Fast Food Weight Gain

Source: Women's Health March 2008

Obesity & Junk Food Babies

Junk food diet during pregnancy leads to obese babies: study

Mothers who use the excuse "I'm eating for two" and indulge in junk food during their pregnancy and while breastfeeding may put their children at risk of obesity, according to a British study.

The study, published Wednesday in the British Journal of Nutrition, involved feeding pregnant and lactating rats a diet of processed junk foods such as doughnuts, muffins, biscuits and sugary snacks, while another group of rats were fed a nutritious, balanced diet.

It found that babies of rats fed nutritious food ate a normal amount of calories, but rats fed junk food gave birth to offspring that overate and opted for sugary, salty and fatty foods.

The baby rats fed junk food consequently developed an above-average body weight and body mass index.

"Our study has shown that eating large quantities of junk food when pregnant and breastfeeding could impair the normal control of appetite and promote an exacerbated taste for junk food in offspring," said the study's lead author Dr. Stephanie Bayol.

"This could send offspring on the road to obesity and make the task of teaching healthy eating habits in children even more challenging."

Bayol said that exposure to a maternal junk food diet while in the womb and during breastfeeding might help explain why some people find it harder than others to control their junk food intake — even when given access to healthier foods later in life.

Professor Neil Stickland, a co-author on the study who heads the research group at the Royal Veterinary College, believes that mothers should be aware of the risks associated with a poor diet.

"Future mothers should be aware that pregnancy and lactation are not the time to overindulge on fatty-sugary treats on the misguided assumption that they are eating for two."

According to the recent estimates from Health Canada's Canadian Community Health Survey, 59 per cent of the adult population in Canada is overweight. And one in four Canadian children and adolescents aged two to 17 years are overweight.

Spare Me theDeep Dish

Downsize my dish

Three years ago, members of Montreal's venerable University Club started complaining that food portions served in their dining room had swelled beyond their appetites.

So the private social club struck a committee, which served up a quick and straightforward recommendation: less food.

Chef Alain Monod revamped the menu, shrinking main courses by at least 10 per cent and often more. A 14-ounce sirloin became a nine-ounce minute steak and, instead of apple pie, diners could order an open-faced apple tart, cut into 10 servings instead of eight.

"We are traditional French," says Mr. Monod, who hails from Paris. "We got stuck following the North American trend."

The University Club was among the first to get the message that super-sized portions are falling out of fashion with diners everywhere from gourmet eateries to fast-food chains.

This spring, Haagen-Dazs began selling ice-cream bars in half-size portions, while Subway restaurants are currently rolling out four-inch subs - two inches smaller than their half subs - at franchises across the country.

Smitty's, an Alberta-based family-dining chain, has done away with combo meals.

It's a trend largely driven by baby boomers who want healthier, tastier meals rather than more food for less money, says Jill Holroyd, vice-president research and communications of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association, an organization that represents 34,000 eateries across Canada.

Ms. Holroyd says restaurant owners are noticing diners attempting to control portions.

Some order two appetizers and no main course, or split an entree between two people.

Ordering a main dish and requesting that half be set aside to take home is also becoming common, Ms. Holroyd says. "There's no hesitation in asking for a doggie bag."

The new trend is forcing restaurants and food suppliers to rethink their business models as well as their menus, and introduce new products that encourage consumers to buy more food in smaller portions.

This month, for example, The Pickle Barrel, a Toronto-area chain of deli-style restaurants, is making smaller portions available in a new menu of under-500-calorie dishes endorsed by diet guru Rose Reisman. A six-ounce hamburger ($10.99) served with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, oven-browned potatoes and no bun is the new gourmet alternative to the restaurant's standard eight-ounce patty served with French fries for $7.49.

The idea for the menu came after Pickle Barrel president Peter Higley visited Seasons 52, a Florida-based restaurant that only serves dishes of 500 calories or less.

But reducing portion size also has pitfalls for restaurants and food suppliers who risk alienating value-oriented consumers. One of the first customers to try the six-ounce burger complained he was still hungry after eating, says Mr. Higley, though none have complained since. The hungry customer was directed to other options on The Pickle Barrel's 300-item menu.

Subway is rolling out four-inch subs with little fanfare this year, and prefers to point out that the chain promotes healthy eating by offering consumers the ability to customize their subs with vegetables and lean meats.

The company initially offered round deli rolls as an alterative to the standard six-inch and foot-long subs. Customers liked the smaller option, but wanted their sandwich on sub-shaped bread, Subway spokesman Kevin Kane says.

The trend to downsizing does not only include obvious diet-conscious eats, such as the soy-glazed salmon with edamame salsa inspired by Ms. Reisman.

