obesity
Community Intervention To Improve Health Does Just That Without Changing Obesity
Population health strategies to prevent and reduce obesity have been the focus of much talk in the public health field, but hard evidence that this is in fact possible remain rather sparse (with a few notable exceptions). Now, a paper by Ellina Lylviak and colleagues from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, published in BMC Public Health, describes the 3 year results from a community intervention called the Healthy Alberta Communities Study (HACS). The researchers looked at data from a multi-level intervention to create environments supportive of healthier dietary and physical activity behaviours within four diverse communities in Alberta (Bonnyville, St. Paul, Norwood and Medicine Hat), between 2006-2009. Over the duration of the intervention, Community Coordinators built relationships with local stakeholders and worked with them to identify environmental …
Can Yoga Help You Lose Weight?
Just how much data is there to support the notion that yoga can affect body weight? This is the topic of a systematic review by Romy Lauche and colleagues, published in Preventive Medicine. The researchers look at data from randomized controlled trials on yoga for weight-related outcomes in over 2000 individuals from the general population or with overweight or obesity. Overall, there was no discernible effects of yoga on weight, body mass index, body fat percentage or waist circumference. At best, there appeared to be marginal effects on waist/hip ratios in healthy adults and a close to 1 unit reduction in BMI in studies with overweight/obese participants. However, these findings were not robust against selection bias nor could the authors rule out publication bias. Thus it …
Skinny Kids Eat More Candy
A common assumption is that kids with obesity consume more high-caloric foods – which of course includes confectionary items like chocolate and non-chocolate sweets. Now, a study by Constantin Gasser and colleagues from Melbourne, Australia, in a paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, present a systematic review and meta-analysis of confectionary consumption and overweight in kids. The researchers identified 19 studies fort their systematic review, 11 of which (?177,260 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, odds of excess weight of kids in the highest category of sweets consumption was about 20{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125} less than in the reference category. This inverse association was true for both chocolate and nonchocolate confectioneries. Furthermore, in the longitudinal studies and the randomised controlled trial included in the …
Bariatric Surgery In The Elderly
While the often impressive benefits of bariatric surgery on health and quality of life in younger patients with severe obesity are well documented, the safety and benefits of bariatric surgery in older patients remains largely unclear. Now, a systematic review by my colleague Alexandra Chow from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, published in Obesity Surgery looks at outcomes in patients older than 65 years of age. The review includes data from 8 studies (1835 patients) of roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, all of which were case series. Overall mean excess weight loss was about 70{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125}, which is only marginally less than generally seen in younger patients with this procedure. Mean 30-day mortality was 0.14 {7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125} with a post-operative complication rate of around 20{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125}, with wound infections being …
Liraglutide Alters Brain Activity Related to Highly Desirable Food Cues
Liraglutide, a GLP-1 analogue now available for the treatment of obesity (as Saxenda) in North America, works by reducing appetite and increasing satiety, thus making it easier to lose weight and keep it off (with continuing treatment). Now, a study by Olivia Farr and colleagues, in a paper published in Diabetologia not only present data showing the presence of GLP-1 receptors in human cortex, hypothalamus and medulla, but also provide functional evidence for altered brain response to food cues. After documenting the presence of GLP-1 receptor in human brains using immunohistochemistry, the researchers conducted a randomised controlled placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial in 18 individuals with type 2 diabetes who were treated with placebo and liraglutide for a total of 17 days each (0.6 mg for 7 days, 1.2 mg for 7 …
Welcome To The International Congress on Obesity, Vancouver 2016
This weekend sees the start of the XIII International Congress on Obesity (ICO), hosted by the World Obesity Federation in partnership with the Canadian Obesity Network (CON) in Vancouver, Canada. As this year’s Congress President, together with World Obesity Federation President Dr. Walmir Coutinho, it will be our pleasure to welcome delegates from around the world to what I am certain will be a most exciting and memorable event in one of the world’s most beautiful and livable cities. The program committee, under the excellent leadership of Dr. Paul Trayhurn, has assembled a broad and stimulating program featuring the latest in obesity research ranging from basic science to prevention and management. I can also attest to the fact that the committed staff both at the …
