Healthy schools, healthy weight

The foundation for lifelong good health is laid in childhood. And outside of home life, nothing provides more of an immersive experience for children than the time they spend in school. This means schools have a rich opportunity to improve youth health and tackle obesity at the ideal point in time—before problems take hold.

One of the main avenues that schools can use to positively affect health is also one most directly in line with every school’s mission: educating students. Nutrition and physical activity lessons can be woven into the curriculum—in core classroom subjects, physical education, and after-school programs—to teach skills that help students choose and maintain healthy lifestyles. In addition to teaching evidence-based nutrition and activity messages, school physical education should focus on getting students engaged in high-quality and regular activity.

Schools can also promote health outside of the classroom, by surrounding students with opportunities to eat healthy and stay active. To improve nutrition, schools can include healthier food offerings in the cafeteria and eliminate marketing of unhealthy foods. To improve activity, schools can develop safe walking and biking routes to school, and can promote active recess time.

Wellness programs for faculty and staff can also be integral to improving the school environment, not only serving to boost faculty and staff health but also building school-wide enthusiasm for student-focused programs.

Additionally, schools can serve as important data sources on student health. Anonymous, school-level information on markers like students’ body mass index (BMI) can help educators and policy-makers assess success of current programs and decide the direction of future programs.

With good evidence that school-based prevention programs can successfully—and without many added resources—help students to eat better, be more active, and achieve healthier weights, schools are poised to become an integral part of the fight against the obesity epidemic. As with education in general, the sooner we act, the better.

Fuente.- harvard.edu

ArturoRodriguez, MD

md@thebariatric.com
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Obama proclaims september as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

Declaring that obesity is “a serious public health issue that puts millions of our sons and daughters at risk,” President Barack Obama on Friday officially proclaimed September as National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month.

In his proclamation, Obama notes that while childhood obesity puts young people in danger of developing serious health conditions, Americans “are making real progress toward a healthier future for our children.”

For example, the president cites the Let’s Move! initiative, the campaign being led by his wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, that is working to reverse childhood obesity within a generation. Obama notes that for more than two years, Let’s Move! has worked with stakeholders to expand access to healthy food, promote physical activity and encourage healthy food choices.

Obama also notes that his administration is implementing new nutritional guidelines that require school meals to include more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and less fat and sodium. “These changes represent the first major revision to school meal requirements in more than 15 years, and they come on the heels of recent updates to the Federal Government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans,” Obama adds.

In the proclamation, Obama also cites projects such as the HealthierUS School Challenge, the Presidential Active Lifestyle Award, the Healthy Food Financing Initiative and partnerships between Let’s Move! and community and faith based organizations.

“Each of us can play a role in ensuring our children have the opportunity to live long, healthy lives, and by joining together in pursuit of that mission, I am confident we can build a brighter future for America’s youth,” Obama proclaims.

preventobesity.net

ArturoRodriguez, MD

md@thebariatric.com
http://www.thebariatric.com
http://www.bandstersforum.com
Phone: 011-52-81-8378-3177
Twitter: @bandagastrica
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Obesity Can Lower Children's IQ

Obese children, as well as kids with metabolic syndrome are more likely to be behind their normal-weight peers in spelling, mental flexibility, arithmetic and overall cognitive scores, researchers from New York University School of Medicine and the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York, reported in the journal Pediatrics.

The authors explained that there has been a dramatic increase in obesity rates in the USA over the past twenty years. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome among children has also risen significantly.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of health conditions, including high blood pressure (hypertension), elevated blood glucose levels, central obesity (too much fat around the waist), abnormal cholesterol levels, and insulin resistance. Metabolic syndrome is seen as a prelude to diabetes type 2.

Previous studies had demonstrated a link between metabolic syndrome in adults and cognitive deficits. This study has now shown that metabolic syndrome in teenagers is associated with even more extensive cognitive problems.

Dr. Antonio Convit, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at the NYU Langone School of Medicine, and team set out to determine what effects obesity and metabolic syndrome might have on teenagers. They compared 49 teens with metabolic syndrome to 62 peers without the disorder. All the children were matched socioeconomically.

They found significantly lower scores among those with metabolic syndrome in: Arithmetic, Attention and attention span, Mental flexibility, Spelling.
 

