Preventions of Overweight and Obesity

November 17, 2014

Preventions of Overweight and Obesity – Adoption of healthy lifestyle

Preventions of Overweight and Obesity is very paramount if we want to protect our children from physical and psychological effects.

Following a healthy lifestyle can help you prevent overweight and obesity in all seasons whether during the holidays or any other event. We are often introduced to most of these lifestyle habits during childhood. Meaning that if families and more so parents take the lead role from the word go in their children’s life at very tender age then the problem of overweight and obesity can be avoided in the future. We all have a duty to make sure that our children make healthy choices in their lives like being physically active and taking a healthy diet.

The effects of obesity and overweight are very disturbing to everyone. Whereas this is a problem of everyone in the society, we are going to narrow it to the children and considering two major effects on the children which include physical effects and psychological effects.

Physical effects prevention

The family unit needs to take the full responsibilities in bringing up healthy children free from health risks associated with overweight and obesity. How this affects children we had discussed in our previous articles, however the following healthy lifestyle goals should be encouraged by our families:

Follow a healthy eating plan – consider making healthy food choices, keeping your calorie needs and your family’s calorie needs in mind, and focusing on the balance of energy taken in and energy used out.
Focus on portion size – be very keen with the portion sizes in fast food and other restaurants. Remember that in many cases the portions served often are enough for two or three people. Children’s portion sizes should be smaller than those for adults. This will ensure that you only consume the right quantity and this helps you put good control on the energy taken in and given out.
Be active – create personal and family active time by finding certain activities that everyone will enjoy like for instance, go for a brisk walk, bike or rollerblade, or train together for a walk or run.
Reduce screen time – discourage the prolonged use of TVs, computers, and videogames because take or reduce the time for physical activity. The experts recommend 2 hours or less a day of screen time that’s not work- or homework-related.
Keep track of your weight – the body mass index, and waist circumference will be very instrumental in keeping track of your weight as well as that of your children’s growth.

Psychological effects

There are very many forms of psychological effects that are related to being overweight and obesity particularly in children. For the purpose of this article, we’re going to discuss bullying and stigma as some of the psychological effects. It is regrettable that bullying has become an epidemic in most societies. Many children have fallen victims of sexual bullying and cyber bullying, with the overweight children being the targeted. Bullying actually kills the child’s self-esteem and the sooner we take and practice the above mention preventive measures the better for our children. The psychological effect as a result of bullying can leave a permanent mark in a child’s life for a very long time.

The Alarming Statistics

The statistics on bullying are upsetting. In a recent national survey of overweight in sixth grade, 24 percent of the boys and 30 percent of the girls experienced daily teasing, bullying or rejection because of their size. The number doubles for overweight high school students with 58 percent of boys and 63 percent of girls experiencing daily teasing, bullying or rejection because of their size. This is a clear manifestation of the pain our children go through because of what we could easily solve if we did the right thing from their initial stages of life. Therefore what is bullying? The word bullying can take different forms of definitions including:

Bullying involves intentional, and largely unprovoked, efforts to harm another
Bullying can be physical or verbal, and direct or indirect in nature
Bullying involves repeated negative actions by one or more against another
Bullying involves an imbalance of physical or psychological power

While it feels somewhat clinical and removed to define bullying in this manner, we must do so to address the issue in a consistent and effective manner. However, we must also talk about this issue in plain English to keep it real and to understand the impact of bullying.

Overweight children and teens who are bullied are often called names, teased, punched, ganged up on, humiliated and ignored relentlessly either in-person or in social media by mean and often troubled peers. Victims often feel depressed, ostracized, sad, powerless, lonely, alienated, angry, anxious and fearful. It is very important that we address bullying in our schools, neighborhoods and communities because every child has the basic human right to feel safe and secure.

Who are the bullies and who are the victims?

For instance a study conducted in 2004 of bullying behaviors it was established that overweight and obese school-aged children were more likely to be the victims and perpetrators of bullying behaviors than their normal-weight peers. Furthermore, there are gender differences in bullying behaviors. Naturally, both male and female children and teens report bullies making fun of the way they look, dress or talk. However, males are more likely to report being physically harmed through punching or kicking, whereas girls are more likely to be excluded, ostracized and the target of rumors, especially pertaining to sexual activity.

