More disturbing news - childhood obesity

OK I will try and post something more upbeat promise next time.

This tragic disturbing I don't know what words to use trend: children are becoming severely obese at a rate 3 times what it was 25 years ago.

from this tweet:

KathleenShowRT @ DrAyala Study: Rates of SEVERE childhood obesity tripled, putting many kids at risk for diabetes and heart disease http://bit.ly/1W26hH

This story

Children are not only becoming obese, but becoming severely obese, which impacts their overall health," said Joseph Skelton, M.D., lead author and director of the Brenner FIT (Families in Training) Program. "These findings reinforce the fact that medically-based programs to treat obesity are needed throughout the United States and insurance companies should be encouraged to cover this care."

Also this

Researchers also looked at the impact of severe obesity and found that a third of children in the severely obese category were classified as having metabolic syndrome, a group of risk factors for heart attack, stroke and diabetes. These risk factors include higher-than normal blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin levels.

"These findings demonstrate the significant health risks facing this morbidly obese group," wrote the researchers in their report. "This places demands on health care and community services, especially because the highest rates are among children who are frequently underserved by the health care system."

The kids are generally poorer and many are from minority group populations.

I think it bears repeating that PREVENTING this has got to be a paramount goal, because those dollars are usually pennies in comparison with treatment of obesity itself or the fallout of other associated diseases.

We can debate the causes - I think HFCS, fast food, lifestyle could all be considered here. But it's clear what the preventative medicine should consist of: change in intake and a change in lifestyle to increase exercise and reduce stress. Otherwise it's clear health costs and costs for society in loss of productivity and quality of life for millions will be the result - we will be paying for these poor suffering kids for years to come if we don't!

Obese spend 42% more on health care

It's now more than 9% of all medical expenses and rising fast: http://bit.ly/64Xq7

We need to address this epidemic!

The detailed study piles up one troubling statistic after another. Per capita medical spending for obese people is $1,429 higher per year than for someone of normal weight, a 42% difference. The condition now accounts for 8.5% of Medicare's expenditures and 11.8% of Medicaid's. Spending on prescription drugs alone for an obese Medicare beneficiary is $600 more per year than for prescriptions used by someone of normal weight.

Spending associated with obesity is almost entirely tied to the cost of treating diseases closely associated with the condition, such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and even cancer (about one-third of cancer cases are linked to obesity). Diabetes alone costs the nation $191 billion a year. "If not for obesity, these costs would be much lower," the researchers said. "The connection between rising rates of obesity and rising medical spending is undeniable."

How did the world go from malnourished to obese?

Provocative topic but a good point - we used to be concerned about hunger. In many places we still should be. There's the point - malnourishment can still be an issue, but why are we getting obese?

Here's a list of some pretty good possible answers:

Why in the heck did the world's chief food problem shift from malnutrition to obesity? http://tuu1d.tk Why the World Is Fat

Award to elementary class for focus on health

Got a great tweet on how one elementary school is taking on childhood obesity...

The News-Gazette.com: Danville school to get award for focus on ... http://bit.ly/b2Xgr

The alliance established the Healthy Schools Program to help schools develop and implement polices and practices that promote eating healthy and increasing physical activity. It's working with more than 4,800 schools across the country.

Northeast has been involved since it became a health and wellness school in July 2007. It was then that the school started serving healthy meals, and students started taking physical education daily instead of two or three times a week. And teachers, who participate in their own healthy activities, also incorporated healthy living into their lessons plans.

To earn a national award – bronze, silver, gold and platinum – schools must show they have implemented best practices in physical activity, school employee wellness, physical education and before- and after-school programs.

More on the healthy schools program here:

http://bit.ly/5YZTK

Tool for tracking environmental causes of disease

CDC_eHealthHow does the environment affect your health? Find out on the new Tracking Network at http://tinyurl.com/neppy9.

They've got information by location, source (water, air...) and type of disease.

For instance I can pull up Massachusetts

Then Content area well water, levels of contaminants in well water and finally arsenic. I found via independent testing that my well has As in it. Might be a useful tool for some health data, although it appears there's not much in it yet.

Binge much?