Haagen-Dazs's miniature ice-cream bars were introduced to the Canadian market after food conglomerate Nestlé noticed an increase in demand for its Nestlé Minis, a small ice-cream snack targeted at children, which had been on the shelves since 2001.

The bars, half the size of the original, were previously sold in France. At 180 to 200 calories, "people can still indulge without the guilt," says Catherine O'Brien, a company spokesperson.

Likewise, the restaurant chain TGI Friday's launched a new option in March allowing customers to order fatty favourites like chicken parmesan and baby-back ribs in smaller portions at reduced prices.

The trend is welcomed by Marion Nestle, a public-health professor at New York University and food-industry watchdog.

Dr. Nestle, author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating, has been sounding the alarm on growing portion sizes for years, blaming them for rising rates of obesity.

"If you give people larger portions, they eat more," she says. "People eat what is in front of them."

Her point has been confirmed by research conducted over the past three decades that has repeatedly found that adults and children eat more when offered larger portions, regardless of their appetite.

But her endorsement is measured. Restaurants continue to use more fat, sugar and salt in their cooking than required, she says, and she feels many diners have become addicted to large portions.

"I think any change would take a long time. People are going to feel cheated if they are paying the same money for something smaller."

She continues to order only one appetizer as her meal when dining in restaurants. She used to make a meal of two appetizers, but found their sizes have swelled to that of a regular entree over the years.

Mr. Higley of The Pickle Barrel acknowledges it will take a while for the entire restaurant industry to make the switch to smaller portions.

"Still," he says, "the era of the 10-ounce burger is over.
Source: TheGlobeandMail.com

Kellogg's Improving Nutrient Quality of Kid's Food by 2008

Kellogg Co., the world's largest cereal maker, has agreed to raise the nutritional value of cereals and snacks it markets to children.

The Battle Creek, Mich., company avoided a lawsuit threatened by parents and nutrition advocacy groups worried about increasing child obesity. Kellogg intends to formally announce its decision Thursday.

The company said it won't promote foods in TV, radio, print or web site ads that reach audiences at least half of whom are under age 12 unless a single serving of the product meets these standards:

-No more than 200 calories.

-No trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat.

-No more than 230 milligrams of sodium, except for Eggo frozen waffles.

-No more than 12 grams of sugar, not counting sugar from fruit, dairy and vegetables.

Kellogg said it would reformulate products to meet these criteria or stop marketing them to children under 12 by the end of 2008.

"By committing to these nutrition standards and marketing reforms, Kellogg has vaulted over the rest of the food industry," said Michael F. Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "This commitment means that parents will find it a little easier to steer their children toward healthy food choices - especially if other food manufacturers and broadcasters follow Kellogg's lead."

Jacobson's nutrition advocacy group, along with two Massachusetts parents and the Boston-based Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood, had served notice in January 2006 of intent to sue Kellogg and the Nickelodeon cable TV network under a Massachusetts law to stop them from marketing junk food to kids.

Center spokesman Jeff Cronin said Kellogg contacted the plaintiffs shortly thereafter and began negotiating the new standards, so the lawsuit was not filed and will not be filed.

"We are pleased to work collaboratively with industry and advocacy groups to unveil these standards," said David Mackay, Kellogg's CEO. "We feel the Kellogg Nutrient Criteria set a new standard for responsibility in the industry."

With 2006 sales of almost US$11 billion, Kellogg is not only the No. 1 cereal-maker but also a leading producer of snack foods. Its brands include Kellogg's, Keebler, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Cheez-It, Rice Krispies and Famous Amos.

Kellogg also announced that it will continue to refrain from advertising to children under age 6, and will not in the future:

-Advertise to children any foods in schools and preschools that include kids under age 12.

-Sponsor placement of any of its products in any medium primarily directed at kids under age 12.

-Use branded toys connected to any foods that do not meet the nutrition standards.

-Use licensed characters on mass-media ads directed primarily to kids under 12 or on the front labels of food packages unless they meet the standards.

The advertising agreement does not apply to marketing characters Kellogg owns, like Tony the Tiger, but it does apply to characters the food company licenses, like the cartoon figure Shrek, said Susan Linn, co-founder of the Campaign For A Commercial-Free Childhood.

She said Kellogg was the first food company to agree to restrict advertising using licensed media characters like Shrek.

"These characters play an incredibly important role in children's lives. Kids see them every day; they have toys of them," Linn said. "The media characters are much more powerful (than company-owned characters like Tony the Tiger). The food companies want to keep using them because they sell a lot of food; kids really respond to them."

