Health Education: obesity and disease

Showing posts with label obesity and disease. Show all posts

What does it mean to be metabolically healthy obese?

Over the past weekend, I read a summary statement for a research study by Camhi and Katzmarzyk, 2013.  I was intrigued because the exercise and health scientists explored the differences in body composition (e.g., % lean mass, fat mass, bone density, central fat tissue) between two groups of obese people. The people in the study were classified as metabolically healthy obese or abnormal obese. The summary statement did not indicate if obesity was determined by BMI, waist to hip ratio, waist circumference or some other measure.  It did say how the determination of healthy vs unhealthy (metabolically speaking) was made, and I thought this a teaching point.  (FYI: Simply put, metabolic refers to under the skin - cellular processes. So the researchers were not looking at whether or not there were mental health issues, or physical conditions like arthritis, in this group of obese persons.)  I also do not know why the researchers chose the criteria listed below to determine metabolic health, but each has been independently associated with poor health outcomes, like heart disease, in other studies.  Of the following measures, an obese person in the study who had 1 or less of them was considered metabolically healthy, and an obese person in the study who had 2 or more was considered metabolically abnormal.   The measures were: <ol><li>a blood pressure reading higher than 130/85 mm/Hg</li><li>a fasting glucose level greater than 100 mg/dl</li><li>a waist circumference greater than 102 cm men, 88 cm women (click <a href="http://www.metric-conversions.org/length/centimeters-to-inches.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to convert to inches) </li><li>triglyceride level (blood fats) higher than 150 mg/dl</li><li>hdl (good) cholesterol less than 40 mg/dl men, 50 mg/dl women</li></ol>     I noticed that they did not use total cholesterol levels or LDL levels.       The aim of the study was to see if something about body composition was different between the two groups (could this difference explain the accumulating risk factors).  The researchers did find differences, which were specific to gender.  For most of the body composition measures they assessed(not described here), the metabolically healthy obese had lower values.  For example, both metabolically healthy men and women had lower fat mass and less stomach or trunk fat.  Most every measure was related to a type of adipose(fat) tissue, such that the more fat one had on their body, and in specific places, the more likely they were to have more than 2 of the risk factors and thus be metabolically unhealthy.      Take home point.  Your absolute weight is not as important as your body composition and the 5 measures listed here are numbers you might want to pay attention to at your doctor's visits.

What does it mean to be metabolically healthy obese?

Over the past weekend, I read a summary statement for a research study by Camhi and Katzmarzyk, 2013. I was intrigued because the exer...

7:34 PM

Obesigenic

This is a term that I came across in my studies today. It is not in the dictionary just yet and there are at least two spellings. The way it is most often used is to describe environments - such as one's family or one's community or even country. Let's see if you can figure it out from this sentence. The United States is obesigenic. In other words, the country is functioning in such a way as to promote obesity. Obesity is promoted by the following: <ul><li>the availability of high fat foods</li><li>inappropriate portion sizes</li><li>sugary drinks</li><li>social customs that promote high fat eating (church suppers, work parties - Thanksgiving - just kidding :))</li><li>lack of access to low calorie foods</li><li>unsafe neighborhoods that prohibit physical activity</li><li>jobs that require sitting</li><li>family habits, etc</li><li>genes</li></ul>In some of the articles I previewed today there seemed a bit of blaming - but you have heard it before - heavy women tend to have certain behaviors that their children model and thus they too are heavy. Not just Mom's or even families for that matter. We tend to do what our friends and coworkers do as well. Researchers are increasingly saying it has to be both genes AND environment and that it is almost never just the genes. Do you live, work, play in an obesity causing environment? Are you the model of health and fitness instead - what would be the word for health promoting environments? Salubrious I think...

Obesigenic

This is a term that I came across in my studies today. It is not in the dictionary just yet and there are at least two spellings. The way i...