In fact, it comes as no surprise that overweight children are at risk for bullying. The risk factors associated with bullying victims – feelings of insecurity, low self-esteem, depression, social isolation and marginalization, lack of social skills and the inability to defend themselves in confrontational situations – are similar to the psycho-social conditions of overweight children and teens; depression, anxiety, social isolation and marginalization and low self-esteem.

Types of bullying

We have quite a number of different kinds of bullying some of which includes the following:

Verbal bullying
Being threatened or forced to do things
Cyber bullying (via cell phone or the Internet)
Physical bullying
Social exclusion or isolation
Bullying through lies and false rumors
Racial bullying
Sexual bullying
Having money or other things taken or damaged

Bullying often come in two categories; direct and indirect. Direct bullying usually involves confrontations, name calling, derogatory comments, hitting, kicking, shoving and chasing. Indirect bullying is equally aggressive, but partially hidden from the victim and can include social isolation, the spreading of lies and rumors to peers and ignoring victims in group activities. Cyber bullying may also fall into this category because the harassment and bullying is a step removed from face-to-face contact using text messaging or social media networks such as Facebook and YouTube. Now dear reader it will only be fare that we take our right full positions as parents to help bring our children up in a healthy way to save them from this epidemic of bullying. This may not be easy and the services of weight loss professionals may be required. It is because of this challenge that Dr. Akoury made a decision to create a medical center (AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center) whose main objective is to transform each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Dr. Akoury’s practice focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. You can schedule for an appointment with her today for a more elaborate evaluation and treatment.

Preventions of Overweight and Obesity – Adoption of healthy lifestyle

Health risks of obesity

October 31, 2014

Health risks of obesity – A summary of Health Risks Discussed

Medical complications of obesity are serious health threats in human life and prevention and early treatment should be done in good time.

The problem of obesity is not new to us today because the problem is escalating to being an epidemic globally in discriminatively. The epidemic of obesity cuts across all ages both children and adults in equal measure. The danger of this health condition is the fact that of it association with other numerous co-morbidities like heart diseases (cardiovascular diseases), type 2 diabetes, hypertension, certain cancers, and sleep apnea or sleep-disordered breathing. The risks of obesity and in particular that of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) have been discussed in different forums and also documented in obese children cardiovascular diseases (CVD), it is also associated with reduced life expectancy.

A very important fact to note is that a variety of adaptations or alterations in cardiac structure and function do happen in the individual as adipose tissue accrues in excess volume. Therefore the general observation is that, overweight or obesity predisposes or is associated with numerous cardiac complications such as coronary heart disease, heart failure, and sudden death through its impact on the cardiovascular system. Having seen the over view of being overweight, we can observed that there is reasonable cause to worry that adult obesity is indeed associated with a wide range of health problems, and for the purpose of this article I will be making some brief highlight torching on some of the health conditions inclined with obesity to help you make your own self-evaluation and take the most appropriate action timely.

As we get the discussion on, it is important that upon realizing that you are overweight or obese, immediate medical attention is not just an option but a must. This must be done professionally with the experts and not just from your own imagination. Therefore I would recommend that if you or anyone you know is suffering from any of these health complications related to weight problem then you need to schedule your appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury for proper treatment. Doctor Akoury is the founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center, a facility in which she is offering her exclusive NER Recovery Treatment to other physicians and health care professionals through training, clinical apprenticeships, webinars and seminars. Therefore you or any qualified professional can now be a part of this truly successful and fast health recovery treatment solution whose primary objective is to reinstate your health for comfort and full enjoyment thereafter. Now let us consider some of the health complication associated with overweight.

Circulatory system

Raised BMI increases the risk of hypertension (high blood pressure), which is itself a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke and can contribute to other conditions such as renal failure.
The risk of coronary heart disease (including heart attacks and heart failure) and stroke are both substantially increased.
Risks of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are also increased.

Respiratory problems

Overweight and obese people are at increased risk of sleep apnoea (interruptions to breathing while asleep) and other respiratory problems such as asthma.

Musculoskeletal system

Raised body weight puts strain on the body’s joints, especially the knees, increasing the risk of osteoarthritis (degeneration of cartilage and underlying bone within a joint).
There is also an increased risk of low back pain.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to a range of conditions resulting from the accumulation of fat in cells inside the liver. It is one of the commonest forms of liver disease in most communities. If left untreated, it may progress to severe forms such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis and cirrhosis. It has also been linked to liver cancer.
Obesity is an important risk factor for the condition: over 66% of overweight people and over 90% of obese individuals are at risk of Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). As levels of obesity have risen, so has the prevalence of NAFLD.

