LifeCare Chiropractic

The Best Chiropractic Care in Mesa, Arizona

Childhood Obesity

EARLY COMPLICATIONS OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY – (02-11-07)

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Elevated C-reactive protein in Native Canadian children: an ominous early complication of childhood obesity

I hate to be the guy on the soapbox chanting “The end is near” to everyone who walks by, but there will soon be a serious price to pay for the poor lifestyles our children are living.  I personally feel that, with every generation, we see the chronic disease onset earlier and earlier.

This particular studies finds that, in Native American children, a large percentage of children studied had risk factors for diabetes and CVD that would be a bad sign in adults.  In children it is a death sentence for early mortality.  These kids will not live to see 60.  Period.  Until we wake up and take an aggressive stance, we won’t see this trend reverse anytime soon.

Read entire article here

COULD ANTIBIOTICS IN CHILDHOOD CONTRIBUTE TO OBESITY?

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Metabolic activity of the enteric microbiota influences the fatty acid composition of murine and porcine liver and adipose tissues

Have I mentioned, by any chance, that the gut flora may have some type of microscopic role in human health.  And that by destroying this flora with antibiotics or not even getting it in the first place (C-section, mom having been on antibiotics) might be a bad thing?

My mind is not what it used to be, but I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it once or twice.  Maybe even three times.  With a little ginko, I might even remember 50 or so times….  So, looking at this article, could antibiotics in childhood contribute to obesity?

Read entire article here

THINK THE SCHOOLS SHOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR KIDS’ HEALTH?

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Society likes to defer responsibility to other people. McDonald’s was responsible for hot coffee and for someone’s obesity. There often seems to be cries to improve school food.

I am, of course, a strong advocate of improving school lunches, but for me the lessons for healthy eating begin at home and begin early. Think about this—by the time a child begins kindergarten their eating habits are well established. And by whom?

You guessed it. The responsibility for a child’s eating habits lies 100% squarely on the shoulders of the parents. In my opinion, the school should make attempts to reinforce the good habits set up by the parents. I have come to understand that school nutrition departments (Chandler Unified School District in particular) try to implement better options, but acceptance by students can be low. Again—this is because these kids have likely not been exposed to things like whole grains and healthier foods at home.

Why the diatribe?  This particular study looks at what happens when elementary schools reduced acces to sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) from the school. The results are disappointing. Overall, it is clear that, as a result of the removal, the purchase of SSB in the schools dropped significantly.

 Here’s the kicker.

SSB consumption overall did not change.  Why?  Blame it on the parents.  It is obvious that parents have SSB at home. Given the contribution of SSB to childhood obesity this is obviously a problem we need to wake up from.

COULD ANTIBIOTICS LEAD TO OBESITY?

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There should be no shock to find out just how vitally important having the correct balance of bacteria in our gut is.  The list of conditions that probioitics have shown an effect on is quite a long one.  But this study really looks from a different angle.

The link between bacteria in our gut and obesity is not a newly studied one.  The links between dysbiosis (unhealthy composition of bacteria in our gut) and obesity seems to strengthen with each study.  This particular study goes even further.

Keep in mind that this is a rat study.  The researchers performed a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass on one group and looked at what happened to the rats.  The list is quite long.

First, there was a definate, strong change in the bacteria of the gut.  What this means, we don’t know just yet, but it strongly suggests that there are ties between obesity, bariatric sugery and the bacteria in our gut.  Maybe the changes associated with the surgery, which lead to weight loss, led to the bacterial change.  But does the bacterial change lead to the weight loss?  We don’t have the answer yet, but since it is well established that the metabolic changes that occur after bariatric surgery occur long before weight loss, this may be a logical progression.

It also raises the important question about whether our heavy reliance on both C-sections and antibiotics may not be contributing to the obesity epidemic.  Certainly there are other factors, but we can’t ignore the importance of a healthy gut flora.

Read more…

BRESTFEEDING STILL NOT SUPPORTED IN HOSPITALS

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I think we’ve long gone past the acceptance that nothing is better for the baby than breastmilk.  For many years, those groups such as the La Leche League were ostracized and viewed as crazy people.  Fast forward decades of research and we now know that there are tangible benefits of breastfeeding that far outweigh formula.

Heck, it has only been recently that we found out that probiotic strains like Lactobacillus actually show up in breastmilk!  And further recent evidence finds that supportive factors like galacotoligosaccarhides (GOS) are present to support the further growth of healthy bacterial flora in the newborn’s gut.

As research progresses I’m sure we’ll find many more compounds unique to breastmilk that are not in formula.  It has never and will never compare.  So why do we have this fascination with formula?

It seems like the recommendations at the hospital as well as the pediatrician’s office favor formula.  You can’t leave a newborn alone in the hospital or he or she may be fed formula.  A new mom goes home with a wonderful bag loaded with formula samples and coupons.

This particular study demonstrates just how pathetic hospitals are at promoting breastfeeding, despite what they may say to expectant parents.  In 2009, a paltry  3.5% of US hospitals met at least 9 out of 10 criteria for the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative put together by the WHO.  3.5%.

How comfortable does that make YOU feel about giving birth in a hospital?