8:58 AM

Healthy Weight Committment Foundation

In RE: yesterday's post: I guess my photo was not so clear - the object on the ground - i.e. "litter" was one of the new energy efficient light bulbs - Note to self - they help the environment when placed in lamps NOT the landscape. RE: Today's post and title: The motive may not be the purest, but in the end, with one possible exception, it doesn't matter. I am referring to an 80 member food industry coalition that has formed in response to growing restrictions or suggestions of restriction with regard to the content of our foods and point of purchase nutrition information. The industry group is called the <a href="http://www.healthyweightcommit.org/">Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation</a>. The goal of this group is to reduce the amount of calories in their products by 1.5 trillion. Yes, that is right - trillions of calories. They hope to accomplish this by the year 2015 with substantial progress towards that goal by 2012. The Foundation includes a few of my favorite companies - favorite in that I often purchase their products - General Mills, Kraft, Kellogg, Coca-Cola, Red Lobster and PepsiCo. Our national obesity reduction program is the Let's Move initiative begun and managed by Michelle Obama. Many nonprofit groups have joined the first lady's program and the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation has made a pledge to these groups to contribute by reducing the amount of calories in their foods. The <a href="http://www.letsmove.gov/index.html">Let's Move </a>program calls from calorie reduction - through less fat and sugar, but also encourages an increase in nutrients. I was very happy to see in the press release and on its website, the involvement of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. They will be responsible for evaluation of the program. <a href="http://www.rwjf.org/childhoodobesity/product.jsp?id=63528">Please read their statement here</a>. I do have a concern - and I addressed it with RWJF through email. I will share that with you here (i tried to cut and paste but it did not work this time) - my concern is that the industry will take its current approach and apply on a grand scale. That is take out sugar, add water, reduce the serving size and increase the price. I have been in contact with Kathryn Thomas, a senior communications officer with RWJF and shared my concerns. She did respond with the evaluation goal, but it does not specifically address accessibility. I have asked that she forward my concern to program planners. I just feel that someone needs to say it because this could be a phenomenal intervention that in the ends fails to meet its goals because of that one detail. Remember socially possible interventions are what we need now.

Healthy Weight Committment Foundation

In RE: yesterday's post: I guess my photo was not so clear - the object on the ground - i.e. "litter" was one of the new energ...

5:20 AM

The Health of our Pets

I closed last night with a teaser - obesity in pets. I had not read the article that I intended to talk about at the time, I read it just now. It is actually someone else's blog post from a site called pet-articles.blogspot.com. Anyways, WOW I was taken aback when I read it. Not that I was naive about the weight thing. I know that we have a problem with overweight animals and in the post it was said that half of all dogs and cats are overweight or obese. So that is 60 percent humans to 50 percent pets, in the USA anyways. The cause of their weight and the outcomes from it are just the very same as ours. That is consuming too many calories which lead to excess weight which leads to arthritis, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, lung or breathing problems, and high blood pressure. Indeed, animals end up on the same sort of chronic disease medications as people do. That information was not new to me. Indeed, though I do not have any pets at this time, I did have a cat who was very large, and she did have a chronic heart problem for which she had to take a pill every day and then she died what appeared to be a rather painful death - no wait, I misspoke, I had her put to sleep when it seemed she would suffer even more if I did not. I have had one cat after her and did NOT give that cat any table food whatsoever, nor milk, but some treats now and then. Interestingly, last week my brother was saying how he did give his current dog table food because he did not do so with the dog before and it died of a cancer, I think he said. He was angry about that. I absolutely believe that table food is bad for pets, and for birds and ducks and squirrels and bears and dolphins and heck, people some times. But what the article emphasized was simply the calories. CALORIES count! Calories may need to be moderated if your pet is overweight. Now, we don't do such a good job of reading labels for ourselves or our children, but we need to and we need to read them for our pets too. That includes the dry or canned food label or the Internet site of the company AND the labels on any treats we give them. [and not all brands or flavors will be the same!] Here was the jaw dropping part - most cats are the same, where as dogs differ greatly in size, activity levels, and metabolism - but the average cat weighs ten pounds and needs 275 calories a day to maintain that weight. Since dogs can be under ten and over a hundred pounds the calorie need might be 300 to 1200 a day. I have to tell you , there is just about NOTHING from the table that you can give your pet without putting him or her over the limit. And you have to count that. That and the things he or she might scavange, steal from the kids or kill outright. My my my - ain't that something> Oh some advice was given about how to judge if your pet is overweight. Sort of made me laugh - I mean we won't admit it when WE are overweight and it is the same sort of assessment. It begins with LOOKING at the pet. The pet should have an hour glass shape (!) The you see if the belly is sagging and if you can grab any fat, oh and can you feel the ribs easily or are they hard to find?

The Health of our Pets

I closed last night with a teaser - obesity in pets. I had not read the article that I intended to talk about at the time, I read it just n...

4:52 PM

Health Education

What does it mean to be metabolically healthy obese?

Obesigenic

Healthy Weight Committment Foundation

The Health of our Pets

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