Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women

May 29, 2015

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Women are drinking at risky levels

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women is a growing health concern to many health professionals. The kind of food we eat is not helping the situation and this should be the starting point.

The vulnerability of women to the effects of alcohol and obesity is something we cannot burry our heads on and pretend that nothing is happening. Research has it that women are the weaker parties when it comes to the outcome of the health conditions that are associated with alcohol abuse and obesity, According to the most recent National Drug Strategy Household Survey (2010), 29.8% of women over the age of 14 years, had consumed alcohol at risky levels (defined more than 4 standard drinks in one sitting) at least once in the previous year. This finding therefore introduces our topic of discussion which is the effects of alcohol and obesity in young women and generally the female gender. According to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury the female gender is less advantage when it comes to substance abuse and weight related concerns. This fact has been confirmed by various studies including the one we have just mentioned above. Now let us look at specific risks women will be involved in when they consume alcohol beyond the limit.

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Women have specific risks when consuming alcohol

The very first thing is that women tend to weigh less than men and have inadequate water in their bodies to dilute the alcohol consumed. This therefore, exposes a woman’s internal organs to more alcohol and to more of the toxic byproducts that result when the body breaks down alcohol. That’s explains why under normal circumstances women generally reach intoxication quicker, and may become addicted to the abuse much sooner, and thereby may develop alcohol-related problems more quickly as compared to men with similar drinking patterns. In view of this women are more likely than men to be affected by health problems including:

Alcoholic liver disease;
Alcohol-induced brain damage;
Cancer, including breast cancer; and
Alcohol-related heart disease.

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Safety risks

Doctor Akoury sounds the warning that it is very important for women to note that heavy drinking increases their risk of becoming victims of violence and sexual assault, including rape. This can be attributed to environmental factors (heavy drinking tends to occur in contexts where there are other people who are also drinking heavily); cognitive impairments (through alcohol reducing a person’s ability to evaluate risks effectively); and, motor impairments (through alcohol reducing a person’s physical ability to resist attack effectively).

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Risks while pregnant or breastfeeding

Drinking alcohol while pregnant can negatively impact on the baby’s developing brain and motor skills development and lead to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum. Disorders which are lifelong disabilities and women should take this seriously. At the moment there is no known safe level of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and breastfeeding what we have are just some recommended guidelines which may not be scientifically authenticated:

For women who are pregnant or planning a pregnancy avoiding drinking completely is considered the safest option.
In the same way for women who are breastfeeding, avoiding drinking is the safest option.

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Alcohol consumption may also contribute to overweight and obesity

Alcohol adds calories to your diet. Alcohol has no nutrients yet has a high energy value, second only to fat which is the most energy-dense macronutrient. It is also a common occurrence that alcohol tends to increase appetite and encourage poor eating habits adding yet more empty calories into your diet. According to research there is a link between alcohol consumption and weight gain. Associations between the two are heavily influenced by a number of factors including: patterns and levels of drinking, gender, body weight, diet and genes, although the exact nature of these interactions are yet to be fully understood says doctor Akoury. With this information the question that all of us would want answered should be what is known about this situation?

Amount matters – Heavy drinkers (described in various studies as anywhere between two and four alcoholic drinks per day) are at higher risk of obesity than moderate drinkers.

Patterns of drinking matter – Heavy, but less frequent drinkers (binge drinkers) seem to be at higher risk of obesity than moderate but frequent drinkers.

Low carb does not equal healthier

‘Low carb’ beers and wines are becoming more widely available in the market and it may be tempting to switch to these varieties in order to reduce your caloric intake. You need to be aware, however, that while these low carb drinks are lower in carbohydrate than regular varieties, the alcohol and kilojoule content is often very similar to other types of beer and wine.

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Things to consider if you choose to drink alcohol

Even though it may not be advisable to take alcohol, but if you choose to drink it is very important that you take note of the following:

Healthy adults should drink no more than two standard drinks on any day to reduce the lifetime risk of harm from alcohol-related disease or injury. The lifetime risk of death from alcohol-related disease more than triples when consumption increases from two to three standard drinks a day.
For any one occasion of drinking (an occasion being defined as a period of time at which the blood alcohol level does not return to zero), no more than four standard drinks should be consumed in order to reduce the risk of incurring alcohol-related injury from that occasion. Bear in mind that each drinking occasion also contributes to the lifetime risk of alcohol-related health problems.

