Is surgery the answer to curb your child's weight gain?

Med page Today reports that stomach suturing may be the answer to reduce teen obesity. Reports from a pilot study indicate that a minimally invasive stomach reduction procedure helps obese teens lose large amounts of weight safely. A new procedure that is performed orally by a gasrtoenterologist, passes an endoscope down the patients throat which in turn, reduces the patients stomach and thereby restricts food intake.
Roberto Fogel, M.D., of Hospital de Clinicas Caracas in Venezuela reports that 12 obese adolescents (ages 14-17) who underwent this procedure lost a mean of 62.2% of their excess body weight within six months.
The procedure is minimally invasive with no complications, it said to take about 40 minutes and patients may leave within a few hours after the procedure.

The sutures are placed such that food passes only through the top part of the stomach on its way to the small intestine. "You feel full after maybe 10 bites," said Dr. Fogel.

It sounds like a great way to approach a very common problem," commented Mark H. DeLegge, M.D., a gastroenterologist and nutrition specialist at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, who chaired the session at which the study was presented.

In theory this procedure sounds like the miracle cure for obesity, but does this really solve the root of the problem?

Illinois is stepping up to fight an an epidemic of obesity!

In Springfield, Illinois Governor Blagojevich urged his state workers to celebrate the 14th Annual Fitness Day taking place on May 21, 2008. As part of the annual National Employee Health, Fitness day kicked off with exercising, choosing a healthier diet and becoming a role model of good health habits for their children.
The IGNN reports an alarming national trend toward growing obesity among children living in rural, suburban and urban neighborhoods. Health experts observe that children in the U.S. have poorer eating habits and get less physical activity than did children in previous generations. A recent Illinois survey showed almost 40 percent of 8-year-olds were already overweight. What is to blame for the growing rate of overweight and obese children? The culprits to this growing epidemic are, the boom of vending machines on school premises, schools offering junk food, the increase of time being spent playing video games and computer time, and lastly families opting for fast food menus that offer "super sized" portions.

Is a bulging waistline the new trend for the summer?

All of us know that children are our future, but what does the future hold for
children who are suffering from obesity? With millions of American children
compromising their lives due to this growing epidemic, escalating problems
reveal just how vulnerable young bodies are to the toxic effects of fat.

In ways only beginning to be understood, being overweight at a young age appears to be far more destructive to well-being than adding excess pounds later in life. Virtually every major organ is at risk. The greater damage probably is
irreversible.

What does this mean for the future of our children? The Washington Post indicates that many will never overcome being overweight, up to 80 percent of obese teens become obese adults. Experts fear that exponential increase in heart disease, strokes, cancer and other health problems as the children move into their 20s and beyond. The evidence suggests these conditions could occur decades sooner and could greatly diminish the quality of their lives. Many could find themselves disabled in what otherwise would be their most productive years.

As well this epidemic is expected to add billions of dollars to the U.S. health care bill.

Treating a child with obesity is three times more costly than treating the average child, according to a study by Thomson Reuters. The research company pegged the country's overall expense of care for overweight youths at $14 billion annually. A substantial portion is for hospital services, because those patients go more frequently to the emergency room and are two to three times as likely to be admitted.

We all know childhood obesity is on the rise, isn't it time we start to do something about it?

Is your child living the couch potatoe lifestyle?

The couch potato life style and a growing appetite for fast food is blamed for our boys and girls weighing in near the top of a 27-country fat league. Mail online has recently reported that British children are among the worst in a Europe-wide obesity league table, with around a third weighing more than they should.

With technology expanding the industry is selling us more television to watch, more computer games and gaming systems to play, and even more dvd's to sit down and watch. Obesity experts blame the couch potato lifestyle as the main culprit for this growing epidemic. With television dinners replacing the traditional family meals and computer games being prefered to outdoor activities, it is no question that doctors are warning that surgery such as stomach stapling will have to be used on children soon to tackle the obesity crisis.

Childhood obesity - What Do The Candidates Have To Say

With childhood obesity nearly tripling in the last two decades, health experts warn it is a growing epidemic. What do our future leaders propose to save these young lives at risk. Recently the Washington Post asked each presidential candidate of their views of the growing pandemic of childhood obesity. Here is what the candidates had to say.

When asked as a president, how would you make the issue of childhood obesity a national health priority?

Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton pledged to ban junk food in schools by
requiring all schools that participate in the school lunch or breakfast programs
to make available only foods that meet or surpass [U.S. Department of Agriculture] nutrition standards. And she has proposed . . . to make the school
breakfast program universal for all students in low-income communities and to
double the summer feeding program.

Democratic candidate Barack Obama would convene a high-level task force [for] regularly examining federal budgets, policies and programs. . .; identifying opportunities for coordination and collaboration across departments; and establishing consensus regarding priorities for action. Equally important, Obama will ensure the
departments had the appropriate resources and authorities to implement any
recommendations from the task force.

Republican candidate John McCain believes that solving the problem of obesity in children can help prevent a lifetime of chronic health conditions. To accomplish that, we must do a better job of teaching children and their parents about child health, nutrition and
exercise.

To see more of what the presidential candidates had to say, click on the Washington Post above.

Girls you need to get off the couch if you want to prevent a future without breast cancer!

There is now a reason more than ever to get your daughters off the couch, research shows that excersice during teen years, starting as young as the age of twelve, can help girls protect themselves from breast cancer when their older. A recent report in the Star Tribune indicates more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription drugs regularly for chronic health problems, the most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol -- problems often linked to heart disease, obesity and diabetes.

It has long been advised that middle-aged women get active to lower their risks of breast cancer post menopause. New research points to the benefits of sustained physical activity from adolescence through the adult years, to get the maximum benefit.

Women who were physically active as teens and young adults were 23 percent less likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer than women who grew up sedentary, researchers report today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Now is the time more than ever for girls to endure in more physical activity and engage in a healthier lifestyle. Parents get your daughters off the couch and save them from diseases in their future.

How far would you go to save your child?

In the battle against child and teen obesity, Memphis is fighting back with programs aiming to get their children moving. Gyms, athletic centers, churches and others are taking aim to fight against this growing epidemic. Kid yoga, Pilate's, kick boxing, belly dancing and even healthful cooking classes are just a handful of programs aiming to get children moving as well as, raise their self esteem. According to commercial appeal parents can no longer rely on thier children's schools to meet their physical education needs.

Elementary schools often suffer from too few qualified PE teachers, while
PE for high school students typically ends after their freshman years, states Paula Kuna, spokeswoman for the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).

It has been estimated that more that 12.5 million children in the United States , 17 percent of children and youths ages 2 to 19 years of age, are overweight, up from 13 percent almost a decade ago, reports the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Lack of exercise as well as unhealthful eating habits have made childhood obesity one of the country's foremost health challenges. Closely linked to their expanding waistlines is a quickly rising trend of kids diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, which can result in blindness and kidney failure as well as dramatically boost their risk of heart disease and stroke. We are loosing our youth to diseases that were once only associated to adults. So the question remains, how far would you go to save your child?