Obesity in Australians

A decade ago, only less than 500 people are suffering gastric banding or a similar procedure.
As the nation becomes fatter the demand for surgery has increased.

The number is expected to keep rising, with weight problems affecting 68 per cent of men and 55 per cent of women.

While more men were overweight, almost four in five weight loss operations were for women - 13,300 compared with just 3700.

The most common weight loss procedure is laparoscopic gastric banding, accounting for 72 per cent of all procedures in 2007-08, a report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found.

It said the bulk of surgery was performed in private hospitals, but more surgeons in the public system were being trained and offering the operations.

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Obesity surgeon Ken Loi explained that the success and improved safety of surgery had contributed to the increase.

"It's available and accessible," he said.

While the bulk of surgery is performed in private hospitals, more surgeons in the public system are becoming trained and offering the procedures.

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's head of hospitals and performance group Jenny Hargreaves said figures were disproportionate to the number of women overweight.

"While many overweight people rely on lifestyle factors - such as improved diet and increased physical activity - to lose weight, the report shows a significant increase in the member of people undergoing weight loss surgery," she said.

As per the National Health Survey, 68 per cent of men are overweight or obese, while for women the figure is 55 per cent."

Source:heraldsun.com.au

Bariatric Bypass Surgery

CHICAGO — A small study has found that morbidly obese patients with HF who undergo bariatric surgery gain long-lasting and meaningful improvements in disease symptoms and quality of life.

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“This tells us that bariatric surgery may become part of the treatment of patients with HF and obesity if there are no major contraindications for the surgery — and that this might be especially important for patients with significant obesity,” Francisco Lopez-Jiminez, MD, said in a press release.

The study results were presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2010.

Lopez-Jiminez cautioned, however, that because the study tested the effects of bariatric surgery on just 13 patients, “these results should be considered preliminary and suggestive of some benefit, but additional research is needed to confirm these results.”

It appears that cardiologists do not often refer obese patients with HF for bariatric surgery, despite statistics showing that one-third of HF patients are obese, Lopez-Jiminez said.

The researchers reviewed the outcomes of 13 patients, aged 44 to 64 years, who underwent bariatric surgery at Mayo Clinic in Minnesota between 1990 and 2005, as well as six HF patients, aged 52 to 72, who were followed at the Mayo Nutrition Clinic and did not receive the surgery.

In the group that received surgery, the mean BMI was 53, and in the comparison group, it was 42. After 4 years of follow-up, the mean BMI dropped in the surgery group to 37 and rose in the comparison group to 45.

Based on patient surveys, the researchers found that quality of life was significantly improved in those who received weight-loss surgery, compared with HF patients who did not. Researchers also determined that symptoms such as swelling in the legs and labored breathing during exercise improved only in the surgery group.

Lopez-Jimenez said that the health advantages seen in the patients who had bariatric surgery occurred even though most remained obese.

“These patients had very advanced levels of obesity before the surgery, and although they lost significant amounts of weight, most remained obese. So, these good results suggest that the benefit does not require patients to reach a normal weight,” he said.

Obesity Surgery Specialists

You’ve tried every diet and nothing seems to work. You know your health is at risk but you can’t see to find the cure. Obesity is at epidemic proportions and bariatric surgery has become an accepted form of weight loss within the medical community. Now, that acceptance extends to teenagers.

Brittany Lewis, 18, tried everything. At just under 300 pounds she never left the house. She even thought hard about not attending college, afraid people would stare at her.

After months of nutritional and psychological analysis a team of medical experts at Saint Louis Children’s Hospital determined surgery was Brittany’s only option.

Do the health risks really outweigh the risks of surgery? Should teens as young as 13 even have the option of surgery?

News 4 talked to surgeons and nutritionists at Washington University School of Medicine and you’ll hear from the first teen in our area to have the surgery.




Source: kmov

Reduce Obesity – Drive Bike Cycle

Give confidence your child to play outdoor Games. One of the best physical activities you can let your child do is ride a bike cycle. Following are benefits of learning how to ride a bike cycle.

1. It will help them with their sense of balance. Learning how to ride a bike will encourage your child to learn balance. This does not only pertain to biking per se, but also in life. Once a child learns a sense of balance, this will help him in real life when he is presented with choices.


2. It will encourage your child to be fit. Once this has become a habit, your child will love physical activities that he will carry this habit with him when he grows older. His love for exercise will never fade.


3. Your child will develop his hand and eye coordination and motor skills.


4. It will instill a sense of self-confidence. Learning something at a young age and excelling in it will boost the child's self-confidence which he will carry as he grows older.

As parents, we need to make every effort in preventing the development of child obesity. This can greatly affect the child's confidence as he grows up. He will be the center of ridicule in school and anywhere he goes. Other kids will tease him and this will also cause emotional and psychological stress on the child.

Hispanic Children Are Genetically Predisposed To Developing Fatty Liver Disease

Los Angeles, Calif - Two studies from the Childhood Obesity Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have found evidence that Hispanic children and adolescents are genetically predisposed to developing fatty liver disease--a condition that can lead to cirrhosis, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The studies, recently published in the journals Diabetes and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that Hispanic children who carry the PNPLA3 gene variant (GG) have increased liver fat. Children who carry the variant are also more susceptible to developing liver fat when consuming a high sugar diet.

Previous research has shown that Hispanics are particularly susceptible to the accumulation of fat in the liver, and reports suggest that nearly four of 10 obese Hispanic children and adolescents have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

"Collectively these findings demonstrate that Hispanics are genetically susceptible to the negative health effects of high sugar consumption, and that this effect is manifested early in life," said Principal Investigator Michael I. Goran, professor of preventive medicine, physiology and biophysics and pediatrics, and director of the USC Childhood Obesity Research Center at the Keck School of Medicine. "This is a major public health concern, especially in the face of massive marketing of sugary beverages to children."

The researchers conducted cross-sectional studies of more than 300 Hispanic youth (ages 8-18) in the Los Angeles area, using metabolic, diet and genetic measures. They found that GG carriers have almost double the amount of liver fat content as non-carriers. The effects are strongest in Hispanics because the frequency of the variant is much higher (49%) than in whites (23%) or African Americans (17%), said Jaimie Davis, assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine, and a lead author on the studies.

The findings suggest that obese Hispanic children with the variant have an increased capacity for fat storage and decreased hepatic lipid mobilization (breakdown of stored fats), among those whose diets are high in sugar, she said.

Sugar intake is high among youth in Los Angeles, and accounts for nearly half of all daily carbohydrate intake and 25 percent of energy intake. However, because the link between high sugar diets and liver fat accumulation was only evident among children who had the GG variant, the findings could have important implications for treating NAFLD, Davis said.

"Specific dietary interventions based on the genetic predisposition may lead to more effective therapeutic outcomes in children with fatty liver disease," she said. "I think the studies really highlight the need to test such diet and genotyping interventions."

The work done by Dr. Goran and his team is at the interface of personalized and community health, said D. Brent Polk, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics and director of the Saban Research Institute at the Keck School of Medicine and Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

"While we know that this genetic variant is overrepresented in Hispanic people, the findings help us identify individuals with increased susceptibility to worse disease," he said. "Now we can ask does early intervention in this group prevent their progression to the complications of fatty liver disease?"

The studies were supported by the National Institute of Cancer, University of Southern California Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Minority Research Center of Excellence, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the MGM Mirage Fund at the University of Southern California.