NEWSBREAKS INCLUDE:
[check mark]Liposuction Reduces Your Waist but Not Your Risk Factors
[check mark]Average Blood Pressure Levels on Rise in American Kids
[check mark]Carbohydrate Confusion
Millions of Children Could Be Saved With Better Nutrition
Although many Americans are concerned with the growing obesity epidemic, few recognize how large a problem undernutrition continues to be worldwide. Undernourishment causes more than half of all the deaths of children around the world, including deaths by diarrhea, pneumonia, malaria, and measles.
In a recent study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers from Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization say that poor nutrition leaves children vulnerable to infections that would not normally be fatal. They estimate that if all children worldwide were fed an adequate diet, approximately 1 million deaths a year from pneumonia, 800,000 from diarrhea, 500,000 from malaria, and 250,000 from measles would be prevented.
Almost 53% of all deaths in young children worldwide are attributable to undernutrition (much of it protein-calorie malnutrition), with nearly 45% of measles deaths and more than 60% of deaths from diarrhea associated with low weight and poor nutrition.
Liposuction Reduces Your Waist but Not Your Risk Factors
Although we all know shedding those extra pounds is good for our health, it appears as if the way in which we lose that weight is important, too. Procedures such as liposuction may reduce body fat, but they don't trim the risk of heart disease or diabetes the same way that losing weight the ordinary way with a caloric deficit would, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine report.
The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed study volunteers lost 12% of their body weight, most of it fat tissue. However, their blood pressure, insulin levels, and cholesterol levels remained unchanged, suggesting that liposuction was no substitute for weight lost through lifestyle changes.
Liposuction is performed on nearly 400,000 people in the United States each year, making it the most common cosmetic operation in the country. However, although the procedure reduces the number of fat cells, it doesn't reduce the size of the remaining cells. And there is plenty of fat to go around!!
Carbohydrate Confusion
Many doctors and dietitians seem just as confused about carbs as the public is. For every study that states that carbohydrates are beneficial, another says that they are responsible for weight gain and high blood sugar levels. A recent study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that for a 6-month period, dieters in a low-carb plan lost more weight than participants in a low-fat regimen. However, in the same journal, other research showed that after a year, both the low-carb and low-fat groups had lost about the same amount of weight. It's calories!!
No Decline in Obesity Rates
Latest figures show no decline in the national obesity rates, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Currently, 31% of adults and 17% of children in America are seriously overweight. These estimates were based on body measurements of nearly 10,000 adults and children. Obesity was defined as having a body mass index, or a measure of weight relative to height, of 30 or above. Nearly 31.5% of children ages 6 through 19 were overweight in 2001-2002, and another 16.5% were seriously overweight. These numbers don't bode well for the younger generation.
Antioxidants in Fruit Protect Eye Health
An apple a day may really keep the doctor away, especially in those over 65 who are concerned about vision loss. A new study in the Archives of Ophthalmology shows that antioxidants and carotenoids, which are responsible for the yellow, orange, and red pigments found in fruit, may prevent age-related maculopathy (ARM), which is the leading cause of vision loss in people 65 and older.
The researchers found that fruit consumption was inversely associated with risk of ARM, and participants who ate 3 or more servings per day of fruit had a 36% lower risk of ARM compared to participants who reported eating less than 1.5 servings per day. These findings were similar for men and women, and they were not seen in those who consumed a similar amount of vegetables.
Average Blood Pressure Levels on the Rise in American Kids
Systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels for children and teenagers have risen substantially since 1988, according to a new study, and blame for part of the rise is the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity among youngsters. The study-Trends in Blood Pressure Among Children and Adolescents-appears in the May 5, 2004, issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study was conducted by researchers at Tulane University in New Orleans, La, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.
"The increases found by the JAMA study in children's average blood pressures may seem small, but they can have serious consequences," said Dr Jeffrey Cutler of the NIH and coauthor of the JAMA paper. "Previously published data indicate that, for each 1 to 2 millimeters of mercury rise in their systolic blood pressure, children face a 10% greater risk of developing hypertension as young adults."
