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Volume 3, Issue 1
75% of Americans will be overweight by 2015
Overweight kids are less likely to go to college
Less abdominal fat reduces risk of disease, regardless of weight
Moderate rather than intense exercise helps improve triglyceride levels
Overweight women at higher risk for pregnancy complications
75% of Americans will be overweight by 2015
Currently, over 64 percent of Americans are overweight and over 30 percent are obese. These percentages have increased exponentially in the last decade and will reach new heights by 2015, according to researchers at John Hopkins University. If Americans continue to gain weight at the current rate, in less than 8 years 75 percent of Americans will be overweight and 41 percent will be obese.
To determine these numbers, a team of researchers analyzed over 20 studies published in leading scientific journals, looking at national surveys of weight and behavior. The study revealed that minorities and low socio-economic status groups are disproportionately affected by obesity. In addition, if this trend continues obesity will become the leading cause of death in the United States.
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Overweight kids are less likely to go to college
Teenagers today face a variety of obstacles, from drinking and drugs to gang violence and struggles at home. These obstacles can become barriers, directly effecting whether or not kids go to college. A new study published in the Sociology of Education has uncovered a new barrier to higher education: obesity.
Researchers collected data on a group of 11,000 7th to 12th graders from 128 schools in the United States. Results from this thirteen-year study indicated that overall, obese students have a harder time in high school than their thinner classmates, and this affects girls more than boys. Obese girls, on average, are 50 percent less likely to go to college their healthy weight girls. However, if there is a sizable overweight population at school this number decreases dramatically.
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Less abdominal fat reduces risk of disease, regardless of weight
A new study recently published in the Archives of Internal Medicine examines the relationship between ÒfatÓ and Òfit.Ó Overall, the less fat one has in their abdominal area, the more fit they are. While this seems like an obvious statement, researchers have now found that a person's overall body mass index is not necessarily the main indicator of fitness.
Researchers studied a group of 169 men, comparing their cardiovascular fitness to their amount of abdominal fat. Results indicated that as the men's abdominal fat accumulation rose as their cardio-respiratory fitness fell. The relationship remained even after the researchers considered the effects of BMI and age. Men with lower amounts of abdominal fat had an overall lower risk of both heart disease and diabetes.
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Moderate rather than intense exercise helps improve triglyceride levels
While intense exercise has been shown to have a variety of benefits, moderate exercise may be as good or better when it comes heart health. In a recent study, researchers found that patients who engage in regular, moderate exercise improve their overall triglyceride levels.
In a study of 240 overweight, middle-age participants, researchers randomly assigned individuals to one of four groups: 20 miles of jogger per week, 12 miles of jogging a week, 12 miles of walking per week, and no exercise. In the end only the moderate exercisers showed improvements in their triglycerides and all groups saw improved HDL cholesterol levels.
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Overweight women at higher risk for pregnancy complications
Women who plan to have a baby should think about losing weight before getting pregnant, according to a new study. According to the study's findings, overweight women are at a higher risk for a variety of pregnancy complications- including high blood pressure, pre-eclampsia, and premature delivery.
Researchers followed a group of over 24,000 women over a span of nearly 30 years and found that their risk for pregnancy complication rose as their weight did. In addition, overweight women were 50 percent more likely to have post-delivery bleeding and twice as likely to deliver prematurely.
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Sources
1Wang Y, Beydoun MA. (2007). The obesity epidemic in the United States--gender, age, socioeconomic, racial/ethnic, and geographic characteristics: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Epidemiologic Review, 29, 6-28.
2Sociology of Education, July 2007.
3Arsenault BJ, et al. (2007). Visceral adipose tissue accumulation, cardiorespiratory fitness, and features of the metabolic syndrome. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167, 1518-25.
4Slentz CA, et al. (2007). Inactivity, exercise training and detraining, and plasma lipoproteins. STRRIDE: a randomized, controlled study of exercise intensity and amount. Journal of Applied Physiology, 103, 432-42.
5BMC Public Health, July 24, 2007.
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