Kids needs to cut out an average of 41 calories a day to stop gaining weight

Children and teens need to cut their food intake an average of only 41 calories a day in order to stop gaining weight, a new study has found. If they don't do that, they'll end up weighing even more than they do now — four more pounds across the board, say the researchers from  Columbia University, the Harvard School of Public Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.. (Photo: iStockphoto.com)

Without reducing consumption, more than one in five children will be obese nationwide, researchers concluded. In Kentucky, 37.1 percent of children were overweight or obese in 2007, numbers by theNational Conference of State Legislature show.

While cutting 41 daily calories is significant, that number will only stop children from getting heavier. "The federal government really wants children to be slimmer than they are now," reports Nancy Shute for NPR. In order to lower the childhood obesity rate to just 5 percent, children would have to cut an average of 120 calories a day — 33 calories for preschoolers, 149 calories for grade-schoolers, and 177 calories a day for teens.

In order to do so, teens would have to jog at least 30 minutes per day or cut out a 16-ounce soft drink.

The study's "numbers are based on population averages; individuals' experiences will be different," Shute reports. "But the numbers show that the public health world has a lot of work to do to help children keep or reach a healthy weight."

According to a nutrition chart by the American Heart Association, children should consume an average of 900 calories at age 1 and 1,000 calories at age 2. Girls should consume 1,200 calories a day from ages 4 to 8; 1,600 calories from ages 9 to 13; and 1,800 calories a day from ages 14 to 18. Boys should consume 1,400 calories from ages 4 to 8; 1,800 calories ages 9 to 13; and 2,200 calories ages 14 to 18. (Read more)

Video systems like Wii Fit not working against child obesity: study

Video games designed to encourage children to exercise don't do anything to prevent obesity, a study has concluded. It found that children either find a way to trick the games "into thinking they are moving around, or they make up for exercise by vegging out more later," reports Maggie Fox for the National Journal.

"It doesn't appear that there's any public-health value to having active video games available in stores — simply having those active video games available on the shelf or at home doesn't automatically lead to increased levels of physical activity in children," said Dr. Tom Baranowski.

Baranowski and his Baylor College of Medicine team studied 78 children, whom they gave the video system Wii to play with. "It's not clear whether those in the study group were more active as a result of the video games but compensated by being less active later, or if they found a way to manipulate the instruments to minimize the amount of physical activity," he said.

Other studies have shown the video systems are beneficial to some age groups, including seniors, Fox reports. The study is published in the journal Pediatrics. (Read more)

Kentucky ranks next to last, Fifth Congressional District dead last in national healthiness and happiness survey

(Click on images for larger versions)

Kentucky was again next to last among the states in happiness and healthiness of its residents in 2011, ranking above only West Virginia, though precise rankings are uncertain. Eastern Kentucky's Fifth Congressional District ranked at the very bottom of the 436 districts — falling in last place in the categories of life evaluation, emotional health and physical health.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is based on a continuing national survey that asks respondents about their overall sense of well-being, physical health, happiness, job satisfaction and other factors related to quality of life.

Of the 190 cities ranked, Lexington was 95th and Louisville 152nd. Kentucky's well-being score was 63.3 out of a possible 100 points. Hawaii again ranked first, at 70.2. West Virginia's score was 62.3. Because there were fewer than 10 points between first and last place, the rankings are not precise. Kentucky ranked lowest in the country in emotional health, which is based on feelings of happiness and sadness. Respondents were also asked about "physical health (chronic health conditions, obesity); lifestyle behaviors (smoking, diet and exercise); emotional health (feelings of happiness, sadness); work environment (relationship with supervisors); basic access (health care, food); and life evaluation (how they rate their lives)," reports Nanci Hellmich of USA Today.

Results were based on telephone interviews conducted between Jan. 2 and Dec. 29, 2011, producing a random sample of 353,492 adults. The margin of sampling error for most states is plus or minus 1 to 2 percentage points, but as high as plus or minus 4 points for states with small populations such as Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware and Hawaii. (Read more)

Michelle Obama announces nationwide contest to fight childhood obesity; $500,000 in prizes

As part of her Let's Move initiative to fight childhood obesity, First Lady Michelle Obama announced a contest today that will give away $500,000 in prizes. The Active Schools Acceleration Project will reward the most "creative, impactful and scalable school-based programs and technological innovations that promote physical activity for children," a press release reads.