Cancers

The risk of several cancers is higher in obese people, including endometrial, breast and colon cancers.

Reproductive and urological problems

Obesity is associated with greater risk of stress incontinence in women.
Obese women are at greater risk of menstrual abnormalities, polycystic ovarian syndrome and infertility.
Obese men are at higher risk of erectile dysfunction.
Maternal obesity is associated with health risks for both the mother and the child during and after pregnancy.

Gastrointestinal disease

Obesity is also associated with:

Increased risk of gastro-esophageal reflux
Increased risk of gall stones

Psychological and social problems

Overweight and obese people may suffer from stress, low self-esteem, social disadvantage, depression and reduced libido.

Metabolic and endocrine systems

The risk of Type 2 diabetes is substantially raised: it has been estimated that excess body fat underlies almost two-thirds of cases of diabetes in men and three quarters of cases in women. Diabetes currently affects nearly 200 million people worldwide and International Diabetes Federation predicts that this will increase to over 330 million by 2025, with a massive burden in developing countries. Worldwide, the number of people with diabetes has tripled since 1985.
There is a greater risk of dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides), which also contributes to the risk of circulatory disease by speeding up atherosclerosis (fatty changes to the linings of the arteries).
Metabolic syndrome is a combination of disorders including high blood glucose, high blood pressure and high cholesterol and triglyderide levels. It is more common in obese individuals and is associated with significant risks of coronary heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Finally dear reader, these are not just risks but very dangerous, being obese can introduce one or a collection of these and even more complications and when this happens, your life will be unbearable. That is why calling doctor Akoury of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center is very vital for you and your loved ones. Like I had said before doctor Akoury is very experienced not just in matters concerning weight but also on addiction which is very much inclined to obesity. Her services will be a full package to help you free yourself from all the strings attached to obesity and by extension protecting yourself from being a victim of all these health complications. Therefore associate your health only with the experts and call doctor Akoury today.

Health risks of obesity – A summary of Health Risks Discussed

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting

October 28, 2014

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting – Aim to eat a healthy balanced diet

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting is a significant remedy and the results are very realistic.

Special diets which are often advertised are not usually helpful. This is because after losing weight, if your old eating habits remain, the weight often goes straight back on. It is usually not a special diet that is needed but changing to a healthy balanced diet, for good.

What is a healthy diet?

Understanding the meaning of what a healthy diet is very important if you are to use it as a means of eradicating obesity in your life. Therefore consider the following points as the possible meaning of a healthy diet:

Making up a third of most meals with starch-based foods (such as cereals, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta etc.). Wholegrain starch-based foods are preferable.
Eating plenty of fiber in your diet. Foods rich in fiber include wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, oats, peas, lentils, grain, beans, fruit, vegetables and seeds.
Having at least five portions, or ideally 7-9 portions, of a variety of fruit and vegetables per day. These should be in place of foods higher in fat and calories. For example, fruit makes a good, healthy snack if you feel hungry.
Limiting fatty food such as fatty meats, cheeses, full-cream milk, fried foods, butter, etc. Use low-fat options where possible. Examples are:

Skimmed or semi-skimmed instead of full-cream milk.
Using low-fat, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated spreads instead of butter.
When feeding on meat it is necessary that you consume lean meat or poultry like chicken.
Try to grill, bake or steam rather than fry food. When using fry food, select vegetable oil like rapeseed, olive or sunflower.

Discourage use of sugary drinks and sugary foods like biscuits, chocolate, cakes, sweets etc.
Reduce use of other foods likely to be high in fat or sugar like some takeaway or fast foods.
Eating three meals a day and not skipping meals. Always have breakfast. Eat each meal slowly. Skipping meals will just make you feel more hungry, make you think more about food and make you more likely to overeat in the evening or snack between meals.
Trying not to add salt to food and avoiding foods that are salty.
Including 2-3 portions of fish per week, at least two of which should be ‘oily’ (such as herring, mackerel, sardines, kippers, pilchards, salmon, or fresh tuna).

Make an assessment of your eating habits

For example:

Eat slowly.
Be careful that your food portion sizes are not too big but proportional.
Avoid second helpings when you are already full.
Switch unhealthy snacks and desserts to healthy ones.
Don’t skip meals.
Plan your meals ahead of time so that you can acquaint yourself with what you will be eating next.

