Control teen obesity

Control teen obesity

Teen obesity is a major problem, and America has indeed become a lazy and overweight country. Not enough is being done to control this epidemic.

Many teens resort to crazy crash and fad diets, or even blaming the local McDonald's (which I can say has contributed a bit to this problem but should not have to bear the complete blame). Teens need to be encouraged by their families, media and schools to eat healthier. Instead of promoting products high in fat that teens love, the media should stress the importance of exercise and the urgency of eating healthy.

Schools can also play a big role in getting rid of this problem. Vending machines should no longer be allowed, and only low-fat foods or 100 percent juices should be available. This could really help, because teens spend 30 hours a week in school and consume their breakfast and lunches there.

However, teens must also have the willpower to want to change.

LeAsia Akins
Strong Vincent High School

Causes of Obesity

Causes of Obesity

Obesity research has yielded a complicated picture of the underlying causes of the condition. The simple cause is ingestion of more calories than are required for energy, the excess being stored in the body as fat. Inactivity and insufficient exercise can be contributing factors; the less active the person, the fewer calories are needed to maintain normal body weight. Overeating may result from unhealthful patterns of eating established by the family and cultural environment, perhaps exacerbated by psychological distress, an emotional dependence on food, or the omnipresence of high-calorie foods.

In some cases, obesity can come from an eating disorder. It has been shown, for example, that binging for some people releases natural opiates in the brain, providing a sense of well-being and physical pleasure. Other studies have found a strong relationship between obesity in women and childhood sexual abuse.

Some weight-loss experts see obesity as based upon genetics and physiology rather than as a behavioral or psychological problem. For example, rat studies have shown that fat cells secrete a hormone that helps the rat's brain assess the amount of body fat present. The brain tries to keep the amount of that hormone (which also appears to act on the brain area that regulates appetite and metabolic rate) at a set level, resulting in the so-called set point—a weight that the body comes back to, even after resolute dieting. The gene that encodes this hormone, called the obese or ob gene, has been isolated in both rats and humans. In addition, a gene that influences obesity and the onset of diabetes has been identified. It has been estimated that from 8 to 30 different genes may influence obesity.

obesity--Health and Social Implications

Obesity--Health and Social Implications

Obesity is a major public health concern because it predisposes the individual to many disorders, such as noninsulin-dependent diabetes, hypertension, stroke, and coronary artery disease, and has been associated with an increased incidence of certain cancers, notably cancers of the colon, rectum, prostate, breast, uterus, and cervix. In contemporary American society, obesity also carries with it a sometimes devastating social stigma. Obese people are often ostracized, and discrimination against them, especially in hiring and promotion, is common.

Let's make a New Year's resolution on obesity

LeaderSunday December 10, 2006 The Observer

As the nation prepares for the season of feasting on chocolate assortments, now is a good time to think about our troubled attitude to food and health. After eating some 5,000 calories a day over Christmas, many of us will experience a rush of guilt over the New Year. Those who can afford it might join a gym.

But even with the best will in the world, many Britons will struggle to get their weight in check. That is because they live and work in environments that militate against a healthy lifestyle. Increasingly, the divide between those who can and can't manage their waistline is a social one. Put plainly, the poorer you are, the fatter you are likely to be.

Tomorrow, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence will produce new guidelines on tackling obesity in children. They will approve stomach-stapling surgery for teenagers who are severely overweight. Drastic though it sounds, this recommendation is to be welcomed, because drastic action is necessary to save these young people from the disastrous effects of extra weight - cancer, heart disease, diabetes, crippling joint disease and premature death.

On current trends, by 2010, an estimated 12 million adults and one million children will be obese. The average eight-year-old now eats 1,200 calories a day more than a child of that age did in the 1950s; reversing these habits once they are entrenched is notoriously difficult.

Naturally, the calorific intake of every individual citizen cannot be the responsibility of government. But ministers can take action that would at least remove barriers to change. The first seminal report on how to tackle obesity was written for the World Health Organisation by Professor David James in 1990. But many of his recommendations have never been acted on. There is still no one minister in charge of policy. Instead, departments compete for control over different initiatives, whether it is banning advertising junk food to children or attempts to build sports facilities in poorer areas. Even a simple idea, such as regular weight checks for children to identify people at risk early and teach their families about better nutrition, could make a difference.

Indulgence at Christmas is a national custom. But so is the New Year resolution. One suggestion for the government is that it resolves to look back on the James report and take some concerted action to avert a public-health crisis.

From : observer.guardian.co.uk

Adipose tissue

Adipose tissue

A type of connective tissue that is specialized for the storage of neutral fats (lipids). Adipose cells have names reflecting their gross physical appearance: white fat, which can be yellowish if the animal's diet is rich in carotenoids, and brown fat, containing vascularization and respiratory pigments

White fat is the more common type of adipose cell. These cells are found in a wide variety of locations in the mammalian body, and their function varies from location to location. For example, they may act to store food reserves and to provide thermal and physical insulation. The number of white adipose cells and the amount of fat in a cell are regulated by various factors, including genetics, hormones, diet, innervation, and physical activity. Many animals, especially migratory and hibernating mammals, greatly increase their fat reserves in preparation for travel or for hibernation.

Brown adipose tissue is mainly found in subscapular, interscapular, and mediastinal areas. Brown adipose cells are associated with thermogenesis (heat production), mainly in hibernating and newborn mammals.

Obesity

Obesity

The presence of excess body fat. The great prevalence of this condition, its severe consequences for physical and mental health, and the difficulty of treating it make the prevention of obesity a major public health priority.

Obesity is most often defined in terms of body weight relative to height, since both height and weight are easily measured. Obesity is considered to begin at a weight-for-height that is 20–30% above desirable weight, with this desirable weight taken as the midpoint of ranges of weight associated with the greatest longevity in studies of life-insured individuals. In population surveys, obesity is defined as a body weight that meets or exceeds the 85th percentile of the Body Mass Index (BMI), an index of weight-for-height that correlates well with body fat content.

The prevalence of obesity increases with age, is higher in women than men, and is highest among the poor and minority groups. Obesity increases the likelihood of high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes, and therefore of the diseases for which such conditions are risk factors—coronary heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. It also increases the likelihood of gallbladder disease and cancers of the breast and uterus. Thus, obesity increases overall mortality rates, and it does so in proportion to the degree and duration of overweight. Individuals who become obese at the earliest ages are at highest risk of premature mortality. Distribution of excess fat to the upper body rather than the lower body may also increase risk.

The causes of most cases of obesity are poorly understood. At the simplest level, obesity results from an excess of energy (caloric) intake over expenditure, but this statement does not explain why some individuals can eat as much as they like without gaining weight while others remain overweight despite constant dieting. Studies of genetically obese animals and those with damage to the part of the brain called the hypothalamus suggest that individuals may balance body weight around a “setpoint” that is maintained—without conscious control—by variations in metabolic rate in response to caloric intake. Variations in the prevalence of obesity among population groups suggest a genetic basis for the condition. The complexity of body-weight regulatory mechanisms suggests that obesity is not due to a single cause but, like other chronic diseases, is multifactorial in origin. Specific inherited differences that might influence setpoints include differences in nearly every anatomic, neurologic, and biochemical factor known to affect food intake and utilization, energy metabolism, and energy expenditure.

Because the causes of obesity are incompletely understood, it is difficult to formulate effective treatment strategies. Studies suggest that programs combining diet and exercise help obese individuals lose more weight and maintain losses longer than either program does separately.