September 28th, 2011
Children sometimes need a gentle push to get into the habit of regular exercise. Making sure they remain healthy is a great way for you to keep fit at the same time and here are some suggestions that can be mutually beneficial:
1) Set a good example. Children need to understand that you believe in taking care of yourself while advocating that they do the same. It’s no good eating chips on the sofa while telling them to exercise and eat healthy meals. So practice what you preach. Let them see you working out or taking part in other energetic activities, even if it’s only a regular brisk walk.
2) Make exercise “cool.” Suggest activities that are not going to embarrass a child. Invest in a stylish kid’s bike. It doesn’t have to be expensive – there are always plenty of good used examples for sale in the classified ad section of your local paper. Again, you could lead by example by buying one for yourself, though don’t insist upon accompanying your child all the time. An alternative is to suggest something he or she may never have thought of, like taking a course in a martial art like judo.
3) Restrict sedentary time. Be firm about controlling the number of hours your child spends in front of a television screen or playing computer games. This is a danger period for eating snacks and guzzling sugar-rich sodas. Try to set a target of 60 minutes of physical activity for the child a day, most days of the week.
4) Take a firm stance. Don’t allow your child to argue about the need for good health. Say right from the start that by getting into the habit of eating a balanced, nutritious diet and exercising early, the child will help guard against ill-health later in life.
5) Promote the concept of personal best. Many children avoid exercise because it involves a competitive element like playing sports with other kids. But there are plenty of healthy exercises, like walking and swimming, which don’t need to involve competition. Encourage your child to regularly set new distance targets and offer fulsome praise when he or she achieves them.
Some 15% of American children are currently obese and many are already experiencing heart problems and various forms of Diabetes, which used only to be be seen in adults.
Liver diseases, including even cirrhosis, are also increasingly being detected in overweight teenagers. Cirrhosis, which is irreparable liver damage, is commonly linked with alcohol misuse. But it can also be caused by a fatty diet which includes an excessive intake of fast food and sugar-laden drinks.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), Excess weight and obesity often have Insulin Resistance as their underlying cause. Poor diets and lack of exercise mean that more and more youngsters are developing Insulin Resistance, which is caused by an imbalance of glucose and insulin in the bloodstream.
Fortunately, Insulin Resistance in both young people and adults is reversible. But if this condition is neglected, it can lead to a variety of disorders, including the cluster of cardiovascular diseases called Metabolic Syndrome (Syndrome X), which is a significantly increased risk factor for a heart attack or stroke.
So remember that it’s never too soon to start taking action to preserve your child’s health or, for that matter, your own, too.
September 27th, 2011
As well as helping Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome weight loss and improving overall PCOS health, just 30 minutes of brisk activity like walking can immediately boost the mood of depressed people. A short workout has the same “pick-me-up” effect as caffeine or binge-eating, according to a study.
So, if you ever feel down and tempted to reach for some unhealthy comfort food, take a walk instead of eating a fattening snack. Better still, invite a friend to accompany you and enjoy a pleasant chat while enjoying the benefits of exercise.
Researchers at the University of Texas in Austin found that patients suffering from depression who walked on a treadmill for half-an-hour reported feeling more vigorous and having a greater sense of psychological well-being for up to an hour after the workout.
These patients and another group, who just sat quietly for 30 minutes, all reported reductions in negative feelings such as depression, tension, anger and fatigue. But only those who had exercised said they felt good after the session.
Lead researcher John Bartholomew said the study, which involved 40 people aged between 18 and 55, was among the first to show that exercise can have an immediate positive effect on depression.
“You should derive a benefit very early on in the process and hopefully that is the kind of thing that will motivate people to continue to engage in this behavior,” said Professor Bartholomew.
The positive effects from walking were sizable, says the study, lifting participant’s feelings of vigor to near-normal levels. But researchers warned that the results were short-lived and declined over the following hour.
Regular exercise is crucial to reversing Insulin Resistance, an imbalance of blood glucose and insulin levels which can be an underlying cause of excess weight gain and obesity leading to depression. Many overweight people become depressed because the social stigmatization of excess weight gain causes embarrassment, shame and guilt.
There is a neuro-biological link to obesity because low levels of the mood-elevating neuro-transmitter called serotonin in depressed people cause them to eat meals high in carbohydrates. These, in turn, raise insulin levels and cause PCOS weight gain while stimulating production of tryptophan, an amino acid essential for the production of serotonin.
It is easy to become trapped in a vicious cycle because overweight and obese individuals report that they crave high-carbohydrate meals when depressed, anxious or alone. Consuming this kind of food can result in extremes of mood changes.
September 21st, 2011
A study identified eight factors in early life – including watching a lot of television – that put children at a greater risk of obesity.
Certain aspects of a child’s early development have long been thought by experts to influence weight in later life. Now researchers have highlighted key influences that can lead to obesity.
