Tag Archives: physical activity

Fat Babies = Unfit Adults

According to a new study, infants who gain too much weight as babies are more likely to grow into obese toddlers, and later, obese adults. The research was conducted by doctors at Harvard University and Children’s Hospital-Boston and concluded that early eating and exercise habits are extremely important in shaping healthy adults. The study found that parents need to watch for cues from their children about when they are full, encourage them to drink plenty of water, and have them participate in activities that promote movement. The Harvard researchers noted that obesity rates among U.S. children have doubled in the … Continue reading →

A New Way to Fight Childhood Obesity

Perhaps the American government could learn a lesson from South Korea… on how to curtail childhood obesity. In a plan that has shocked some families, South Korea’s health ministry officials recently announced that the government is planning to help parents of obese children pay for health club memberships and other activities that can help kids lose weight. The announcement comes on the heels of a new report, which reveals that the rate of childhood obesity in South Korea has tripled over the past three years due to a changing diet of fatty foods and a more sedentary lifestyle. According to … Continue reading →

Prince Chunk and Other Plus-Sized Pets

I have extra-large pets on my mind, since we had a return visit from the biggest cat I ever saw at the cats-only boarding facility. Mr. Big-But-Lovable tipped the scale at a mind-boggling thirty-three pounds the first time we met in late spring. This time around, he’s down to twenty-nine pounds… and I can already see a difference. Mr. Big used to be very rigid through his torso, and nearly unable to flex at the waist. Now, with just four pounds gone, he’s already able to bend more. It’s really encouraging to see such improvement with such a small change! … Continue reading →

New Exercise Program for Kids

My daughter was a chunk of a baby. (See for yourself.) But she has since shed her baby fat and grown into a perfectly sized preschooler, who can outrun all the girls and all but one boy on her soccer team. When I watch her sprint after the ball I often reminisce about her former Michelin Man legs. Man, was she chubby (though, very healthy, according to her doctor). I’m not afraid to speak about my child’s hefty beginnings, but perhaps I should since these days the tide seems to be turning against baby fat. In a recent article published … Continue reading →

A New Obesity Risk for Your Baby

We all want our babies to be healthy. Getting your little one off on the road to healthy living starts right from the beginning in babyhood. An overweight baby often leads to an overweight child which leads to an overweight adult. And now scientists have discovered a new obesity risk that may affect your baby. I’ll talk about what that risk is and how you can reduce the chances that your baby will become overweight. First let me say that I absolutely love chubby babies. It must be the Italian American in me, but extra rolls of fat in a … Continue reading →

Are Sports Not Working Any More?

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Sports were the typical activity to keep kids fit. Nobody really planned them outside of the idea that they were fun. There was Little League, soccer and of course football or basketball. Kids got together and started games themselves or they went with their parents into organized activities. Today, we have a lot more options for extracurricular activities and parents and kids alike are going to them in droves. So why isn’t it helping? Because sports, by their very nature, are biased against overweight kids. Why do I say this? Because I’ve been spending this whole week getting ready for … Continue reading →

Sticks and Stones …

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Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can’t hurt me. This is a childhood saying that we teach our kids because we want to teach them that just because someone says something nasty to them, they don’t have to respond with fists or kicks or scratches. But words are powerful things, they can help and they can hurt. The child who is labeled ‘fatso’ or ‘four-eyes’ is immediately singled out by classmates for being different. The difference doesn’t have to be profound or even unusual, it just has to be different enough that the other kids can pick … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: the Biggest Cat Ever

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We have a very unusual guest at the cats-only boarding facility right now — the biggest cat I have ever seen. We’ve had some large guests before — I can think of at least one who weighed more than twenty pounds and a few who came very close to the twenty pound mark. But this cat tops them all. He tipped the scale at a whopping thirty-three pounds when he arrived. Everyone who comes in can’t help but notice the big guy in the isolation room. This poor cat was too big for our regular condos — he couldn’t even … Continue reading →

Be Healthy Together

Obesity may be “contagious” — less like a disease and more like a case of monkey see, monkey do — but so is good health. Here are some statistics, thanks to studies from Duke and Yale Universities: If you exercise regularly, your spouse is twice as likely to exercise, too! If you get your cholesterol tested regularly, your spouse is twice as likely to get tested, too! If you quit smoking or drinking, your spouse is more than five times as likely to do the same within four years. If you get a flu shot, sixty percent of spouses will … Continue reading →

A Link Between Obesity and Your Immune System?

Scientists from the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Boston Medical Center are looking at a possible link between obesity and immune system function. Previous research has found that obese people are more likely to suffer from periodontal disease than lean people. This new study looked at why. Researchers worked with laboratory mice — some who were obese and some who were lean and healthy. The mice were infected with a bacterium that causes periodontal disease (porphyromonas gingivalis). The obese mice were more susceptible to gum disease and had a blunted immune system reaction to the infection. Ten … Continue reading →