To better understand the connection between bone fracture risk and obesity, researchers tracked 20,000 Canadian men and women between the ages of 40 and 70. During a mean follow-up of 5.8 years, 497 women and 323 men suffered a fracture. There were 416 major osteoporotic fractures, with 260 in women and 155 in men, 353 leg fractures, with 219 in women and 134 in men, and 203 arm fractures, with 141 in women and 62 in men (some fractures were double classified).

Next, researchers looked at waist circumference and cross-referenced it with fracture data. What they found was that for every two-inch increase in waist circumference in women, the risk fracture at any site was 3 percent higher and the risk of a leg fracture was 7 percent higher. The strongest link between waist circumference and ankle fractures was when examining ankle fractures. Here’s a look at some more statistics from the survey:

• In women, greater body mass index was associated with a greater risk of leg fractures.
• Compared with women with a BMI of 25, those with a BMI of 27.5 had a five percent greater risk of leg fractures, while those with a BMI over 40 had a 40 percent higher risk.
• Conversely, those with a BMI of 22.5 had a five percent lower risk.

Researchers stopped short of saying exactly why obesity is associated with a higher risk of fracture in women, but they believe it’s likely due in part to the fact that many fractures are caused by falls, and falls are more common among overweight and obese individuals.

“Waist circumference was more strongly associated with fractures in women than BMI. This may be due to visceral fat — fat that is very metabolically active and stored deep within the abdomen, wrapped around the organs — secreting compounds that adversely affect bone strength,” said study author Dr. Anne-Frederique Turcotte, from the endocrinology and nephrology unit at CHU de Quebec Research Centre, in Quebec City. “We also know that people with obesity take longer to stabilize their body, when they trip, for example. This is particularly pronounced when weight is concentrated at the front of the body, suggesting that individuals with distribution of body fat in the abdominal area may be at higher risk of falling.”

Interestingly, among men, a higher BMI and greater waist circumference were not significantly associated with fractures.

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This is a serious problem for both sexes, but Dr. Maria Collazo-Clavell said it can be especially problematic for women.

“That’s kind of the tip of the iceberg,” said Dr. Collazo-Clavell, noting that oftentimes women are the primary caregivers for their children and families, meaning their health choices can influence others. Dr. Collazo-Clavell, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, went on to say she’s started treating some of her patient’s children to help whole families start to get control of their obesity issue.

Factors Influencing Obesity in Women

Doctors say there are many factors that can influence a person’s likelihood of obesity, and some of these factors affect women more than men. They couldn’t pinpoint an exact reason, but they listed some factors at play:

• Gender-Specific Life Milestones – Women experience two unique moments in life where they are at risk of weight gain: childbirth and menopause.

• Meal Planning – Many women do the meal planning for families, meaning they have direct control over their family’s dietary choices. Doctors also noted that this process can become more difficult in the months after childbirth.

• Damaging Effects of Societal Pressure – “In our culture, when a man’s overweight, nobody pays too much attention,” said Dr. Guilford Hartley, medical director of the Hennepin Bariatric Center and Obesity Program. “But we have such an emphasis on being thin for women that we’re culturally forcing women to be more concerned about their weight than men. The social pressure if you’re overweight and a woman is higher.”

• Technology in the Workplace – Computers and other technology have made sedentary jobs even more sedentary. “If you were a clerical person, 20 years ago you’d have to get up and put the piece of paper in the file cabinet. Now you never have to get up off your chair,” Hartley said. “We have engineered … physical activity out of our workplace and out of our home place.”

Obesity is an issue for both sexes, but the best way to combat it is to really be conscious about some of your lifestyle choices. Plan ahead for healthy meals so you don’t need to stop at McDonald’s on the way home, make sure your kids are eating healthy, and strive for regular exercise. If you do these three things, you’ll be able to keep the weight off.