They also identified lower volumes of matter in the hippocampus and white matter integrity. The hippocampus is an area in the brain that regulates, learning, memory and emotion.

The authors wrote that according to their findings, obesity-associated metabolic dysregulation, which has not yet reached a level for a diagnosis of diabetes type 2, may also cause brain complications during a child's teenage years.

When considering early treatment options for childhood obesity, the researchers suggest that doctors should include therapies to improve brain function.

Dr. Convit said that further studies are required to find out whether obese teenagers might regain cognitive performance and structural abnormalities in the brain if their lose weight.

medicalnewstoday.com

ArturoRodriguez, MD

md@thebariatric.com
http://www.thebariatric.com
http://www.bandstersforum.com
Phone: 011-52-81-8378-3177
Twitter: @bandagastrica
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Obesity: Is Fast Food Responsible?

The reasons for obesity are multiple and complex.  Despite conventional wisdom, it is not simply a result of overeating.  Research has shown that in many cases, the significant underlying cause of morbid obesity is genetic. Studies have demonstrated that once the problem is established, efforts such as dieting and exercise programs have a limited ability to provide effective long-term relief. 

Science continues to search for answers but, until the disease is better understood, the control of excess weight is something patients must work at for their entire lives.  That is why it is very important to understand that all current medical interventions, including the Lap Band, Gastric Sleeve and Gastric Bypass procedures should not be considered medical cures. Rather, they are attempts to reduce the effects of excessive weight and alleviate the serious physical, emotional and social consequences of the disease. 
Contributing Factors 

The underlying causes of severe obesity are not known.  There are many factors that contribute to the development of obesity including genetic, hereditary, metabolic, environmental, and eating disorders.  There are also certain medical conditions that may result in some special type of obesity, such as the long term intake of steroids and some diseases such as hypothyroidism and hyper-adrenalism.
Genetic Factors 

Numerous scientific studies have established that your genes play an important role in your tendency towards excess weight gain.  The body weights of adopted children show no correlation with the body weights of their adoptive parents, who feed them and teach them how to eat.  However, their weight does have an 80 percent correlation with their genetic parents, whom they have never met.  As well, identical twins with identical genes, show a much higher similarity of body weights than do fraternal twins.

Certain groups of people, such as the Pima Indian tribe in Arizona and the growing Mexican-American population have shown a very high incidence of severe obesity. They also have significantly higher rates of diabetes and heart disease than other ethnic groups. 

We probably have a number of genes directly related to weight.  Just as some genes determine eye color or height, others can affect the appetite by increasing the amount of secretion of the Ghrelin Factor by the stomach, or the ability to feel full, satisfied, or have an early age-related change in metabolism. Our fat-storing ability, and our natural activity levels may even be affected by some predetermined gene.
Environmental Factors

Environmental and genetic factors are obviously closely intertwined.  If you have a genetic predisposition toward obesity, then the modern American lifestyle and environment may make controlling weight more difficult.  Fast food, long days sitting at a desk or in front of a TV screen or monitor, and suburban neighborhoods that require cars all magnify hereditary factors such as metabolism and efficient fat storage.   For those suffering from morbid obesity, anything less than a total change in environment usually results in failure to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. 
Metabolism

We used to think of weight gain or loss as only a function of calories ingested and then burned. Take in more calories than you burn, gain weight; burn more calories than you ingest, lose weight. But now we know the equation isn’t that simple.  Obesity researchers now talk about a theory called the “set point,” a sort of Thermostat in the brain that makes people resistant to either weight gain or loss. If you try to override the set point by drastically cutting your calorie intake, your brain responds by lowering metabolism and slowing activity. You then gain back any weight you’ve lost.
Eating Disorders & Medical Conditions

Weight loss surgery is not a cure for eating disorders. And there are medical conditions, such as hypothyroidism, that can also cause weight gain. That’s why it’s important that you work along with your doctor to find out whether you have any conditions that should be treated with medication and counseling.

ArturoRodriguez, MD

md@thebariatric.com
http://www.thebariatric.com
http://www.bandstersforum.com
Phone: 011-52-81-8378-3177
Twitter: @bandagastrica
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/banda.gastrica