Earlier this month, a Federal Trade Commission study found that half the ads for junk food, sugary cereals and soft drinks are on children's programs, double the percentage 30 years ago. Children between ages 2 and 11 saw approximately 5,500 food ads on television in 2004, half of them on kids' shows with audiences of 50 per cent children or greater.

American companies spend about US$15 billion a year marketing and advertising to children under age 12, the Institute of Medicine said last year when it warned that one-third of American children are obese or at risk for becoming obese.

In response, Kellogg and McDonald's Corp. joined eight other major food and drink companies last November in an industry-sponsored pledge to promote more healthy foods and exercise in their child-oriented advertising. A year earlier, Kraft Foods Inc. had promised to curb ads to young children for snack foods, including Oreos and Kool-Aid.

Source: cbc.ca

FDA holding out on Obesity Drug Approval

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States appears to be holding back on it's decision to grant approval for a weight loss drug. The FDA says the drug Acomplia has adverse effects in some people in that it can prompt suicidal behavior and cause other psychological side effects. The FDA's review of the drug comes before a panel of experts are about to vote on whether Sanofi-Aventis' obesity treatment should be given approval and although the federal agency is not obliged to follow the experts advice it more often than not does. A definitive decision by the FDA is scheduled to be issued regarding Acomplia on July 27. The FDA says clinical studies by the French drug maker indicated that patients taking Acomplia daily showed significant weight loss after two years. However the FDA is concerned that 26 percent of patients in the trials taking Acomplia experienced adverse psychiatric events, including depression, anxiety and insomnia, compared with 14 percent of patients on a placebo. The FDA also says there is a possible link between Acomplia and suicidal behavior; in studies of the weight loss drug, Sanofi reported one patient committing suicide and eight having suicidal thoughts while among patients taking the placebo, Sanofi reported two suicide attempts and five instances of suicidal thoughts. The FDA also says there was a slightly higher rate of dizziness and headache among Acomplia patients, at 27.4 percent, compared with 24.4 percent patients on placebo. Acomplia is a potential blockbuster drug despite the hiccups in getting it approved. It was originally presented in 2005 as an anti-obesity pill and an anti-smoking treatment but was rejected by the FDA for anti-smoking use until more information on it's psychiatric side effects were provided. Known generically as rimonabant, the drug is already sold in 18 countries under the name Acomplia. European Union regulators have approved Acomplia for overweight patients who suffer additional health problems, including abnormal cholesterol and diabetes, but not for smoking use. If approved Sanofi plans to market the drug under the name Zimulti in the U.S. Source: www.news-medical.net

Hormones Affect Diet Success

Another failed diet? Blame hormones

Weight-loss success may depend on more than just motivation and willpower, according to a study reported last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It appears that which diet works best may depend on your hormones.

There has been debate among scientists regarding the most effective diet for weight loss. Recent studies that have pitted diet against diet - low-fat, low-carbohydrate and low-glycemic-load - have delivered inconsistent findings, with some suggesting one diet is superior and others indicating no difference between them.

Why some people do well on a conventional low-fat diet and others do poorly is often chalked up to compliance: People just aren't motivated to stick to their diet long term.

But perhaps there's another explanation. Inherent differences in insulin secretion may affect one's ability to lose weight on a diet. (Insulin is the hormone that clears sugar from the bloodstream.)

In the new study, participants classified as "high-insulin-secreting" lost five times more weight on a low-glycemic-load diet than on a conventional low-fat diet.

Low-glycemic-load diets limit rapidly digested carbohydrates that sharply raise blood sugar (glucose) and insulin levels. High-glycemic-load foods cause blood sugar and insulin levels to rise higher than do those with a low glycemic load. In response to excess insulin secretion, blood-sugar levels drop lower over the next few hours, which can trigger hunger and overeating.

Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston assigned 73 obese adults, aged 18 to 35 years, to either a low-fat diet (55 per cent carbohydrates, 20 per cent fat, 25 per cent protein) or a low-glycemic-load diet (40 per cent carbohydrates, 35 per cent fat, 25 per cent protein) for six months. Participants were then followed for an additional 12 months.

Volunteers on the low-glycemic-load diet emphasized whole grains, nuts, legumes, fruits and non-starchy vegetables and limited their intake of high-glycemic-load foods (white bread, white rice, refined breakfast cereals, potatoes, fruit juices, sweets).

Individuals who followed the low-fat diet were counselled to eat grains, vegetables, fruits and legumes and to limit sweets and high-fat snacks. Low-fat diets generally contain more carbohydrates and raise insulin higher than low-glycemic-load diets.

The diets involved no calorie restrictions or measuring of food. Participants received ongoing counselling and were told to "eat when hungry, but before famished" and to "stop eating when satisfied, before feeling stuffed."

