whites," Jayachandran said in the news release.
The reason why obesity increases the risk of prostate cancer recurrence
isn't clear, but altered hormone levels might play a role.
"Obesity is associated with more estrogen and less testosterone, and it
may be that lower testosterone promotes more aggressive tumors as recent
studies have suggested," Jayachandran said.
Other obesity-related changes in the production of hormones, such as
insulin, insulin-like growth factor or leptin, may also be involved in the
development of more aggressive prostate cancer.
"This is something we simply do not understand, but we are actively
studying all of these factors," Jayachandran said.
The study appears in the current issue of Cancer.
More information
The American Cancer Society has more about prostate cancer.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Adult video gamers often overweight, depressed
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Teens aren't the only ones glued to the video game console. According to a new survey, the average video gamer in the U.S. today is 35 years old � and not all that healthy physically or emotionally.
According to the survey released this week, the typical adult video game player is overweight, introverted and may be a little bit depressed.
The Internet-based survey involved adults aged 19 to 90 years old from the Seattle-Tacoma area, who were asked various questions about their health, as well as their media habits.
Of the 552 respondents (ages 19 to 90 years), 249 - a little more than 45 percent - identified themselves as video-game players � the majority of them men (56 percent).
In a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Dr. James B. Weaver III, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues say they found "measurable" associations between playing video games and health risks.
"As hypothesized," the researchers report, a higher body weight and a greater number of "poor mental health days" differentiated adult video gamers from non-gamers.
Men who said they played video games weighed more and used the Internet more than men who did not play video games, the survey showed.
Women who reported playing video games reported greater levels of depression and poorer overall health than non-gamers.
Adult video gamers also seemed less outgoing, or extroverted, and less social and assertive than non-gamers, consistent with prior research in adolescent video game enthusiasts that tied video game playing to sedentary habits, weight issues and mental health concerns.
Adult video gamers of both sexes relied more on the Internet for social support than non-gamers, which supports prior research suggesting that adult video game players may "sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games."
Weaver and colleagues suggest that video gaming for adults may be a form of "digital self-medication." Women, in particular, may immerse themselves in brain-engaging digital environments as a means of self-distraction; "in short, they literally 'take their minds off' their worries while playing a video game," the investigators note.
What drives men to the video game console is likely to be different.
In a commentary published with the survey results, Dr. Brian A. Primack of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine applauds Weaver and his team for "reminding us that video games are currently popular not only among young people but also among adults."
The greatest challenge, Primack contends, will be maintaining balance.
He asks: "How do we simultaneously help the public steer away from imitation playlike activities, harness the potentially positive aspects of video games and keep in perspective the overall place of video games in our society?"
Powerful gaming industry giants, warns Primack, "will successfully tout the potential health-related benefits of products they develop. But who will be left to remind us that � for children and adults alike � Hide-And-Seek and Freeze Tag are still probably what we need most?"
SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2009.
Teens aren't the only ones glued to the video game console. According to a new survey, the average video gamer in the U.S. today is 35 years old � and not all that healthy physically or emotionally.
According to the survey released this week, the typical adult video game player is overweight, introverted and may be a little bit depressed.
The Internet-based survey involved adults aged 19 to 90 years old from the Seattle-Tacoma area, who were asked various questions about their health, as well as their media habits.
Of the 552 respondents (ages 19 to 90 years), 249 - a little more than 45 percent - identified themselves as video-game players � the majority of them men (56 percent).
In a report in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Dr. James B. Weaver III, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues say they found "measurable" associations between playing video games and health risks.
"As hypothesized," the researchers report, a higher body weight and a greater number of "poor mental health days" differentiated adult video gamers from non-gamers.
Men who said they played video games weighed more and used the Internet more than men who did not play video games, the survey showed.
Women who reported playing video games reported greater levels of depression and poorer overall health than non-gamers.
Adult video gamers also seemed less outgoing, or extroverted, and less social and assertive than non-gamers, consistent with prior research in adolescent video game enthusiasts that tied video game playing to sedentary habits, weight issues and mental health concerns.
