Obesity rates hold steady, USA

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Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
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Article Date: 18 Aug 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Obesity rates hold steady, USA

Obesity rates hold steady throughout the USA, except for Arkansas, for the first time in 30 years, says a new study - "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2013"1 - from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health.

The United States no longer has the highest obesity rates in the world. It is now second to Mexico, according to a report by the FAO2 (Food and Agricultural Organization, United Nations). In that report, published in July 2013, Mexico's adult obesity rate of 32.8% was just above America's 31.8%.

According to the "F as in Fat" report, 13 US states have obesity rates above 30%. Highest rates were found in the Midwest, South and among baby boomers.

In forty-one states, obesity rates are 25% or more. Not one state in America has an obesity rate of 20% or less.

Compared to 1980, when obesity rates of 15% or more did not exist, health care authorities say the present prevalence is far too high, despite the recent encouraging news.

See below how obesity has mushroomed in America over the last three decades:

1980 - no state had an obesity rate of 15% or more1991 - no state had an obesity rate of 20% or more2000 - no state had an obesity rate of 25% or more2007 - only Mississippi had an obesity rate above 30%2013 - no state has an obesity rate of 20% or less2013 - 41 states have obesity rates of at least 25%
Arkansas was the only state to report an obesity rate rise

There is clear evidence that the obesity epidemic is losing steam.

Every state except one in 2005 saw obesity rates rise. However, in 2008 rates increased in 37 states, and then 28 states in 2010, and just 16 states in 2011.

Jeffrey Levi, PhD, executive director of Trust for America's Health, said

"While stable rates of adult obesity may signal prevention efforts are starting to yield some results, the rates remain extremely high. Even if the nation holds steady at the current rates, Baby Boomers - who are aging into obesity-related illnesses - and the rapidly rising numbers of extremely obese Americans are already translating into a cost crisis for the healthcare system and Medicare.

In order to decrease obesity and related costs, we must ensure that policies at every level support healthy choices, and we must focus investments on prevention."

Below are some key findings from the 2013 F as in Fat report:

Obesity rates vary by region - Pennsylvania is the only non-South/non-Midwest state among the top 20 fattest states.

Louisiana at 34.7% has the highest obesity rate, followed by Mississippi at 34.6%. Mississippi had been America's fattest state for several years.

The slimmest state is Colorado at 20.5%.

Obesity rates vary according to age group - in Alabama and Louisiana obesity rates among baby boomers (aged 45 to 64) have reached 40%. In 41 states the obesity rates among baby boomers are at least 30%.

Among seniors (65+ years of age), only Louisiana recorded an obesity rate higher than 30%.

Obesity rates among young adults (18 to 25) are less than 28% in every state.

Obesity rates for men and women have converged - men and women have virtually identical obesity rates today (35.8% and 35.5% respectively). Ten years ago there was a difference of 6 percentage points (women 33.4% - men 27.5%).

Since 2000, male obesity rates have been rising faster.

Morbid obesity rates have grown significantly - a person with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more is obese. People with a BMI of 40 or more are morbidly obese (extremely obese).

Thirty years ago, 1.4% of people were morbidly obese, compared to 6.3% today - a rise of 350%.

Among 2 to 19 year-olds, 5.1% of boys and 4.7% of girls are morbidly obese in America today.

Obesity rates and people's academic levels - 21.3% of college graduates aged 26 years or more are obese, compared to 35% among their counterparts who did not graduate from high school.
Obesity rates and socioeconomic status - 25.4% of adults earning $50,000 per year or more are obese today, compared to 31% of people earning less than $25,000.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vital Signs report - Progress in Childhood Obesity3 - published at the beginning of this month, showed that obesity rates among preschool children from low-income households went down in 18 states and one US territory. In South Dakota, New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and the US Virgin Islands obesity rates in that age group fell by at least 1%.

Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, MD, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation president and CEO, said:

"After decades of unrelenting bad news, we're finally seeing signs of progress. In addition to today's news about the steady rates for adults, we've seen childhood obesity rates declining in cities and states that were among the first to adopt a comprehensive approach to obesity prevention. But no one should believe the nation's work is done. We've learned a lot in the last decade about how to prevent obesity. Now it's time to take that knowledge to scale."

