Obesity traditionally has been defined as a weight at least 20% above the weight corresponding to the lowest death rate for individuals of a specific height, gender, and age (ideal weight). Twenty to forty percent over ideal weight is considered mildly obese; 40?100% over ideal weight is considered moderately obese; and 100% over ideal weight is considered severely, or morbidly, obese.
New genetic variants found that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity, revealed by UK reasearchers. – A study of 90,000 people has uncovered new genetic variants that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. The variants act in addition to the recently described variants of the FTO gene: on average, adults carrying variants in both genes are 3.8 kg (or 8.5 lb) heavier.
Scientists have discovered a way to aid weight loss and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes by manipulating fat cells to increase the body?s metabolism. – Scientists from Melbourne’s Howard Florey Institute have discovered a way to aid weight loss and reduce the likelihood of developing diabetes by manipulating fat cells to increase the body’s metabolism. As well as metabolising fat, fat cells help regulate blood pressure and blood volume through the renin-angiotensin system.
Kaiser Permanente Study Shows That a Larger Abdomen in Midlife Increases Risk of Dementia; Overweight and obese individuals with large bellies have double or triple the risk of dementia – People in their 40s with larger stomachs have a higher risk for dementia when they reach their 70s, according to a study published in the March 26, 2008, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers reported. – Sedentary, overweight or obese women can improve their quality of life by exercising as little as 10 to 30 minutes a day, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.
Australian men care about erection problems, perhaps more so than possible cardiovascular disease. This may present an opportunity to improve communication about the benefits of weight loss. – The Australian male pride in sexual performance may help the fight against increasing obesity. This will be one of the messages from internationally regarded expert on obesity, men’s health and ageing Professor Gary Wittert at the University of Adelaide’s free Public Seminar Series.
Monthly personal counseling helps people maintain weight loss. 42 percent of the study members maintained at least a 4-kilogram (9-pound) weight loss for 30 months. – People who shed weight and want to keep it off might benefit from monthly personal contact interventions, researchers reported at the American Heart Association’s Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.
Reducing television viewing and computer use may have an important role in preventing obesity and in lowering BMI in young children, and these changes may be related more to changes in energy intake than to changes in physical activity. – Using a monitoring device to reduce television viewing and computer use time by 50 percent over a two-year period appears to reduce calorie intake, sedentary behavior and body mass index in overweight children age 4 to 7, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
University of Minnesota School of Public Health researchers find teens who eat breakfast daily eat healthier diets than those who skip breakfast. – University of Minnesota School of Public Health Project Eating Among Teens (EAT) researchers have found further evidence to support the importance of encouraging youth to eat breakfast regularly.
Excess bodyweight, expressed as increased body-mass index (BMI), is associated with the risk of some common adult cancers. – Increased body mass index (BMI) increases the risk of common and less common cancers, and the level of risk can vary between the sexes and different ethnic groups depending on the type of cancer.
Low-calorie sweeteners may be one piece in solving the obesity puzzle, several studies conducted in humans have shown that low-calorie sweeteners and the products that contain them can be useful tools in weight control. – A recent review of the scientific literature has concluded that low-calorie (or no-calorie) sweeteners can be helpful in resolving the obesity problem. Although they are not magic bullets, low-calorie sweeteners in beverages and foods can help people reduce their calorie (energy) intakes.
Want to lose weight? It might help to pour that diet soda down the drain. Diet drinks may actually make you put on weight rather than lose it. – Use of no-calorie sweeteners may make it harder for people to control their intake and body weight. Cutting the connection between sweets and calories may confuse the body, making it harder to regulate intake, revealed by researchers.
In UK, more than 1 million prescriptions are made for obesity drugs a year – eight times the number dispensed seven years ago. – The number of prescriptions to treat obesity and overweight health problems in 2006 was increased eight times the number prescribed in 1999 in UK, revealed by Information Centre for health and social care (IC) as part of a wider report on obesity and the health of people in England.