"We know there's so much good work going on all across this country to get our kids up and moving every single day," Obama said. "So we want to find the best school programs and technology ideas that increase physical activity for kids — and then help them reach even more children throughout America."

The competition features two categories: school programs and technology innovation. Teachers, schools or entire districts can submit their in-school activity programs, which could include a curriculum, activity, environmental modification, event or other initiative. The technology innovation category can include devices, tracking and measurement systems, software applications, social media, gaming and smart phones that encourage kids to be physically active.

Applications will be accepted through April 2. For more information, click here.

41 Kentucky high schools receive grants for nutrition, exercise, tobacco prevention to be planned by students

More than 40 Kentucky high schools will receive grants to improve student nutrition, increase physical activity or prevent tobacco use. The "Students Taking Charge" program will have students assessing their school environment and coming up with and implementing an action plan to create healthy changes.

"We have to create programs that get our young people involved in the process and on the path to lifelong health and wellness," said Victoria Greenwell, administrator for the state Department of Public Health's Coordinated School Health program and co-chair of Kentucky Action for Healthy Kids. "If we wait until children are grown to introduce them to healthy environments or sensible eating and exercise plans, it's often too late. We have to act now to instill the values of leading a healthy lifestyle."

Just 16.7 percent of Kentucky students reported eating five servings of fruit and vegetables every day and under 40 percent of students said they had been active for an hour on five days during a week, the 2011 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found. The survey also found nearly 1 in 3 students said they'd used a tobacco product in the past 30 days.

To see which schools received a grant and for more information, click here.

Don't let food take control of your Valentine's Day!

Trying to avoid, or at least over-indulging in, chocolate and candy on Valentine's Day? Steer clear of making the day about food, experts say.

"Focus on spending quality time with your friends and loved ones," suggests Cristina Harder, a licensed dietician at the Loyola Center for Fitness. "Trying a new activity together is a great way to share time with family and friends."(VirtualChocolate.com photo)

When it comes to eating, cook at home rather than go out to a restaurant, and get some exercise, reports research-reporting service Newswise. In one hour, a person can burn:
• 200 calories walking, ballroom dancing or bowling
• 500 calories playing racquetball
• 600 calories playing tennis

If the celebration just isn't complete with some indulgence, keep track of what it is. Five Hershey's Kisses just have 100 calories, as do 30 plain M&Ms and three Dove dark chocolate hearts. "They will satisfy a sweet tooth without killing a diet," Harder said. "If you do over-indulge, just get back on track as soon as you can," Harder added. "A minor dietary mishap is only a bump in the road and should not derail your efforts." (Read more)

Certified personal trainers give tips on how to revive New Year's health resolutions or keep them going

By Tara Kaprowy
Kentucky Health News

As the resolve of New Year's resolutions fades with January passing into February, fitness experts Sheila Kalas and Laura Coombs, right, offered some useful tips for how to stay motivated about getting healthy on KET's "One to One" program with Bill Goodman last week.

The first thing, they said, is to come up with a realistic plan — and trash the one in place if it's set up for failure. "One of the things that I think is a mistake is if you jump into action in January and say, 'I'm going to get up, and I'm going to work out at 6 every morning' and you're really not a morning person. Chances are, that's going to fade," said Kalas, owner and founder of Fitness Plus in Lexington.

The trick is to come up with a plan that works, along with 10 reasons for why it's imperative to stick to it this year. "That way, you're more invested," said Coombs, a certified athletic trainer.

The cornerstones of good health are a nutritious diet and an exercise regime, which, Kalas pointed out, is unavoidable. "It's OK for you not to like exercise," she said. "But it really doesn't get you off the hook from needing to do it." As such, it's important to remove the biggest barrier that stands in the way of a fitness regime: a lack of time, which is often only a perceived barrier, and can be removed if there is a commitment to devote proper time to exercise, Kalas said.