Some interesting stats from this study:

Sociodemographic Differences in Binge Drinking Among Adults --- 14 States, 2004 http://bit.ly/10yIda

Binge drinking, defined in this study as consuming five or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion,* was responsible for 43,731 (54.9%) of the estimated 79,646 alcohol-attributable deaths each year in the United States during 2001--2005.

The deaths stat certainly jumps off the page. Now for who is your typical binge drinker:

the prevalence of binge drinking was more common among men (24.3%), persons aged 18--24 years (27.4%) and 2534 years (24.4%), whites (17.5%), and persons with household incomes >$50,000 (17.4%). However, after adjusting for sex and age, the highest average number of binge drinking episodes during the preceding 30 days was reported by binge drinkers whose household income was <$25,000. (4.9), and the highest average number of drinks per binge episode was reported by non-Hispanic blacks (8.4) and Hispanics (8.1). These findings underscore the need to implement effective population-based prevention strategies (e.g., increasing alcohol excise taxes) and develop effective interventions targeted at groups at higher risk.

Also from this link

nited States and is a risk factor for many health and societal problems. Among adults, it can take the form of heavy drinking, binge drinking, or both.

* Heavy drinking is defined as more than two drinks per day on average for men or more than one drink per day on average for women.
* Binge drinking is defined as 5 or more drinks during a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks during a single occasion for women.

Underage drinking can also be considered a form of excessive drinking because it is both illegal and often involves consumption in quantities and settings that can lead to serious immediate and long-term consequences.

* Approximately 5% of the total population drinks heavily and 15% of the population engages in binge drinking (CDC).
* People aged 12 to 20 years drink 11% of all alcohol consumed in the United States. More than 90% of this alcohol is used in the form of binge drinks (OJJDP).

It's certainly a serious health issue and it seems, education can be targeted at appropriate groups to address it. I think the whole "Animal House" mentality which has ingrained itself over the past 20 or 30 years in our schools and colleges needs to be countered.

I'm not a prohibitionist by any means either - I think a mature person should be able to enjoy alcohol if they choose and deal with the consequences if they don't choose to use it responsibly. We're kind of caught in this country with the car culture of dealing with DUIs - you need to get a designated driver if you're partaking of drinks!

We also need to identify those having a hard time with it and make as much information help and motivation for them as we can.

Is your work meaningful?

I think one of the great things about being a Beachbody coach is helping people through the process of self-transformation and on the road to committed wellness.

To me, it's easy to see every day the meaning in this - commitment to your own health has so many benefits - the journey is never ending and the rewards don't end either.

This is such a key to finding something to motivate you day to day. In his recent blog entry, Michael Steger comments on the construction of the cathedral of Notre Dame. From a recent tweet:

MichaelFSteger My new column 'three things that make work meaningful' an Essential Read at PsychologyToday http://bit.ly/7MuSL

The cornerstone for the famous Cathedral Notre Dame de Paris was laid in 1163, and work finally wrapped up in 1345. For those of you keeping score, that's 182 years. Not bad, considering that's how long I think it will be before my Minnesota Vikings win a Super Bowl. But, as far as I can tell, most folks seemed to live only until somewhere between age 30 and 50 (record were pretty crummy back then, infant mortality was very high, and bothersome annoyances like the Black Death mucked with the figures). That means that it would have taken between four and six generations of laborers working to construct Notre Dame. If you were in Generation 1, your job, literally, could have been breaking big rocks into little rocks. But you also would have been building a great cathedral. A cathedral that your grandchildren's grandchildren would enjoy going into for the first time. Viewing the work in this way holds the hope of transforming our working lives into an important way in which we live better, richer, more meaningful lives.

It's such a great lesson and one the ancients such as Romans and Egyptians understood well. The Great Pyramid and other monuments were constructed by craftsmen proud of their work and buried alongside nobels as we find in the tombs along the Giza plateau. They understood the motivation and organization that was required without fancy technology. We could learn a lot from them about these things in a time when people are seen as liabilities many times.

Meaning and motivation come from understanding your role and having a purpose in life and work. I find both in being a Beachbody coach.

If you're interested in becoming a coach, contact me and I can get you started - it's a rewarding way to make money and make a huge difference in changing people's lives for the better!