Obesity, Visceral Body Fat & High
Fat Diet
Obesity - Health Risks
Obesity puts overweight children at risk of other diseases. The Bogalusa
(La.) Heart Study, an ongoing project funded by the National Heart, Lung
and Blood Institute, found, for example, that overweight children tend
to have readings in the highest levels of the normal ranges for their
blood sugar, blood pressure and blood fats. Each of these factors places
them at increased risk of health problems.
Obesity - Visceral Body Fat
Why excess body weight sets off a cascade of adverse health effects is
not completely understood. But the latest evidence points to visceral
body fat, the type that hides deep within the recesses of the body, close
to organs. Visceral fat is more metabolically active, meaning that its
cells churn out more byproducts, than other types of body fat cells, researchers
said. What researchers still don't understand, however, is the relationship
between visceral fat and total body fat. CT scans of the body show that
not all overweight children have the same amount of visceral fat. What
we are seeing is that obese children definitely have more visceral fat.
But as with adults, you don't have to be obese to have a lot of visceral
fat.
Obesity - American Diet
No one can explain definitively why obesity has emerged as such a significant
health problem worldwide during this century. During the past 15 years,
the percentage of fat in the American diet has dropped from at least 40
percent to about 30 percent of total calories. There's been a proliferation
of fat-free and low-fat foods. National food surveys show that about 30
percent of family meals nationwide are fixed outside the home, regardless
of family income. Such meals often are higher in calories and fat and
contain larger portions than those prepared at home.
Obesity - TV
Stanford University, studied the effect of reducing children's use of
television, videotapes and computer games. Using body mass index--a measurement
that takes into account height and weight--the team found that they could
cut BMI by half a unit in children who watched between a quarter to a
third less television and videotapes and played fewer computer games.
An effective but simple change may be removing television sets from children's
bedrooms to help them lose weight.
Source: The Washington Post Company, 1998
Articles to Help You Lose Weight
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