How To Interpret Studies On Screen Time And Eating Behaviour
Much of the research on the contribution of screen time, sedentariness, food consumption and other factors comes from cross-sectional or longitudinal studies, where researchers essentially describe correlations and statistical “effect sizes”. To be at all meaningful, analyses in such studies need to be adjusted for known (or at least likely) confounders (or at least the confounders that happen to available). No matter how you turn and wind the data, such studies by definition cannot prove causality or (even less likely) predict the outcome of actual intervention studies. Nevertheless, such studies can be helpful in generating hypotheses. Thus, for example, I read with interest the recent paper by Lei Shang and colleagues from the University of Laval, Quebec, Canada, published in Preventive Medicine Reports. The researchers …
Let’s Put The Obesity-Is-A-Disease Debate to Rest
Having just completed a tour de force, first as President of the International Congress on Obesity in Vancouver and then as an invited plenary speaker at the Scientific Meeting of the German Diabetes Society in Berlin, I have had ample opportunities to discuss how best we can make better progress in obesity prevention and treatment. Amongst the many experts I spoke to virtually no one believes we will make any progress whatsoever, as long as the notion persists among the public and decision makers, that obesity is simply a lifestyle choice and that its impact on health are overstated. Thus, I would like to draw your attention to a timely article by Scott Kahan and Tracy Zvenyach, published in Current Obesity Reports on current policies and their …
The US Has Made Remarkable Progress In Policy Recognition Of Obesity As A Disease
While the debate about whether or not obesity merits being called a disease may still be discussed in lay circles (and, unfortunately, even amongst some so-called “experts”), there have been some remarkably forward-thinking policy decisions in the US, that should have long helped lay this “debate” to rest. Here are just some of the policies supporting the idea of obesity as a disease passed by US legislators in recent past, as outlined in the article by Scott Kahan and Tracy Zvenyach published in Current Obesity Reports. In 2002, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) explicitly stated obesity is a disease and codified the right to deduct medical treatment for obesity. In 2004, the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised longstanding national …
One Minute Of Vigorous All-Out Exercise May Be All You Need For Health
In the same week that we learned about the devastating metabolic effects of the weight loss induced by hours-long exhausting workouts in participants in the “Biggest Loser”, a paper byJenna Gillen and colleagues from McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada, published in PLOS One, shows that all it takes is one minute of vigorous all out exercise to significantly improve your health. Unbelievable as it sounds, the rather rigorous randomised controlled 12-week trial in 27 sedentary men showed just that. The researchers divided the participants into three groups: three weekly sessions of sprint interval training (SIT) involving a total of 1 minute of intense exercise within a 10-minute time commitment (n = 9), three weekly sessions of traditional moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) involving 50 minutes of continuous exercise per …
5 Things I Wish I Knew in Graduate School
Last week I had the pleasure to give a presentation on careers outside of academia to a group of approximately 100 University of Toronto graduate students during a seminar organized by the Life Sciences Career Development Society. Going back and retrospectively tracing my path to where I am today – on my second non-academic career – was a worthwhile exercise in attaining career perspective. Preparing for the presentation I began to collect my thoughts on a few general truths I’ve come to understand since leaving the university setting. Since I know our blog is read by those currently in graduate school, I thought I’d also share these thoughts here. 1. Tenure-track positions are exceedingly rare: I believe the biggest truth that is rarely shared with those …
The Essential Guide to Science Blogging
Back in the fall of 2008 when Travis and I first decided to emulate Yoni Freedhoff and start our very own science blog, we had no idea what we were doing. I recall writing my first post while sitting in our shared office at Queen’s University, agonizing over the tone of the writing. I spent the better part of an afternoon on that first post, and if you were to go back and read it today (please don’t – even I’m too embarrassed to read it) you might be surprised that it took that long to write something that uninspired. We had countless questions, and few resources from which to draw answers. Should we write only about research papers? Should we get our own url? Should we use …