Obesity

In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) provides free medical care for everyone - which, of course, includes people who are obese. We've all heard about widening of aircraft seats in the light of growing levels of obesity, but medical equipment now needs to be enlarged too. This article, "Supersize NHS" in The Times gives details of the costs of buying special equipment such as beds, chairs and operating tables, to cope with very obese patients.

Recently, the National Geographic Channel has been airing the documentary “The Science of Obesity”, which explains the various ways that obesity impacts the body and how “Francis” -a 28-year-old male who is 5 foot 8 inches tall and weighs 500 pounds copes with day-to-day activities.

Scotland's Sunday Herald has a lengthy diatribe deriding the nations "over-tolerant attitude to fatness".

The UK Independent reports on an interesting "discovery":

The authors of the research (abstract here) believe that "obesity serves as a cue for pathogen infection".

I remember watching the first season of the network show, “The Biggest Loser” and being amazed as participants would weigh-in each week and lose 10-25 pounds a week.

By the end of the show, the winner was crowned and his name was Ryan Benson. In one season, he was able to lose a staggering 122 pounds!

So how is Ryan Benson doing these days?

During my first year teaching preschool, I was asked by one of my students:

“Miss Sylvia, do you think these shoes make my butt look big?”

Giant basketballer Shaquille O'Neal has finished with doing Burger King ads, and wants to help obese kids get fit.

New guidelines for pediatricians and other health professionals recommend that doctors need to start using the term “Obesity” when referring to or talking to overweight children and their parents.

How many times have you created a healthy gourmet meal for you child - only to have them look at it like it's poison? Many health books and magazines have meal ideas for children - but sometimes they lack a reality check.

Here is a days healthy eating for a child - but with a twist. Thanks to Weight of the Evidence we can also see what the child actually ate.

In among all the alarmist reporting on rising obesity rates -- there is occasionally some constructive reporting.

Two techniques have assisted with childhood weight problems.

Age of onset of puberty appears to be linked to a child's risk of obesity. Children born to mothers who experienced an early puberty are far more likely to be obese (via BBC).

A selection of news and not-news for all health-minded individuals.

Adderall is an amphetamine used to treat ADD/ADHD. Like many pharmaceutical medications, some of the side effects include loss of appetite and weight loss (particularly in adolescents).

A CNN story has highlighted the ethical concerns surrounding a doctors decision to prescribe the drug for the purpose of weight loss.

Singapore plans to end a 15-year-old anti-obesity program in schools after complaints from parents that overweight children, in particular, were being singled out and teased by classmates.

It seems that schools do a better job than parents when it comes to keeping kids trim. I always assumed that the summer months were the active months, and winter was when the weight gain occurred.

However new research shows that the BMI of young children "increased on average more than twice as much during summer break compared with the school year".

8 year old Connor McCreaddie at one point weighed around 15+ stone (over 210lbs). He may be placed into care unless his mother improves his diet.

You can't judge a book by its cover - and neither can you judge a person's body fat by their weight.

A Normal-Weight Obese (NWO) person is someone whose BMI (Body Mass Index) is normal - but body fat makes up more than 30% of weight.

Liposuction procedures in Britain have jumped an incredible 90%. It seems that people can't get enough of the "body contouring" surgery.

In a strange counterpoint to the apparent "decline" of dieting - obesity surgery has experienced a huge increase.

Bird's Eye foods are tackling childhood obesity with this ad (see below). It's admirable that they are addressing nutritional issues with their foods - but there is something about food companies "fighting obesity" that makes me cringe.