Louisiana - 34.7%Mississippi - 34.6%Arkansas - 34.5%West Virginia - 33.8%Alabama - 33%Oklahoma - 32.2%South Carolina - 31.6%Indiana - 31.4%Kentucky - 31.3%Michigan and Tennessee - 31.1%Iowa - 30.4%Ohio - 30.1%Kansas - 29.9%North Dakota and Wisconsin - 29.7%Missouri and North Carolina - 29.6%Texas - 29.2%Georgia and Pennsylvania - 29.1%Nebraska - 28.6%Maine - 28.4%Illinois and South Dakota - 28.1%Maryland - 27.6%Virginia - 27.4%New Hampshire and Oregon - 27.3%New Mexico - 27.1%Delaware - 26.9%Idaho and Washington - 26.8%Nevada - 26.2%Arizona - 26%Alaska and Minnesota and Rhode Island - 25.7%Connecticut - 25.6%Florida - 25.2%California - 25%New Jersey and Wyoming - 24.6%Montana and Utah - 24.3%Vermont - 23.7%Hawaii and New York - 23.6%Massachusetts - 22.9%District of Columbia - 21.9%Colorado - 20.5%

Flawed gene may drive 1 in 6 people to become obese - scientists from University College London reported in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that a defective gene affects the production of a hormone that is linked to feelings of fullness.

People who carry a variant of the gene FTO are more likely to overeat, become obese, and show a preference for high-fat, energy-dense foods.

Written by Christian Nordqvist

Copyright: Medical News Today
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The rising toll of obesity: Mortality greater than previously thought

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 18 Aug 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
The rising toll of obesity: Mortality greater than previously thought

Obesity is a lot more deadly than previously thought. Across recent decades, obesity accounted for 18 percent of deaths among Black and White Americans between the ages of 40 and 85, according to a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This finding challenges the prevailing wisdom among scientists, which puts that portion at around 5%.

"Obesity has dramatically worse health consequences than some recent reports have led us to believe," says first author Ryan Masters, PhD, who conducted the research as a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "We expect that obesity will be responsible for an increasing share of deaths in the United States and perhaps even lead to declines in U.S. life expectancy."

While there have been signs that obesity is in decline for some groups of young people, rates continue to be near historic highs. For the bulk of children and adults who are already obese, the condition will likely persist, wreaking damage over the course of their lives.

In older Americans, the rising toll of obesity is already evident. Dr. Masters and his colleagues documented its increasing effect on mortality in White men who died between the ages of 65 and 70 in the years 1986 to 2006. Grade one obesity (body mass index of 30 to less than 35) accounted for about 3.5% of deaths for those born between 1915 and 1919 - "a grouping known as a birth cohort. For those born 10 years later, it accounted for about 5% of deaths. Another 10 years later, it killed off upwards of 7%.

When the obesity epidemic hit in the 1980s, it hit across all age groups, so older Americans have lived through it for a relatively short period of time. But younger age groups will be exposed to the full brunt for much longer periods.

"A 5-year-old growing up today is living in an environment where obesity is much more the norm than was the case for a 5-year-old a generation or two ago. Drink sizes are bigger, clothes are bigger, and greater numbers of a child's peers are obese," explains co-author Bruce Link, PhD, professor of epidemiology and sociomedical sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. "And once someone is obese, it is very difficult to undo. So it stands to reason that we won't see the worst of the epidemic until the current generation of children grows old."

A New Way of Looking at a Growing Problem

This study is the first to account for differences in age, birth cohort, sex, and race in analyzing Americans' risk for death from obesity. "Past research in this area lumped together all Americans, but obesity prevalence and its effect on mortality differ substantially based on your race or ethnicity, how old you are, and when you were born," says Dr. Masters. "It's important for policy-makers to understand that different groups experience obesity in different ways."