Be selective on what you drink

Many people use drinks full of calories to quench their thirst. However what they may not know is that sugary drinks like cola, tea and coffee with milk and sugar, milk and alcoholic drinks, all contain calories. One of the best and easiest ways to cut back on calories is simply to drink water as your main drink.

Increase your physical activity levels

It is recommended that all adults should aim for 150 minutes of exercise a week.

One way to do this is to do 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise in bouts of 10 minutes for five days of the week.
Another method is to do 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity spread throughout the week or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity.

Remember that moderate physical activity includes:

Brisk walking
Jogging
Dancing
Swimming
Badminton
Tennis etc.
It is equally important that besides the list above try to do more in your daily routines. For example, use stairs instead of lifts, walk or cycle to work or school, etc.
Avoid sitting for too long in front of the television or a computer screen. Take regular breaks whilst working.
The good news is that you don’t have to do this physical activity all in one chunk.
You can break it up into blocks of 10-15 minutes. See separate leaflet called Physical Activity for Health, which gives more details.
Build your exercise levels up gradually. If you are not used to physical activity, try starting with a 30-minute brisk walk every day and then building up from there.

Evaluate your behavior and progress

Just as keeping a food diary can be helpful at the beginning of a weight loss programme it can be useful as a way to monitor your eating during your weight loss. You can use the same diary to keep a track of your physical activity levels as well. It is also important to weigh yourself regularly to monitor your progress. Once weekly is recommended. However, don’t be discouraged by minor weight increases or leveling off for a few days. Focus on the overall trend over several months.

Keeping the weight off

Many people lose weight but at the end of their diet, the weight goes back on. The main reason this happens is because their weight-reducing diet was only a temporary change to their unhealthy diet and lifestyle. To keep your weight off, it is important that you make permanent changes. This usually means:

Keeping to a healthy diet.
Exercising regularly.
A change for the whole household. It is difficult for one member of a household to shop and eat differently to the rest. It is best that the whole household should eat a healthy diet.

It does not mean less enjoyment of food. However, it may take a while to learn to enjoy different foods, meals and recipes. Some people need more support to keep to their new weight than when they were actually dieting and losing weight. A local support group may be able to help.

Prevention of overweight and obesity

You can help to prevent becoming overweight or obese by:

Following the healthy eating guidelines prescribed above.
Doing 150 minutes of physical activity according to the above prescription.
Spending less time being sedentary (for example, less time in front of your computer or watching TV).
Weighing yourself from time to time so that you become more aware of your weight and you can do something about your weight if you start to put some on.
Encouraging a healthy lifestyle for your whole family.

Finally for you to remain focus on all this, you will need the professional guidance to keep you on truck from time to time and this you can get at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care where focus is on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE, calling doctor Akoury is all you need to keep on truck for a quicker and speedy weight loss.

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting – Aim to eat a healthy balanced diet

Fetal Complications of Obesity

September 27, 2014

Fetal Complications of Obesity – Positive Precautions

Obesity complications can be very fetal especially to pregnant women. it is therefore important that as you plan to get pregnant, you need also to plan on your weight.

Not again could we let our mothers die of conditions we can easily manage and point out, obesity prevalence is basically a health condition we are able to bring to order. Lots of our people are dying because of lack of knowledge but this article is purposing to correct that. Take for instance the various complication reported in various health institutions globally, precisely the best segment of them is directly associated to excessive weight and obesity. I am trying to register to you that maternal obesity is associated with an increased risk for perinatal mortality and occurrence of genetic disorders with most typical one being the complications when it comes to the fetus which include Intrauterine death Genetic disorders Macrosomia In the end, large for gestational age (LGA), neonates of obese or diabetic mothers are prone to creating of childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome inside their maturity.

Fetal Complications

The increasing rate of maternal obesity provides a major challenge to obstetric practice. Maternal obesity can result in negative outcomes for both women and fetuses. The maternal risks during pregnancy include gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.

The fetus is at risk for stillbirth and congenital anomalies. Obesity in pregnancy can also affect health later in life for both mother and child. For women, these risks include heart disease and hypertension. Children have a risk of future obesity and heart disease.

Women and their offspring are at increased risk for diabetes. Obstetrician-gynecologists are well positioned to prevent and treat this epidemic. In these entire one would wonder exactly why this must take place when we have experts who can fix the specific situation. If you dint know where to get help then call doctor Akoury a proficient of over twenty years in weight related conditions and she will greatly assist you in overcoming this precarious condition out of your life.