Adult video gamers of both sexes relied more on the Internet for social support than non-gamers, which supports prior research suggesting that adult video game players may "sacrifice real-world social activities to play video games."
Weaver and colleagues suggest that video gaming for adults may be a form of "digital self-medication." Women, in particular, may immerse themselves in brain-engaging digital environments as a means of self-distraction; "in short, they literally 'take their minds off' their worries while playing a video game," the investigators note.
What drives men to the video game console is likely to be different.
In a commentary published with the survey results, Dr. Brian A. Primack of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine applauds Weaver and his team for "reminding us that video games are currently popular not only among young people but also among adults."
The greatest challenge, Primack contends, will be maintaining balance.
He asks: "How do we simultaneously help the public steer away from imitation playlike activities, harness the potentially positive aspects of video games and keep in perspective the overall place of video games in our society?"
Powerful gaming industry giants, warns Primack, "will successfully tout the potential health-related benefits of products they develop. But who will be left to remind us that � for children and adults alike � Hide-And-Seek and Freeze Tag are still probably what we need most?"
SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, October 2009.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Overweight friends eat more when they dine together
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
Overweight children and teenagers may eat more when they have a snack with an overweight friend rather than a thinner peer, a new study suggests.
In a study of 9- to 15-year-olds, researchers found that all kids, regardless of their weight, tended to eat more when they had the chance to snack with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know.
But the biggest calorie intakes were seen when an overweight child snacked with an overweight friend.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, highlight the role of friends' influence in how much kids eat � and, possibly, in their weight control.
It's not surprising that children eat more when they are with friends instead of strangers, according to lead researcher Dr. Sarah-Jean Salvy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
The same pattern has been found in adults, Salvy told Reuters Health in an email. This, she explained, may be partly because people are more self-conscious around strangers, and partly because friends act as "permission-givers."
"They set the norm for what is appropriate to do, or in this case eat," Salvy said.
For the study, Salvy and her colleagues had 23 overweight and 42 normal-weight children and teens spend 45 minutes with either a friend or an unfamiliar peer. Each pair was given games, puzzles and books for entertainment, along with bowls of chips, cookies, carrots and grapes.
Overall, the researchers found, pairs of friends downed more calories than did unacquainted pairs. And overweight friends consumed the most � 738 calories, on average, versus 444 calories when an overweight child was paired with normal-weight friend.
Normal-weight kids consumed an average of about 500 calories when paired with a friend, regardless of the friend's weight.
Salvy noted that a recent study of adults found that people were more likely to gain weight over three decades if their same-sex friends were overweight or obese � suggesting a role for "social influence" in body weight.
When it comes to children and teens, it's known that many follow their friends' lead in deciding whether to smoke or drink. The current findings, Salvy said, suggest that kids' eating habits are also "largely determined by their social network."
The good side of that, according to Salvy, is that helping one child make healthy changes may end up influencing his or her friends as well. She said her research interest now is to see whether there is in fact such a "contagion effect" on friends' eating habits.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2009.
Overweight children and teenagers may eat more when they have a snack with an overweight friend rather than a thinner peer, a new study suggests.
In a study of 9- to 15-year-olds, researchers found that all kids, regardless of their weight, tended to eat more when they had the chance to snack with a friend than when they were with a peer they did not know.
But the biggest calorie intakes were seen when an overweight child snacked with an overweight friend.
The findings, reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, highlight the role of friends' influence in how much kids eat � and, possibly, in their weight control.
It's not surprising that children eat more when they are with friends instead of strangers, according to lead researcher Dr. Sarah-Jean Salvy, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
The same pattern has been found in adults, Salvy told Reuters Health in an email. This, she explained, may be partly because people are more self-conscious around strangers, and partly because friends act as "permission-givers."
"They set the norm for what is appropriate to do, or in this case eat," Salvy said.