The researchers analyzed 19 waves of the National Health Interview Survey linked to individual mortality records in the National Death Index for the years 1986 to 2006, when the most recent data are available. They focused on ages 40 to 85 in order to exclude accidental deaths, homicides, and congenital conditions that are the leading causes of death for younger people. The study builds on earlier research by Dr. Masters that found, contrary to conventional wisdom, that risk for death from obesity increases with age. The new study is also influenced by previous work by co-authors Eric Reither, PhD, associate professor at Utah State University, and Claire Yang, PhD, associate professor at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, which showed significant cohort differences in U.S. obesity rates.

Obesity's Varying Effects by Sex and Race

In the groups studied, Black women had the highest risk of dying from obesity or being overweight at 27 percent, followed by White women at 21 percent. Obesity in Black women is nearly twice that of White women. White men fared better at 15%, and the lowest risk for dying from being obese was 5%, for Black men. While White men and Black men have similar rates of obesity, the effect of obesity on mortality is lower in Black men because it is "crowded out" by other risk factors, from high rates of cigarette smoking to challenging socioeconomic conditions. There were insufficient data to make estimates for Asians, Hispanics, and other groups due to the highly stratified nature of the methodology.

In sum, by using a new, more rigorous approach, the new research shows that obesity is far more consequential than previously recognized, that the impact of the epidemic is only beginning to be felt, and that some population groups are affected much more powerfully than others.

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Daniel Powers of the University of Texas at Austin and Andrew E. Burger of Utah State University also contributed to the paper.

The study, "The Impact of Obesity on U.S. Mortality Levels: The Importance of Age and Cohort Factors in Population Estimates," was published online in the American Journal of Public Health. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2013.301379

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health

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Association between childhood physical abuse and obesity in women

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 15 Aug 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Association between childhood physical abuse and obesity in women

Women with a history of childhood physical abuse are more likely to become obese adults, according to a new study by University of Toronto researchers.

Results indicate that women who were physically abused in childhood were more likely to be obese than women from non-abusive homes.

"After adjusting for age and race, childhood physical abuse was associated with 47% higher odds of obesity for women" says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, Professor and Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair in the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work. "Among men, obesity wasn't associated with childhood physical abuse."

"We had anticipated that the association between childhood physical abuse and obesity among women would be explained by factors including depression and anxiety, adult socio-economic position, alcohol abuse, and other childhood adversities, such as having a parent addicted to drugs or alcohol," says study co-author and doctoral student Deborah Sinclair. "However, even after taking into account all these factors, women from physically abusive families still had 35% higher odds of obesity."

The study could not determine the reason for the relationship between childhood physical abuse and women's obesity. "It is unclear why childhood physical abuse is associated with adult obesity among women but not men; it may reflect gender differences in coping mechanisms," says study co-author and doctoral candidate Sarah Brennenstuhl.

This research appears online this month in the journal Obesity Facts. Researchers examined the association between childhood physical abuse and adult obesity in a representative sample of 12,590 adults, drawn from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey. Of these, 976 reported being physically abused by someone close to them before they turned 18 and 2,786 were classified as "obese" based on a body mass index of 30 or greater which was calculated from self-report of respondents' height and weight.

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Cardiovascular researchers examine habits that can lead to obesity, future heart risk

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Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Heart Disease
Article Date: 14 Aug 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Cardiovascular researchers examine habits that can lead to obesity, future heart risk

Among middle-school children, the behaviors most often linked with obesity are school lunch consumption and two hours or more of daily TV viewing, according to a new look at the dramatic increase in childhood obesity.

The findings by the University of Michigan Frankel Cardiovascular Center will be published in the September issue of Pediatrics.

While some habits were the same for all overweight and obese children, the study found some gender differences in the habits influencing body weight.

Data from 1,714 sixth grade students enrolled in Project Healthy Schools showed girls who drank two servings of milk each day were less likely to be obese, and boys who played on a sports team were also at a healthier weight.

"Additional work is needed to help us understand the beneficial impact of improving school lunches and decreasing screen time," says cardiologist and senior study author Elizabeth Jackson, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. "Presumably playing video games, or watching TV replaces physical activity."

Students enrolled in sixth grade at 20 schools in the southeastern Michigan communinities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti and Owosso were eligible for participation in this study. The median age was 11.

