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Maternal obesity predisposes baby to Alzheimer’s

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:30:00 +0000

Maternal obesity causes cellular programming in utero that predisposes offspring to inflammation-related disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, from the day that they are born, say Duke University researchers.

Duke researchers reported the finding in the FASEB Journal.

The study was based on rats.

“We hope these data will eventually lead to treatments for obesity-associated problems, by the identification of novel targets within the immune system,” said Staci D. Bilbo, Ph.D., co-author of the study, from the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University in Durham, N.C. “Our hope is also that these data will lead people to consider the consequences of their dietary intakes not only for their own health, but also for their children;s health, and potentially even their grand children’s health.”

Childhood Obesity

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:26:00 +0000

The rising incidents of childhood obesity is well documented. A recent Statistics Canada study found that 17 percent of Canadian children are overweight while 9 percent are obese and figures in the United States and the United Kingdom are even higher. It is predicted that obesity in children is the next major health crisis facing a generation.

While there are many contributing factors to the rise in obesity, including economic factors and genetics, a recent American study to be published in the March issue of Pediatrics suggests that three simple lifestyle changes can lower the rate of obesity in children by up to 40 percent.

Healthy Family Meals

Essential to preventing obesity or losing weight are good healthy meals. But according to the study, it is not only what you eat, but where and with whom. They recommend eating together as a family at least five times a week. While this may be a difficult change for families with working parents, the research suggests that it can help children avoid obesity or lose weight.

Family meals, adequate sleep and limited TV may lower childhood obesity

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:12:00 +0000

A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time.

In a large sample of the U.S. population, the study showed that 4-year-olds living in homes with all three routines had an almost 40 percent lower prevalence of obesity than did children living in homes that practiced none of these routines.

Other studies have linked obesity to the individual behaviors of excessive TV viewing, a lack of sleep and, to a lesser extent, a low frequency of family meals. But this is the first study to assess the combination of all three routines with obesity prevalence in a national sample of preschoolers.