Teen Births May Increase Risk of Obesity Later in Life

FRIDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) -- Older women who had their first baby when they were teenagers are more likely to be obese than those who were not teen moms, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that 44 percent of women who had their first child when they were teens were obese, compared with 35 percent of those who had their first child at age 20 or later.

After adjusting for a number of factors, such as education level and race/ethnicity, the researchers determined that women who had their first child in their teens were 32 percent more likely to be obese in later adulthood than those who had their first child at age 20 or later.

The study findings were released online in advance of publication in the July print issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

"When clinicians care for teen mothers, we have so many immediate considerations -- child care, housing, school, social and financial support -- that we may fail to consider the long-term health effects of teen pregnancy," lead author Dr. Tammy Chang, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar at the University of Michigan, said in a foundation news release. "What we have found in our study is that teen childbirth carries a long-term risk of obesity."

The teen birth rate in the United States is one of the highest among industrialized countries. Teenagers account for one in every 11 deliveries in the nation, according to 2010 U.S. Census data.

"These findings indicate that we need to start considering the long-term health risks of teen childbirth, as well as short-term risks, in health and policy discussions about teen pregnancy," Chang said. "And now we know that long-term risks include obesity later in adulthood."

Although the study found an association between childbirth in the teen years and greater risk of obesity later in life, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship.

-- Robert Preidt
Copyright © 2013 HealthDay. All rights reserved. SOURCE: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, news release, April 15, 2013

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Cities can learn lessons about diabetes from rural areas

Posted June 19, 2013, 11:00 am

City dwellers often think of rural America as a throwback to past “good old days.” But when it comes to obesity and diabetes, people living outside urban areas offer a frightening glimpse of the future.

Last week I had the opportunity to moderate a panel discussion on rural health, sponsored by the Association for Health Care Journalists (AHJC) in Birmingham, Alabama. The discussion highlighted troubling statistics on diabetes, raised some knotty issues, and explored creative solutions.

More than 8% of Americans now have diabetes, a percentage that’s expected to grow along with our waistlines. Diabetes is already the nation’s leading cause of kidney failure, non-traumatic limb amputation, and new cases of blindness. It’s the seventh leading cause of death, and would rank higher if deaths from heart disease accelerated by underlying diabetes were included. What would a much higher diabetes rate look like?

The answer lies just outside nearly every metropolitan area in the diabetes belt that extends across the Southeastern United States. Surrounding Birmingham, Alabama, for example, are several rural counties where about 20% of people have diabetes.

“Diabetes is definitely not distributed evenly across the country,” said Dr. Andrea L. Cherrington, associate professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), pointing to a CDC county-level map of diabetes prevalence. It’s not just rural versus urban, Dr. Cherrington added. Urban areas in the diabetes belt have higher rates of diabetes than urban areas outside of the diabetes belt.

Dr. Cherrington next pointed to a map showing the U.S. counties with the highest levels of obesity. The map looks nearly identical to the diabetes map. The answer to obesity is better nutrition and more exercise. What makes it more difficult to manage weight in rural communities?

The answer to that question will look familiar to anyone who’s been to the less-advantaged parts of any U.S. town or city: barriers to health. These include:

Limited access to health care, especially to specialists such as endocrinologistsMinimal exposure to diabetes educationLimited access to safe sidewalks, exercise facilities, and grocery stores with affordable produce.High rates of poverty.

Such barriers get in the way of exercising, eating a healthy diet, and other healthy lifestyle choices. They also lead to obesity and its many consequences.

“It’s not easy living with diabetes,” Dr. Cherrington said, noting that disease management requires mastering a complex schedule of medications, exercise, self-care, and doctor appointments. “If you overlay this regimen on these barriers to health, it becomes really challenging. If you don’t have resources, it is easy to see how disparity can exist.”

Battling the obesity epidemic has been the life work of panelist Bonnie A. Spear, professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and a nationally recognized expert in child and adolescent obesity.

Spear noted that overweight and obese children and teens tend to become obese adults. Obese children who become obese adults are at extremely high risk of developing diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Too often, Spears argued, we fuss over details such as whether schools should offer chocolate milk rather than whether schools should be allowed to make money from on-campus vending machines, which often sell sugary soft drinks and snacks. Too often, she said, we worry about the cost of providing breakfast and lunch to too many kids when missed breakfast and poor nutrition are linked to lower test scores and difficulty concentrating. And when we worry that U.S. kids are falling behind in academics, physical education classes are the first thing to go—even though fit kids do better at academic subjects than unfit kids. Creating healthy school environments is crucial for preventing obesity and diabetes in the next generation of adults.

When it comes to adults who have diabetes today, one key problem is the lack of primary care physicians. While cities have too few of them, noted Dr. William Curry, associate dean for primary care and rural medicine at the University of Alabama, Birmingham,  the problem often is worse in rural areas, particularly for those who lack transportation.

Part of the answer may be community health workers, Dr. Cherrington suggested. Her work shows that community health workers—lay people trained to provide diabetes education and outreach—can have a major impact on the wellbeing of people with diabetes living in rural areas.

