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There’s considerable hype in the news about the incidence of childhood obesity and the risks. In accordance with the Office of the Surgeon General, in1999, thirteen percent of children aged six to eleven years and fourteen percent of adolescents aged twelve to nineteen years in the United States were overweight. These numbers are similar in Canada. As usual, scare stories abound with calls for government intervention and/or large-scale social changes. But apart from the over-the-top reactions, there are some basic facts that remain.

With the increase in the availability and lower cost of food in Western countries, all but the poorest individuals are at no risk of starving. At the same time, convenience foods, fast food establishments and snacks everywhere have made it all the more likely that many will consume too many calories.

At the same time, with the popularity of computer and Internet activities, children (and teens) spend a larger percentage of time being sedentary than in decades past. TV watching and talking on the phone, of course, have been popular for decades. But with the addition of the Internet, hours of physical activity per week has declined for many.

The result is that children today are on average heavier than they were a few decades ago. They also tend to consume more foods high in complex sugars and fat, and less fiber, fruits and vegetables. The net effect is, for some, obesity.

Obesity is measured somewhat differently for children than for adults, as a result of their rapidly changing bodies and metabolic rates that differ. Children often experience growth spurts that would skew any measurement that used BMI (Body Mass Index) primarily. Instead of using BMI alone as a starting point, BMI is combined with age and gender to create a more accurate picture.

Where an adult would be considered (borderline) obese with a BMI of 30 or greater, the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) charts would designate a child as obese at the 95th percentile. The two are roughly equivalent, but it’s necessary to look at the charts for a more careful breakdown.

Percentage of body fat is another important measurement and here again the numbers differ by sex. An obese boy would be identified as one whose body fat was 25% or more of total body weight. For girls the number is 32% of body fat as a percentage of total weight.

One major reason for the difference is simply that females naturally have a higher percentage of body fat their entire lives. For adult males the number is roughly 15% for a healthy, fit individual. But for women the number is around 27%.

As with adults, the way to reduce body fat and excess weight involves the twin partners of proper diet and regular exercise. This will usually involve some lifestyle changes. These are often easier to implement for younger children, and have the added advantage of establishing good habits that typically carry on into the teen years and beyond.

Start on the road to good health young and it will be easier to maintain into adulthood.

Learn More…

Overweight Canadian Children and Adolescents

Obesity in Children

Childhood Obesity – Dr. Peter Nieman

Popularity: 24% [?]

During the holiday season – Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and others – people will often experience elevated levels of stress. But it need not be so.

There are, indeed, many pressures unique to the holiday season.

In many places, the weather makes it more difficult to get around and people are sometimes more physically uncomfortable. Those are minor in themselves, but when they persist over time they become elements in encouraging stress.

The desire and expectation of buying presents, sometimes for individuals you may not be very fond of but feel obligated to buy for, can add to the pressure. This is especially true for people on a tight budget, as many are. Crowded stores, clogged streets and a lack of parking spaces contribute as well.

These facts all bear marked similarities to more common factors in producing stress. Work responsibilities, for example, often bring deadlines that are difficult to meet and a lack of resources to meet them. Physical factors, such as health problems, commonly constitute a large percentage of stressors. Money worries are near the top of a lot of lists for those who experience stress.

Since the holiday factors are similar, they are subject to the same kind of ‘treatment’. Stress results from a perceived, unresolvable conflict between “I must” and “I can’t”. So, tackle these two factors head on during the holidays.

Ask yourself if you really ‘must’. Many families, for example, have a kind of raffle system in which one family member buys for another. That way, no one has the burden of buying multiple presents. Fewer obligations to meet means less chance for stress. Less money you have to spend means less to worry about.

Now tackle the “I can’t”.

Some people start gift buying and decorating earlier in the season. Others find it difficult to ‘get into the spirit’ long before the event. For the latter, try shopping online or going to more out of the way places. The trip may take a little longer, or require a little more searching, but the lower incidence of stress more than compensates.

Even if you don’t want to start shopping for the holidays in June, you can still do some planning that will help lower the occasion for stress. If your budget is small, start saving well ahead. Put a cap on what you are willing to spend and don’t let unnecessary guilt make you spend more or feel bad about spending less. Gifts should be voluntary, not obligatory.

Having more to do at a particular time of the year, when it may be more difficult to get it done, can represent a challenge. But a challenge only leads to stress when you place yourself in impossible dilemmas. Toss aside those dilemmas and declare your independence from stress.

Brazoes Minshew has some great tips on holiday stress in “Tips and Advice” in the left column. Learn more tips and advice on holiday stress below.

12 Tips For Coping With Holiday Stress

Holiday Stress-Busters: Advice for Parents

Holiday Stress: Fact or Friction

Popularity: 12% [?]

The symptoms of diabetes or Pre-diabetes can be puzzling. Even the common ones may not be present in all cases. They may come and go. And the same symptoms can be produced by other conditions. Nevertheless, there are a cluster of common circumstances that tend to mark out the disease.

Unusually frequent urination is one of the classic symptoms that suggest the possibility of diabetes or Pre-diabetes. One defining attribute of the disease is excessive glucose levels in the blood. Either the body produces too little insulin to deal with it (Type 1 diabetes), or the insulin isn’t used correctly (Type 2).

The body attempts to compensate by eliminating the excess glucose using the urine. The kidneys work at higher than normal levels to filter out the excess sugar. When they can’t remove enough, the remainder is passed through when other fluids are eliminated as waste products of metabolic processes.

One result, and an accompanying symptom, is excessive thirst. The diabetic feels as if he or she is always thirsty, and no matter how much fluid is taken in it never seems like enough. That in turn prompts still more urination.

Another common and possible symptom is continual fatigue. Since insulin isn’t performing its role properly by aiding the cells to take in glucose from the bloodstream, the diabetic may feel tired. Glucose is the major source of energy for powering an enormous variety of the body’s functions from cell repair to major muscle movement.

But other body systems can be affected by diabetes and show up as symptoms.

Blurry vision can result from any number of conditions, even simple age where it is often just presbyopia. Presbyopia results from reduced elasticity of the lenses as we age, leading to a lessened ability to focus. But the cause in the case of diabetes is very different.

High blood sugar levels reduce fluid in the tissues, including those of the eye and in particular the lenses. That affects your ability to focus. When the disease becomes more advanced it can cause new blood vessels to form in the retina. That again affects your vision. Though in this circumstance, the result is more often seeing dark spots or flashing lights, or rings around room lights.

In some instances, cuts (particularly on the feet) may be slower to heal when a person has Type 2 diabetes. The reasons are not yet fully understood, but it is one more indicator. At the same time, the immune system is affected, leading to a lowered ability to fight off infection.

Since so many of these symptoms can be (and are) produced by a number of other conditions, the best course of action if you suspect you have Pre-diabetes or diabetes is to seek a professional diagnosis. Simple blood tests can determine with a high degree of confidence whether or not you do in fact have the disease. They’re relatively painless and most are covered by ordinary health insurance.

Here are simple tools to help you determine if you have Pre-diabetes or diabetes.

Symptoms of Diabetes Screening Quiz

Diabetes Risk Calculator

The Facts on Diabetes

Popularity: unranked [?]