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Study authors suggest that obesity is the second most significant contributor to death in Europe and North America, second only to smoking. The study was conducted on a massive scale, comprising data from 189 studies involving nearly 4 million individuals. In an effort to get a clearer picture of the impact of obesity on overall health, the study did not include smokers or individuals with long-term health issues. After examining BMI and mortality rates, researchers came to the conclusion that the risk of death increased incrementally the more overweight a person was.

Obesity Study Findings

Other findings from the study on obesity include:

• The link between obesity and death was strongest in men.

• Researchers estimate that the risk of death before 70 for an overweight man is 29 percent, compared to 19 percent for a normal weight male.

• The early death risk for women in North America is 11 percent at a healthy weight and 14.6 percent if she is moderately obese.

• Interestingly, the data also suggests that the risk of death increases at the other end of the spectrum for individuals with extremely low body masses.

“Smoking causes about a a quarter of all premature deaths in Europe and North America, and smokers can halve their risk of premature death by stopping,” said Professor Sir Richard Peto. “But overweight and obesity now cause about one in seven of all premature deaths in Europe and one in five of all premature deaths in North America.”

So there you have it, even more evidence that being overweight and obese is detrimental to your health. When it comes to day-to-day health, the best thing you can do for your body is eat a healthy diet, stay hydrated, get regular exercise, get a good night’s sleep and avoid smoking. If you can hit four or five of those points each and every day, you’ll increase your likelihood of living a long and healthy life.

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According to the CDC, 30.4 percent of Americans are classified as obese, and that number is up from 29.8 percent in 2014. The numbers show that no demographic is immune from obesity. According to the latest CDC statistics:

• 45 percent of black females over the age of 20 are classified as obese, compared to 33.8 percent of Hispanic females and 27.7 percent of white females.

• 34.5 percent of black males over the age of 20 are classified as obese, compared to 31.1 percent of Hispanics and 30.3 percent of white males.

• When looking at age, 34.9 percent of Americans between the age of 40 and 59 are classified as obese, followed by ages 60 and up (30.1%) and ages 20-39 (26.7%).

• The overall data shows a stark climb from 1997, when the prevalence of obesity for adults ages 20 and over was 19.5 percent.

Obesity and Your Feet

Your feet are tasked with shouldering your body weight, so the heavier you are, the harder it is going to be on your feet. As I mentioned in a previous post about BMI and foot pain, for every pound of weight you add, you’re actually adding three more pounds of stress to your feet. This is problematic because your foot is comprised of 38 joints, and while your feet are very durable, this repetitive stress takes a toll over the years. Losing weight is not only good for your heart health, but it can also help resolve foot pain brought upon by overloading.

If you’re overweight, you’re also more likely to suffer a foot fracture than someone with a lesser BMI. A recent study showed that overweight children were at greater risk for foot fractures than their healthy-weighted counterparts.

Finally, being overweight can contribute to other conditions that can affect your feet, most notably diabetes. Studies show that a person with diabetes is 15 times more likely to have a foot or leg amputated than someone without the condition.

So while I never cheer for injuries, the data from the CDC suggests that I may soon see a steady stream of patients with weight-related foot problems. Hopefully people listen to the warning and take steps to better their overall health.

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Obesity Above The Waist

Brain – Studies have shown that overweight and obese individuals are more likely to experience depression and to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those who maintain a healthy weight.

Heart –  Obesity also takes a toll on your heart. Being obese increases a person’s chance for heart attack and stroke, and it can also lead to high blood pressure and heart disease.

Pancreas – It should come as no surprise that obesity can lead to diabetes, so do your best to keep your weight in check. Losing just 7 percent of your excess body weight combined with 30 minutes of exercise a day can lower your risk of developing diabetes by 60 percent.

Waist – A bigger waistline can be an indicator of earlier death. Studies show that women with a waistline of more than 35 inches and men with waistlines more than 40 inches are at an increased risk for premature death and heart disease.

