Calif. lawmaker plans hearings on soda-obesity link

Sen. Alex Padilla, who led a campaign requiring big restaurant chains to disclose calories in meals, said on Thursday he planned to hold hearings in November on the link between soda consumption and obesity.

The announcement from Padilla � who chairs the California Senate's Select Committee on Obesity and Diabetes � coincides with the release of a study that shows nearly two-thirds of children aged 12 to 17 gulp down at least one sugar-sweetened beverage daily.

According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, 62 percent of children aged 12 to 17, and 41 percent of children aged 2 to 11, drink at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day.

"I don't think that most parents truly appreciate the role soda pop has in causing weight gain," Padilla said. "It is unfortunate that soda is actually cheaper than milk and even bottled water in many instances."

Padilla said California needs to do more to educate the public about the health effects of drinking too much soda and to consider its options for reducing soda consumption among children.

California was the first state to pass menu labeling rules and has been among the pioneers of public health initiatives such as bans on artery-clogging trans-fats in restaurant cuisine and on soda sales in public schools.

Experts say the U.S. obesity epidemic has turned into a public health crisis and overweight adolescents are starting to suffer problems that used to plague mainly middle-aged adults � early heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

SHARP CUTBACK RECOMMENDED

The American Heart Association in August took on the $115 billion soft drink industry, recommending that Americans cut back dramatically on sugar and singling out soft drinks as the top source of "discretionary" sugar calories.

The group said women should eat no more than 100 calories of added processed sugar per day, or six teaspoons (25 grams), while most men should keep it to just 150 calories or nine teaspoons (37.5 grams).

To put that in perspective, one 12-ounce (355-millilitre) can of soda can contain as much as 13 teaspoons (54.6 grams) of sugar, often in the form of high fructose corn syrup.

That's more than half the total 22 teaspoons (90 grams) or 355 calories of added sugar consumed by the average American each day, according to a 2004 government survey.

Being overweight costs, experts say.

Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all medical spending in the United States, or an estimated $147 billion annually. Health experts increasingly are calling for taxes on soft drinks and other sweetened beverages to offset medical costs and fund public health efforts.

"If we are serious about curbing the obesity epidemic, we have to start with the biggest culprit," said Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy.

A strongly worded report on child obesity released earlier this month recommended that state and local governments tax junk food and soft drinks, give tax breaks to grocery stores that open in blighted neighborhoods and build bike trails. Some public health experts would like to see tax proceeds used to make fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable.

The American Beverage Association has opposed efforts to tax soda and other beverages and says it provides a wide variety of beverage choices, including drinks with zero calories.

"If our goal is to address obesity, then educating consumers about the importance of balancing calories consumed from all foods and beverages with the calories expended through physical activity is what matters � not demonizing any one particular food," the group said in a statement on Thursday.

An industry group called Americans Against Food Taxes � whose backers include soft drink maker PepsiCo Inc, the American Beverage Association, the Corn Refiners Association and McDonald's Corp � is running anti-soda tax advertisements on television, radio and on the Internet.

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham, Bernard Orr)

Anxious Kids at Risk for Obesity in Adulthood

TUESDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) � Children with emotional
difficulties have a greater risk of becoming obese in adulthood, new
research has found.

In the study, published online Sept. 11 in the journal BMC
Medicine, researchers from the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental
Psychiatry Center at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London,
examined data from about 6,500 members of the 1970 British Birth Cohort
Study.

Participants in the 1970 study had been assessed when they were 10
years old for emotional problems, self-perceptions and their body-mass
index (BMI), a height-to-weight ratio. They reported their BMI again at
age 30.

The researchers found that children with a lower self-esteem, those who
felt less in control of their lives and those who were often worried were
more likely to gain weight over the next two decades.

It was also noted that girls were more affected by these factors than
boys, the study authors pointed out in a news release from the journal's
publisher.

The findings also suggested that childhood emotional problems may be
another factor that can lead to excess weight, according to the
researchers.

"While we cannot say that childhood emotional problems cause obesity in
later life, we can certainly say they play a role, along with factors such
as parental BMI, diet and exercise," study co-author Andrew Ternouth said
in the news release.

Early intervention for children suffering from low self-esteem, anxiety
or other emotional challenges could help improve their chances of being
healthy later in life, the researchers added.

"Given the growing problem with childhood obesity in many western
societies, these findings are particularly important," the authors
concluded. "They may offer hope in the battle to control the current
obesity epidemic."

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more information on
obesity.

Curbing Obesity Epidemic Key to Health Care Reform: Experts

FRIDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDay News) � A diverse alliance of payer,
provider and consumer organizations, girded by two former U.S. Surgeons
General, on Wednesday urged policymakers to address the nation's obesity
epidemic as part of federal health care reform legislation.

"At this critical juncture where we're dealing with health-care
transformation, we want to make sure that the federal government and our
elected leaders recognize the importance of including approaches to
obesity that are evidence-based and proven within their legislative
strategy," former Surgeon General Dr. Richard Carmona told reporters
during a media briefing.

