Your Reaction to Stress More Important than the Frequency
IN YOUR DAILY DOSE today is information about how STRESS in your life affects your health. But it’s not just any stress, it’s about your reaction and not how frequently you are exposed to it.
IN MAKING CHANGES today are strategies you can use to reduce stress in your life and take back your health.
IN FACT OR FICTION you’ll discover what looks like a gigantic fly but whose larvae lives underground for anywhere from 3 to 14 years.
Read more
Air Pollution Increases Risk of Obesity
IN YOUR DAILY DOSE today are the results of research that has found a link between air pollution and obesity.
IN MAKING CHANGES today are strategies you can use to reduce your exposure to air pollution and reduce the effects on your body.
IN FACT OR FICTION you’ll discover a bit about the black, the brown and the speckled. You’ll find more when you click through to Fact or Fiction!
Read moreBiomarker Found for Pre-Diabetes
In The News
Researchers at Virginia Tech believe they have identified a biomarker in individuals who are pre-diabetic and can help prevent these people from later developing Type II diabetes. Published in Clinical Epigenetics, the study discovered that those people who are currently pre-diabetic and considered to be insulin resistant also had altered mitochondrial DNA.
The connection was made after blood samples were analyzed and they revealed that there were lower amounts of mitochondrial DNA with a higher amount of methylation. This is a process that can change the expression of genes in the cells.
Read moreTwo thirds of Alzheimer’s Cases Triggered by Potentially Modifiable Factors
In The News
In the latter part of August 2015, researchers published their findings in the British Medical Journal which found that there are nine risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease – all of which are potentially modifiable. In other words, we have more control over our elder years than we may have anticipated.
In a literature review of studies done in the past the researchers identified 323 studies, covering 93 different risk factors and including more than 5000 people. From this group they found that nine risk factors appeared to account for 2/3 of the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease across the world.
Read moreResearchers Find Link to Obesity in Genetics
In The News
Obesity is one of the biggest public health challenges of the 21st century. Affecting more than 500 million people worldwide, obesity costs at least $200 billion each year in the United States alone, and contributes to potentially fatal disorders such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer
In a study published by MIT researchers and scientists from Harvard Medical School in August 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found they could manipulate and reverse a genetic pathway that leads to obesity in mice and humans.
Read moreSign 4 Obesity
Thank you so much for signing the page and supporting our efforts for better education and program development to fight Obesity and promote fitness and nutritional programs. Your signature helps us to move forward in our crusade to develop a healthier America.
Adult Obesity Facts
Obesity is common, serious and costly
- More than one-third (34.9% or 78.6 million) of U.S. adults are obese. [Read abstract Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)
] - Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death. [Read guidelines]
- The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight. [Read summary]
Obesity affects some groups more than others
[Read abstract Journal of American Medicine (JAMA)]
- Non-Hispanic blacks have the highest age-adjusted rates of obesity (47.8%) followed by Hispanics (42.5%), non-Hispanic whites (32.6%), and non-Hispanic Asians (10.8%)
- Obesity is higher among middle age adults, 40-59 years old (39.5%) than among younger adults, age 20-39 (30.3%) or adults over 60 or above (35.4%) adults.
Childhood Obesity Facts
Childhood obesity prevalence remains high. Overall, obesity among our nation’s young people, aged 2 to 19 years, has not changed significantly since 2003-2004 and remains at about 17 percent. However among 2-5 years old, obesity has declined based on CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data. [Read abstract Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA)]
- Approximately 17% (or 12.7 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years had obesity.
- The prevalence of obesity among children aged 2 to 5 years decreased significantly from 13.9% in 2003-2004 to 8.4% in 2011-2012.
- There are significant racial and age disparities in obesity prevalence among children and adolescents. In 2011-2012, obesity prevalence was higher among Hispanics (22.4%) and non-Hispanic black youth (20.2%) than non-Hispanic white youth (14.1%). The prevalence of obesity was lower in non-Hispanic Asian youth (8.6%) than in youth who were non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black or Hispanic.
- In 2011-2012, 8.4% of 2- to 5-year-olds had obesity compared with 17.7% of 6- to 11-year-olds and 20.5% of 12- to 19-year-olds.
Note: In children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years, obesity was defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the sex-specific CDC BMI-for-age growth charts.
* Help us reach this goal by signing below and posting on your social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Take the Healthy Life Wellness Challenge and click on the Facebook and/or Twitter image below the signature area once you sign and spread the word. The key to fighting Obesity is to look beyond weight loss and into changing your mindset, developing drive for change and achieving your goals by implementing the right program.
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