The study involved 8,234 British youngsters aged seven, plus a further sample of 909 children who were taking part in a large general U.K. survey. Researchers from Scotland’s University of Glasgow studied the children’s health history and everyday habits, as well as measuring their BMI, or body mass index, which is calculated by dividing weight in kilograms by the square of height in meters.
The team concluded that the following eight factors were associated with an increased risk of childhood obesity at the age of seven:
- Birth weight
- Obesity in one or both parents
- More than eight hours spent watching TV a week at the age of three
- A short amount of sleep – less than 10.5 hours a night at the age of three
- Size in early life – measured at 8 and 18 months
- Rapid weight gain in the first year of life
- Rapid catch-up growth between birth and 2 years of age
- Early development of body fatness in pre-school years – before the age at which body fat should be increasing at the age of 5-6.
Researchers said the ways in which these factors might increase obesity risk were complex. Parent obesity, for example, may influence a child’s weight through genetics. Or weight gain in children could also be linked to living in the same environment and eating the same types of food as their parents.
“Duration of night-time sleep,” said the survey, “may alter later risk of obesity through growth hormone secretion, or because sleep reduces the child’s exposure to factors in the environment that promote obesity, such as food intake in the evening. Children who were more physically active may sleep longer at night and this might explain the link between duration of sleep and being overweight. Television viewing could be linked to obesity because it is an activity which does not use up much energy and can also mean youngsters eat more while they are watching their favorite programs.”
Since the 1970s, the number of overweight kids and adolescents in the United States has more than doubled. Today, 10% of 2-5 year olds and more than 15% of young people 6-19 are overweight. If you combine the number who are overweight with the percentage of those who are at risk of becoming overweight, one in three American young people is affected.
Regular exercise and a balanced, nutritious diet are crucial ways to help reverse Insulin Resistance, an imbalance of glucose and insulin levels in the bloodstream, which, if left unchecked, can lead to weight gain and obesity. Excess weight can, in turn, result in the onset of a number of dangerous conditions, including the cluster of cardiovascular disorders called Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X and the hormonal imbalance known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of female infertility.
September 8th, 2011
You know how it is. Advice about the health benefits of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) weight loss via regular exercise comes at you from every angle and you realize it’s time to act. But somehow you still just can’t find the motivation.
Well, don’t worry! Nobody says you have to launch yourself right away into a punishing exercise regime that’s going to leave you permanently exhausted. Work out a plan first which will slowly take you along the road to more energetic activities. That way, you’ll come to regard regular exercise as a normal and welcome part of your daily life. Just imagine the boost you’ll get when you start to feel the greater sense of well-being that PCOS weight loss can bring. Try these simple steps to get motivated:
Buy a notebook and draw a line down the center of a number of pages to write out the pros and cons, as you see them, of starting a regime of, say, regular walking. You may be concerned about how time-consuming and tiring it will be at first. But balance any imagined drawbacks with the sense of achievement you’ll feel when, after a while, you find you can walk further each week. Express any anger, frustration or embarrassment you feel about being overweight – seeing it written down will motivate you to do something positive to improve matters.
Persuade some friends to lose weight with you and make a date at least once a week to walk together. It’s a great way to get fit and shed extra pounds while catching up with what’s been happening in everyone’s lives.
Set small targets. Tell yourself you’ll park the car as far away as possible from the exit to every parking lot to give yourself another excuse to walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator at work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Walk everywhere one day a week and make it a different day each week to vary your routine.
Take a photo of yourself at the start of your new regime, so you can compare the “before picture” with the way you look as your weight loss kicks in. Write a daily journal highlighting anything you’ve done that day which will improve your PCOS health.
Immerse yourself in anything that promotes achievement via exercise. Rent the DVD of Oscar-winning British movie Chariots of Fire and then listen again to Vangelis’ inspiring soundtrack on headphones while out walking in the park. Attend a local sporting event. Read a sport magazine or a biography of an athlete like Jesse Owens, whose winning ways infuriated Hitler at the Nuremberg Olympics in 1936, or Roger Bannister, the first man to run a mile in under four minutes, or Tour de France ace Lance Armstrong.
Don’t forget to consult a doctor before starting any exercise regime. Once you’ve received his OK, develop the discipline to stick to your healthy new routine.
It’s an alarming fact that just two days of inactivity can disrupt your body’s efficient use of insulin, which, if left unchecked, may result in the condition called Insulin Resistance. This imbalance of blood glucose and insulin levels can lead to obesity, which is an underlying factor in a variety of disorders. These include the cluster of Cardiovascular Diseases called Metabolic Syndrome, or Syndrome X, and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal imbalance which is a leading cause of female infertility. Insulin Resistance is also an underlying cause of Pre-Diabetes, a reversible disorder which, if neglected, can lead to full-blown, irreversible Type II Diabetes.
