Archive for September, 2006
Doctors have used the BMI (body-mass index) as an indicator of risk of type 2 diabetes, but new research indicates that either a large waistline or a high BMI indicates higher risk. And the two of them together predict even greater risk.
Waistline is a stronger predictor of diabetes in women than in men. The study authors suggest waistline is a more accurate measure of abdominal obesity than BMI. See the abstract at the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
September 29th, 2006
America on the Move recently released a poll of 2339 adults over 18 showing that Americans’ infatuation with fad diets is over.
About 40% of the respondents said they had tried a fad diet or “weight control” program in the past five years and failed to lose any weight at all. Many others (70%!) are currently working for weight loss, but many are not getting success and/or are not optimistic about long-term success. These folks are ready for the healthy lifestyle!
See HealthDay’s summary of the poll here.
September 28th, 2006
It isn’t always easy to adopt the habits of the Healthy Lifestyle, as Kansas City infozine online shows. The article gives a set of steps to follow to adopt the habits of health, such as setting goals, keeping track, finding partners or taking classes. As the Hilton Head Health Institute’s 30 years of experience teaching the Healthy Lifestyle prove, the hard part is identifying what parts of your current lifestyle need to change, why they are hard to change, and how to go about it. That’s what the Institute’s weight loss spa program is about.
September 26th, 2006
Men, gaining weight is not a good birth control method.
But new research published in the journal Epidemiology indicates that “overweight and obese men have been reported to have lower sperm counts…” The research was based on married couples’ infertility during at least one year in which they were trying to get pregnant.
September 25th, 2006
Mom said to eat your veggies. As usual, she was right.
The J. of the American Dietetic Association reports online that over 17,000 people asked for a 24-hour recall of what they had actually eaten shows higher levels of key nutrients in the bloodstream. Nutrients included folic acid, vitamins C and E, and carotenes.
September 22nd, 2006
In a recent posting, I talked about the impact that parents have on their children’s health habits. An article in the USA Today, September 13th supports this point. “Obesity begins at home” is how the article begins. Keith Ayoob, registered dietician at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine is quoted in the article saying, “Parents are, hands down, the biggest influence on their kids. The need to be good role models, moms and dads may want their kids to eat fruits and vegetables, but they are not eating enough themselves. He went on to say that he had recently heard this quote “what you say will speak to your kids, what you do will scream to them”.
-from Bob Wright
September 21st, 2006
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