For the study, Salvy and her colleagues had 23 overweight and 42 normal-weight children and teens spend 45 minutes with either a friend or an unfamiliar peer. Each pair was given games, puzzles and books for entertainment, along with bowls of chips, cookies, carrots and grapes.
Overall, the researchers found, pairs of friends downed more calories than did unacquainted pairs. And overweight friends consumed the most � 738 calories, on average, versus 444 calories when an overweight child was paired with normal-weight friend.
Normal-weight kids consumed an average of about 500 calories when paired with a friend, regardless of the friend's weight.
Salvy noted that a recent study of adults found that people were more likely to gain weight over three decades if their same-sex friends were overweight or obese � suggesting a role for "social influence" in body weight.
When it comes to children and teens, it's known that many follow their friends' lead in deciding whether to smoke or drink. The current findings, Salvy said, suggest that kids' eating habits are also "largely determined by their social network."
The good side of that, according to Salvy, is that helping one child make healthy changes may end up influencing his or her friends as well. She said her research interest now is to see whether there is in fact such a "contagion effect" on friends' eating habits.
SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, August 2009.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Rate of severe childhood obesity up sharply in U.S.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -
The rate of severe obesity among U.S. children and teenagers more than tripled over the past three decades, a new study finds.
Using data from a long-running government health survey, researchers found that as of 2004, nearly 4 percent of 2- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. were severely obese.
That was up more than three-fold from 1976, and more than 70 percent from 1994, the researchers report in the journal Academic Pediatrics.
"Children are not only becoming obese, but becoming severely obese, which impacts their overall health," lead researcher Dr. Joseph A. Skelton, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a news release from the university.
"These findings," he added, "reinforce the fact that medically-based programs to treat obesity are needed throughout the United States and insurance companies should be encouraged to cover this care."
The study also found that minority and lower-income children are at particular risk of severe obesity � which, in children and teenagers, is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) in the 99th percentile for one's age and gender.
In the most recent survey, which included 12,000 2- to 19-year-olds from across the U.S., nearly 6 percent of African-American children and teens were severely obese, as were roughly 5 percent of Mexican- Americans. That compared with 3 percent of their white peers.
In contrast, less than 1 percent of Mexican-American children and less than 2 percent of black children were severely obese in the 1970s survey.
When it came to family income, the latest survey data show that just over 4 percent of relatively lower-income children were severely obese, versus 2.5 percent of those from higher-income families.
The findings underscore a central obstacle in tackling childhood obesity, Skelton and his colleagues note: The children who are most affected also generally have the greatest difficulty getting good healthcare.
"No simple answers exist," the researchers write, pointing out that along with better access to healthcare, there also need to be broader efforts to improve the diets and lifestyle habits of U.S. children.
SOURCE: Academic Pediatrics, September 2009.
The rate of severe obesity among U.S. children and teenagers more than tripled over the past three decades, a new study finds.
Using data from a long-running government health survey, researchers found that as of 2004, nearly 4 percent of 2- to 19-year-olds in the U.S. were severely obese.
That was up more than three-fold from 1976, and more than 70 percent from 1994, the researchers report in the journal Academic Pediatrics.
"Children are not only becoming obese, but becoming severely obese, which impacts their overall health," lead researcher Dr. Joseph A. Skelton, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, said in a news release from the university.
"These findings," he added, "reinforce the fact that medically-based programs to treat obesity are needed throughout the United States and insurance companies should be encouraged to cover this care."
The study also found that minority and lower-income children are at particular risk of severe obesity � which, in children and teenagers, is defined as having a body mass index (BMI) in the 99th percentile for one's age and gender.
In the most recent survey, which included 12,000 2- to 19-year-olds from across the U.S., nearly 6 percent of African-American children and teens were severely obese, as were roughly 5 percent of Mexican- Americans. That compared with 3 percent of their white peers.
In contrast, less than 1 percent of Mexican-American children and less than 2 percent of black children were severely obese in the 1970s survey.
When it came to family income, the latest survey data show that just over 4 percent of relatively lower-income children were severely obese, versus 2.5 percent of those from higher-income families.
