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Volume 3, Issue 2
Obese children have increased risk for heart disease later in life
Milk after exercise does the body good
"Pot bellies" linked to increase risk for heart disease
Any exercise is better than none at all
Obesity and inactivity increase pancreatic cancer risk
Obese children have increased risk for heart disease later in life
Currently, nearly 20 percent of children are overweight and obese-a percentage that keeps increasing every year. Obese children face a variety of health issues from diabetes and asthma to depression and sleep apnea. In addition to this, obese children also face increased risk for cardiovascular disease later in life.
Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Medical Center collected data from a group of 771 children, ages six to 19, between 1973 and 1978. The same data, including BMI, blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and blood glucose levels were collected again between 2000 and 2004 when the subjects were ages 30 through 48. The results of the study indicated that those participants who were obese at childhood had 14.5 times greater risk for heart disease later in life.
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Milk after exercise does the body good
After a work out many people drink water or sports drinks in an effort to rehydrate and replenish vital minerals and vitamins the body loses during exercise. However, new research recently published in the British Journal of Nutrition points to the benefits of a different kind of after-workout drink: milk.
Participants, men with an average age of 24, exercised intensely for a long enough period for them to lose 1.8 percent of their body weight. They were then asked to drink either water, sports drinks, or milk to recover. While those who drank water and sports drinks excreted a significant amount of minerals through their urine, those who drank milk were able to retain the important minerals thereby helping their bodies recover more quickly.
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"Pot bellies" linked to increase risk for heart disease
Recently, a variety of research has pointed to the fact that "pot bellies" are unhealthy and increase an individual's risk for disease no matter what his or her overall weight is. This notion was once again confirmed in a recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology indicating that pot bellies increase one's risk for future heart disease.
Researchers followed a group of 2,700 individuals ages 30 to 65 collecting information on their overall health, BMI, weight, waste-to-hip circumference, and an MRI to assess atherosclerosis. Researchers found that those with the largest waist-to-hip ratios were three times as likely to have atherosclerotic plaque, which can lead to heart disease, than those in the smallest waist-to-hip group.
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Any exercise is better than none at all
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that adults engage in moderate-intensity physical activities for at least 30 minutes five or more days a week. While this is certainly the ideal, researchers in Britain have found that lower levels of exercise, such as walking three times a week, can also have great benefits.
Researchers followed two groups of 106 participants, ages 41 to 60, for a period of 12 weeks. Participants were assigned to one of three groups: brisk walking five days a week, brisk walking three days a week, and no exercise. Several health indicators were measured at the beginning and end of the study. While the group that walked five days a week saw the greatest results, in the end, both walking groups improved their fitness levels and reduced their overall risk for cardiovascular disease.
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Obesity and inactivity increase pancreatic cancer risk
According to new research by the American Cancer Society, individuals who are overweight and inactive are twice as likely to develop pancreatic cancer, a cancer with an extremely high mortality rate that is difficult to detect early.
In an effort to uncover risk factors for this form of cancer, researchers studied a blood protein called insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1, or IGFBP-1. Low IGFBP-1 levels are typically found in obese and inactive individuals. Researchers followed a group of 573 subjects who were part of other larger studies for four years. Results indicated that participants with the lowest levels of IGFBP-1 were twice as likely to develop pancreatic cancer than those with higher levels.
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Sources
1Morrison JA, Friedman LA, Gray-McGuire C. (2007). Metabolic syndrome in childhood predicts adult cardiovascular disease 25 years later: The Princeton Lipid Research Clinics Follow-up Study. Pediatrics , 120, 340-5.
2Shirreffs SM, Watson P, Maughan RJ. (2007). Milk as an effective post-exercise rehydration drink. British Journal of Nutrition , 98, 173-80.
3See R, et al. (2007). The association of differing measures of overweight and obesity with prevalent atherosclerosis: the Dallas Heart Study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology , 50, 752-9.
4Tully MA, et al. (2007). Randomised controlled trial of home-based walking programmes at and below current recommended levels of exercise in sedentary adults. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 61, 778-783.
5Wolpin BM, et al. (2007). Circulating insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 and the risk of pancreatic cancer. Cancer Research , 67, 7923-8.
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