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.

China’s growing waistline

About 20% of the more than 1 billion overweight people in the World are Chinese. China is often overlooked when discussing the obesity crisis that is sweeping the developed World because the prevalence of overweight and obesity in China is relatively low at 15% when compared with countries such as the United States where over half of the population are overweight. An article in the British Medial Journal by Professor Yangfeng Wu from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has suggested two key reasons why we should be taking more notice of this looming crisis in China.
Professor Wu points out that there has been an alarmingly rapid increase in overweight and obesity in China in recent years, especially in school children for whom prevalence of overweight increased 28 times between 1985 and 2000.
Professor Wu also points out that there is increasing evidence that the World Health Organization’s definition of overweight and obesity, which is derived from studies on the correlations between Body Mass Index (BMI) and disease in white populations, may not be applicable to Asian populations. The Working Group on Obesity in China has recommended that lower BMI cut points should be used to determine overweight and obesity in China. If these cut points were used then over a quarter of a billion people in China would be regarded as overweight or obese.
The explanations for China’s recent epidemic of overweight and obesity are the same as for the rest of the World. Poor diet and reduced levels of physical activity due to the continuing modernization of transport and labor activities. China has the added problems of a widespread belief that excess body fat represents health and prosperity and that it has become difficult to find safe places in over crowded residential areas to exercise or even walk.
Professor Wu said that China needs to act now if it is to have any chance of preventing a further increase in obesity rates. He suggested that as a first step, the prevention and control of obesity should be listed in China’s framework and policy on health. He hopes that by acting now China may be able to achieve where the West has so far failed in halting the growing obesity problem.

Weight chart for your website or blog

Now you can put your Mikibo weight tracker chart on your personal web page wherever that may be and it will always show an up-to-date chart of your weight-loss progress. Simply copy the code from the Mikibo site and paste it into your blog or web page. You can set the chart size, colors, period (from 1 month to 1 year) and units (pounds, kilograms). Below is an example weight tracker chart.

Get your free Mikibo account

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.

 

Calcium Affects Weight

Increased total calcium intake in the form of supplements can help middle-aged adults maintain their weight over a number of years, with particular benefits to women, according to researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.

The study looked at relationships between calcium and weight change over an eight-to-12-year period among more than 10,000 men and women in their mid-50s. Previous studies have found connections between calcium intake and people’s body mass index, but those studies focused on calcium in food, not supplements, according to the researchers.

The study examined people’s intakes of dietary calcium, supplemental calcium and total calcium (supplements plus diet) to discover which forms of calcium were associated with weight change. The researchers found “dietary calcium alone had no significant effect on 10-year weight change,” but that women who took calcium supplements saw some improvement.

“Although more evidence from randomized clinical trials is needed before calcium supplements can be recommended specifically for weight loss, this study suggests that calcium supplements taken for other reasons (e.g., prevention of osteoporosis) may have a small beneficial influence on reducing weight gain, particularly among women approaching midlife.”

From the American Dietetic Association