Alcohol is a significant contributor to your daily kilojoule intake. The recommended daily kilojoule intake varies for individuals and depends on a number of factors such as gender, weight and your usual amount of physical activity. On average, a man requires 10,500kJ (2,500 calories) daily and a woman requires 8,400kJ (2,000 calories) daily to maintain their weight.
When drinking alcohol, take care that you are not robbing yourself of other essential nutrients. One very important nutrient that is often ‘replaced’ by alcohol is water. Even though alcohol is a liquid, it is also a strong diuretic and can increase fluid loss from the body therefore it is recommendable that as an adult you take at least eight glasses of water daily.

Finally dealing with the effects of alcohol and obesity in young women is not to be done in isolation. Like any other condition, the involvement to the experts is very important. And like I had said before, you can schedule for an appointment with doctor Akoury today for the commencement of your recovery treatment process.

Effects of alcohol and obesity in young women: Women are drinking at risky levels

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children

April 26, 2015

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children: The Growing Prevalence of Obesity in Children

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children is very important for all parents if they have to protect their children from being bullied.

The prevalence of obesity is at alarming level and everyone is either affected directly or indirectly. The most worrying part of it all is that children are equally in danger of the overweight scourge. The problem of obesity in children is closely associated with several elements that negatively affect the child’s normal upbringing. It is the duty of every parent to ensure that their children are safe from all kinds of danger whether health wise or otherwise. The focus of this article is therefore going to help you in understanding of bullying and obesity in children by all means. The available statistics indicate that three times as many children are actually overweight or obese compared to a few decades ago. And as a matter of fact many states today are a host of over 20% obese children thereby adding to the number of children suffering from many complications including psychological problems like bullying, poor self-esteem and isolation.

Besides such short-time problems, doctor Akoury says that there are so many long-term physical problems which can affects the heart, bones, hormones and reproductive organs of overweight and obese children. Most concerning are the links to early onset of type 2 diabetes and heart diseases which are leading causes of death in globally. Children who are overweight or obese are also more likely to be of poorer socio-economic status in future as adults. Research findings have also established that being overweight as a child is a strong predictor of obesity in adulthood. Listening to these life threatening conditions, we all need to collectively and individually be on top of everything to keep our children and the future generation form these sufferings. If you know of anybody whose child is suffering from the problems of weight related complications, you can talk to doctor Dalal Akoury MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center a facility whose primary focus is to restore life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Therefore this is the place to be, schedule for that appointment and start your journey to health and safety with the experts.

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children: What is the link between bullying and obesity?

Being overweight or obese is in itself a factor of being bullied and molestation of obese children by the peers. This has been established by several studies across the globe. Overweight or obese children are more likely to be teased by other children either verbally by name-calling, physically bullied in boys or have difficulty because other children stopping an associating with them or begin spreading rumors about them. Other children often judge overweight kids with a negative stereotype and associate them with being lazy, careless, and selfish and mean because of the way that they look. Both boys and girls who are overweight or obese are more likely to be bullied at primary school because they do not fit into the normal physical stereotype. Obese children are also more likely to be the perpetrators of verbal bullying to other children. By bullying other kids however, overweight or obese children can divert attention away from being bullied themselves. In boys particularly it is presumed this is because they are physically bigger than other children, and therefore can be physically dominant (i.e. pushing). In girls however, there is no advantage in being physically bigger than other children because most bullying is by name-calling (verbal) and relationship bullying.

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children: What should parents know?

Understanding the link between bullying and long-term psychological problems in children is important. It is very important that parents needs to learn more about childhood bullying says doctor Akoury. Like for instance when a child is overweight or obese, parents should understand that these boys and girls are at increased risk of being bullied. When a boy is overweight he is more likely to bully other children also. This is important to recognize because there are negative social outcomes for bullies too. They tend to grow up with difficulty forming adult relationships and also suffer from an increased risk of depression.

Information is power and therefore recognizing the signs of bullying in a child is an important step in breaking the chain of negative outcomes. Doctor Dalal Akoury an expert in weight loss is sharing with us some of the signs we should be aware if we have to keep our children safe from being overweight. The signs may include the following:

Increased stress
Depression
Unexplained bruising
Recurrent abdominal pain
Vomiting
Frequent or repeated accidents
Hyperventilation
Submissive behavior and
School refusal

It is important that if you have any concerns about bullying seek advice from the local school or a doctor/pediatricians. Many schools have anti-bullying campaigns in place and will be able to help you have this problem properly addressed for the safety of your children. Studies prove that school-based interventions to reduce bullying are effective. Nonetheless, the best way to approach this growing problem of bullying in overweight children remains an area of future research. And as we get into further studies to unlock the misery, I want to put emphasis on the need to have weight gain put in control. I had given you the back ground of doctor Dalal Akoury and her team of experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. Talking to as expert who has vast experience will be very important for a start. This is because if we can prevent overweight and obesity, we will be able to protect our children from this psychological frustration in the name of bullying. Remember that doctor 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 may have not known this, but now you know. You can now schedule for that appointment for commencement of treatment today.

