Children of obese mothers 'have higher heart risk'

Keeping a healthy weight during pregnancy is important for mother and child

Posted by Neill Abayon

Children born to obese and overweight mothers are more likely to die early of heart disease, a study has found.

Scottish research showed a 35% higher risk of dying before the age of 55 in adults whose mothers were obese in pregnancy.

It is not known how much of the link is down to genetics, influences in the womb or later lifestyle.

But the authors say their findings, in the British Medical Journal, are of "major public health concern".

One woman in five in the UK is obese at their antenatal booking appointment.

Premature deaths

The analysis included 28,540 women whose weight was recorded at their first antenatal check-up and their 37,709 children now aged between 34 and 61.

One in five mothers was classed as overweight with a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9 and 4% were obese with a BMI above 30.

There were 6,551 premature deaths from any cause and heart disease was the leading contributor.

The risk of premature death was 35% higher among people born to obese mothers compared with those whose mothers had had normal weight in pregnancy. This was after adjusting the results for factors such as the mother's age at delivery, social class and infant birthweight.

The results also revealed that children born to obese mothers went on to be at 42% increased risk of being treated in hospital for a heart attack, stroke or angina.

More here.

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Obesity Risk Factors May Vary for Boys and Girls

Posted by Neill Abayon

While some behaviors increase the risk of obesity for both boys and girls, new research shows there are gender differences.

For instance, although being on a sports team reduced the risk of obesity for middle school-aged boys, it did not for girls, said study author Dr. Elizabeth Jackson, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Michigan School of Medicine.

On the other hand, "Girls who drank milk seemed to have more protection [against obesity]," she said.

Meanwhile, certain behaviors raised the risk of obesity for both boys and girls, the study found. Eating school lunch regularly increased the risk of obesity by 29 percent for boys and 27 percent for girls. Watching two or more hours of television a day boosted the odds of obesity by 19 percent for both genders.

The study, which found links but not cause and effect, is published online Aug. 12 and in the September print issue of Pediatrics.

Childhood obesity is a major public health concern. During the past 30 years, obesity has increased dramatically among children and teens. Among middle-school children, for instance, nearly 20 percent were obese, according to a 2010 report.

Earlier this month, a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held a glimmer of hope: Obesity rates among low-income preschoolers had dropped slightly in at least 19 states. However, there is still a long way to go, experts agreed.

More here.

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Breast-Feeding Tied to Reduced Child Obesity

Posted by Neill Abayon

Breast-feeding may reduce children's risk of being overweight or obese, a large new study from Japan found.

Researchers looked at more than 43,000 children, aged 7 and 8, with records of how they were fed during infancy.

The study was published online Aug. 12 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

The investigators first took into account other factors that could influence the children's weight, such as gender and the amount of time they spent in front of the television or computer, as well as their mothers' education levels, smoking and employment status, according to a journal news release.

Children who were breast-fed at 6 months to 7 months of age were less likely to be overweight than those who were formula-fed, the researchers concluded.

"After adjusting for potential confounders, we demonstrated that breast-feeding is associated with decreased risk of overweight and obesity among school children in Japan, and the protective association is stronger for obesity than overweight," wrote Michiyo Yamakawa, of the Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and colleagues.

Although the study found an association between being exclusively breast-fed in infancy and a lower risk of obesity or overweight in young children, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship

Source: Healthfinder

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South African chef 'too fat' to live in New Zealand

Nearly 30% of adults are overweight in New Zealand

Posted by Neill Abayon

Authorities in New Zealand have told a South African chef he is too fat to be allowed to live in the country.

Immigration officials said Albert Buitenhuis, who weighs 130kg (286 pounds), did not have "an acceptable standard of health".

He now faces expulsion despite shedding 30kg since he moved to the city of Christchurch six years ago.

New Zealand has one of the highest obesity rates in the developed world, with nearly 30% of people overweight.

Mr Buitenhuis and his wife, Marthie, moved from South Africa to Christchurch in 2007. At the time, the chef weighed 160kg.

Until now, their annual work visas had been renewed with "very little problem", his wife said.

"We applied year after year and there were no issues," she said.

"They never mentioned Albert's weight or his health once and he was a lot heavier then."

But in early May, the couple was told their work visas had been declined because of Mr Buitenhuis's weight.

"The irony is that at the moment he weighs less than when we first arrived in New Zealand and also less than in his first medical, which was accepted by [immigration authorities]," his wife said.

More here.

Obesity linked to poor sperm quality

Posted by Neill Abayon

Young men now have a new incentive to stay lean and fit. According to a new report in the journal Fertility and Sterility, overweight young men have poorer sperm quality than their peers of a more healthy weight do.

The findings reveal that not only do overweight men have lower sperm counts, but their sperm are less mobile and less able to travel in the right direction as opposed to simply swimming aimlessly. In other words, overweight men between the ages of 20 and 30 may have a much harder time becoming fathers than leaner, fitter men will.

Researchers say it is unclear whether or not the difference in sperm quality is significant enough to affect overall fertility, but they believe that it could, and that further research is necessary.

For the study, Dr. Uwe Paasch and his team from the University of Leipzig in Germany analyzed more than 2,000 men who had visited fertility clinics between 1999 and 2005 to test their sperm quality. None of these men had any known fertility problems at the time.

Read the full article here.