Also important is coming up with activities that are entertaining or even practical. Coombs described a "fit deck," playing cards that each describe a different kind of exercise. The goal is to draw five cards a day and perform the exercise in turn. For those uninterested in formal exercise, Kalas suggested getting a post office box to which a person would have to walk each day to get mail. She added that one of the best tools to use is a pedometer, which allows people to monitor how much they've walked that day and alter their workouts and menus accordingly.

Coombs advises being active seven days a week for 30 minutes each day, whether that involves walking, gardening or playing with the dog. "If I only have to do something three days a week, I'll do it on Monday," she said. "Then on Tuesday, I'll be so proud of myself, I'll put it off." If the exercise doesn't get done by later in the week, the tendency is to just put it off to the following week, Coombs said. Consistency of exercise is more important than the kind of exercise being done, she said.

As for eating, both Kalas and Coombs said it's important to monitor food intake carefully, particularly when it's coupled with a new exercise regime. "Beginner exercisers reward themselves for a single bout of exercise that day," Kalas explained. That person will decide, for example, that, since they've walked on the treadmill that day, they deserve to have dessert. But then they'll decide, "I'm going to walk tomorrow so I'm going to eat more tonight," Kalas said. "A lot of time there's one bout of exercise and two rewards built in."

As for what to eat, choose items that come "from the earth that are not prepackaged," Coombs said. "We have to be sensible and stop looking for shortcuts and stop looking for magic foods and magic numbers," she said. Kalas also suggested counting calories using phone applications or referring to the book, "Eat This, Not That," which suggests swapping one food for another at restaurants in order to avoid excessive calorie intake.

To get children motivated, the best thing to do is to remove sedentary activities by setting limits on TV and computers. And it's important to start introducing the importance of fitness and nutrition while kids are still young. "If the household values healthy eating and exercise, it will trickle down to your children," Kalas said.

Ultimately, when it comes to being successful at making changes, a person needs to accept responsibility for their choices and that they're "the only person that can make it better or worse," Kalas said. "If you're going to have the French fries, the only person that's going to have to burn off the calories is you."

To watch the program online, click here. For the full program archive, go here.

Kentucky Health News is a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, based in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky. 

The common 'fat gene' can be overcome with a little exercise

Even if they've inherited "the fat gene," people don't have to be overweight if they have a relatively small amount of physical activity, such as walking their dog, a study has found. (Getty Images photo)

The research, published this month in the journal of PLoS Medicine, reviewed dozens of studies about the fat mass and obesity-associated gene, which is very common. "By most estimates, about 65 percent of people of European and African descent and perhaps 44 percent of Asians carry some version of the FTO gene," reports Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times.

But physical activity, even a small amount, may counter the effects of the gene, reducing reduced the effect of the FTO by 30 percent. "While that still leaves 70 percent of the potentially fat-encouraging effect of the gene intact, the consequences of physical activity on the workings of this single gene seem to be substantial enough to perhaps allow someone who otherwise would become seriously overweight to maintain a normal waistline," Parker-Pope reports.

Scientists are still stumped by how the FTO encourages weight gain, but know the gene is particularly active in the the regions of the brain "that regulate the balance of energy intake and expenditure," said Dr. Lu Qi, assistant professor in the department of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. "The loss of energy balance is the basis of development of obesity."

Physical activity, though, my counteract that. "Biologically, it is possible these two factors, genes and physical activity, may interact in affecting energy balance," Qi said. And exercise might affect how the FTO gene works, influencing "whether it expresses certain proteins or remains quiet," Parker-Pope reports.

Though researchers are being cautiously optimistic, they hope the implications of the findings will be encouraging. "Often people feel that obesity runs in the family or that obesity is in their genes, and therefore feel they have no control over their weight issues," said Dr. Ruth Loos, a program leader at the Institute of Metabolic Science in Cambridge, England. "Our study shows that physical activity plays a role in weight control, even in those who are genetically predisposed." (Read more)

September is national Childhood Obesity Awareness Month

September has been proclaimed national Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, with President Obama asking Americans to "take action by learning about and engaging in activities that promote healthy eating and greater physical activity by all our nation's children."