Initially, all volunteers were given an oral-glucose tolerance test to measure their insulin response. (The test requires drinking a liquid containing 75 grams of glucose. Blood is taken before, and again every 30 to 60 minutes after, drinking the solution.) In this study, insulin concentration was measured at 30 minutes.

After six months, changes in body weight and body fat did not differ between the two diet groups. However, when the researchers analyzed the results based on insulin levels, there were noticeable differences.

High insulin secretors lost 2.2 lbs (1 kg) per month on the low-glycemic-load diet versus only 0.9 lbs (0.4 kg) on the low-fat diet. After 18 months, total weight loss was 12.8 lbs (5.8 kg) in the low-glycemic-load group, but only 2.6 lbs (1.2 kg) in the low-fat group of high insulin secretors.

Among the low insulin secretors, body weight and fat loss did not differ significantly between the two weight-loss plans.

Regardless of insulin secretion, following the low-glycemic-load diet boosted HDL (good) cholesterol and lowered concentrations of triglyceride (a blood fat) in the blood, effects that were not seen on the low-fat diet.

This isn't the first study to suggest how much insulin you secrete might predict how well you do on a diet. A study in 2005 from Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston found that overweight adults with higher insulin secretion lost more weight when assigned to a low-glycemic-load diet than to a conventional low-fat diet. Among people who had lower insulin secretion, weight loss did not differ on the two diets.

Moreover, numerous studies have shown that eating low-glycemic foods delays hunger, decreases subsequent food intake and increases satiety compared with high-glycemic foods.

In my opinion, you don't need a blood test to determine if you should follow a low-glycemic-load diet.

A low-glycemic-load diet that's also low in saturated fat is good for anyone trying to lose weight, especially if you have high insulin levels. It's a healthy way to eat even if you don't need to trim down.

Lightening the load

The glycemic index and glycemic load are complicated concepts to grasp. Perhaps that's why almost four in 10 Canadians have little awareness of the glycemic index. Diets based on these concepts require you to choose foods based on numbers - glycemic index and glycemic load values.

The glycemic index is a scale that ranks carbohydrate-rich foods by how fast they raise blood sugar levels compared with pure glucose. The glycemic load of a food is calculated by multiplying its glycemic index by the grams of carbohydrates it provides.

To me, this sounds confusing and impractical. No one wants to carry around a calculator or a list of glycemic load values. I certainly don't. Fortunately, there are simpler ways to reduce the glycemic load of your diet.

Think concept, forget numbers.

Eat more unprocessed fresh foods such as whole grains, legumes, nuts, fruits and vegetables. These have a low GI value compared with highly processed foods, which also may contain a concentrated amount of sugar.

Include at least one low-GI food per meal, or base two of your meals on low-GI choices.

Pay attention to breads and breakfast cereals because these foods contribute the most to the high glycemic load of the North American diet.

Avoid eating high-GI snacks like pretzels, corn chips and rice cakes as these can trigger hunger and overeating. Opt for fresh fruit, low-fat dairy products, nuts or plain popcorn.

Choose fruits that are more acidic (e.g. oranges, grapefruit, cherries) as these have a low GI and will lower the glycemic load of a meal.

Use salad dressings made from vinegar or lemon juice - the acidity will result in a further reduction in the GI of your meal.

Watch portion size. When it comes to weight control, excess calories add up regardless of how they affect your blood glucose and insulin.

Source: The Globe and Mail.com

75 to Feel Alive

Bit of exercise helps overweight women improve fitness: study

Exercising about 75 minutes a week may be enough to improve fitness levels in inactive women who are overweight, researchers say.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and U.S. National Institutes of Health recommend at least a half hour on most days a week of moderate exercise to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Dr. Timothy Church of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and his colleagues set out to look at the effects of exercising 75 minutes a week, 135 minutes a week or 190 minutes a week — half, the same and 150 per cent of the recommended amount.

"This information can be used to support future recommendations and should be encouraging to sedentary adults who find it difficult to find the time for 150 minutes of activity per week, let alone 60 minutes per day," the researchers wrote in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Surveys suggest about one in five adults in the U.S. report no physical activity, and lack of time is the major reason they give.

The researchers studied 427 overweight women with high or borderline-high blood pressure who had an average age of 57. Participants were randomly assigned to not exercise or to do one of the three levels of moderate intensity physical activity, by walking on treadmills or riding stationary cycles, three or four times a week.

"The lowest exercise dose, the 75 minute a week group, actually not only did not lose fitness, but they actually gained fitness during the six months, and that's an exciting result — that 75 minutes a week produces significant health benefits," Church said in a release.

