Social Workout

Eating Right

Lunch Patrol

In an effort to curb American obesity, Uncle Sam is making some big changes for kids.   

The U.S.D.A passed new regulations to make school lunches healthier.  (Finally) 

Scientific

We're Fat (Among Other Reasons) Because We're Bathed In Chemicals In The Womb

Why are Americans so fat? (If you need more sadness in your day, here's a sad graph that shows our scary fat trajectory). There are lots of obvious reasons. We go to Cheesecake Factory. We're addicted to junk. We don't walk as much as everyone else. We watch too much TV. And then there are all sorts of fascinating micro-explanations. We're fat partly because we eat bacon at night instead of in the morning. We're fat because we don't sleep enough. Well, today, there's another scary and interesting micro-explanation to add to the list: We're fat because our mother's eat pesticide-laced food while we're in the womb. What? Here's the research...

Scientific

Depression and Weight: Being Heavy Gets You Down

If you're obese, your odds of being depressed are significantly higher than if you're normal weight, according to a recent survey. The Gallup-Healthways survey, which consisted of 250,000 interviews between January and September of this year, found that 23.2% of obese Americans report having been diagnosed with depression, versus 14.3% of people of normal weight. That's a pretty remarkable jump. Interestingly, only 14.9% of people who are overweight report having been diagnosed with depression, barely more than the percent for normal weight individuals. Obesity is also bad news for negative feelings of stress, worry, anger, and sadness, with obese individuals reporting higher percentages of those feelings across the board. The only people reporting higher rates of stress, worry, anger, and sadness than obese people? Underweight people. So basically, we all know our weight affects how we feel, but at either end of the spectrum, it really really affects how we feel. 

Scientific

The Economic Impact Of Obesity

Being overweight is obviously bad for your health, but new research shows its bad for your economic health as well, particularly if you're heavy when you're young. In a study that tracked 5,000 people over two decades, individuals who had been overweight since high school were 50% more likely to be receiving welfare or unemployment checks than people who had gained weight over time throughout their 20s and 30s, and that's even if you control for the the socioeconomic status of the individuals' parents (which plays into childhood obesity). It's worth noting that individuals who weren't overweight at all weren't even part of the study, which makes you wonder if those comparison numbers might have been even more stark.  (via New York Times)

Newslinks

The FDA Says No To New Weight Loss Drug

Yesterday, in a 10-6 vote, the FDA's expert advisory panel voted not to approve Qnexa, a new weight loss drug. Even though 10-6 sounds like a landslide for no, many of the "no" doctors said it was a tough call. In trials, Qnexa has proven more effective than any weight loss drug currently on the market. As one trial participant testified, "I weighed 200 pounds. After 15 months on Qnexa I weighed 143, and went from a size 20 to a size 10. My brain quit nagging me about food. I immediately became a person who quit snacking and ate healthy meals." But that's the pro side. On the con side...

Newslinks

The New Non-Profit Gym Model

Low income neighborhoods suffer disproportionately from obesity and diabetes, and the fact that parks and gyms are often lacking in poor neighborhoods doesn't help. Healthworks in Boston is working to address this gym gap, reports NPR. Healthworks runs seven gyms around Boston; All the gyms have the same slick equipment and full roster of classes, but five of them charge rates on par with competitors, and two of them, the ones located in low-income neighborhoods, charge on a sliding scale, based on income, with memberships maxing out at $30 a month. Doctors in the low-income neighborhoods hand out free vouchers to the gym, and later this year, the gym is opening a teaching kitchen to showcase healthy food prep. Very cool.

Newslinks

Good News and Bad From Latest Government Fitness Data

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention is out with their latest health data. Bad news: 28% of adults in the U.S. are obese, the exact same rate as 2008. So no real progress on that front. But good news: More people are working out! 34.7 percent for 2009 versus 31.9 percent for 2008. Three percent? Pshaw, you might say. But that's hundreds of thousands of people who weren't active before getting out there and moving their bodies. Which is pretty awesome when you think about it.

Scientific

The Bacteria-Obesity Connection

Feeling fat? Blame the bacteria in your digestive tract. Okay, maybe don't blame them entirely, but do note that new research shows a correlation between certain gene variants (like variants in taste receptor genes) lower levels of bacterial diversity in the digestive systems, and higher likelihood of obesity. Researchers warn that their findings are early stage, but they hope for a future of "probiotic or antibiotic-based treatments for obesity that could be individualized based on a person's unique genetic and gut microbial makeup." Forget the challenge of choosing between Greek and Icelandic yogurt. Your future yogurt choices may be way more 23andMe.

Gym Poet

Fat Pride

"Fat pride" is a movement. I learned this from an article debating the severe weight discrimination displayed in Pixar’s WALL-E.  Apparently, the big anti-obesity crusade at the moment is comparable, for some, "with the quest for the perfect body by the eugenics movement in Nazi Germany." People are using weight as "a proxy for health and morality,"  says Sanda Solovay, a "fat discrimination" lawyer.  

Now, let me say, as an ex-fatty, that I'm all for self-acceptance, and I believe the value of community for esteem-building is astronomically important, but I'm dubious about these "fat-ivists."

Newslinks

Escalators Hault for European Obesity Day

This Saturday marked the first ever "European Obesity Day," which organizers hailed as a day to bring together "to motivate and support overweight European citizens to reach and maintain a healthy weight to improve their health and quality of life." The day aims to influence EU policy, and there's a citizens petition, and some other official initiative stuff. But the on-the-ground efforts are the most interesting: Bulgaria celebrated by shutting down the escalators in shopping malls throughout the weekend. In the Mall of Sofia volunteer doctors were on hand to measure blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI for folks hoofing it up the stairs. Had this happened at the Mall of America, here's betting rioting and looting would have ensued and that Cinnabon and Orange Julius would have been the first shops sacked.