Thursday, March 7, 2013

Weight, Weight! Don't Tell Me ... About Being Fat

I hired a new house cleaner a couple of days ago and during the interview process, I noted how thin and wiry she was. She said, "It's all this cleaning. Great exercise."

She was absolutely right if a new study is any indication. This study tells us that women have joined the workforce and are fatter for it. Sedentary work can do little else for our broad asses and expanding spare tires. All that got me interested in the state of fat in the United States at this moment, so I went looking to see where we are. There are simply tons of studies available on every aspect of our growing up (so to speak) and here's some of what I found:

  • "A curious schism in our national attitudes toward obesity: Only one in five kids had a parent who feared the boy or girl would grow up to be overweight as an adult." This from a report  from NPR and its associates that tells us that your kids are fat, mine are perfect.
  • "The walls of the body’s major artery – the aorta – are already thickened in babies born to mothers who are overweight or obese, according to a new University of Sydney study." That means, in short, "thickening of the abdominal aorta is an indication of early atherosclerosis, the disease that leads to the majority of heart attacks and strokes."
  • This is from Australia, but I can see its application here where fat people are generally regarded as less worthy than those who aren't larded up: "Mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight ... are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight ..."
  • We know this in our hearts, but now it's officially part of medical study (according to The Guardian, Britain's best newspaper): "Sugar is behind the global explosion in type 2 diabetes , say researchers who claim it plays a uniquely damaging role in causing a disease that experts fear could overwhelm the [National Health System]. Obesity is usually cited as the main driver of diabetes. But a new study by U.S. medical researchers identifies sugar as a predictor of diabetes separately from obesity."
  • QIueensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    Queensland mums-to-be who are considered to be overweight or obese are treated and perceived more poorly by maternity care providers because of their body weight, according to a new University of Queensland study.

    Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-overweight-obese-mothers-differently-health.html#jCp
    If you're wondering why you're not feeling so hot, even though you're dropping weight (at your advanced age), consider this study: "Researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine found that younger mice experienced greater improvement in heart function after losing weight than older mice that lost a similar amount of weight, which may mean the protective effect of weight loss on the heart is stronger for those who slim down sooner rather than later."
  •  Guys, if you're going to the sauna to get rid of that beer gut, consider this study that tells us you can be rendered infertile.
  • A distinct gender problem is discovered in this study: "For boys, being overweight or obese significantly lowers their quality of life compared to healthy weight peers.  Interestingly, these results were not found in girls."
  • Then, there's this (as part of a "things you misunderstand about obesity" piece here): "The single best way to fight obesity is to avoid it in the first place." And the good news (here) is this: "For those of us who have tired of calorie counting and low-fat diets, other elements of the [Mediterranean) diet recommended [in this study] sound almost too good to be true. It allows people to eat as many nuts and eggs as they want. And there is no restriction on chocolate consumption as long as it is chocolate with more than 50 per cent cocoa."
So now, we'll shut up and let you get back to the diet. Or the cake. Your choice.

(Photos: sabotagetimes.com and thirdlens.org)

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