Obesity Below The Waist

Knees  – Bearing all that extra weight takes a toll on your knees. Each pound of weight you lose reduces the amount of pressure on your knee joint by four pounds, so losing just a few pounds can really lessen the load on your knees.

Feet – If you’re obese, you may end up losing a foot. People with weight-related diabetes are 15 times more likely to have a foot or leg amputated than someone without diabetes.

Toes – Obesity can lead to problems in your toes, like the development of gout. Gout is a painful condition which occurs when there’s excess uric acid in the body, which can occur with obesity and a lack of exercise.

So as you can see, obesity takes a big toll on all parts of your body. Lose some weight, and your whole body will be healthier.

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While it is known that a person’s risk of obesity increases if they have family members who are obese, there has been little study of which family members impact the risk the most. To better understand this phenomenon, researchers analyzed data from over 10,000 individuals and nearly 2,000 families. After analyzing physical activity, demographic information and aspects about food environment, researchers concluded:

• A person’s obesity risk is more than doubled if they have an obese sibling compared to an obese parent.

• That risk is even greater if the siblings are of the same gender.

• In families with only one child, an obese parent more than doubled the child’s risk of obesity.

• In two-child families, having an obese sibling was associated with more than a five times greater risk of obesity than if the sibling was not obese.

• In two-child families where both children are the same sex, if the older sibling was obese, the youngest daughter was 8.6 times more likely to be obese while the youngest son was 11.4 times more likely to be obese.

Lead author Mark Pachucki said he was surprised by the findings.

“It’s well known that diet and physical activity are key determinants of obesity among both adults and children; and prior research has shown that parents have a direct impact on children’s eating habits through shopping and preparing meals and on their exercise by encouraging and facilitating access to activities,” said Pachucki. “I went into this study expecting that, given parents’ oversized roles in their children’s lives, parental obesity would have a stronger association than a sibling’s obesity; but I was wrong.”

Pachucki believes the findings suggest that younger siblings take a lot of behavioral cues from their siblings, and that poor eating or exercise habits of one sibling can directly and indirectly affect the other. He concluded by saying that he wanted to run a similar study on a larger group to better determine causation.

Dr. Silverman comments

This study is very interesting. I went into the study with a similar mindset. Since parents are most likely doing the shopping and food prep, one would think that an obese parent would increase the likelihood of an obese child more than that of an obese sibling, but the data shows that it’s not the case.

Big brothers and sisters should make it a point to practice healthy eating habits, for their sake and for their younger sibling’s sake.

Related source: Harvard.edu

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According to a study by the Institute of Cancer Research in London, there is a significant link between obesity and bedroom brightness. Researchers noticed that individuals who slept in well-lit bedrooms had a higher likelihood of gaining weight.

“In this very large group of people there is an association between reported light exposure at night and overweight and obesity,” the authors wrote.

Light Weight

To better understand the correlation between light exposure in a person’s sleeping quarters and obesity, researchers asked over 100,000 women to rate the light in their bedroom as one of the four following options.

• Light enough to read

• Light enough to see across the room, but not read

• Light enough to see your hand in front of you, but not across the room

• Too dark to see your hand or you wear a mask

Researchers also collected physical indicators for each respondent, including BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist circumference. They found that respondents who slept with more light in their room were more likely to have larger waistlines and higher BMIs. Despite the compelling findings, researchers say there isn’t enough evidence to conclusively say that making your room darker will make a difference in your weight, and further investigations into the matter are needed.

“There might be other explanations for the association, but the findings are intriguing enough to warrant further scientific investigation,” the authors concluded.

Dr. Silverman comments

One of the pitfalls of lack of sleep is the propensity to gain weight. Although it isn’t directly stated in the study, it’s possible to assume that people with more light in their bedroom get less sleep than those in darker conditions. If you’re awake longer than others, two things occur:

• You have more time to snack throughout the day or eat before bed; and
• Hormone imbalance – Your lack of sleep slows your body’s production of leptin, a hormone that signals the brain that you’ve had enough food. Lack of sleep has also been shown to lead to an increase in ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates a person’s appetite. As you can see, when leptin and ghrelin get out of sync, a person can feel hungry more often and have an increased likelihood to gain weight.