Obese boys and girls had poor cardiovascular profiles with lower HDL-cholesterol, higher triglycerides, higher blood pressure and higher heart rate recovery - indicating a lower level of fitness - compared to normal weight kids.

"Cardiovascular disease doesn't just start in adulthood, and there may be factors that could help us identify during youth or adolescence who might be at increased risk for developing health problems later on," Jackson says.

Other studies have linked eating school lunch with obesity, but a major issue with such studies, Jackson says, is the influence of socioeconomic status. Poor children eligible for free or reduced school lunch may already be overweight, considering the link between obesity and lower socioeconomic status.

"Although we were not able to examine the specific nutritional content of school lunches, previous research suggests school lunches include nutrient-poor and calorie-rich foods," Jackson says.

The University of Michigan study adds a new element in the fight to reduce childhood obesity by providing a real-world view of the gender differences in obesity risk factors.

Milk consumption seemed to protect girls from obesity, but made no difference for boys. A possible explanation would be a reduction in sugary drinks, which girls replaced with milk.

In the study, 61 percent of obese boys and 63 percent of obese girls reported watching television for two or more hours a day. The assumption is watching television mediates physical activity, but there were gender differences in how children spent their so-called "screen time."

When asked, obese girls were more likely than any other group to use a computer. Obese boys reported playing video games more often than normal weight boys, although the association was not as strong as in other studies.

"We did not find a significant association between time spent playing video games and obesity among boys, which has been observed in other studies," says study lead author Morgen Govindan, an investigator with the Michigan Cardiovascular Research and Reporting Program at the U-M. "Although we saw a similar trend, the association was not as strong perhaps due to our smaller sample size."

She adds: "Exploring such gender-related differences in a larger group may help in refining the interventions to promote weight loss and prevent obesity among middle school children."

The Project Healthy Schools program is designed to teach sixth graders heart-healthy lifestyles including eating more fruits and vegetables, making better beverage choices, engaging in 150 minutes of exercise per week, eating less fast food and less fatty foods, plus reducing time spent in front of computer and video game screens.

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Funding: Project Healthy Schools’ wellness efforts have been generously supported by a number of health systems, foundations, and individuals, including the University of Michigan Health System, the Thompson Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Mardigian Foundation, the Memorial Healthcare Foundation, the William Beaumont Health System Foundation, the Robert C. Atkins Foundation, the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, the Allen Foundation, AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation, Borders, Inc. and the Robert Beard Foundation.

Gender Differences in Physiologic Markers and Health Behaviors Associated With Childhood Obesity

Additional University of Michigan authors: Morgen Govindan; Roopa Gurm; Sathish Mohan; Eva Kline-Rogers, RN; Nicole Corriveau; Caren Goldberg, M.D.; Jean DuRussel-Weston, RN, M.P.H. and Kim A. Eagle, M.D. Pediatrics, Volume 132, Number 3, September 2013. Published online August 12, 2013. (doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-2994)

University of Michigan Health System

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Children can outgrow obesity - boys more than girls

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Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
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Article Date: 31 Jul 2013 - 0:00 PDT Current ratings for:
Children can outgrow obesity - boys more than girls

Researchers have developed a model revealing how excessive calorie intake can affect the weight of children and adolescents, suggesting that children can grow out of obesity, according to a study published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Researchers from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, as well as the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, say the model could lead to the development of new weight-loss programs for obese and overweight children.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has more than doubled in the past 30 years. Statistics in 2010 showed that more than a third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese.

The study authors describe this model as a "mathematical representation" of the energy balance principle, wherein changes in bodyweight are calculated to analyze the relationship between the calories consumed in food and the energy used up by the body in order to carry out physical work.

The model analyzes how children's metabolism, growth and energy expenditure can change as they gain weight.

The researchers say this model is the first to differentiate between the healthy weight gain that is normal in childhood and the excessive weight gain that results in obesity.

They add that it provides an accurate representation of how a child's energy balance can affect their weight gain.

The model was tested against data from previous studies that assessed the effects of a variety of weight loss interventions in overweight and obese treatments. This model was the most accurate tool in predicting the effect of calorie intake on weight loss in children, the researchers say.