Understanding of Bullying and Obesity in Children: The Growing Prevalence of Obesity in Children

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy

April 8, 2015

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy: Planning for your Health before and during pregnancy

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy at an early stage before it happens is very healthy for the delivery of children with healthy weight.

I remember when the maker first created the earth, before man he made available healthy food to help man in developing the land for more production. That assignment of producing more has been done to the disadvantage of human life. All the healthy fresh healthy fruits and vegetables are now being passed through chemicals all in the name of adding value to them. The concept of value addition to our food items today is not working well to humanity. In fact all the processed foods are categorized as unhealthy food. This is not what the maker intended for his creation. With our own hands we have succeeded in creating for us more problems. It is no wonder our obese mothers continue to give birth to obese children or children with high risk of being obese in future. There is always great joy for parents to bring forth healthy children. And because of our actions, we have to make certain adjustment when planning to get pregnant if this joy is to become a reality. We are therefore obligated into understanding the effects of obesity before pregnancy for us to bring forth healthy children.

We are aware that the issue of weight gain is developing in a very high speed to the point that all the world health organizations are getting concern of the emerging trend of weight gain. Recently the world health organization (WHO) listed obesity as one of the serious global health problem in the twenty first century. This confirms the magnitude of the problem at hand and it means that time has come for us to be very aggressive and bring this problem to manageable levels. But before we enter into the discussion, let us bring us up to speed with what we are talking about. Obesity is a health condition in which an accumulation of excessive body fat work to impair health and increase morbidity and mortality.

The most commonly use method of measuring obesity is body mass index (BMI) where an individual will be considered to be overweight if their BMI is between 25 and 30 kg/m²while those with more than 30 kg/m²are considered to be obese. The effects of obesity can be very frustrating not just to the victim, but also to the people close to them. It is therefore very important that we have this problem addressed in good time so that our mothers and unborn children can be safe from all the health complications associated with being overweight or obese.

According to WHO the prevalence of obesity in pregnancy cut across 1.8 to 25.3% with effects of obesity before and during pregnancy constituting a major risk factor for both maternal and fetal complications. While appreciating that children born of obese mothers may become obese in their childhood and develops metabolic syndrome in their adulthood, it is possible to address some of the issues relating to obesity during pregnancy since at this time mothers will be more willing to accept certain changes in their lifestyle like a well-balanced diet and bit of indulgence in physical activities. It will take a lot of commitment for this to be successfully done since many people are not very keen on keeping fit. However with guidance and help from the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the able leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury this won’t be a problem. You can schedule for an appointment with her today and your life and that of the unborn child will be safe not just during the pregnancy period but even in their lifetime.

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy: Are you planning to get Pregnant?

Doctor Akoury says that it is very important that women planning to get pregnant in the near future should make effort to maintaining normal body weight to avoid any health complication that may come as a result of being overweight or obese. The benefits of doing this are primarily to save lives because these two conditions (obesity and pregnancy) can cause a woman to have a reduced fertility in all dynamics meaning that when observed in both natural conception and conception achieved by assisted reproduction techniques (ARTs). In many instances when subfertility is observed in obese women, it is always occasioned partially due to the decrease in frequency or complete absence of ovulation.

The dominant cause of an ovulation is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is characterized by central visceral obesity in 40% of the cases. Moreover, in a wider context of metabolic disorders,

Low concentration of serum
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol
High concentration of triglycerides
Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol
Increased concentrations of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) tend to co-exist.

All these metabolic derangements increase the risk of developing:

Arterial hypertension
Coronary heart disease and
Thrombosis

In addition, hyperinsulinemia promotes the production of testosterone and Δ4-androstendione from the theca cells in the ovary and results in a condition of hyperandrogenemic anovulation, with a phenotype characterized by hirsutism, obesity, acne, seborrhoea and hair loss.

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy: What to do before pregnancy?

There are certain important things that you need to consider when you’re planning to get pregnant, for instance emphasis needs to be out in normalizing your weight. You should neither be over or underweight because having normal weight is not only good for conception but also for the outcome of the pregnancy. While appreciating that most pregnancies are not planned it is very important that you consult a specialist on how to lose weight during this time. Doctor Dalal Akoury can be of help to you if only you can reach out for her professional assistance. I would like to encourage you to schedule for an appointment with her today and escape from the devastating health conditions arising due to being overweight or obese.

Understanding the Effects of Obesity before Pregnancy: Planning for your Health before and during pregnancy

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity

April 8, 2015

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: What is derailing the Fight?

