John Goodman's Health Policy Blog » Obesity Update http://www.john-goodman-blog.com Insights on Health Care Reform | NCPA Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:30:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Life is Unfair to Women http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/life-is-unfair-to-women/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/life-is-unfair-to-women/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:30:49 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=10226 18 overweight men and women walked on treadmills in multiple sessions while either eating enough that day to replace the calories burned during exercise or not. Afterward, the men displayed little or no changes in their energy-regulating hormones or their appetites, much as in the other study. But the women uniformly had increased blood concentrations of acylated ghrelin and decreased concentrations of insulin after the sessions in which they had eaten less than they had burned. Their bodies were directing them to replace the lost calories.

In physiological terms, the results “are consistent with the paradigm that mechanisms to maintain body fat are more effective in women,” Braun and his colleagues wrote. In practical terms, the results are scientific proof that life is unfair. Female bodies, inspired almost certainly “by a biological need to maintain energy stores for reproduction,” Braun says, fight hard to hold on to every ounce of fat. Exercise for many women (and for some men) increases the desire to eat.

Full article on exercise’s role in weight loss.

]]> http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/life-is-unfair-to-women/feed/ 6 New Taxes on Junk Food and Sodas, and a Man Found Too Fat to Go to Prison http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/new-taxes-on-junk-food-and-sodas-and-a-man-found-too-fat-to-go-to-prison/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/new-taxes-on-junk-food-and-sodas-and-a-man-found-too-fat-to-go-to-prison/#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 17:30:44 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=9884 Will using a junk food tax to subsidize healthy foods lower calories consumed? No.

RAND: Taxes on sodas do not reduce obesity. But a very large tax might.

600-pound man found too fat to go to prison.  He ordered huge meals and ate most of them before complaining and refusing to pay.

  mug-shot-one   mug-shot-two

]]> http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/new-taxes-on-junk-food-and-sodas-and-a-man-found-too-fat-to-go-to-prison/feed/ 7 Smoking and Obesity, Dump Your Mate to Lose Weight, and the Fight Against Fat Goes High-Tech http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/smoking-and-obesity-dump-your-mate-to-lose-weight-and-the-fight-against-fat-goes-high-tech/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/smoking-and-obesity-dump-your-mate-to-lose-weight-and-the-fight-against-fat-goes-high-tech/#comments Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:30:43 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=8244 Smoking and obesity equally unhealthy: The Quality-Adjusted Life Years (Qalys) lost as a result of obesity is now equal to, if not greater than, those lost from smoking.

One in seven content with current weight. Everyone else thinks he/she weighs too much.

Do you tend to burn more fat exercising outdoors in colder weather? No.

Women who live with a mate put on more pounds than those who live without one: The 10-year weight gain for an average 140-pound woman was 20 pounds if she had a baby and a partner, 15 if she had a partner but no baby, and only 11 pounds if she was childless with no partner.

Wearable wireless sensors can monitor overweight and obese people as they go about their daily lives: how many minutes they work out, how much food they consume and even whether they are at a fast-food joint when they should be in the park.

]]> http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/smoking-and-obesity-dump-your-mate-to-lose-weight-and-the-fight-against-fat-goes-high-tech/feed/ 7 Can You Lose Weight Just by Changing How You Think? http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/can-you-lose-weight-just-by-changing-how-you-think/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/can-you-lose-weight-just-by-changing-how-you-think/#comments Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:30:29 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=8192 Mr. Wiseman points to an experiment that monitored the health and activity of two groups of hotel attendants (that is, housekeepers) with roughly equal workloads and lifestyle habits. One group was made constantly aware of how many calories it burned by simply doing its labor-intensive work—implanting the idea that “wow, your job involves lots of exercise.” Over time that group (and not the other) saw improvements in its body mass index and blood pressure even though it was doing nothing differently.

Mr. Wiseman concludes: “By reminding the attendants of the amount of exercise that they were getting on a daily basis, the researchers altered the attendants’ beliefs about themselves, and their bodies responded to make these beliefs a reality.” The larger lesson is that being aware of an effort may help to bring about its effect.

Full review of Richard Wiseman’s new book, 59 Seconds.

]]> http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/can-you-lose-weight-just-by-changing-how-you-think/feed/ 6 200,000 a Year Audition for “The Biggest Loser” http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/200000-a-year-audition-for-%e2%80%9cthe-biggest-loser%e2%80%9d/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/200000-a-year-audition-for-%e2%80%9cthe-biggest-loser%e2%80%9d/#comments Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:30:04 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=7245 The winner of the program’s first season, Ryan C. Benson [pictured below], who lost 122 of his 330-pound starting weight…is now back above 300 pounds but he thinks he has been shunned by the show because he publicly admitted that he dropped some of the weight by fasting and dehydrating himself to the point that he was urinating blood.

At least one other contestant has confessed to using dangerous weight-loss techniques, including self-induced dehydration. On the first episode of the current season, two contestants were sent to the hospital, one by airlift after collapsing from heat stroke during a one-mile race.

Full story in The New York Times.

Ryan-Benson

   Before                                          After

]]> http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/200000-a-year-audition-for-%e2%80%9cthe-biggest-loser%e2%80%9d/feed/ 6 Obesity Update – 2009/10/15 http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/obesity-update-20091015/ http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/obesity-update-20091015/#comments Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:15:11 +0000 John Goodman http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=5955 Eating much, much less helped rats live longer. Will it work on humans?