Obesity Studies: The stupidity of researching the obvious
Everyday I peruse the headlines on news, health and weight loss websites to find the latest information. And everyday I read some new breaking news story about some researcher somewhere finding another conclusion that seems so blatantly obvious that makes me start to wonder in the this age of high unemployment, where I can find a job where someone would pay me to conduct clinical studies whose outcomes are entirely common sense and predictable. Did all these eminent doctors and medical professionals with their fancy medical degrees from the World's finest institutions of higher learning simply run out of things to study? Is there no practical use for their expertise anymore? Is the world overrun with doctors, like lawyers?
Take for example the most recent weight loss news headlines of the past few months:
Obesity may contribute to higher C-section rates. Study shows for every unit increase in BMI, a woman's risk of Cesarean delivery rose by 4 percent.
Perhaps I should not have begun with this headline, as it did take some serious research to come up with this conclusion. The problem is, when you lump this one on top of all the other problems that obese and overweight females face -namely issues pertaining to hormone/estrogen imbalances- it seems hardly a stretch that natural reproduction would be adversely effected by living a substantially unhealthy lifestyle.
Trial for European diet pill drug Rimonanbant halted early after suicides. After a year, four people on the trial had killed themselves, versus one person in the placebo group.
Most of the latest research and development in diet drugs has been targeting the seratonin and dopamine levels in the brain. Just like all the anti-depressant psychotropic drugs prescribed for depression that are making people even more depressed and increasing the incidence of suicide. Nice model to follow. Let me explain the basic foundation behind almost every diet pill and drug that exists on the market: a substance is found, whatever it might be, and that substance is used to treat some condition. At some point someone recognizes that short-term weight loss and/or loss of appetite is a side-effect. So, eventually that substance is re-packaged and marketed to overweight people as a cure for their girth. Problem is, every substance has some sort of side-effect. And in most cases, the weight loss/loss of appetite side-effect from the original purpose of the substance, happens to be digestive efficiencies (very easy bowel movements and dehydration) or raised blood pressure and heart rate which leads to temporary increase in metabolic rate -calorie burning- . So, if you want to take diet pills to lose weight you're going to have three choices if you want to take them long-term: lots of stomach aches and hours on the toilet, early onset of heart disease, or depression and possible suicide.
What would really be great if someone discovered a substance whose weight loss/loss of appetite side-effect was simply weight loss and/or loss of appetite alone.
Obesity cause of early puberty? Researchers suggest the epidemic of childhood obesity may be a cause of girls' early puberty because fat cells can trigger the production of the female hormone estrogen. The researchers did find that breast development at age 7 was more common among heavier girls.
Am I the only person in America that has noticed teenage girls today look different than they did when I was confused, pimple-faced kid whom girls wouldn't come near? Of course not. Kids are much less active physically today and by-and-large have workaholic parents who've outsourced their primary duty (feeding their young) to McDonald's, Taco Bell and the rest of the endless choices in fast food "dining." I distintly remember that the most mature girls were the largest ones. I guess it wasn't a coincidence.
Your muffintop may kill you. One of the largest studies to examine the dangers of abdominal fat suggests men and women with larger waistlines have twice the risk of dying over a decade compared to those with the smaller stomachs.
Hello! Doesn't it stand to reason that if being overweight is unhealthy that the parts of the body that are most over-sized would be the culprit in decreased life expentancy?
Number of Obese Adults Keeps Rising, CDC Says. As of 2009, almost 3 in every 10 adults (26.7 percent) is now statistically obese, up from 25.6 percent in 2007, according to a new government report released Tuesday.
The report, from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), also found that between 2007-2009, the number of U.S. states where at least 30 percent of the adult population is obese had tripled to nine from three. Ten years ago, no state had an obesity prevalence of 30 percent or more, according to the new report.