Carmona serves as the health and wellness chairperson of the Strategies
to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance, whose steering committee
includes the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association and
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Division of
Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity, among other public and private
organizations.

The alliance is funded by drug makers Sanofi-Aventis U.S. L.L.C. and
Amylin Pharmaceuticals.

Former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, whose 2001 report on obesity
recognized the problem as an "epidemic," emphasized the need to invest in
health promotion and disease prevention, particularly for the health of
the nation's youth.

"We are in essence addicting our children to sedentary lifestyles;
we're addicting them to high-salt, high-sweet, high-fat diets," he said,
"and then we pay for it later on when they come to us with cancer, heart
disease, [and] diabetes."

America's weight problem is pervasive. Two-thirds of the population is
now overweight and obese, according to the CDC, and as many as 72 million
adults are considered obese. In fact, obesity rates have doubled for
adults and tripled for children since 1980.

People often see obesity as a personal failure, explained Christine C.
Ferguson, director of the alliance and a research professor at George
Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, in
Washington, D.C. "The result is the problem has gotten worse and worse,
and more and more expensive."

Obesity accounts for 9.1 percent of annual health-care spending in the
United States, or nearly $150 billion annually, according to a study in a
recent issue of Health Affairs.

To help arrest the epidemic, the alliance urges policymakers to include
four specific elements in health reform:

Recognize proven clinical interventions. Studies demonstrate, for
example, that shedding just 5 percent to 10 percent of body weight can
lower the risk of heart disease and other chronic conditions.

Enhance the use of preventive services. The U.S. Preventive Services
Task Force recommends obesity screening for all adults, yet studies show
height and weight data often is not recorded during an office visit.

Foster community programs and polices that encourage and support
healthy lifestyles. A community might design public spaces that
accommodate walkers and bikers, for example, or sponsor a farmer's market
to make fresh produce available to local residents.

Coordinate research efforts to improve the quality of care, show
which interventions work in various settings and translate science into
practice.

Morgan Downey, the alliance's policy adviser, noted one positive aspect
of health reform proposals from the House of Representatives and Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee: They eliminate the worry
that overweight Americans might not be able to obtain health insurance
coverage because of preexisting health conditions.

"Just the removal of that language really frees up individuals who are
overweight or obese to have access to health insurance," he said.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on overweight and
obesity in the United States.

US to unleash "Wild Things" to fight childhood obesity

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
The US Department of Health and Human Services is poised to unleash characters from Maurice Sendak's classic "Where the Wild Things Are" to help fight childhood overweight and obesity.

New TV, radio, print, outdoor and Internet ads featuring characters and scenes from the film "Where the Wild Things Are", which is due to be released in cinemas next month, will be distributed this week to media around the United States.

The campaign promotes the benefits of physical exercise and encourages children to start their own 'Wild Rumpus' � just as "Where the Wild Things Are" hero Max did in the book � by making time every day for play.

The ads continue a collaborative effort against obesity by the Ad Council and Health Department which was launched in 2005 and has already featured characters from "Shrek" as well as American football players urging children to "be a player" and be physically active for an hour a day.

A study published last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that nearly 32 percent of US children were overweight and 16 percent were obese.

The obesity rate tripled between 1980-1999, creating an epidemic blamed on a poor diet heavy on fat and sugar with little consumption of fruits and fresh vegetables and lack of exercise, the report in JAMA said.

Obese children are at a higher risk of developing heart disease, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. They are also more likely to become obese adults.

Obama open to 'sin tax' on fizzy drinks to stem obesity

WASHINGTON (AFP) -
President Barack Obama hinted he could support a "sin tax" on fizzy drinks to help lower high rates of US obesity, but admitted it would be an uphill battle against corporate and economic interests.

"I actually think it's an idea that we should be exploring," Obama said in the forthcoming issue of Men's Health, regarding potential taxes levied on soft drinks such as colas and other sugar-filled products.

"There's no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda. And every study that's been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else," he said in excerpts released ahead of the magazine's mid-September publication.

The president � reported to be one of the fittest US commanders-in-chief in decades � stressed that "obviously there is resistance on Capitol Hill to those kinds of sin taxes.

"Legislators from certain states that produce sugar or corn syrup are sensitive to anything that might reduce demand for those products," he said.

In addition, "people's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," Obama added.

"It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people?s health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."

His comments come just six weeks after US health experts told a national conference on obesity in Washington that a significant portion of increased caloric intake in recent decades can be directly attributed to soft drinks and other sugared foods and drinks.

The president is currently embroiled in the most compelling domestic priority of his presidency, a reform of the US health care system.

Obama, who said he works out nearly every day in order to clear his head and reduce stress, described himself as "a healthy eater" with low blood pressure.

He keeps a bowl of apples in the Oval Office. "It was our first step toward health reform," he said.

Two-thirds of American adults are obese or overweight and obesity-related illnesses cost the United States nearly 150 billion dollars a year, health officials were told at the July conference.