That work has turned her attention to cities, as she now leads Birmingham’s Cities for Life program. Led by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the program borrows from the rural community health worker concept by having doctors refer people with diabetes to “patient navigators” who help them find local resources such as nearby exercise classes or mobile farmers’ markets.

In addition to the clinical component of the program, its community component makes use of a community action team made up of more than 80 organizations drawn from local primary care, health, civic, business, and charitable organizations. A major part of this effort is the mydiabetesconnect.com website, which shows people where to find resources in their own neighborhoods.

Will it work? The program is just a year old, but Dr. Cherrington believes Birmingham eventually will become a model for diabetes control—in both urban and rural areas.

County-by-county maps of diabetes and obesity in the United States prepared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The darker the color, the higher the rate of obesity or diabetes.

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Taylor Swift leads Billboard Music Awards nominations

Taylor Swift, Maroon 5 and fun. lead the nominees at the Billboard Music Awards 2013.

The three acts received 11 nominations each for the annual awards ceremony, which is scheduled to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on 19 May 2013.

Swift and Maroon 5 will go head-to-head in the Top Artist category. They will compete against Rihanna, who has nine nominations, Justin Bieber and One Direction for the prize.

Meanwhile, fun. are up for Top Hot 100 Song for We Are Young. They are also in the running for awards in the Top Duo/Group an Top Digital Songs Artist categories.

Carly Rae Jepsen received nine nominations, while One Direction secured eight for their albums Up All Night and Take Me Home.

Prince will also be honoured at the ceremony, and will receive the Billboard Icon Award.

The ceremony will include performances from Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. It will be presented by Tracy Morgan.

SEE THE 2013 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATIONS BELOW:

Top Artist
Justin Bieber
Maroon 5
One Direction
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Top New Artist 
Gotye
Carly Rae Jepsen
The Lumineers
One Direction
PSY

Top Male Artist
Jason Aldean
Justin Bieber
Drake
Flo Rida
Bruno Mars

Top Female Artist
Adele
Carly Rae Jepsen
Nicki Minaj
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Top Duo/Group 
Coldplay
Fun.
Maroon 5
Mumford & Sons
One Direction

Top Hot 100 Artist 
Flo Rida
Fun.
Maroon 5
Rihanna
Taylor Swift

Top Billboard 200 Artist 
Adele
Justin Bieber
Mumford & Sons
One Direction
Taylor Swift

Top Pop Artist 
Adele
Justin Bieber
Maroon 5
Bruno Mars
One Direction

Top R&B Artist 
Chris Brown
Alicia Keys
Ne-Yo
Rihanna
Usher

Top Rap Artist
Drake
Flo Rida
Nicki Minaj
Pitbull
PSY

Top Country Artist 
Jason Aldean
Luke Bryan
Hunter Hayes
Taylor Swift
Carrie Underwood

Top Rock Artist 
Coldplay
Fun.
Gotye
Mumford & Sons
Bruce Springsteen

Top Pop Album 
21, Adele
Overexposed, Maroon 5
Take Me Home, One Direction
Up All Night, One Direction
Believe, Justin Bieber

Top R&B Album
Fortune, Chris Brown
Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys
Channel Orange, Frank Ocean
Unapologetic, Rihanna
Looking 4 Myself, Usher

Top Rap Album
Based on a T.R.U. Story, 2 Chainz
Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, Kendrick Lamar
The Heist, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, Nicki Minaj
God Forgives, I Don't, Rick Ross

Top Country Album 
Night Train, Jason Aldean
Tailgates & Tanlines, Luke Bryan
Tuskegee,  Lionel Richie
Red, Taylor Swift
Blown Away, Carrie Underwood

Top Rock Album
Some Nights, fun.
The Lumineers, The Lumineers
Babel, Mumford & Sons
My Head is an Animal, Of Monsters and Men
The World From The Side of the Moon, Phillip Phillips

Top Pop Song
Lights, Ellie Goulding
Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepsen
One More Night, Maroon 5
Payphone, Maroon 5
Locked Out of Heaven, Bruno Mars

Top R&B Song 
Girl On Fire, Alicia Keys feat. Nicki Minaj
Adorn, Miguel
Thinkin Bout You, Frank Ocean
Diamonds, Rihanna
Heart Attack, Trey Songz

Top Rap Song 
Wild Ones, Flo Rida feat. Sia
Whistle, Flo Rida
Mercy, Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T, 2 Chainz
Thrift Shop, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Wanz
Gangnam Style, PSY

Top Country Song 
Drunk On You, Luke Bryan
Springsteen, Eric Church
Cruise, Florida Georgia Line
Wanted, Hunter Hayes
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Taylor Swift

Top Dance Song 
Titanium, David Guetta feat. Sia
Harlem Shake, Baauer
Starships, Nicki Minaj
Gangnam Style, PSY
Where Have You Been, Rihanna

ROCK OF AGED WELL - THE ROCK STARS WHO JUST KEEP GET HOTTER 

SHE'S SO COOL! OUR ODE TO THE ULTIMATE FRONTWOMAN, KAREN O

THE COOLEST CELEBRITY PICS SNAPS AT COACHELLA FESTIVAL

OZZY OSBOURNE & MISS PIGGY? THE STRANGEST MUSICAL COLLABORATIONS. EVER.