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity. The foods that leads to obesity may be appealing and appetizing but their attractiveness only serve to attract diseases

Where I come from there is a wise say that the fingers are never the same. This phrase is used in reference of our diverse economic differences. Much as we are putting effort to have a comfortable life, we will never have it all. Some people will have more than enough and others will have enough while another may not have at all. That is life and it is part of us. This introduction of the wise saying ushers us into our discussion of the economical imbalance and the fight of obesity. If you are wondering how this is a factor, then you are at the right place because by the time we are done, you will be well equipped with all the relevant information you need to know declares doctor Dalal Akoury the MD and founder of AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center. We are all aware that the problem of obesity and weight gain is a serious threat to life. This problem is never discriminative as it can affect anyone irrespective of status. Both the rich and the poor are vulnerable and variance is what we want to find out from the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: Food security

Talking of food security a lot is being done to ensure that everyone something to eat. However the different economical factor does not allow equality in this. There are those who will have plenty and those who may not have at all. That is why we have the rich and the poor because of the economical line drown between then by virtue of their earnings. It is true that the rich has plenty and can access best quality of food as they may wish. On the other hand, the poor who live from hand to mouth has not heard of the word quality. This is a vocabulary which is non-existent in their dictionary and a luxury they can’t afford. Their unsteady income can only allow them to feed subject to availability. The three triangular meals is not known to them and this impacts negatively on their weight and general well-being.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: Limited food budgets and choices

The economical imbalance in the world today is being felt majorly by the poor. While the poor are drawing their budget for food, they are often faced with difficult choices to make. That little must take them through to the next time they get another pay which in many cases is not guaranteed. Situations like this are frustrating to them and the result often leads to indulgence in certain unhealthy behaviors. Due to this constrain, they will opt for much durable elements and processed foods which are rich in fats and energy like sugar, cereals, potatoes and processed meat products. They will definitely see fruits and vegetables as luxuries they can’t afford simply they are perishable and will not last until their next pay duration. The bad news is that such food they go for are never healthy and introduces to high risk of weight gain and being obese.

Their places of residence also act to their disadvantage in the sense that, getting healthy food is not easily accessible. They are literally surrounded with a chain of small food stores stocking very unhealthy stuff like cheap, high fat foods. Further to this they live a very stressful life where due to inabilities to meet certain obligations like footing bills like rent and we all know the consequences of stress.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: Limited physical activities

Taking of good health which is the most valuable asset one can ever have. But to the poor this may not be the case since good health is not all about health foods but also being active physically. Their economic situation does not allow them to access the gym facilities for active physical activities. The absent of continuous body exercise is recipe for weight gain and obesity. They cannot afford to organize children’s events outside school making their children to be less active physically. This is evidence because of inflexible work schedule, lack of transportation or unmet needs for child care, poor parents find it hard to support extra activities for their children. Leaving kids in front of the television is often all stressed poor parents can manage. This inability is not helpful as it only help increasing the risk of overweight and obesity.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: Food deprivation and overeating

Those who are eating less or skipping meals to stretch food budgets may over-eat when food does become available, resulting in chronic ups and downs in food intake that can contribute to weight gain. Cycles of food restriction or deprivation also can lead to an unhealthy preoccupation with food and metabolic changes that promote fat storage.

The “feast or famine” situation is especially a problem for low-income parents, particularly mothers, who often restrict their food intake and sacrifice their own nutrition in order to protect their children from hunger. Such a coping mechanism puts them at risk for obesity and research shows that parental obesity, especially maternal obesity, is in turn a strong predictor of childhood obesity.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: High levels of stress

Low-income families, including children, may face high levels of stress due to the financial and emotional pressures of food insecurity, low-wage work and luck of access to health care, inadequate and long-distance transportation, poor housing, neighborhood violence, and other factors. Research has linked stress to obesity in youth and adults, including (for adults) stress from job-related demands and difficulty paying bills. Stress may lead to weight gain through stress-induced hormonal and metabolic changes as well as unhealthful eating behaviors. Stress, particularly chronic stress, also may trigger anxiety and depression, which are both associated with child and adult obesity.

This is a very painful truth that economical imbalance can be a serious contributor to weight gain and obesity. Like I had said our fingers are not the same and will never be. It means that this problem is likely to recur from one generation to another. However there are things that you can do despite of your economic situation to defeat this problem of obesity. You can schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury a re-known medical doctor specializing on addiction and obesity. She has been in the practice for over two decades and her vast experience will be very beneficial for you if only you can take that step today.

Economical Imbalance and the fight of Obesity: What is derailing the Fight?