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and the chief risk factor for stroke. Hypertension in youngsters is based on the range of blood pressures in healthy children. The new guidelines continue to define normal blood pressure as the systolic and diastolic blood pressures that are less than the 90th percentile for that sex, age, and height. To be consistent with the latest blood pressure guidelines for adults, * the guidelines for children include a pre-hypertension category. Children with a systolic or diastolic pressure equal to or greater than the 90th percentile but less than the 95th percentile are considered prehypertensive. Hypertension continues to be defined as a systolic or diastolic pressure equal to or greater than the 95th percentile.
The new guidelines describe hypertension and prehypertension as significant health issues in the young resulting from the marked increase in the prevalence of overweight children. Overweight and high blood pressure are components of the insulin resistance syndrome, a combination of multiple risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, the guidelines call for a comprehensive assessment of cardiovascular risk factors. The new guidelines also note the association of high blood pressure and overweight with sleep apnea. A history of sleep patterns and irregularity should be obtained in a child with hypertension.
Treatment for children with high blood pressure usually consists of lifestyle changes, including weight management, physical activity, and dietary changes. Drug therapy is used only if needed after trying these other remedies
Tables from the new clinical practice guidelines on hypertension in children and adolescents are available at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/child_tbl.htm.
Calendar
August 28-21, 2004. International Society for Peritoneal Dialysis and the European Peritoneal Dialysis Meeting. Amsterdam, the Netherlands. For more information: http://www.ispds-europd2004.org.
September 23-25, 2004. Dietary Factors and Cancer Prevention: Current Premises and Future Promises. Rochester, Minn. For more information, go to: http://www.hi.umn.edu/signup.html.
October 2-5, 2004. American Dietetic Association Food and Nutrition Expo. Anaheim, Calif. For more information, go to http://www.eatright.org.
October 14-15, 2004. World Food Prize International Symposium. Des Moines, Iowa. For more information, go to: http://www.worldfoodprize.org.
October 16, 2004. World Food Day.
November 7-12, 2004. 7th Conference of the International Society for Trace Element Research in Humans. Bangkok, Thailand. For more information, go to: http://www.angelfire.com/nd/isterh/meeting.html.
November 15-17, 2004. 22nd IVACG Meeting: Vitamin A and the Common Agenda for Micronutrients. Lima, Peru. For more information, go to: http://ivacg.ilsi.org.
November 18, 2004. 2004 INACG Symposium: Iron Deficiency in Early Life Challenges and Progress. Lima, Peru. For more information go to: https://inacg.ilsi.org.
January 9-12, 2005. California Childhood Obesity Conference. San Diego, Calif. For more information, go to: http://nature.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/weightandhealth.
January 30-February 2, 2005. Nutrition Week 2005. The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Orlando, Fla. For more information, go to: http://www.nutritionweek.org.
September 19-25, 2005. 18th International Congress of Nutrition. Durban, South Africa. For more information, go to: http://www.puk.ac.za./iuns.
April 23-26, 2006. The 4th Asian Congress of Dietetics: Nutrition and Dietetics in a Borderless Society. Manilla, Philippines. For more information, e-mail: [email protected].
September 8-11, 2008. 25th International Congress of Dietetics. Yokohama, Japan. For more information, fax: +81-3-3295-5165.
Calcium May Lower Risk of Colon Cancer
Doctors recommend taking calcium to protect your bones, but they soon may recommend it to protect your stomach as well. Recent research from Dartmouth Medical School indicates that the benefits of calcium may extend beyond bone health. Calcium supplementation has been shown to decrease the risk of all colorectal polyps, particularly those associated with invasive cancers.
The study, which appears in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, provides evidence that calcium supplementation may be an inexpensive and safe way to reduce the risk of colorectal polyps.