Slimmer waists

All of the women who exercised were fitter based on measurements of oxygen intake during exercise, and their waists were smaller. That is important because belly fat increases the risk of premature death, Type 2 diabetes, cholesterol problems and hypertension.

None of the women in the exercise groups showed significant changes in blood pressure values or weight after six months compared with the control group, although the study was not designed for weight loss.

The more women exercised, the more they improved their physical fitness, the researchers found. They did not recommend lowering public health guidelines for physical activity, but suggested taking the results into account as revisions are developed.

Given cost and feasibility concerns, the trial used three patterns of physical activity, while in real life there are infinitely more, I-Min Lee of Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston, said in a journal commentary.

"The study by Church et al does provide important information on the dose of physical activity to improve physical fitness, a strong predictor of chronic disease and premature mortality," Lee wrote.

"This may be succinctly summarized for patients and clinicians as 'Even a little is good; more may be better!'"

Source: CBC.ca

Empty Can of Pop

Source: Men's Health April 2007

Obesity Genetic Link Discovered

Genetic link found for obesity

A gene variant common in the European population has been discovered that shows the first clear link to obesity, researchers say.

The gene, called FTO, was found by studying the genome of 39,000 white people in the United Kingdom, Finland and Italy who gave blood samples, the team said in Thursday's online issue of the journal Science.

People who had two altered copies of the gene were about three kilograms heavier on average, and had a 70 per cent higher risk of obesity than people with no copies of the gene. Those with one copy had a lesser but still elevated risk of having a higher fat mass.

About 63 per cent of people surveyed had one or two copies of the mutation, and the effects of the gene were seen by age seven, said the researchers, who set out to look for genes that increase susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes.

"Our findings suggest a possible answer to someone who might ask, 'I eat the same and do as much exercise as my friend next door, so why am I fatter?' said Prof. Andrew Hattersley from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, England.

"There is clearly a component to obesity that is genetic."

Tackling rise in obesity

The researchers said they do not know why people with copies of the FTO mutation put on more weight, because the function of the gene is unknown. For example, it may cause people to store fat more efficiently.

By identifying the genetic link, the researchers said they hope to explore new ways of treating obesity, such as drugs that target the gene. They also aim to look for the FTO gene in South Asians and blacks, since finding it in more than one population would make genetics researchers more confident about the link.

Of the participants in the study, about 25 per cent were considered obese, based on their body mass index, a relationship between height and weight.

Role of environment

Genes alone are unlikely to be a major factor behind surging obesity rates, since genetic changes do not happen on a scale of 20 to 30 years, scientists say.

The obesity rate among Canadian boys jumped from two per cent to 10 per cent in the last 15 years, and from two per cent to nine per cent among girls, according to guidelines published earlier this week in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Poor diet, lack of exercise and genetics all contribute to the problem, said Dr. Glenn Berrall, head of the pediatric nutrition clinic at North York General Hospital in Toronto.

"We seem to be living in an environment that fosters excess weight," Berrall told CBC Newsworld on Thursday.

Factors include:

• Lack of opportunities for physical activity in school or in daily life.
• Ease of transportation.
• Perceptions of unsafe environments and neighbourhood designs that deter walking.
• Easy and frequent access to high-calorie foods.

All levels of society and governments have a role to play, such as offering nutrition labelling, school nutrition and physical activity programs, and healthy role models from parents, Berrall said.

Last fall, the International Congress on Obesity heard that more than 1.5 billion adults and 10 per cent of children are overweight or obese. The excess pounds increase the risk for heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and some cancers.

Source: CBC.ca

Visual Portion Cues

Source: Fitness Business Canada April 2007

Mandatory High School Phys Ed -All Grades

Manitoba to make phys-ed mandatory for Grade 11 and 12 in 2008

As part of a push to encourage healthy lifestyles for young people, the Manitoba government is making physical education part of the curriculum for Grade 11 and 12.

Education Minister Peter Bjornson says the new requirement will take effect in September 2008.

He says students will be able to earn the required phys-ed or health credits either in class or through outside activities such as intramural and inter-school sports or community-based sports.

They will be encouraged to find activities suited to their interests and abilities.

The addition to the curriculum is one of the government's responses to an all-party committee's report on healthy kids released in 2005.

Bjornson made the announcement Tuesday at a Winnipeg high school, where he joined Healthy Living Minister Kerri Irvin-Ross and students in a game of basketball.

Source: CBC.ca

Added Sugar Consumption

Source: Men's Health March 2007

15 Minute Obesity Respite

Exercise key to avoiding childhood obesity, study shows

A brisk, 15-minute walk daily may be enough to help prevent childhood obesity, British researchers say.

