According to the latest information published by the Endocrine Society it is now believed that children who are obese as young as 7 years of age are increasing their risk of heart attacks and cardiovascular problems significantly in the future.

This latest study shows clearly that the unhealthy consequences of excess body fat start very early according to Nelly Mauras, MD, of Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida and senior author of the entire study.

This study has managed to show that obesity in these young children makes them as adults far more susceptible to cardiovascular problems in the future. Than children who are not obese in childhood.

These findings help if any confirmation was infact needed that Michelle Obama’s childhood obesity initiative is needed far sooner than later and indeed the future of child hood weight control should be of paramount importance to all parents.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors that raise the risk of developing heart disease, stroke and diabetes which is becoming more prevalent in adults and it is now being increasingly diagnosed in children as being overweight becomes a greater problem for the whole population.

Although debate exists as to its exact definition, to receive a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, one must have at least three of the following characteristics: increased waist circumference (abdominal fat), low HDL (”good”) cholesterol, high triglycerides (fats in the blood), high blood pressure and high blood glucose (blood sugar).

The research team wanted to know if obesity could raise cardiovascular disease risk prior to the onset of the metabolic syndrome in children and the results were quite shocking and without going in to specifics showed there was a far greater risk in obese and overweight children than those who were not.

One interesting factor the study revealled when looking for suitable candidates to use was that generally parents which were obese and showed at least some of the signs of metabolic disorder were more likely to have children with similar traits.

Whilst up until now doctors have suspected a causal link between obese adults this has not been believed to be the case
in such young children and the indications are that obese children are 10 times more likely to suffer adult cardiovascular problems.

I would like all readers of this blog to encourage your children to exercise more and eat less and if you have any concerns contact me through the blog and I will try and at least point you in the right direction. Don’t forget to check out my new site at Teenage Obesity.

Related articles by Childhood Obesity

• Childhood obesity alone may increase risk of later cardiovascular disease (scienceblog.com)
• Obesity Drives Hypertension Epidemic in the Young (drsharma.ca)
• Young adults at risk of cardiovascular disease (parentcentral.ca)
• Health At Every Size (slog.thestranger.com)

Kourtney Kardashian has opened a can of worms with her latest Twittering when she openly admitted that her photo’s showing losing weight after pregnancy with baby Mason were airbrushed (photoshopped).

If you read the article in OK magazine you would have been led to believe that Kourtney Kardashian had an exclusive interview and photo shoot with OK magazine but she tells a very different story and begs the question how much of what we read and see in these glossies is telling the whole truth.

The cover on Life and Style magazine tells a completely different story to the clearly altered images in OK and it worries me that far more doctoring of pictures is giving women like you and me unrealistic goals and expectations when we try to lose weight.

What It also brings in to question is how credible are any claims made in celebrity endorsements when clearly they are easily misquoted and it seems now shrunken at the touch of the artists digital pen.

We should start a campaign for all photo’s in magazines to be genuine and only edited for photographic reasons not blatant misrepresentation.

Other Bloggers Thoughts On Kourtney Kardashian And Weight Loss

• Kourtney Kardashian: OK! Photoshopped My Post-Baby Body (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• The “Baby Weight” Obsession: Officially Out Of Control [Weighty Matters] (jezebel.com)

Have you ever brought one of those celebrity fitness and weight loss DVD’s and thought wow his has got to work just like they say because I know this celebrity and I can trust everything they say. They wouldn’t lie to me would they?

Well I read a recent article in UK newpaper which might remind you that not every thing you see is true and maybe just maybe you are being mislead…

We have all seen them those fitness and weight loss DVD’s that say you can get fit while exercising in your own home after all who needs all that blood, sweat and tears in the gym when bouncing up and down at home to some popular piece of music a few minutes a day would be so much more refined for a lady.

If you are not one who has fallen for the lure of the DVD workout with celebrities this might just make you rethink things if you are ever tempted by the lure of the celebrity endorsed workout?

According to popular soap opera star Ricky Groves (who until recently was seen in the UK top soap Eastenders) his wife Hannah Waterman who had become a little bigger than usual was approached by Universal Pictures to lose the weight BEFORE they made the video. (sounds a bit unlikley but lets go with it for now. Bear in mind they are getting divorced)

She was then given a diet and exercise regimen for 5 months during which time she lost a total of about 42 pounds now she is is lean and mean and a size US 4.In fact some would say she is really horribly skinny and looks twice her age but that is just being mean.

But hold a minute aren’t we lead to believe this miracle transformation has taken place following the instructions on the video where as reality she has had five months to lose 2lb a week (on average) some how that doesn’t seem quite as impressive and certainly not quite a gruelling a challenge as she and many before would have us believe.

So maybe next time you are considering purchasing a celebrity exercise video you might want to think to yourself am I being told the whole truth here. Hm…

Food for thought perhaps?

Related articles by Zemanta

• How Hannah Waterman Lost Three Stone in Five Months (losethattyre.co.uk)
• New Year, New You? : Thousands of Women Turning to Adultery for “Self-Improvement” (uk.prweb.com)

Sexy Kelly Brook reveals that contrary to popular belief she does not diet and eats pretty much the same foods has her England rugby playing boyfriend.

But before you start to think this means everyone should be eating like a sports star lets consider what this might mean reading between the lines.

First of all Kelly has not secumbed to the lure of the plastic surgeons knife so she is the shape she is because God intended her to be that way.

Plus at the moment she is on a Dance Tour with the UK equivalent of “So You Think You Can Dance” and we all know that one sure fire way to burn away the calories is expending energy with an exercise like dancing.

Then looking at what she eats …

She avoids fast food and prefers to cook herself and if her latest victory against Gordon Ramsey in the F Word (a popular UK TV show) where she cooked suffed peppers is anythingto go by she isn’t a bad cook either.

One of the best ways to start to reduce your weight is to stop picking up fast food and start to cooking for yourself and your family. If some one as busy as Kelly Brook can find time so can you?