The findings underscore a central obstacle in tackling childhood obesity, Skelton and his colleagues note: The children who are most affected also generally have the greatest difficulty getting good healthcare.
"No simple answers exist," the researchers write, pointing out that along with better access to healthcare, there also need to be broader efforts to improve the diets and lifestyle habits of U.S. children.
SOURCE: Academic Pediatrics, September 2009.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Obese Texas man hides gun between rolls of fat
WASHINGTON (AFP) -
An obese prisoner in Harris County, Texas has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm after he was discovered to be hiding a 9mm pistol in between his rolls of fat, local media reported Saturday.
George Vera, who weighs around 500 pounds (225 kilograms) was originally arrested last week for selling counterfeit CDs, according to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.
A police spokesman told the Chronicle that Vera was searched three times over the course of his arrest and booking at the jail but managed to conceal the handgun with his rolls of fat until it was discovered in the shower.
Vera has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon in a correctional facility, which carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison, but is currently free on bail of 10,000 dollars.
An obese prisoner in Harris County, Texas has been charged with illegal possession of a firearm after he was discovered to be hiding a 9mm pistol in between his rolls of fat, local media reported Saturday.
George Vera, who weighs around 500 pounds (225 kilograms) was originally arrested last week for selling counterfeit CDs, according to the Houston Chronicle newspaper.
A police spokesman told the Chronicle that Vera was searched three times over the course of his arrest and booking at the jail but managed to conceal the handgun with his rolls of fat until it was discovered in the shower.
Vera has been charged with possession of an illegal weapon in a correctional facility, which carries a penalty of two to 10 years in prison, but is currently free on bail of 10,000 dollars.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Obese TX inmate hides gun in his flabs of fat
HOUSTON - An obese inmate in Texas has been charged after officials learned he had a gun hidden under flabs of his own flesh.
Twenty-five-year-old George Vera was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9mm pistol. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs.
The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon in his rolls of skin. Vera admitted having the gun during a shower break at the county jail.
___ Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
Twenty-five-year-old George Vera was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9mm pistol. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs.
The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon in his rolls of skin. Vera admitted having the gun during a shower break at the county jail.
___ Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com
Sunday, August 2, 2009
More Kids Becoming Severely Obese
FRIDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) � In the hindmost 25 years, rates
of rigorous babyhood corpulence in the United States be obsessed tripled, putting
increasing numbers of children at danger representing diabetes and Colloq ticker sickness,
says a new learn.
of rigorous babyhood corpulence in the United States be obsessed tripled, putting
increasing numbers of children at danger representing diabetes and Colloq ticker sickness,
says a new learn.
Researchers looked at National Health and Nutrition Survey facts on
12,384 youths, ages 2 to 19 years, and establish that the prevalency of harsh
plumpness increased from 0.8 percent in the interval from 1976 to 1980 to 3.8
percent in 1999 to 2004. Severe tubbiness correlates to a body heap guide
that's identical to or greater than the 99th percentile championing lifetime and
gender.
The discovery could intend that 2.7 million children in the United States
are acutely fat, the researchers said.
Black and Mexican-American children had the largest increases in rigorous
chubbiness, along with children in families drop down the desire even. For
case, the portion of seriously overweight Mexican-American children rose
from 0.9 percent to 5.2 percent.
The researchers also create that a third of badly fat children had
metabolic syndrome, a assembly of peril factors for diabetes, blow and send
assail. The jeopardy factors embody high blood force, cholesterol and
insulin levels.
The read appears online in Academic Pediatrics.
"Children are not lone enhancing fleshy but beautifying dangerously gross,
which impacts their sum condition," Dr. Joseph Skelton, an grossness authority
at Brenner Children's Hospital, bit of Wake Forest University Baptist
Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., and conduct originator of the con, said
in a tidings let go from the center.
"These findings reinforce the actuality that medically based programs to
handle embonpoint are needed during the United States, and assurance
companies should be encouraged to defend this anxiety," Skelton said.
More knowing
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers tips to aid children continue a satisfactorily heaviness.
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