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TOO MUCH FAT IN PREGNANCY MAY DAMAGE THE BABY PERMANENTLY

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I know that you have been properly indoctrinated into the understanding that what we do before, during and after pregnancy will preprogram the baby for health or disease for decades to come.  The second a couple decides to become pregnant it is no longer about them–every decision they make influences the developing baby.

This particular study, while a mouse study, reinforces this finding in yet another dimension.  The feeding of a high fat diet to pregnant mice let to a permanently reduced the ability of the baby to produce antioxidants, specifically in the liver.  That means that this little baby, due to no fault of it’s own, will suffer increased liver damage as a result of mom’s behavior during pregnancy.

Add to this being overweight prior to pregnancy and reduced intake of antioxidants during pregnancy and other problems are known to occur.

Probably the scariest in society today is the sheer volume of environmental contaminants that the developing baby is exposed to.  According the the 10 Americans Study performed by http://www.ewg.org/ the average exposure of infants in the womb (from a mere 400 out of some 82,000 chemicals approved by the EPA) was to 287 different chemicals.  Run a search on YouTube for the 10 Americans Study and watch the presentation–a strong eye opener.  The exposure is massive.

Some we can be aware of and control.  BPA.  Teflon.  Flame retardants, phthalates, pesticides, insecticides, weed killers, cigarette smoke.  These are just some of the known exposures.  It’s the unknown ones affecting the developing baby that is scary.  The best we can do is limit the known exposure and counteract the exposures with the highest intake of phytonutrients possible through a plant based diet free of artificial colors, flavors and preservatives.

Your baby will thank you.  When he or she is 50.

http://jn.nutrition.org/content/141/7/1254.abstract

WHY YOU SHOULD AVOID CHEERIOS, OATMEAL FOR BREAKFAST…

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I hope we can skip the discussion about needing breakfast here.  It does still amaze me how many people skip breakfast.  Not enough time.  Not hungry.  Trying to cut calories.  However, with new patients coming into my office, I can say that few actually were eating an appropriate breakfast if they were even eating it.  Most are under the mistaken impression that something like Cheerios, Special K or oatmeal constitutes a good breakfast.

First, before we cover what a good breakfast consists of, let’s again stress just how darn important it is.  This particular study takes an interesting look at what happens to our physiology when we skip breakfast.  Researchers had participants divided into a breakfast (B) and no-breakfast (NB) group, then, 2.5 hours later, gave them a liquid drink.  Those in the NB group had all around worse response in their blood to the drink than those who did eat breakfast (higher sugar, higher insulin, higher fats, lower GLP, more calories at lunch).

Basically, skipping breakfast sent the participants physiology into a tailspin towards diabetes.  Pretty darn impressive for a single meal, huh?  Imagine when it is a pattern of lifestyle.

Now, on to the “what” portion of breakfast.  It should come as no surprise that dairy, refined carbs and artificial colors/flavors are off the list.  So this rules out the Special K cereals and pretty much 98% of what the big confectionery companies (Kellogg’s, Quaker, Nabisco, Kraft) produce.

I always steer patients towards a very high fiber (8+ grams) or protein based breakfast.  That means real peanut butter on true whole grain bread.  Omega 3 eggs cooked in olive oil.  A handful of nuts.  There are some very high quality cereals made by Kashi, Amy’s, Nature’s Path, etc, that meet the high fiber qualification.  Just add one of the many nut milks available (soy, hazelnut, almond, rice, hemp, etc…) instead of dairy.

You should note that this rules out all but the highest quality oatmeals.  Your typical “instant” oatmeals are not going to provide this high of a level of fiber and likely contain lots of added sugars.  You could, however, do a plain oatmeal and add in your own cinnamon, nuts and / or granola to improve the value.

Either way, careful attention to breakfast is absolutely critical towards a lifetime of diabetes avoidance and maintaining ideal body composition.

DOES MY CHILD NEED VITAMIN D?

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I questioned whether I should add yet another boring post on the benefits of vitamin D on “x” disease.  I know–we all get it by now and we are all supplementing with reasonable levels of vitamin D.  If you are not, then there is something seriously wrong with your reading abilities, or you feel that slathering on baby oil mixed with iodine while sunbathing next to the pool here in AZ in July is getting you the levels you need.

But what about our children?  We all grew up without vitamin D supplementation and we turned out just fine, right?  Sure–if you consider massive increases in obesity, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and cancer “fine.”

The is unquestionably some as-yet-to-be-determined factor or factors playing a role in the low levels of vitamin D in our population’s collective bloodstreams.  Obesity, UVA penetration through glass and breaking down the formation of vitamin D (think driving in the summer with your AC on and windows up), air pollution and sunscreen may all be factors.

This particular study finds that low levels of vitamin D correlate with many cardiovascular disease risk factors (waist circumference, HDL levels, insulin levels and blood pressure).  Those with the lowest levels were 71% more likely to have these risks factors.  That’s very substantial AND very scary given that this study was done in 12-19 year olds.

Personally, I make sure that my son gets, on top of rational sun exposure, around 800-1000 IU of vitamin D per day.  This is considered a very safe level of supplementation.  It also makes it easier–whenever I take mine, he knows that it’s time for him to take his. 

http://www.ajcn.org/content/94/1/225.abstract