The study in this week's issue of PloS Medicine looked at 5,500 children who wore a motion-sensing device and had their body fat measured with an X-ray scanner, which offers more precise measurement than the body mass index.

Among children who increased their physical activity levels by 15 minutes a day of moderate exercise, the chances of being obese were lowered by almost 50 per cent, the researchers found.

"This study provides some of the first robust evidence on the link between physical activity and obesity in children," said study author Prof. Chris Riddoch of Britain's Bath University.

"We know that diet is important, but what this research tells us is that we mustn't forget about activity. It's been really surprising to us how even small amounts of exercise appear to have dramatic results."

Without accurate measurements of activity levels and body fat, it has been difficult for researchers to determine the relative importance of activity in preventing obesity in children, compared to dietary changes.

Easy to find 15 minutes

Most families would be able to add 15 minutes of moderate exercise a day as a starting point, said Prof. Andy Ness of the University of Bristol, who co-directed the research with Riddoch.

The average age of the children in the study was 12. Those in the 10 per cent levels of fat mass were classified as obese.

"Our findings, if confirmed, suggest that public health policies that increase physical activity levels and in particular [moderate and vigorous physical activity] in children may help to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity," the researchers concluded.

One limitation of the cross-sectional study is that it is possible that instead of becoming obese because of lack activity, obesity may restrict children from being more active, the study said.

Rates of overweight and obese children nearly tripled among Canadians over the past two decades, the Canadian Institutes of Health Information reported in 2004. Obesity rates are also on the rise in other developed countries.

Source: CBC.ca

Weight Loss Losing Claims

Poor evidence to support diet supplement's claims, professor says

Popular health products like Hydroxycut claim they will help you lose weight quickly, but there is little proof that it works, a Winnipeg supplement expert says.

The main stimulant in Hydroxycut is caffeine. Each pill contains the equivalent of three cups of coffee. People are supposed to take up to six pills a day.

The research used to back up Hydroxycut is not convincing to Prof. Dean Kriellaars, an expert in the field of supplements at the University of Manitoba's School of Medical Rehabilitation.

"The literature on their website I would argue to you is of a very low credibility level," said Kriellaars.

However, a spokesman for the maker of Hydroxycut backed the product.

"We genuinely have products of the highest possible quality, built on the most reliable scientific research," Vincent Scalese of Iovate Health Sciences said in a statement Thursday.

The product's website cites two eight-week studies.

On average, subjects using the main ingredients of Hydroxycut lost more weight than those using a placebo (14.99 pounds compared to 3.06 pounds in one study, and 12.54 pounds compared to 3.53 pounds in the second study).

Both groups also did 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity at a moderate rate for five days per week and followed a diet of 2,000 calories per day.

Two of the studies Kriellaars reviewed from the website were funded by the health supplement industry, which casts doubt on their trustworthiness, he said. Other studies looked at caffeine rather than the actual product or its ingredients.

The caffeine studies suggest the stimulant may raise a person's metabolic rate and help burn off more calories in a day, but there would be the same effect from drinking coffee, Kriellaars said.

Registered dietician Gina Sunderland said she gets questions about Hydroxycut all the time.

"The best thing that consumers can do is look for products that contain an NPN, which is a Natural Product Number," said Sunderland. "That means that product has been scrutinized for safety, and purity and efficacy by Health Canada."

Ads promote weight loss

Health Canada introduced regulations in 2004 that require products that make health claims to be tested and licensed. With more than 40,000 natural health products on the market and more popping up all the time, the department is experiencing a backlog.

Hydroxycut is one of the products waiting for a licence.

In the meantime, Hydroxycut is advertised on TV and websites, and in health magazines. One ad shows a man who lost 30 pounds in a month, said Kyle Bazylo of Cuts Fitness for Men in Winnipeg.

Given that Hydroxycut can cause side-effects such as jitters and a racing heart, the fitness trainer said people should start slowly and build up the dosage.

Source: CBC.ca

BMI Inaccurate Indicator According to 'New' Research

Research shows BMI often not an accurate indicator of body fat

Body mass index, or BMI, long considered the standard for measuring the amount of fat in a person’s body, may not be as accurate as originally thought, according to new research.

A research team from Michigan State University and Saginaw Valley State University measured the BMI of more than 400 college students – some of whom were athletes and some not – and found that in most cases the student’s BMI did not accurately reflect his or her percentage of body fat.

The research is published in the March issue of Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine.

BMI is determined by this equation: A person’s weight divided by his or her height squared. Generally a BMI of 25 or above indicates a person is overweight; 30 or above indicates obesity. A person with a higher BMI is thought to be at a greater risk of heart disease, diabetes and other weight-related problems.

