High-fat diets increase tiredness
Researchers at the University of Adelaide have found that men who consume a diet high in fat are more likely to feel tired throughout the day. The Men Androgen Inflammation Lifestyle Environment and Stress (MAILES) study analysed data from 1800 Australian men over a 12-month period. The study controlled for other demographic and lifestyle factors and found an overall trend that those consuming higher fat diets would feel more tired throughout the day, affecting their work due to the implications for alertness and concentration.
Sleep quality at night was also affected, as those who consumed more fat tended to report a poorer overall quality. Unfortunately, the researchers noticed that the effect is cyclical, as poor sleep and feeling tired throughout the day is associated with cravings for food high in fat. Obviously, the best way to counter this is to not give in to temptation and eat a healthier diet. However, this is much easier said than done. The researchers are hoping to continue their work and to inform future intervention studies so that people can lose weight whilst also improve their sleep quality.
Read MoreInternational Nurses Day
May 12th is International Nurses Day. The College of Contemporary Health would like to take this opportunity to thank nurses for all the hard work, commitment and effort they put in every day.
Nurses enable healthy lives and enhance patient well-being on a daily basis. The management of weight and weight related conditions form an integral part of the nursing profession.
As a small token of our appreciation we would like to offer a 10% saving on the innovative online Professional Short Course: Living and Working with Obesity, specifically tailored to the nursing profession. By understanding the obesity crisis, nurses benefit by gaining the confidence and the competence needed to help inspire patients, family, friends and colleagues toward successful weight loss.
This course can be used towards revalidation not only by earning CPD hours but by being an excellent opportunity for a reflective account and a potential source of colleague and patient feedback.
“I have completed the professional short course Living and Working with Obesity, and although I’m not obese, I chose to study the course because I have family members who are obese and I would like to guide and motivate them to adopt a healthy eating lifestyle. I found the course very informative which has motivated me to apply for the Postgraduate Certificate and further improve my knowledge in obesity care.”
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Weight gain in pregnancy imprints on child
A new study published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal has shown that mothers who gain excess weight or have elevated blood sugar levels during pregnancy are more likely to have overweight and obese children. The study examined 24,141 mothers and children over a ten-year period. Even though previous studies have found that women who gain excess weight during pregnancy are more likely to have bigger babies, this study revealed that even normal weight babies could grow up to become overweight or obese children.
The authors of this study hypothesised that an ‘imprinting’ mechanism in these children makes them more susceptible to becoming obese over their early years. The children whose mothers suffered from gestational diabetes were at greatest risk of becoming obese, being 30% more likely to be overweight between ages 2 and 10, than those whose mothers had a normal blood sugar level. The researchers suggest that this study proves that the effect of a mother’s womb during pregnancy is as important as the risk factors that the child is exposed to postpartum.
Read MoreDrinking artificially sweetened beverages during pregnancy linked to increased infant BMI
A recent study published in JAMA Paediatrics revealed that consumption of artificially sweetened beverages by pregnant women was associated with a higher infant BMI. It is known that excess sugar consumption can lead to obesity, both in mothers and children. However, little research has been conducted into the effects of sugar replacement exposure during pregnancy. In this study, 3,033 mother-child pairs were examined, with particular interest in their dietary choices during pregnancy and the subsequent effects on infant BMI.
About 30% of women reported drinking beverages with artificial sweeteners during their pregnancy. It was found that these women were more likely to have obese children, with a 2 to 4 fold increase in the risk of overweight by age 1. The authors admit that there was a margin for error as the study relied on food questionnaires, however an effect on the infants’ BMI was clearly present. Given that there is both widespread childhood obesity as well as artificial sweetener use, the authors hope to further their research and understand the biological mechanisms for such an effect.
Read MoreThe complex interaction between families and childhood obesity
The causes of obesity are known to be very complex, however a recent review has highlighted how family interventions may be able to significantly reduce a child’s genetic risk. The authors suggest that families should be fully involved in planning healthy living campaigns and in the? efforts to regulate food marketing strategies. Barbara Fiese, one of the review’s authors, explained that the family system should not be used as a source for blame, but rather as part of a larger ecology that could support or derail children’s health. The review points out that the likelihood of developing weight problems can be greatly reduced by family meals which promote and model healthy eating behaviours.
Furthemore, the use of electronic media devices whilst eating also increased children’s risk for obesity. This may lead to increased exposure to advertising of unhealthy foods, as well as impede positive communication within the family. Positive communication has been shown to promote healthy habits due to attention to what, and how much, the children are consuming. The researchers support the collaboration of experts with families, but admit that parents also require the social tools to put concepts into action. This has proved to be difficult, however the authors have begun to address this by developing educational videos that focus on healthy habits in the family environment.
Read MoreDoes nanoparticle drug delivery offer hope to obese patients?
Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed nanoparticles to deliver anti-obesity drugs. In a study using a mouse model, researchers were able to effectively deliver drugs which converted white adipose tissue into brown adipose tissue – thereby helping to burn off the fat. The drugs also increased vasculature to these areas, allowing for more drugs to be subsequently delivered to the correct areas, helping to avoid unwanted side effects in other parts of the body.
The researchers are particularly encouraged to know that they can deliver the drug to particular areas and have an overall positive effect. After treating the mice intravenously, it was noted that those on a high-fat diet lost approximately 10% of their body weight, with cholesterol and triglyceride levels also dropping. Furthermore, the treatment did not cause any side effects to the mice. Further research involves looking into an easier delivery approach of the nanoparticles, such as delivering them by mouth – something that has proven difficult in the past. Overall, the authors are reassured by their results and are looking forward to taking the research further.
Read MoreParent’s perception of child weight has larger impact than once thought
A collaboration between the University of Liverpool and Florida State University College of Medicine has recently taken place to determine the effect of parents perception of their children’s weight on subsequent weight gain. They found that parents whose children are overweight often fail to identify their offspring’s weight accurately . Little research has taken place before to examine whether parental perceptions of child weight status are protective against further weight gain.
By analysing the data of 3,557 Australian children and their parents, the researchers found that children whose parents perceived them as being overweight as opposed to being ‘about the right weight’, gained more weight following analysis. This showed that an identification of overweight by parents does not actually carry any protection for the child but instead it puts them at more risk of weight gain in the future. Further research is required to understand how parental perceptions of child weight may counter-intuitively contribute to obesity.
Read MoreHigh-fructose diet during pregnancy can have lasting effect on children
Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch have shown that an increased consumption of fructose in a mouse model during pregnancy increases the risk of offspring developing obesity and heart disease. High-fructose corn syrup is used to sweeten food and beverages, and some reports suggest that refined sugars account for more than half of all sweeteners used in the US food supply chain. The authors compared the phenotype of the offspring of mice who were on a high-fructose diet during pregnancy to those on a normal diet.
The high fructose diet was designed to mimic a diet that contained high amounts of sugary soft drinks. The research team were especially interested in the amount of abdominal fat tissue and fat around the liver, which they measured using computed tomography. They found that both female and male offspring of the high fructose diet mice were fatter, had higher glucose levels and higher blood pressure compared to the control offspring. The authors are hoping to expand their research which could have large implications as a very high proportion of the world’s processed food uses fructose and fructose based syrups as sweeteners.
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