Overweight Parents Put Child at Risk

This Article featured on Mississippi Public Broadcasting explores why parents have such an important role to play in their kids health. As we know parents share more than DNA with their offspring, notably how they eat and how they spend their leisure time. Both of these habits are key to a healthy lifestyle and there's no getting around the fact that modeling good behavior is a powerful way for parents to influence how their kids will act as they grow. So take them for a walk today! Plan a healthy home cooked meal and have your kids help with the preparation. These are both proven techniques for cholesterol lowering and weight management. If you can't do it today, promise you'll try it tomorrow. If you can only do it once this week do it twice the next week and keep on ramping it up till you're happy with the results for you and them.

Carotid ultrasound at age 35 confirms risks of adolescent lipid abnormalites

Looking at LDL and HDL cholesterol as predictors of atherosclerosis, investigators from Bogalusa Louisiana, Finland and Australia followed 1700 adolescents prospectively to age 29-39. They used a non-invasive measure of atherosclerosis in the caroitd artery as a risk marker and found that those with higher LDL-C or lower HDL-C as teens had 1.6-2.5 times more atherosclerosis than those with normal levels of these 2 important lipoproteins. The test they used, carotid intimal medial thickness(CIMT), is becoming an important marker which correlates quite well with risk for heart attack and stroke. The study by Magnussen et al is published in the March issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. The importance of this study is that it confirms the critical nature of early detection and management of lipid abnormalities.

Overweight adolescent faces health risk similar to smoking

A new study from the British Medical Journal reported in the New York Times quantifies the effect being overweight as a teen has on future health. The authors compared mortality at age 60 among 45,000 Swedish army recruits who were teens in 1969-70. They compared those who were overweight to those who were not and found the effect on mortality of being overweight was similar to the effect of smoking 1/2 pack of cigarettes a day. Since nearly 3 times as many teens are overweight as smoke, this finding makes adolescent obesity one of the most important and widespread modifiable risk factors we know of.

Exercise and diet work much better for kids.

An article in the NY Times discusses something that puzzles me and puzzles a lot of you too: how do those before and after pictures used to sell the latest fad in exercise equipment relate to reality? We've all seen the flabby,soft lumps transformed into svelte well toned muscles. Well surprise surprise, they're hype. The reality is 6 weeks or even 6 months is too short a time to see visible changes after a new exercise regimen and 30 minutes three times a week on any machine is not enough. The good news is that for kids things are different than for us adults. I've seen major improvements in looks in children and teenagers in short periods of time because they have one factor adults don't have-GROWTH. Kids who lose a modest amount of weight with diet and exercise or even just maintain their weight in a few short months look remarkably better and are much healthier than before. I've seen it happen time and again in my practice. All it takes is a desire on their part, the right advice, and a family willing to change the home environment to support them. So don't despair, get started now.

More on Red Yeast Rice

Don't be confused. A new study shows that a Chinese food product, Xuezhikang, derived from rice is effective in reducing heart disease risk. The investigators studied 5000 men for 5 years and found an impressive forty-five percent reduction in heart disease in those on the 600mg/d supplement compared with the controls who received a placebo. The lead author, Dr David Capuzzi, explains in the NY Times that the compound used in this study referred to as red yeast rice is different from the red yeast rice extract available in U.S. Health food stores."This study,” Dr. Capuzzi said, “was done with a carefully constituted compound totally different from what is available over the counter.” The encouraging part of this study is that it demonstrates a powerful heart disease prevention effect from a natural food product in a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard for medical research. The unfortunate part is that the authors refer to the substance tested with the same name as a widely available and potentially ineffective and toxic product. (See post here from January 2008). Hopefully this new compound will become available here soon; in the meantime we should avoid using red yeast rice.

THE Wii BY NINTENDO

Many of my patients are video gamers and many of their parents are concerned their kids spend too much time gaming. The Wii is a revolutionary new type of gaming system which can include physical activity. I recently got one to evaluate its potential and have found that it can make it fun to work up a sweat, with Wii Sports particularly. Wii Sports is a series of 5 simple yet engaging games that includes training modules. If you're not a natural athlete, you can the learn the skills of the game to improve your play and enjoyment, which may result in more and longer sessions.
Parents need to know that in order to ensure that they're kids are getting a benefit from the Wii they need to supervise them. For maximum benefit the players should move around with their bodies like they're actually participating in the sport. The games can be played mainly with the wrist which defeats much of the workout potential of the system. That being said, Wii Sports can be a good compromise particularly when the outdoors is not inviting for a youngster( see earlier post on jogging indoors v outdoors.) Here's a NY times article about a new accessory for the Wii that may help parents get into the game as well. I'll let you know more about as soon as I've had time to evaluate it. It certainly looks promising for adults,I don't know about kids.

Exercise Outdooors vs Indoors

Better to run outdoors or on the treadmill? The NY times reporter Anahad O'Connor writes that outdoor running burns more calories for the same distance (about 5% more probably because of wind resistance and uneven terrain), but running on the treadmill has the advantage of producing less injuries. So there are trade offs. For kids an exercise prescription must be adjusted to their situation. Many overweight teens in particular are easily embarrassed and won't exercise if it has to be done in public, so a treadmill at the gym doesn't work for them and running outdoors where peers may see them is equally unfeasible. What they may need is an individualized program that may include walking outdoors(not obvious that they're exercising) , a stationary bike at home or a setup where they can dance to their favorite music in private. Another option may be video sports game like wii sports or a dance pad like DDR. Sometimes a few sessions with a personal trainer geared to their age group can teach them some basic things to do with light dumbell weights or bands that they can use at home. The message is that a variety of approaches need to be available so each child or adolescent can find what works for them. Most important of all don't give up if one approach doesn't work for you, try something else

Sugar Sweetened Drinks Linked to Gout

A new study in the British Medical Journal underscores the importance of limiting intake of sugar sweetened beverages(SSB's), like soda and sweetened teas or sports drinks, particularly those with fructose. The Study looked at 46,000 US and Canadian men and found over seven years the incidence of gout was highest in those with the highest intake. This is another reason why its important to limit soda and other SSB's. Kids are better off with water, skim milk and limited portions of juice as their first choice of drink with soda, sweet teas and sports drinks as sometime treats.