Congenital anomalies

Prenatal screening for congenital anomalies becomes challenging in obese women on account of difficulty of interpreting blood serum indices when using the inability to display the fetal anatomy according to the ultra-sonogram. These difficulties just might be indicators explaining the higher incidence of congenital anomalies in fetuses of obese women. Nevertheless, there are actually data supporting a competent association between maternal obesity and genetic disorders. Specifically, the fetuses of obese mothers have an upper chances of developing abnormalities of one’s neural tube, as for example spinal bifida, cardiovascular abnormalities, along with abnormalities of one’s abdominal wall e.g. omphalocele. These abnormalities are definitely more prevalent in offspring of ladies with iddm and folacin deficiency, disorders that always coexist with obesity.

Macrosomia

The relationship between maternal obesity and fetal Macrosomia has been established by many studies. Maternal weight and insulin resistance before pregnancy affect fetal growth, as will be reflected among the birth weight. Obesity and insulin resistance alter placental function which, in the course of the last weeks of pregnancy, raises the accessibility to glucose, free lipids and amino acids towards the fetus. Thus, maternal hyperglycemia induces fetal hyperglycemia and accordingly, hypertrophy/hyperplasia of a given fetal pancreas and hyperinsulinemia. Insulin possesses a direct effect on cell division which leads to macrosomia. Therefore, women with diabetes are at higher risk of delivering macrosomic babies.

Obese women even with normal glucose tolerance possess a two-fold upper chance of giving birth to macrosomic babies since both conditions are independently correlated to macrosomia. Given that the incidence of obesity is approximately ten-fold that of gestational diabetes, it is often evident that maternal lifestyle exerts a good influence on the incidence of fetal macrosomia. Over again this nets quantitative relationship between maternal BMI and the chance of delivering a macrosomic/LGA neonate. Macrosomia, as well as maternal height and weight, gestational age and wide range of prior deliveries, are considered reliable predictors of this very likelihood of obstetrical events, such as shoulder dystocia and injury of one’s bronchial plexus.

Long-term complications

There is considerable evidence that the complications of maternal obesity extend beyond intrauterine and neonatal life into childhood and adulthood, thus resulting in serious lifelong medical disorders. Maternal obesity is mostly a risk for childhood obesity, no matter birth weight and of smoking while pregnant, along with a risk for the looks of the metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease in adulthood.

You will find a good deal of pathophysiologic mechanisms which could explain the undeniable fact that obese mothers give birth to obese children. Genetic factors are undoubtedly responsible to the certain degree regarding the tendency of both mother and child to be overweight.

Besides that the impact of the environment is going to be taken into account since mother and child typically share exactly the same eating styles. Moreover, sales turnover or ingestion while pregnant consists of a quantitative effect on the fetus, promoting the building of fat tissue.

Childhood and adolescent obesity exerts a long-lasting psychological and physical impact and increases population morbidity and mortality.

The increasing prevalence of maternal obesity before and from pregnancy ends in a vicious circle of obesity in subsequent generations. Thus, obese mothers give birth to obese daughters, who’ve a bigger risk of plagued by obesity and diabetes during their own pregnancies.

Developmental origin of adult disease the abnormal development of the fetus outcomes increased morbidity during childhood, adolescence and adulthood, a phenomenon generally known as “fetal programming” or “developmental origin of adult disease”. The fetal adjustment towards the uterine environment results in permanent changes within the phenotype (i.e. physical structure, physiology and metabolism) that might never be highly functioning in extra-uterine conditions.

Finally the hazards linked to maternal obesity constitute a serious health risk for the mother and fetus, with the level of intensity increasing when you have obesity. A non-balanced diet during pregnancy contributes not only to abnormal fetal development and subsequently increased neonatal morbidity and mortality but in addition to increased morbidity during childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Therefore systematic effort for losing weight is very necessary if we must avoid transferring obesity from one generation to another which you can do by calling doctor Dalal Akoury a dedicated expert in reinstatement of complications associated with weight and obesity. Doctor Akoury founded AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center to help you out from situations like this. And at her office she will together with her team of experts give attention to Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome all in one. Dear reader remind yourself that achieving this goal will result in a sharp decrease in fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality and can improve the outcome of offspring and of future pregnancies.

Fetal Complications of Obesity – Positive Precautions

Tag Archives: Obesity and life style