Results predicted increases in energy intake between the ages of 5 and 18 of around 1,200 kcal a day in boys and 900 kcal a day in girls.

The model shows how some children could "outgrow" obesity during growth spurts, without changing their bodyweight, the study authors say.

For example, boys who are obese but maintain the same bodyweight during their growth spurts - which are more prominent between the ages of 11 and 16 - are likely to "normalize" their body fat as they grow taller and add lean tissue mass.

The researchers say, however, that this is less likely in girls as they tend to lose less body fat compared with boys, who tend to grow taller.

The study authors say that this model could lead to a greater understanding within clinicians and policy makers of how weight loss treatments, such as exercise programs and calorie-controlled diets, can be used to determine the best and most effective way of addressing childhood obesity.

Dr. Kevin Hall, lead study author, says: "One of the most disconcerting aspects of the global obesity epidemic is the high prevalence of childhood obesity, which carries both health and economic consequences." He adds:

"The model we have developed is a substantial step forward in fighting this rising tide of childhood obesity. It allows us to accurately predict how a child's energy intake affects his or her likelihood of becoming overweight or obese."

However, the researchers say that this model may not be accurate in predicting the risk of obesity in all children.

"Though the model doesn't apply perfectly to all children - for instance, those who start adolescence late, or who undergo particularly rapid weight gain - it provides an accurate representation of the average effect of reducing or increasing calorie intake on the weight of children," says Dr. Kevin Hall, adding:

"Our future research will adapt the model to individual children as well as study the effects of increasing physical activity along with diet changes."

Professor Claudio Maffeis of the department of life and reproduction sciences at the University of Verona, Italy, makes a comment in a follow-up to the study, stressing the "importance" of this research and saying it needs to be backed up by increasing parental knowledge.

He says: "To translate into practice these desired changes in energy balance, it will be necessary to increase families' knowledge and awareness of energy content and composition of children's diets by designing effective and sustainable educational programs about nutrition."

Written by Honor Whiteman

Copyright: Medical News Today
Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Visit our obesity / weight loss / fitness section for the latest news on this subject. "Dynamics of childhood growth and obesity: development and validation of a quantitative mathematical model," Hall KD, Butte NF, Swinburn BA and Chow CC, The Lancet - Diabetes & Endocrinology, July 30, 2013. Early online publication Please use one of the following formats to cite this article in your essay, paper or report:

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How obesity impacts advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Main Category: Lung Cancer
Also Included In: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Article Date: 29 Jul 2013 - 1:00 PDT Current ratings for:
How obesity impacts advanced non-small cell lung cancer

Obesity increases health risks for many things. Researchers wanted to know the impact of obesity on outcomes of patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. In the September issue of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer's journal, the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO), researchers conclude that obese patients had superior outcomes early on in the study, but then experienced increased hazards.

During the period from 1993 to 2004, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group enrolled 2684 patients to three phase III trials of first-line systemic chemotherapy for advanced NSCLC. At a median follow-up of 64.9 months, 2585 of the patients were declared eligible and included in this research. The patients had their body mass index (BMI) calculated. Consistent with the general population, 4.6 percent of patients were underweight, 44.1 percent were normal weight, 34.3 percent of patients were classified as overweight, and 16.9 percent were obese.

The median overall survival estimated among underweight patients was 7.0 months, among normal weight patients was 8.6 months, among overweight patients was 9.3 months and among obese patients was 11.0 months. In multivariable models, obese patients had significantly different overall survival when compared with normal-weight and overweight patients; however, their risk of death from any cause increased dramatically once they had been on study longer than 16 months.

Researchers says, "this indicates that the protective effect of obesity in lung cancer patients is for a limited time, after which the ultimate impact of obesity on survival from all causes supersedes."

The lead author is IASLC member Suzanne Dahlberg. Co-authors include IASLC members Dr. Joan Schiller, Dr. Philip Bonomi, Dr. Alan Sandler, Dr. Julie Brahmer, Dr. Suresh Ramalingam and Dr. David Johnson.

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