Doctors' Efforts to Fight Childhood Obesity Not Working

FRIDAY, Sept. 4 (HealthDay News) � Researchers are recommending that
officials in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia rethink their
efforts to combat obesity in children because the current strategies �
emphasizing healthy diets and exercise � aren't working.

In a study released online Sept. 4 in BMJ, Australian
researchers followed more than 250 overweight and mildly obese Australian
children who visited their general practitioners between 2005 and 2006. A
total of 139 were given counseling over three months about changing their
eating habits and increasing exercise; the other 119 did not get such
counseling.

Parents said the kids who received counseling drank fewer soft drinks,
but they didn't eat more fruit or vegetables or less fat, and they didn't
lose significant amounts of weight.

The researchers reported that brief, physician-led intervention
produced no long-term improvement in body mass index, physical activity or
nutrition habits.

The counseling isn't harmful, the study authors noted, but it doesn't
seem to work and is expensive.

"Resources may be better divided between primary prevention at the
community and population levels, and enhancement of clinical treatment
options for children with established obesity," the researchers
concluded.

More information

For more on childhood obesity, go to U.S. National Library of Medicine.

The Social Side of Obesity: You Are Who You Eat With

Sending your kids back to lunch-lady land this fall? Careful, your child's dining mates may be upping his chances of packing on the pounds. A study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition finds that how much tweens and teens eat can be influenced by how much their friends weigh.
In the study, 130 kids ages 9 to 15 were allowed to snack as much as they wanted while hanging out with a friend or with a peer they did not know. All the kids ate more when they were with a friend than with a stranger. But the overweight children ate the most when paired with an overweight friend - an average of 300 more calories than when they spent time with leaner friends. The research also found that friendship itself makes the appetite grow stronger: when overweight kids ate with similar-weight kids who were already their pals, they threw back an extra 250 calories than they did with chubby kids they had just met. (See a special report on the science of appetite.)
Lead researcher and clinical psychologist Sarah-Jeanne Salvy says her research demonstrates an eye-opening social theory: obesity can be contagious.
Really, an "obesity bug"? In 2007, Harvard researcher Nicholas Christakis and his colleagues analyzed 32 years' worth of data from an interconnected social network of 12,000 adults, and found that a person's chances of becoming obese increased by 37% if a spouse had become obese, 40% if a sibling had and 57% if a friend had.
Socializing with overweight people can change what we perceive as the norm; it raises our tolerance for obesity both in others and in ourselves. It's also about letting your hair down. Past research has shown that adults tend to eat more around friends and family than they do with strangers. They shed their inhibitions about how it looks when they go back for thirds or order the alfredo sauce instead of the marinara.
Finally, there's the idea that we just like to hang with people that are like ourselves. Cornell food sociologist Jeffrey Sobal explains that "especially among two overweight people, there's a sort of permission-giving going on. We're encouraging each other to eat more."
Salvy, who is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the State University of New York at Buffalo, refers to this phenomenon as a sort of feedback effect. Conversely, she suggests, overweight diners are more likely to tone down how much they eat in front of skinny people to avoid the stigma of overeating.
When it comes to holding back, though, there's nothing like the opposite sex to curb our appetites, at least when we're single. In a study to be published in the October issue of Appetite, researchers at Montreal's McGill University secretly observed 460 college students eating in the campus cafeterias. They found that when a woman was with a man, she ate about 100 calories less than when she was with a woman. The more men present in larger eating groups, the fewer calories a woman had on her tray. Women ate roughly 100 fewer calories for each man at the table. But there was no such effect on men. And women who only ate with other women tended to slightly increase their calorie quotient.
The study's author Meredith Young, a cognitive psychologist, says the social comfort of a same-sex lunch partner probably makes a difference here - but evolutionary instincts are also at play. The women are using food as a signal of attractiveness. "In past studies, when you compare the exact same woman either eating a meatball sub or a dainty salad, people find the salad eater more alluring and more desirable as a friend." Young thinks that men, on the other hand, are probably focused on spending more money on the food instead of eating it because evolutionary biology says part of male sex appeal lies in the financial wealth they bring to the table.
For parents who are less worried about subconscious dating rituals and more worried about overweight kids influencing their own, the answer isn't to encourage ditching fat friends. Shaming kids about their own bodies might drive them to social isolation, a much worse place to be, according to Salvy. Her previous research found that overweight teens eat an average of 400 calories more when they're alone compared to when they're with friends of any weight group.
Dr. Marc Jacobson, a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics' Task Force on Obesity, says the best thing to do is to model healthy eating and exercise habits yourself; research shows it's more effective than just talking about losing weight. So pack a healthy, satisfying lunch, but "focus more on making your home as healthy as you can," he says.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
See the Cartoons of the Week.
View this article on Time.comRelated articles on Time.com: Laugh and the World Laughs With You: How Happiness Spreads How America's Children Packed On the Pounds Study: Obesity is Contagious Obesity Is Contagious, Study Finds Child Obesity Rate Levels Off