“The overlying issue is the same criteria for BMI are used across the board,” said Joshua Ode, a Ph.D. student in the MSU Department of Kinesiology and an assistant professor of kinesiology at Saginaw Valley. “Whether you’re an athlete or a 75-year-old man, all the same cut points are used.”

“BMI should be used cautiously when classifying fatness, especially among college-age people,” said Jim Pivarnik, an MSU professor of kinesiology and epidemiology. “It really doesn’t do a good job of saying how fat a person really is.”

The problem, especially among younger people and athletes, is that BMI does not distinguish between body fat and muscle mass, said Ode.

“A previous study of NFL football players found that a large percentage of them – around 60 percent – were considered obese,” he said. “But when you look at an athlete like that, you see that in many cases he is not obese. Many athletes have huge BMIs because of muscle mass, but in many cases are not fat.”

The answer, said Pivarnik, is instead of having one cutoff point for everyone, perhaps have different classifications for different people.

“Is a BMI of 25 for overweight and 30 for obese the right ones to use with 20- to 29-year-olds in terms of disease risk?” he asked. “Maybe it could be as simple as this: If you’re a regular exerciser or an athlete, maybe 28 is overweight for you and 33 is considered obese.”

BMI, said Pivarnik, is used as a “surrogate” for percent fat, even though body fat doesn’t really fit into the equation.

“What if you take fat out of the equation?” he said. “Is there something unique about BMI that may increase a person’s risk of chronic disease, unrelated to fatness? Are people with high BMIs but low fatness as much at risk of heart disease as other people? The answer is no one knows.”

In their research, Ode and Pivarnik used carefully measured height and weight to calculate BMI in more than 400 college-age people. They then used a standard method of measuring body fatness and found that BMI was not providing an accurate portrayal of the amount of fat a student had.

Other members of the research team included Mathew Reeves, an associate professor of epidemiology at MSU, and Jeremy Knous, a Ph.D. student in the MSU Department of Kinesiology.

Source: newsroom.msu.edu/site/indexer/3009/content.htm

Fitness Coach and Best Friend on Four Legs

Source: Men's Health March 2007

Beer Gut Dynamics

Source: Men's Health March 2007

Wii vs Obesity

God bless scientists. Particularly those at Liverpool John Moores University. The boffins there have been hard at work measuring gamers’ activity levels, and found that playing Wii for 15 minutes boosts your energy expenditure by 156%, compared to 60% using normal joypads on other consoles.

The Mirror has done its sums, calculating that for the average child who spends 12.2 hours a week playing games, this means a potential 1,830 calories burnt off – which could lose them a couple of stone a year.

“Motion sensor-controlled consoles can make an impact on a child’s energy expenditure and calories burned, however parents should encourage outdoor pursuits,” Professor Tim Cable tells the paper. Too late: millions of kids have already snipped that bit out of the article and gone to pester their parents…

Source: wiiwii.tv

Obeez City and the XBOX

New DVD game battles childhood obesity

JIM ELLIS Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. - Obesity may be a global epidemic, but it's Obeez City that is spreading out of control in a new DVD game to be released nationwide Tuesday.

The game teaches youngsters how to avoid the ravages of being overweight, and may the healthy force be with you.

Gamers join a team of super heroes called Body Mechanics and war against the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease, battling villains with names like Col Estorol and Betes II. The fighting takes place inside the body of Jack Decayd and if Obeez City is not contained, "Jack will die soon," says Neuro, the Yoda-like wise one who narrates the game's story line.

"I remember how it started. A few snacks here, a soft drink there," Neuro speaking in an ominous tone says during the opening. "And before we knew it, the Evil Coalition of Harm and Disease was threatening us all."

Neuro then makes his plea: "You must join the team of heroic Body Mechanics. They need your help in order to gain the knowledge necessary to save Jack's life. Only you can change how this story ends."

The Body Mechanics DVD game is the latest in a string of products in the video gaming industry to buck long-held notions and stress exercise and healthy living. The game is packaged with an animated movie and sold as a two-disc set. Body Mechanics will be in limited release Tuesday in retail outlets such as Target, Borders, Walgreens and CVS/pharmacy.

Viewed as sedentary pastimes, video games, and its cousins, the television and the personal computer, are typically the object of parental finger waving.

And children are becoming gamers younger than ever - 2 years old, according to a survey conducted by NPD Group, a market research firm. With sales in the U.S. totaling $12.5 billion in 2006, the gaming industry's foothold is firmly planted in American culture - and so is childhood obesity.

