Diet Reviews Continued...

Overweight and obesity require a rigorous amount of exercise, though some diet programs also stress on the fact that diet control is a better option to lose extra pounds. There are different and equally proven theories that both types of methods work for achieving the motive of getting thin. However, in a recent research, it has been found that eating less and exercising more are equally good at helping to lose weight. The research is clearly a good response to the questions that prevail in the multi-billion dollar diet and fitness industry.

“It’s all about the calories,” said Dr Eric Ravussin of the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre, which is a part of Louisiana State University. “So long as the energy deficit is the same, body weight, fat weight, and abdominal fat will all decrease in the same way.”

The results of the research were published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. The basic idea of the study is geared to provide a better solution, which lies in between both diet and exercise. It has been suggested that a combination of controlled diet and good exercise can given the results in an efficient way.

Most people are concerned about the decision that they need to take while joining some fitness or weight-loss program–some of such programs emphasize on rigorous exercise, while some of them focus on the controlled diet and the benefits it imparts. However, as clear from the above study, it is one and the same thing–no one is better than the other: you can achieve the results either way, and you can choose the way according to your present conditions and preferences.

However, generally talking, we can easily note that exercise yields best results when it is accompanied with some good eating-habits. So, the final words would be like this study suggests–it is a combination of dieting and exercise that will work for you.

The talk about obesity is gaining more and more heat, and it can be clearly seen that schools are deemed as having a great role to play in curbing the obesity. Yesterday, we read about the Walk Challenge posed in primary schools of Arizona in US; and now in UK, a group of MPs have stressed the issue of schools paying more attention to the waist-line of students–the group has urged that primary schools should inform parents if their children are overweight or obese.

The Committee of Public Accounts warned in a report entitled ‘Tackling Child Obesity - First Steps’, that if the schools do not take care about this aspect of their duty, they are helping the unaware parents to remain in the dark about possible serious health risks to their children. The report has also stated that the way for telling the parents about their ward would be decided by the department of health.

In a separate move, but almost similar to the move taken up in schools of Arizona in US, the department of health is to fund a £494,000 program–a program that will involve the distribution of pedometers to children at schools in deprived areas. It can be seen that it would be a great effort to get the students walking to fitness.

We can easily see that the governments of all the countries are very much informed and concerned about eradicating the problem of obesity–and they certainly are pressing the right button. Childhood obesity is the worst situation that parents can find their children into, and if it can be curbed at an early stage, it is easier to be solved. We hope that the programs started by the government would be resulting in their aim, and would bring change in the life-style of families and make them healthier.

Well, after so much of divided reports and claims posted by people who are quite knowledgeable about the problem of obesity, we are back to some practical things. Across Mesa Public Schools in Arizona, around 6,500 5th-grade school children are being challenged to take 10,000 steps a day, which almost equals to around 5 miles, This challenge-sort is a part of the Walk On challenge program, which is intended to get students in shape during February and adopt a lifestyle that combats obesity. It is noticeable here that child obesity is one of the most threatening problems that doctors and health specialists agree upon.

It has been reported that more than 425 schools have signed on for the program–the program is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, which is also providing free tool kits, including pedometers to all the 33,000 5th-grade children registered so far.

To encourage 5th-grade children to do the walking, it has been declared that a student, who would walk 10,000 steps every day in February, will be registered to win one of 10 iPod nanos. Well, we can easily guess that students will be very happy to receive this prize, and it should motivate them enough to get in shape and enjoy a healthy life-style. It has also been declared that the school with the most students who qualify will receive a $2,500 grant to pay for a fitness-related field trip. We can clearly see that there is a lot of things to be won for students for schools alike!

However, he challenge is focused on 5th-grade students, though any class with students in grades K-8 can receive free tool kits and encourage students to walk. But we can clearly notice the intention of this challenge–to inculcate the habit of walking at quite an early stage, which is of course, very good and effective.

Well, here comes a news that can take you off-balance, and would be able to shake off all your fears regarding the onslaught of obesity, and its impending epidemic-like situation. It has been reported by an Australian group that Australians are not getting obese, and all the talk about obesity being an epidemic is a sheer waste of time and money! 

It is noticeable here that national and international researchers are due to convene in New South Wales tomorrow: the meeting will be focused about arguing the fact that statistics supporting obesity and its health consequences are much more uncertain than people realize. But, it is reported that the concept has met with intense criticism from a leading diabetes expert. The conference organizer, Jan Wright, says the commonly reported belief that Australians are generally fat, and are growing further fat is not true at all. The professor reports that many industries, which include fitness, food, and pharmaceutical, have vested interests in perpetuating the obesity problem–an interest common to all industries: money!

The conference, which will last for three days, is called Bio-pedagogies. Many academics, including people from the UK, Canada and New Zealand, will develop a plan to stay the momentum of the obesity argument.

It is pretty much obvious that you would be surprised by this news; however, we can’t downplay the role of vested interests in publicity of obesity as an epidemic, because there is a lot of money thrown in by the government and other organizations to tackle the problem of obesity. However, at the same time, we also can’t overlook the fact that the figures and the statistics provided by many countries are startling and clearly indicate that obesity is on a rise. It would be interested, though, to wait and watch the conference proceeds and what is decided by the people who are going to attend it.

