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Volume 4, Issue 1
Abdominal fat increases risk for heart disease
A new study recently published in Circulation, the official medical journal of the American Heart Association, indicates that an individual's waist to hip ratio is an independent risk factor for heart disease. Other independent risk factors for heart disease include smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol, family history, etc.
This large-scale study was conducted over approximately nine years with 24,508 men and women between the ages of 45 and 79. During the duration of the study 1,708 men and 892 women developed heart disease. Based on these numbers researchers analyzed the data and found that those participants with the highest waist-hip ratio were at highest risk for heart disease.
1
Adolescent girls who exercise regularly have less body fat
New research from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill has reaffirmed what most gym-goers already know: people who are physically active are leaner than those who are sedentary. For this study researchers focused on adolescent girls, finding that those who participated in daily moderate to vigorous physical activity have significantly less body fat that those who are less active.
Researchers studied a group of 1,576 sixth graders in six middle schools in metropolitan areas around the country for a two-year period. The results were rather startling-girls who averaged 12.8 minutes of daily exercise were 2.3 times more likely to be overweight than those who averaged 34.7 minutes of activity per day. In addition, girls who participated in the lowest levels of physical activity had a body fat percentage that was 2.64 points higher than more active girls.
2
Practicing yoga helps improve waist circumference, blood pressure, and cholesterol
Yoga does more than increase your flexibility! According to a new study conducted in India, yoga helps improve feelings of well-being in healthy people and can help to reverse heart disease risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome including high blood pressure, obesity and high blood sugar.
For the study, researchers followed a group of 101 adults with health indicators associated with metabolic syndrome. Half of the group participated in three months of regular yoga training and daily meditation while the other half received standard care for patients with metabolic syndrome. In the end, researchers found that those participants in the yoga group had significantly reduced their waist circumference, blood pressure, blood sugar and triglycerides an increased their "good" HDL cholesterol as compared with the control group.
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Breast cancer patients should exercise and eat healthy to avoid weight gain
Breast cancer patients have a new reason to eat healthy and exercise: weight gain can decrease their chances of survival. New research recently reported at an international cancer prevention conference has found that women who gain weight after being diagnosed with breast cancer significantly increase their risk of dying from the disease.
Researchers studied a group of 4,021 women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 2001 and followed up with each participant after an average of 6 years. During that time period 121 women died from breast cancer and 428 died of other causes. When researchers analyzed the data they found that body mass index (BMI) was directly correlated with risk of death. For every 11 pounds a women gained their risk of dying went up by 14 percent; those who gained over 22 pounds increased their risk by 80 percent; and those who became obese increased their risk by 200 percent.
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Want kids to be more active? Give them a ball and a jump rope!
Inactivity, which is directly tied to obesity, is a huge problem in our society, especially among today's youth. Rather than playing outside or participating in sports, kids are opting to play video games, chat on the internet and watch TV. A new study recently conducted at childcare centers throughout North Carolina found that young children tend to be more active when portable play equipment is present on the playground.
For the study, researchers assessed the physical and social environments of the participating child care centers. Researchers found that while stationary equipment, such as swings, slides, and climbing structures were associated with lower levels of physical activity, portable play equipment such as jump ropes, hula hoops, and balls were associated with significantly higher levels of moderate to vigorous physical activity. Given that nearly 60 percent of 3 to 5 year olds in the US attend a childcare center, these finding have the potential to make an enormous impact.
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Sources
1Canoy D, et al. (2007). Body fat distribution and risk of coronary heart disease in men and women in the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition in Norfolk cohort: a population-based prospective study. Circulation, 116, 2933-43.
2Loftin M, et al. Comparison of the validity of anthropometric and bioelectric impedance equations to assess body composition in adolescent girls. International Journal of Body Composition Research, 5, 1-8.
3Khatri D, et al. (2007). Effects of yoga and meditation on clinical and biochemical parameters of metabolic syndrome. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 78, e9-10.
4Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, 2007.
5Bower JK, et al. (2007). The Childcare Environment and Children's Physical Activity. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 34, 23-9
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