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New Technology Maps the Surprising Subtleties of Childhood and Teen Obesity

The obesity epidemic has already reached the youngest demographic: About 17 percent of U.S. children and teens are obese, and about one in three are overweight. These numbers, reflected in many other countries, have risen steadily in recent decades. And researchers are racing to find the most powerful drivers behind these scary figures, as children who carry the extra pounds into adulthood increase their risks for diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

The most basic cause—no surprise, has to do with too much unhealthful food and not enough physical activity. Looking more closely at the roots of childhood obesity across different populations yields a complex and nuanced puzzle. Lifestyle and environmental factors that lead to obesity differ for a high schooler in the Bronx versus one in rural Alabama.

Many researchers have turned to geographic information systems (GIS) as powerful analysis tools to map this massive health problem and its possible causes. A special report, published online April 10 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, presents six new studies in this growing subfield, some with surprising results that could have implications for health, education and urban planning policy. Read More

Teens React As Technology Effects Family Dynamics

Category : Kids Fitness

With more people bringing work home after hours, communication between parents and teens is dwindling.

Technology is a new kind of stress in many homes, and has resulted in a change in family dynamics, especially where teenagers and their parents are concerned, according to Charles Manos, MS, Ed.S., LMFT, marriage and family therapist, formerly of Bethel School District, now working in the public school system in Brookfield.

“This is a new world,” Manos said. “People used to go to work, but their lives revolved around their families. Today, life revolves around work. There has never before been a time when there was no an end to the workday, and with technology, that is exactly what has happened.”

Manos feels that today’s parents feel as if they are under siege, and technology is not the only change families are faced with. “People are bombarded by the media, they are over-extended at work, and there are a lot of demands on them.”

When teens get rebellious, or act out in disturbing ways, overwhelmed parents often turn to experts to solve their family problems. Moros said that many parents raising a teen now give up their authority to therapists and self-help books.

“You look at the amount of self help books out there, and there is a lot of conflicting information. In medicine, if you have an illness, there is a treatment that almost any doctor would give you. In mental health that is not the case. Some parents call me after they read things and ask about the advice, but not all of what you read is based in science. Read More

Obese Kids: Genes and Junk Food Share Blame

Category : Childhood Obesity

Common childhood obesity — the kind we usually blame on overindulgence and inactivity — also has a genetic component, an international collaboration of researchers has concluded.

Using genome-wide association techniques, the researchers showed that several genetic variants associated with adult obesity are also active in childhood obesity, according to Struan Grant of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues.

As well, the analysis found two new genetic variants that had not been previously associated with obesity, Struan and colleagues reported online in Nature Genetics.

The findings show that “there is indeed a genetic signature of childhood obesity,” Grant told MedPage Today. “It’s not purely lifestyle.”

But he noted that human genetics have not changed in the past few decades, during which childhood obesity has increased markedly, implying that the well-known environmental suspects of fast food and sedentary lifestyle also play a role. Read More

Childhood obesity genes identified, scientists say

Category : Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity for some kids may be triggered by two genetic variations, according to a new study.

Although poor food choices and lack of exercise are often blamed for the country’s burgeoning childhood obesity epidemic, the researchers behind the new study say a genetic component may also share some responsibility.

“This is the largest-ever genome-wide study of common childhood obesity,” study author Dr. Struan F.A. Grant, associate director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, said in a written statement. “As a consequence, we have definitively identified and characterized a genetic predisposition to common childhood obesity.” Read More

2 Childhood Obesity Genes Discovered

Category : Childhood Obesity

Researchers have linked two new genes with an increased risk of obesity in children, a new study says.

The genes show a strong association with childhood obesity, the researchers say.

Previous studies have identified genes associated with obesity in adults, and in children with extreme obesity due to an underlying condition, but the new study is the first to link genes with childhood obesity in the general population.

“We see a clear genetic signature to childhood obesity, showing there is more than just an environmental component to this disease,” said study researcher Struan Grant, associate director of the Center for Applied Genomics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

It’s still not clear how the genes act to increase obesity risk, Grant said, but they operate in the gut.

The study, conducted by an international group of researchers, was published online Sunday (April 8 ) in the journal Nature Genetics. Read More