Mikibo launches Calorifica

The makers of Mikibo have launched a new site called Calorifica (www.calorifica.com). Calorifica is a food nutrient data search engine. Simply type in a food name and you will be presented with all of its nutrient data.

Visit: www.calorifica.com and give it a try.

Too many fat bellied children

A study from the University of Rochester Medical Center has found that abdominal obesity increased more than 65 percent among U.S. children between 1988 and 2004. This finding is significant because abdominal obesity has emerged as a better predictor of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes risk than the more commonly used Body Mass Index (BMI), a weight to height ratio that can sometimes be misleading.

As the first nationally representative study to document the increase in children’s belly fat, the study published in the journal ‘Pediatrics’ paints a bleak picture for these children who have a higher risk of heart disease, adult-onset diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

Increases in BMI scores have been raising concerns about the short and long term health of children throughout the developed World, but the increase in the rates of abdominal obesity in children appears to have been even more pronounced. According to data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2004, the percentage of 6 to 11 year old children with high BMI scores rose about 25 percent. But the increase in abdominal obesity of the same group over the same period was more than 35 percent.

The good news is that, for children and adolescents, the health effects are often reversible through improved lifestyle for weight loss. Study author Stephen Cook, M.D., an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Rochester, said that the study should be a warning for physicians and parents to limit sedentary activities, such as TV and computer time, and to teach and model healthy eating and exercise behaviors.

“Kids, teens and adults who have early stages of atherosclerosis in their arteries can have a healthy cardiovascular system again,” said Assistant Professor Cook. “Older adults who have plaque build up have a much harder battle, especially if the plaque has calcified.”

Measuring waist circumference is not a “vital sign” normally taken in a visit to the doctor. A BMI is commonly calculated, but there are limitations to those measurements. A very muscular person may register a high BMI score, even if s/he is very healthy and has an average waist circumference. Whereas, a sedentary child may not register a very high BMI score even though they are carrying a lot of fat around their abdomen putting them at a higher risk for health problems.

BMI Unreliable

Two recent studies have questioned the use of the Body Mass Index (BMI). A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition has found that the BMI based risk categories overestimate the risks associated with excess weight in people aged over 75. A second study Published in The Lancet found that cardiac patients classified as Overweight (25-29.9) using the BMI had lower risk of death than patients classified as Normal weight (20-24.9) or Underweight (<20).

The BMI, which is calculated as weight (kg) divided by the square of height (m), is an easily measured indicator of obesity and is used by most expert bodies such as the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organisation.

The studies revealed that those with a low BMI were at the highest risk of death. According to the studies’ authors, an explanation for the lack of positive association with BMI and mortality at older ages is that BMI is a poor measure of abdominal fat, the key determinant of metabolic abnormalities that contribute to cardiovascular risk. The BMI does not differentiate between fat and fat-free mass so as older people lose muscle with age their BMI drops making them appear healthier. There can be substantial differences in percentage of fat and lean body mass between individuals whose BMIs are the same.

The better outcomes in overweight and mildly obese people may be because these people have a greater lean ‘muscle’ mass than normal weight and severely obese people. Lean muscle mass is important because it is metabolically active tissue, meaning that it burns energy, so the more muscle mass you have the higher your metabolism and the more fat you burn. Greater muscle mass may also indicate increased physical activity, which independently contributes to reduced coronary artery disease.

Waist circumference, which has been proposed as an alternate measure of obesity, was found to have no association with mortality. “A limitation of waist circumference alone as a measure is that it takes no account of body composition, whereas waist hip ratio is a measure of body shape and to some extent lower trunk adiposity [abdominal fat]“, said the one of the studies’ authors.

The first study found the Waist Hip Ratio (WHR) to be a better indicator of mortality risk in older people. The authors concluded that WHR should be used for people over the age of 75 because of its positive association with risk of death and that particular attention should be paid to the problem of muscle loss in old age.

Parents Influence Obesity

The amount and quality of time parents spend with their children has a direct effect on children’s rates of obesity, according to a new study from Texas A&M University.

The five year study found that the more time a mother spends with her child, the less likely that child is to be obese, however fathers were found to be a bad influence on their child’s obesity. “For a long time we thought that parents ought to influence what their kids eat, but we were not sure how that worked.” Lead researcher Professor Alex McIntosh said.

Because so many families are headed by two working parents, the focus of the research was to look at how the parents’ work-related stress, flexibility and general work conditions influenced the children’s nutrition, McIntosh said.

The study found that the fathers of 9 to 11-year-olds’ spend an average of 80 minutes per day with their children, while mothers’ average time spent with their children is 125 minutes. Children ages 13-15 included in the study saw their fathers an average of 95 minutes per day, while mothers of this age group spent an average 87 minutes per day with their children.

Income levels for the mother and father were also evaluated, examining the effects on a child’s nutritional intake. Professor George Davis from the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M, said as parents’ income goes up, their children’s body mass index also increases. His advice to parents: “You’re not at work 24 hours a day. For mothers: For the time you do have, spend some with your kids. For fathers: Dads are not toxic, but people who teach nutrition education may be talking to the wrong audience. Men in general tend to have more muscles and less fat than women do, and consequently can eat more food without gaining weight. That means they may not be paying as much attention to nutrition as women do. “We may need to teach fathers about nutrition,” McIntosh said.

 

Low GI diet best

The most effective diet for weight loss and cardiovascular health is a high carbohydrate plan based on low glycemic index (GI) foods, according to a study by University of Sydney researchers.

Published in the most recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, the 12 week study compared the relative effects on weight loss and cardiovascular risk of low GI and high-protein diets.

Undertaken by Professor Jennie Brand-Miller and Joanna McMillan-Price from the University of Sydney Human Nutrition Unit, the findings show that there is no ‘one diet fits all’ solution, and both high protein and low GI diets will help you to shed fat. However, it did show that a diet containing low GI carbohydrate significantly reduces your risk of heart disease.

The theory behind low GI diets is that rapidly digested, high GI carbohydrates cause fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin levels, contributing to hunger and preventing the breakdown of fat.

The trial, which was led by Joanna McMillan-Price, enrolled 129 overweight or obese adults and randomly assigned them to one of four reduced calorie, reduced fat diets over a 12 week period. Two of the diets were high-carbohydrate diets and the other two high in protein – one of each had a high GI and the other had a low GI.

Between the two high-carbohydrate diets, lowering the glycemic index doubled fat loss – this effect was strongest in women. ‘Our findings suggest that dietary glycemic load, and not just overall energy intake influences weight loss’ said McMillan-Price.

While the high-protein, high GI diet was equally effective for fat loss as the high carbohydrate, low GI diet, the two had diverse effects on LDL or ‘bad’ cholesterol. The high protein, high-GI group showed increased levels of LDL cholesterol, while there were significant LDL reductions in those on the high carbohydrate, low-GI diet.

However those on the high-protein, low GI diet did not experience the same rise in total LDL cholesterol suggesting the importance of low GI foods alongside a high protein diet. ‘Diets based on low-glycemic index, whole grain products, tend to be better for the heart, maximising cardiovascular risk reduction – particularly if protein intake is high,’ said McMillan-Price.