Okay, here we go! The enormity of tackling childhood obesity has stirred almost the whole world, and various medical bodies and organizations are keen to join forces to fight against this problem. In what could turn out to be a decisive and important meeting, we have got a conference to tackle childhood obesity start-kicking this week. Various bodies and people, determined to fight against this epidemic, are meeting in Anaheim for the 2007 California Childhood Obesity Conference.

The conference will span four days and would be starting from Tuesday. The conference is deemed as the largest meeting on childhood obesity in the United States, as more than 1,700 participants are expected to attend this conference. It can be easily gauged that the assembled people would be hailing from wide range of fields including education, public health, politics, and business. The conference is being organized by the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley, the California Department of Health Services, the California Department of Education, and the California Endowment.

The conference, owing to its importance and popularity of subject matter, is supported by a number of agencies and organizations, including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Kaiser Permanente, and the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation. We can easily understand that almost whole of the medical and food industry is expecting great results from this conference, and perhaps we will be able to get some new visions that can be helpful in reducing the impact of childhood obesity, which is growing day by day. Many issues are expected to be discussed during the conference.

We can anticipate good results, though we need to wait and watch how the things proceed and come out–hold your breath and take notice what happens during the following days!

It is not covered or ditched under specially supervised cabinets now that obesity has wreaked havocs among the law-makers of USA. Lawyers and other bodies involved in solving the problem of obesity epidemic have already taken up many steps to impose strict guidelines and regulations. More laws are on hand, and we can easily guess that in coming days more guidelines would be issued to food industry, which now is under continuous watch-eye of the officials. 

However, it is noticeable that the effectiveness and efficiency of these guidelines would only be calculated if they pass through all the channels of acceptance. We must not forget that last year, Congress introduced more than 75 bills aimed at curbing obesity; however, only two among them made it past committee.

It is crucial what the statistics provide us in form of the data–the National Center for Health Statistics shows that 30% adults in USA are obese. We can easily gauge the measure of intensity that this problems holds–however, we can’t underestimate the measures taken up by government officials and other concerned bodies. We have heard some days ago that the food industry would have to stop targeting children for fast and junk food, which is expected to be contested, though there are some companies who are already doing do.

Obesity has been repeatedly found as source or root cause of many problems, though very recently it was also found that it is helpful in avoiding deaths through heart problems. But taking the number of obese people in USA and other issues, into account, we can assert that government officials are doing well in taking obesity as a major problem–we can’t sit back relaxed with this issue, as if it would subside on its own: we need take on it right away!

Generally, almost all the health specialists and doctors across the world refer to overeating as the main problem behind the epidemic of obesity. If you ask from somebody that how can you reduce your weight, people will refer to you about various dieting habits and programs that can help you to achieve your goal. However, it has been reported and noticed many times that people are not able to reduce their weight, though they followed all the regimes of dieting programs and did everything that was asked from them. Again, it has been reported that many doctors are now looking at other possible causes of obesity, apart from the conventional approach of overeating and dieting. 

Some of the causes that are reported to be responsible for obesity, though their intensity may not be same as overeating, are: hormonal disorders such as thyroid problems; metabolic disorders; conditions brought on by pre-diabetes; and side effects from medications.

It is clear that there might be some medical reasons also that are linked with the outbreak of obesity–outbreak because the problem of obesity has gripped almost whole of the world, and may countries are reporting the issue of obesity as an epidemic. It has been widely believed that overeating and more intake of calories are the root causes of obesity, coupled with the fact of reduced physical activity and lower burning of calories. However, many people suffer from obesity due to other reasons that are purely medical in nature and have nothing to do with the diet or physical activity.

However, it won’t be wrong to say that we will come to a point where other issues would also be discussed before advising anybody to take up some dieting courses or programs that limit the diet and propel to exercise, when the actual reason for obesity may turn out to be some medical conditions.

Well, we are sure that you are pretty much surprised by the title of this post, and we hope that the title alone can keep you reading this text–till now, we have talked about the dire consequences and other problems that are readily linked with obesity; however, here is something very special and sounds coming out of blue, where there is some benefit of obesity. It has been reported by a new research that obese patients hospitalized with heart failure holds better chances of survival than their lean counterparts.

The findings of this research have appeared in the American Heart Journal. Though we can’t divulge more into the possible reasons for this cause; however, we have got some words from the lead investigator of this study, Dr Gregg Fonarow. He states: “This study suggests that overweight and obese patients may have a greater metabolic reserve to call upon during an acute heart failure episode which may lessen in-hospital (death) risk.”

Dr. Fonarow hails from the University of California, Los Angeles. The research’s results were presented after studying data on almost 109,000 heart failure episodes in more than 80,000 patients.

It is clear that the results of this study are purely in contrast to other reports that are published almost daily, where we read that such and such are the disadvantages of obesity. However, we can’t, in any way, downplay the significance of this study, as it deals with a major problem that is fatal in nature. It is again obvious that more research might be needed to ascertain the reason behind the findings of this study, and what actually happens in relation to this issue.

However, on the lighter side, it can be easily noticed that obesity has something in it–the increased BMI (body mass index) provides some help to the up-keep of the body, though it is often a cause of problem.