Taking a deep breath. Every day that goes by our TV's have more channels to watch, movie rentals get more convenient, computers usurp more of our time, shopping increasingly takes place online, video games become more popular with kids as well as adults, cars and other modes of transportation get more convenient and easy to use. Our World is one of a never-ending evolution of the sedentary lifestyle. At the same time, the incredible expansion of convenient high-calorie/large portion food options expands at both restaurants and our grocery stores (see the Deli counter). Diet pills will never solve the problem. So, we're stuck with no end in site to our obesity epedimic. New studies every year to show the growing obesity rates are not needed. It's easy, just guess. It'll be a couple of points higher.
According to researchers some birth control methods, such as the pill, might be less effective in obese women, while others, such as those given using a shot, might work just as well.
Another study with highly predictable outcomes. Obesity effects hormone/estrogen levels in women. We know that from lots of studies regarding various issues. Doesn't it stand to reason that birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives aren't going to work as well on those who are obese and unhealthy?
More weight may equal less brainpower. For every extra point gained on a scale of obesity, scores in reasoning, memory and other mental skills fell, Dr. Diana Kerwin of Northwestern University in Chicago and colleagues found.
Anyone else ever notice that all the skinny, nerdy kids were the smart ones? Seriously, once again another study that confirms the obvious that living healthy is just as good for your mind as it is for your body. And whoever suggested your brain wasn't part of your body anyway?
State Obesity Rates for Adults
1. Mississippi 33.8%
2. Alabama 31.6%
3. Tennessee 31.6%
4. West Virginia 31.3%
5. Louisiana 31.2%
6. Oklahoma 30.6%
7. Kentucky 30.5%
8. Arkansas 30.1%
9. South Carolina 29.9%
10. North Carolina 29.4%
10. Michigan 29.4%
12. Missouri 29.3%
13. Ohio 29.0%
13. Texas 29.0%
15. South Dakota 28.5%
16. Kansas 28.2%
17. Pennsylvania 28.1%
17. Georgia 28.1%
17. Indiana 28.1%
20. Delaware 27.9%
21. North Dakota 27.7%
22. Iowa 27.6%
23. Nebraska 27.3%
24. Alaska 26.9%
24. Wisconsin 26.9%
26. Illinois 26.6%
26. Maryland 26.6%
28. Washington 26.3%
29. Maine 25.8%
29. Arizona 25.8%
31. Nevada 25.6%
32. Virginia 25.5%
32. Minnesota 25.5%
32. New Mexico 25.5%
35. New Hampshire 25.4%
36. New York 25.1%
36. Florida 25.1%
36. Idaho 25.1%
39. Oregon 25.0%
39. Wyoming 25.0%
41. California 24.4%
42. New Jersey 23.9%
43. Montana 23.5%
44. Utah 23.2%
45. Rhode Island 22.9%
46. Vermont 22.8%
47. Hawaii 22.6%
48. Massachusetts 21.7%
49. D.C. 21.5%
50. Connecticut 21.4%
51. Colorado 19.1%
Some obvious trends here: all the states at the bottom of this list with lower obesity rates are either western mountain states where outdoor leisure activities are most accessible and highly urbanized states where walking is required to either destination or mass transit busses and trains. All the states at the top are southern states with low, predominently sedentary lifestyles. Want to lose weight? Move to a state where people are more active.
Danish study suggests that men who are obese by age 20 die eight years earlier on average than their non-obese peers, scientists said Tuesday. The research concluded that the risk of premature death in already obese men increased 10 percent for every point surpassing the healthy BMI of 25.
This one is patronizingly obvious. When the percentage of people who lose significant weight and never gain it back is like 1 in 500 people (.2%), it stands to reason those who are obese at age 20 will be obese their entire lives. Obese people have many more health problems and live shorter lives. No study needed for that conclusion.
Biking for as little as five minutes a day can help women minimize weight gain as they enter middle age, a new study suggests.
Really?
I'm sure we can all look forward to tomorrow's obvious and common-sense headlines...