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help with weight loss. I'm new at this.

I'm 16 years old. I weigh 155 pounds and am 5'7. I honestly do not know where to begin on my calorie intake. My goal is to lose 20 pounds or at least more muscle. Please help?

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'Clean Your Plate' Orders From Parents May Backfire for Kids

'Controlling' food behavior messages are counterproductive, study finds

By Serena Gordon

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- Although you might think being a member of the "clean plate club" is something that stops when a child is young, new research suggests that up to two-thirds of parents still encourage teenagers to finish all the food on their plates, even if the teen is overweight.

The study found that the use of controlling food behaviors was common in parents of adolescents, with some parents pressuring their kids to eat more and others pressuring their kids to eat less.

Not surprisingly, restrictive behaviors were more common in parents of children who were overweight or obese, while pressure-to-eat behaviors were more common in children who weren't overweight.

"Parents do use high levels of control, such as restriction and pressure to eat," said study author Katie Loth, a registered dietician, doctoral candidate and research assistant at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

"I was surprised at some of the parent behaviors, like feeling that their children should clean their plates and not waste food," Loth said. "In the 1950s, cleaning your plate meant something different. Portion sizes have gotten bigger over time, and if you encourage kids to rely on environmental indicators, like how much food is on their plates or the time of day, they'll lose the ability to rely on internal cues to know whether they're hungry or full."

Results of the study were released online April 22 and will be published in the May print issue of the journal Pediatrics.

As obesity rates among America's adolescents have been rising, researchers have been looking for factors that might be modifiable to help keep teens at a healthy weight. Parental food-related behaviors, whether it's restricting food or encouraging children to eat more, have long been considered a factor in children's weights.

Loth and her colleagues wanted to look at a diverse group of parents and teens to see if parental food behaviors were, in fact, linked to weight status in teens.

Data for the study came from two population-based studies that included parents and teens. One study was conducted in 2010, and the other was done in 2009 to 2010. A total of more than 2,200 teens with an average age of 14.4 were included in the studies, as well as nearly 3,500 parents.

Examples of restrictive behaviors were positive responses to statements such as, "I have to be sure that my child does not eat too many sweets," or "If I did not guide or regulate my child's eating, he or she would eat too much of his or her favorite food."

Examples of pressure-to-eat behaviors were positive responses to statements such as, "My child should always eat all of the food on his or her plate," or, "If my child says, 'I am not hungry,' I try to get him or her to eat anyway."

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Kourtney Kardashian at E! Upfront

Kourtney has long been (whisper it) our favourite Kardashian style-wise; just take a look at this outfit - the simple but chic croc print shift, statement necklace and nude courts spell out a fashion DO in our eyes. 

Kim & Kanye's Style Evolution

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Kids With Autism May Find Human Voice Unpleasant

MRI shows weaker connection to brain's reward center in those who have high-functioning autism

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, June 17 (HealthDay News) -- A new brain-imaging study could help explain why children with autism have difficulty with verbal communication: They may not get much pleasure from the human voice.

Researchers found that those with the disorder showed weaker connections between the brain's voice-processing areas and its "reward" centers compared to those without.

That suggests that kids with autism do not get the same pleasure from the human voice that typically developing children do, researchers said.

"When we speak, we don't only convey information, we convey emotion and social cues," said Daniel Abrams, a researcher at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., who led the new study.

It's well known that children with autism have difficulty reading those cues and having conversations. And children with more severe autism may be completely indifferent to the sound of the human voice.

There are competing theories on why that is, Abrams said. "One theory is that, although these children have normal hearing, there's a problem in the brain's sound processing," he explained.

Another theory is that "social cues," including other people's speech, don't hit the brain's reward system in the typical way. "Our findings support this idea," Abrams said. "There may be some deficit in the brain circuitry related to reward."

The findings, published online Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, are based on a type of brain imaging called functional MRI, which allows researchers to measure brain activity by watching changes in blood flow.

The investigators took scans of 20 children who were on average 10 years old and had "high-functioning" autism: all had normal IQs and speaking and reading skills, but had trouble conversing and grasping "emotional cues" in other people's voices. The researchers also scanned 19 kids without autism who were in the same age and IQ range.

The researchers found that the children with autism showed a weaker connection between an area of the brain that responds to the human voice and two other brain regions that release the "feel-good" chemical dopamine in response to rewards.

On top of that, there was a weaker link between the brain's voice processors and the amygdala -- a brain region involved in emotion, including the ability to perceive emotional cues from others.

An expert not involved in the work said the findings give more insight into the underpinnings of autism, which affects an estimated one in 50 U.S. kids aged 6 to 17, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"This is an elegant approach to using neuroimaging to better understand [autism]," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York, in New Hyde Park.

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