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity

April 2, 2015

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: The life of our children must come first

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity is very important in breaking the vicious cycle.

If I may ask “why is it so difficult to keep off obesity and overweight even with the knowledge of consequences that come with it? This is the million dollar question which if we can respond to then the solution will be good health thereafter. The prevalence of obesity is a common phenomenon which has no respect for any one. The old and the young are both at risk of being overweight and any complications that come with it. Therefore to reduce the magnitude of the problem, we want to start from the beginning by making effort in keeping our children safe from the effects of obesity. Doctor Akoury founded a health facility known as AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center where all problems relating to overweight and obesity of all ages is professionally addressed. And because we want to focus on the children, it would be prudent that if you have a child who is showing signs of being overweight or is already struggling with the problem, then this is an opportunity for you to meek your break through with the experts. You may want to schedule for an appointment with doctor Dalal Akoury today for you and your child to experience the good health that comes with healthy weight.

Ordinarily one may argue that as the children weight increases they are simply growing up and ignore the possibility of overweight and obesity settling in. I totally agree with you that, children needs to grow and part of the growth is increase in weight, however there is a limit to that. When that limit is exceeded and the children become obese, the child will be at risk of all the health problems associated with being obese. While it is known that the limits for overweight and obesity in adult is 25 and 30 respectively according to the BMI formula, this is not always the case. Therefore if you want to be part of the team who are focusing on keeping our children safe from the effects of obesity, then you must talk to the experts at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under the professional leadership of doctor Dalal Akoury today.

In view of the magnitude of the problem and especially when children are the subject matter, doctor Akoury felt that something needs to be done professionally and immediately. This guided her into making the decision to create a medical 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. Doctor Akoury practices focuses on personalized medicine through healthy lifestyle choices that deal with primary prevention and underlying causes instead of patching up symptoms. In her care you and your children will get the best in weight loss and permanently kick out the obesity pandemic. I encourage you that even as we continue with the discussion, you can schedule for an appointment with her and get started. In the meantime let us address some of the worries many people are having about the two conditions overweight and obesity in children.

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: Losing weight in children

Losing weight must never be done in unreasonably high speed. It must be a gradual process not just for children but for everyone. Rapid weight loss may come with come unhealthy consequences and therefore when considering losing weight, it is always very important that you create time and consult with a weight loss specialist. Like I have already stated weight loss in children is different from the adults. Ideally when dealing with children who are expected to be growing still, doctor Akoury recommends that the prudent thing to do would be maintaining the current weigh at its level. As a parent it would be necessary to observe the growth and development of your children very closely and ensure that if there is any increment in weight, then it must be proportionately slower than their height gain.

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: Treating childhood overweight or obese

It is all about making positive changes in your children’s lifestyle. This is the core treatment option recommended by all experts and regulatory bodies.
Preferably changes targeting the involvement of the whole family are best.
Other family members who are overweight may also benefit at the same time.
Remember that as a parent you act as an important role model for your child and you can help them to stay healthy.
The two main lifestyle changes that are advised are for your child to eat more healthily and do plenty of physical activity.
Small, gradual changes may be best. Your child will then be more likely to stick to these changes with time.

Parents have a duty to ensure that they impact on their children positively in all ways. These changes should be observed in all stages of the child’s life and a proper follow up mechanism should be put in place to ensure that the same is practiced away from home either in schools or when you go out for family gatherings and holidays. But most importantly is the encouragement you give to the children and appreciation when they excel in a given assignment.

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: Healthily Eating

Overweight children should be encouraged to eat more healthily and to reduce the total number of calories that they eat.
Parents should to take the responsibility for making changes to their children’s diet, more so when such children are under the age of 12.
It is equally important to involve the child as much as possible and to listen to their ideas and preferences when deciding what changes to make to the food that they eat.
It may also be advisable to keep a record of what your children feed on.

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: Prevention of childhood Obesity

The best thing to do in the life of your children is to protect them from any kind of danger. Obesity is dangerous and can be fatal if not addressed decisively. How best can you shield your children from becoming obese? The perfect way is to prevent it from happening. This must begin from the beginning. That is to that at the time of perceiving getting a child in one or two years, you must start planning for that expected child when the time come. There are several causes of childhood obesity and all of them can be avoided if the right thing is done early. For instance you must ensure that what you eat is healthy at all times. You must equally live a very active life where you keep fit by exercising periodically. Drugs are not an option for you going forward, keep off drugs of all kinds. It is very unhealthy not just because you are planning to have a baby, but drugs are health hazardous for everyone.

Keeping our children safe from the Effects of Obesity: The life of our children must come first

Tag Archives: Childhood obesity