Keep the bedroom dark, and avoid falling asleep with the TV on. You’ll fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer.

Related source: Health News One

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Although the vote passed by an overwhelming majority, physicians and health officials held an impassioned debate in the hours before the vote. Nearly all health officials were in agreement about spreading awareness and the importance of personal responsibility in combating obesity, but many clashed over the idea of classifying it as a disease.

The Case For Obesity as a Disease

Even though obesity may be more preventable than some diseases like viruses or cancers, many physicians argued that it should still earn the designation of “disease”.

“Obesity is a pathophysiologic disease,” said Jonathan Leffert, MD. “There is a treatment for this disease; it involves behavioral modifications, medications, and surgeons. Obesity affects minorities disproportionately. The scientific evidence is overwhelming.”

Other physicians, like Melvyn Sterling, MD, said he agrees with the new classification, and he cited the history of high blood pressure as a disease to support his argument.

“I’m a general internist, among other things, and I treat the complications of this disease. It’s interesting to look back in history at a time when hypertension (high blood pressure) was not thought to be a disease,” said Dr. Sterling. “Obesity is a disease. It’s very, very, very clear that even though not every hypertensive gets a stroke and not every obese person suffers the complications, that does not change the fact that this is a disease.”

The Case Against Obesity as a Disease

Despite being in the minority, other physicians were not convinced that obesity met the criteria to be classified as a disease. Dr. Russell Kridel, the incoming chair of the AMA Council on Science and Public, compared obesity to other health-adverse lifestyle choices, like smoking a cigarette.

“Smoking isn’t a disease. Smoking can cause disease such as lung cancer and emphysema in the same way that obesity can lead to diabetes and hypertension,” Dr. Kridel said. “We’re really talking nomenclature here, not philosophy.”

Kridel added that nothing has changed over the past 30 years to suggest obesity should be classified as a disease. The only thing that has changed, he said, was our diets.

“Thirty years ago, we did not have the obesity problem we have now. If you look scientifically at what has changed, our diet has changed. There’s been no change in our genetic structure in the past 30 years.”

Dr. Robert Gilchick echoed Kridel’s sentiments, saying that just because obesity should be treated does not mean it is a disease.

“We did not think the evidence rose to the level where obesity could be recognized as its own distinct medical disease state. Obesity is a very serious condition. It’s a scourge on our nation. It’s an epidemic. It’s a significant risk factor for many other diseases,” Dr. Gilchick explained. “But that does not alone make it a distinct medical disease state.”

Dr. Silverman Chimes In

The American Medical Association is misdirected in their most recent vote.

The latest theories of diabetes point to obesity as a means to accommodate for the excess carbohydrates such as sugars and grains in diet. These raise insulin levels, which in turn cause fat storage. Some people get diabetes and aren’t fat and some get very fat and do not have diabetes.

It seems that adipose (fat) tissue is created to allow people to store the excess glucose energy. If insulin resistance develops and cells become less responsive to insulin then they can’t store the glucose and they get diabetes.

Treating something that is a normal adaptation as a disease is silly and bound to fail.

Related source: Medscape, American Medical Association

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Flash forward 20 years and a disturbing trend has been revealed.  The majority of US States now show an obesity rate between 25%-30%, and Colorado has the lowest obesity rate at 19.1%.  That means that the thinnest state in 2013 is likely fatter than any state was in 1991.

Further findings show that Mississippi has the highest obesity rate at 33.8%, meaning that more than 1 in 3 individuals in Mississippi are obese.

Obesity rates have risen over the last 20 years for a variety of reasons, but experts say processed foods and the rise of the Internet have led consumers to eat more unhealthy foods and have a more sedentary lifestyle.

Dr. Silverman comments

Oh my goodness!

