Is the increase in teenage obesity due to lack of calorie burning?
A new study has concluded that the increase in teenage obesity is due to the number of calories that they burn dropping dramatically in puberty. The 12-year-long study was led by the University of Exeter Medical School and is published in the International Journal of Obesity. Puberty is a time when calorie burning is expected to increase due to growth spurts; however this study found that 15 year olds burn a quarter fewer calories at rest than they do when they are 10. The study also found that the amount of physical activity that teenagers undertake also drops during the onset of puberty.
The team analysed data from 350 school children at 6-monthly intervals. Blood samples were also taken to assess metabolic health as well as measurements of size. The children were placed in rooms that measured the amount of oxygen that was consumed at rest, this was then used to calculate the number of calories that were burnt. At the moment the team can only speculate as to the reasons that there was a drop in calories used, with one explanation being a possible evolutionary change where calories are conserved for growth. The team are hoping to continue their research in order to provide further answers to this surprising conclusion.
Lasting mental effects of discrimination in adolescents
The bullying experienced by overweight adolescents can lead to significant emotional problems in later life. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology it has been found that the demeaning responses from overweight people’s peers cause them to feel distressed. The study itself included data from 5,128 individuals across schools in California aged 11-13, the analysis examined the relationship between BMI and emotional health using questionnaires about weight discrimination experiences.
About 1 in 3 students reported at least one weight-related discriminatory experience, and by age 13 many girls had reported feeling physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue and nausea following episodes of loneliness after such experiences. At the moment, many school based programmes are aimed at reducing the overall prevalence of obesity, however this study highlights that many of these weight management programmes may be increasing the amount of stigma towards overweight individuals. Therefore, more must be done to increase weight acceptance and body-shape diversity, whilst also promoting healthy behaviours, a complicated compromise.
Genes aren’t to blame for inability to lose weight
Although individuals may be able to blame genes for weighing more, they may not be able to blame them for an inability to lose weight. This is the conclusion of a study published in the BMJ. Carriers of the FTO gene are known to be an average of 3kg heavier and 70% more likely to be obese than their counterparts without FTO, however after a review of studies analysing data from 9,563 people, it has been found that this gene did not prevent them losing weight.
The study has therefore found that people with the FTO gene respond just as well to weight loss interventions as everyone else, this was across all age groups, ethnicities and gender. However this study had few numbers of ethnic minorities, therefore the team have explained that further research must be conducted to assess the effect of the FTO gene in these groups.
Healthcare Professionals Flock to Diabetes Professional Care 2016
Diabetes is one of the fastest growing health threats in the UK, with over 4 million people living with the condition. With this figure only set to rise, the show offers healthcare professionals and practitioners the opportunity to update their knowledge of key suppliers, cutting edge technologies and solutions for the future of effective diabetes management, care and prevention.
CPD Accredited Conference Programme
Diabetes Professional Care will host a seven stream programme, covering the full diabetes spectrum from technologies diagnostics and prevention to commissioning, paediatrics and primary & secondary care.
Visitors will, for the first time ever, be able to see Jonathan Valabhji, National Clinical Director for Obesity & Diabetes at NHS England and Dr Partha Kar, Associate National Clinical Director for Diabetes at NHS England take to the stage together, to present one of the show’s hotly anticipated keynote sessions. Valabhji will discuss ‘Diabetes and the NHS in England in November 2016’, while Kar will conclude by looking at ‘The art of the possible’.
In a major show coup, Beverley Bryant, Director of Transformation at NHS Digital, will be discussing how new technologies are going to change the face of diabetes. Driven by the need to innovate, Bryant has been crucial in the movement towards making the NHS paperless, looking at the transformative powers that technology has to offer. For those who rely on technology or feel more faith should be put into it, this session is not to be missed.
Samantha Jones, Director, New Models of Care at NHS England will also be presenting on day one, analysing new models of care in diabetes, whilst Pauline Latham MP, Chair of the Diabetes Think Tank will feature in the afternoon session on day two.
To register for free entry to the conference and exhibition please visit www.diabetesprofessionalcare.com |
Dedicated Streams
Within the Primary and Secondary Care stream Debbie Hicks, Nurse Consultant – Diabetes from Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust & Co-chair – TREND-UK and Chair of FIT UK, will take a look at the learning curves experienced within diabetes care since the seventies. Hicks will also be running an interactive session on lipohypertrophy, which will see patients being treated live in one of the theatres, whilst educating visitors on how to identify this accumulation of fat underneath the surface of the skin, caused by multiple injections.
Dr David Haslam, GP and Chair of the National Obesity Forum, will be considering the scale of Diabetes in the UK and questioning how we should best address prevention.
Those interested in how technology can be used to combat diabetes, should look no further than the talk by the returning Dr Partha Kar. He will discuss ‘Diabetes & Technology: Overhyped or a necessity?’, while Sue Wales will continue with the theme, exploring how using innovations and technology can effectively improve diabetes control.
Exhibitors
As well as an action packed conference programme, Diabetes Professional Care 2016 has a wealth of innovative exhibitors signed up who will be sharing the very latest technologies and solutions, for the continued improvement and development of patient care in the diabetes field. This includes Hicom, Ascensia Diabetes Care, Cellnovo, Neuropad, Advanced Therapeutics, METEDA, Novo Nordisk, Siemens Healthineers, Abbott and Diasend.
To register for free entry to the conference and exhibition please visit www.diabetesprofessionalcare.com
Read MoreOverweight affects different types of stroke in different ways
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide and this study found that overweight women are at an increased risk of ischaemic stroke – associated with blockages of blood in the brain, but at a decreased risk of haemorrhagic stroke – associated with bleeding and the more deadly type of stroke. This study, published in Neurology, included a large sample size of almost 1.3 million women from the UK over an average period of 11.7 years using data obtained from hospital admissions. It was found that for every 5 unit increase in BMI, the risk of ischaemic stroke increased by 21%, whereas the risk of haemorrhagic stroke increased by 12%.
Although overweight women had a lower risk of haemorrhagic stroke this did not relate to an overall reduced risk, a higher BMI was associated with increased risk of total stroke across all categories, with the number of ischaemic strokes higher than the number of haemorrhagic stroke in every category as well. The results from this study were found to be largely similar to previous studies examining the same factors.
Healthy diets boost reading skills
A recent study has found that consuming a healthy diet is linked to better reading skills at school. This is the conclusion of a study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Jyväsklä. The study involved 161 children aged between 6 and 8, and diets were assessed with food diaries compared to the Baltic Sea Diet and Finnish nutrition recommendations. The findings showed that those whose diets were ‘healthier’ did better in standardised tests that measured reading skills. Furthermore, those with a better diet quality improved their reading skills more than their peers on a worse diet.
One of the authors of the study Dr Eero Haapala explained that the associations between diet quality and reading skills were also independent of many compounding factors such as socio-economic status, physical activity and fitness. With an improved availability of healthy foods the authors are hoping that improved diet quality will follow, leading to increased academic performances in school.