About 16 percent of children ages 6 to 19 are overweight in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There is an 80 percent chance that overweight children will become obese adults and will be at risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

But with the highly popular active video game, Dance Dance Revolution, and gaming console's such as Nintendo's Wii and now Body Mechanics, the negative hype that video games enable teens to lay around and gain weight may meet some resistance.

Imagine Harry Potter, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings all mixed up inside the body and that's Body Mechanics, said Tony Findlay, the game's creator, who is based in Australia.

Findlay, 40, said the idea for the game and movie came while on tour to promote his book, "DIETS SUCK."

"Parents approached me and asked how they can teach their kids to eat better and exercise more," said Findlay, who said his own father was obese and died of a heart attack at 56.

Butch Rosser, one of Body Mechanic's contributors, was once a morbidly obese medical student whose weight topped 450 pounds. He admits that he used video games - dating back to Pong in the 1970s - to escape the stresses of all-night study sessions.

Now a surgeon in New York City, father of five and yes, still a gamer, he weighs in 160 pounds lighter these days due to gastric bypass surgery six years ago. Rosser lends his acting ability in the movie as Dr. Bludd, the good doctor who stresses the importance of saving not only Jack Decayd's life but "all of humanity."

His prescription for the young and overweight today is the very thing he says enabled his weight gain early in life - video games.

"We have a new genre of video games today," Rosser said. "You can lose pounds while having fun and that's a beautiful combination."

Jake Schweizer, an 8-year-old gamer who lives in Orlando, plays his XBox about an hour every day. He is within the 5- to 11- year-old age range Body Mechanics aims to reach.

Players choose one of three main missions and then follow along on an animated adventure, answering 10 questions along the way. Answer too many questions incorrectly and Jack Decayd dies.

"I like the questions. They're fun to answer," said Jake, who only missed one the first time he played Body Mechanics during a recent video game convention in Orlando.

Video games like Body Mechanics have a difficult task, said Dr. Karen Cullen, associate professor of pediatrics/nutrition at the Children's Nutrition Research Center in Houston.

"You can give someone an hour's worth of facts and you'll bore them to death," she said. "The games have to be entertaining to compete in the marketplace."

Cullen was one of the researchers at Baylor College of Medicine who developed a computer game that improved eating habits in children. Fourth graders from 26 elementary schools participated in the study.

Children played a medieval-themed game called Squire's Quest. Players advanced from squire to knight. But along with achieving knighthood, gamers were encouraged to eat more fruits and vegetables.

The new video games and consoles that require more than thumbs pounding a handheld controller is a positive development, Cullen said.

Rosser, who performs weight-loss surgeries, said he hopes reaching children at a young age with the message of eating healthy will prevent problems with weight later in life.

"I don't want people to have to undergo a surgical procedure to save their life," Rosser said. "I want to put my knife out of business."

Source: brandenton.com (brandenton herald)

Obesity Radio Treatment

Radio Frequencies Used To Zap Fat

It's the bane of most people's existence. And it happens to just about all of us.

There's a certain irony in the fact that cellulite contains the word 'lite' - a term the food industry uses to sell you goodies with reduced calories.

But while getting rid of fat in food doesn't appear to be a problem, getting it off your body often seems to be impossible without major surgery.

Until now.

A Toronto company is the first to employ a new laser technology called Accent. It melts the cellulite away without any pain and without any invasive procedures. Hard as it is to believe, an attendant simply passes the specially focused beam over the troubled area and the fat disappears.

It's not inexpensive (see list below) but after trying everything else, Sophie Pavlou decided it was worth the money. "We tried exercise, kickboxing, this, that," she remembers. "Cellulite would not go. Diet, caffeine. Nothing works."

Then she put on a new 'Accent". "It's night and day," she proclaims after her treatments.

How does it work? The beam heats the skin with radio frequencies. "This technology penetrates deep and smoothes out the skin and ... eliminates [the cellulite]," explains Mandy Maresky of Cosmedicare.

Doctors will still tell you that it's important to eat right and exercise to get the fat off you and keep it that way. But Sophie is appreciative of the shortcut.

"It's literally melting the fat," she marvels. "The fat just melts away." She claims to have lost 13 lbs. with the method. And she's more than willing to come back for additional treatments if it becomes necessary.

"Just sitting here doing nothing and getting a massage and you're losing weight," she concludes. "I know it's crazy, but it works. And I'm proof. I mean it's unbelievable!"

So how much will your body area cost you? Check out the list below.

Thighs (back and front): $800
Abdomen: $400
Buttocks: $450
Arms: $400
Love Handles: $400
Face: $400
Double Chin and Neck: $350
Face and Double Chin: $650

Source: Citynews.ca