Two decades of growth is very disturbing. We will never rid our society of obesity, but we need to make major changes to our societal behavior to reverse this terrible trend.

There are those who claim government attempts at restricting the excessive behavior that leads to obesity violates personal freedoms, like banning all soft drinks over a certain size in New York. The problem with this argument is that we are all paying dearly for this behavior. Obesity does and will continue to cost our society in health insurance costs. We have to do something, and it begins by taking personal responsibility for what we put in our bodies!

Related source:  TreeHugger.com

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The study looked at sugar availability and medical data from 175 countries over the past ten years.  They found that high sugar levels can cause diabetes, irrespective of diabetes.  Obesity is also a leading cause of diabetes, but excess sugars can just as easily trigger the disease.

The study linked sugar consumption and diabetes in the same way that researchers linked smoking to an increased likelihood of cancer in the 1960’s.  The study took many factors into consideration, and they controlled for poverty, urbanization, aging, obesity and physical activity.

“You could not enact a real-world study that would be more conclusive than this one,” said Rob Lustig, a pediatric endocrinologist who authored the study.

The study also satisfied the “Bradford Hill” criteria, which accounts for other factors including dosage, duration, directionality, and precedence.

In their findings, researchers concluded “each 150 kilocalories/person/day increase in total calorie availability related to a 0.1 percent rise in diabetes prevalence (not significant), whereas a 150 kilocalories/person/day rise in sugar availability (one 12-ounce can of soft drink) was associated with a 1.1 percent rise in diabetes prevalence.”  This means that for every 12 ounces of soda introduced per person into a country’s food supply, diabetes rates increase one percent.

“This study is proof enough that sugar is toxic,” said Lustig.  “Now it’s time to do something about it.”

But what will be done about it is still up in the air.  As we’ve discussed in previous posts, most companies are fueled by their bottom line, not by providing Americans with healthier options.  The Food and Drug Administration can call for clearer warnings, but companies may then switch to artificial sweeteners, which can be just as harmful to a person’s health.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest has asked the FDA to set safe limits for sugar intake, and requested that products that have an excess amount of sugar be labeled “unsafe”.  The CSPI and other public interest groups want people to understand that while overeating can lead to obesity, overeating sugars can greatly increase a person’s likelihood of developing diabetes.

Dr. Silverman comments

The findings of this study are earth-shattering.

It is important to understand the history of the sugar industry.  As it has grown in power over the last several 100 years, the sugar industry has taken a foothold within our political system.  As the world changed in the 50’s and 60’s, the sugar industry began to realize a potential threat.  That threat was science.

Science could kill the sugar industry because it could prove that sugar was bad for you.  At that point, just like the tobacco companies, the industry began to support scientific research designed to address problems cause by its products.

Regardless of history, this new study shows the correlation between sugar and the growth of the scourge of Western stabilization, diabetes.

I expect the sugar ‘mafia’, and by that I mean sugar producers, to do the same thing that the tobacco companies did for several years.  They will deny, confuse, and obscure the truth. There is so much money at risk in this situation, and anyone who believes otherwise is foolish.  Money will be pouring in to protect their products.  Watch for commercials on TV that show sugar as a natural substance. I expect that we’ll see commercials with tag lines like “How can something natural be bad for you?”

It’s even more depressing when you consider how much dependency our government has on the taxation proceeds from sugar throughout all levels of our economy.  Hopefully, the public will see the absolute tsunami of pressure that will be exerted back upon those who try to quell the amount of sugar being fed to the public.

And here is where it gets really bad.  Sugar, just like tobacco, is an addictive substance.  If levels are dropped within soda, people will just drink more soda.  Don’t expect the companies that grow sugar, the companies that put sugar in their products, the government that regulates these companies, or the people who are eating the products made by these companies to ever do something against their self-interest.

To summarize, sugar is bad for you; try as hard as you can to avoid it.

Related source:  NY Times

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