The U.S. childhood obesity rate has tripled since the 1970s, with 1 in 3 American children now either overweight or obese. As such, experts say one third of "children born in 2000 will develop Type 2 diabetes during their lifetime, with many others at risk of obesity-related illnesses including heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer and asthma," reports Julian Pecquet of congressional newspaper The Hill.

Childhood obesity is especially prevalent in Kentucky. The state has the the seventh highest obesity rate nationwide and the fourth highest rate of childhood obesity. Reporters can find by-county obesity rates by clicking here, but by-county childhood obesity rates are not available because counties are collecting data in different ways and at different ages, Sarah Walsh of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky said recently.

While the problem is a big one, there are initiatives underway to tackle it, including first lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move," which helps communities make healthy food and exercise choices. It also includes a partnership with grocery stores to increase food choices in areas that do not have easy access to healthy foods. (Read more)

'Most sedentary' designation sparks Lexingtonians to stand up; Herald-Leader coverage is an example to follow

Lexington's recent designation as the most sedentary city in the country by Men's Health magazine has got its residents talking, exercising and sharing their stories.

First, the city had a tongue-in-cheek Sedentary Parade with stationary floats and non-marching bands. Then, the Lexington Herald-Leader invited readers to share their stories about how they stay active to disprove the designation. The stories were published online Wednesday (with this couch potato illustration).

They include stories of people who have lost weight and run in marathons. It also includes the story of Robert F. Wachs, a 79-year-old man who has walked 4,500 miles in the last four years. "Once a month or so, I walk to downtown Lexington to get a haircut and then walk back to my home. This is a seven-mile round trip," he wrote.

The stories are accompanied by a calendar of upcoming exercise opportunities in the area.

There are also several features under the Stand Up Lexington heading, which include in-depth stories of how Lexingtonians are getting fit. They range from a woman sharing her weight-loss story on her blog to a badly injured trucker who is now participating in an Ironman triathlon. (Photo of Brennan Donahue by H-L's Tom Eblen)

The Herald-Leader has offered a good example for how a newspaper can provide an outlet for readers to share their stories, dispel an unflattering designation and inspire others to get active. Other newspapers across Kentucky could do the same with a variety of health-related topics.

Four state agencies give employees time to exercise at work

Update, Sept. 2: A new study has shown giving employees time to exercise during their work day could lead to increased productivity, as reported in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The study involved employees at a large public dental health organization in Sweden. On group of employees was required to do 2.5 hours of exercise per week during regular hours. "Another group received the same reduction in work hours, but with no exercise program," research-reporting service Newswise reports. Employees assigned to the exercise program said they felt productive while at work and were absent less often due to illness. (Read more)

Four state agencies allow their employees to take time to exercise as part of their work day, part of an effort to improve morale and productivity. The Department of Financial Institutions, Department of Military Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Personnel Cabinet have instituted the policies with varying degrees of participation.

"Some workers are limited to 90 minutes of paid exercise per week, while others can exercise up to five hours while on the clock," reports Valarie Honeycutt Spears of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "On any given day, employees can exercise from 30 to 60 minutes, depending on which agency they work for." (Photo of state employee Lisa Clark by H-L's David Perry)

It is unclear how many state employees take advantage of the policies, but officials feels it is cost effective. "A wellness break is just like any other break time," said Crystal Pryor, spokeswoman for the Personnel Cabinet. "The difference is that this break results in reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, higher employee morale and lower health care costs for the Kentucky Employees' Health Plan, the state's self-funded insurance program."

One 2010 Harvard University study showed medical costs fall about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs. Absentee day expenses drop by $2.73 per dollar spent. Despite the savings, Kentucky is one of the only states to have such exercise policies in place. Montana also does, allowing employees two 15-minutes exercise breaks a day.

"Often these employees are discussing work issues while they are exercising so we really don't see this as cutting back on productivity," said Dick Brown, spokesman for the Department of Financial Institutions. "There are no hard facts around the impact of the program on reduction of sick leave, but certainly that is one of the benefits and trade-offs we hope to see over time." (Read more)