obesity

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How should we tackle the obesity crisis and encourage weight loss?


When it come to medical education more ink or pixels seem to be spilt discussing how to combat

Obesity

Obesity

what is described as the “obesity crisis”.

There have been a wide range of different suggestions as to how obesity can be tackled and weight loss promoted.  From draconian bans to improved health education in schools.

But we want to know what you think.  We have a poll below which gives a number of suggestions and it would be really great if you could take part and share your views.

Please feel free to add anything you think might be of interest in the comments box below.

Thanks in advance!

 



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Fighting flab – 5 foods that help to promote weight loss


Celery and Weight Loss

Celery and Weight Loss

Wanting to lose weight is pretty much standard after the age of 40.   Indeed any form of obesity can cause complications for people with medical conditions like arthritis or heart disease.

We know that low calorie foods can help with weight loss.  But are there any types of foods which can actually help us lose weight?   PatientTalk decided to investigate. And we have to say the results are fascinating.

There are, it seems, a number of food stuffs which can assist in weight loss.

  • Beans.  Not just are beans low in fat but they contain cholecystokinin which is a naturally occurring appetite suppressant.    And they can help low your cholesterol as well.
  • White tea. The antioxidants in white tea may well speed up your metabolism thus promoting weight loss.  For other benefits have a look at our previous blog on white tea – https://patienttalk.org/?p=365
  • Celery. Not only does eating raw celery use up as many calories as are in the celery it also raises your body’s metabolism.  And it is great in Italian food.
  • Chillies – capsaicinone, the active ingredients in peppers, helps suppress your appetite.
  • Pears. Recent research suggests that the pectin fibre found in pears lowers blood sugar levels, which in turn, decreases the desire to snack between meals.

In fact there are loads of other foods which look like they can help us all fight the flab.

If you have any that you have found effective please let us know about them in the comments box below.  If you have any recipes feel free to share.

Thanks in advance.


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What methods have you used to help you lose weight? Take our new poll

Obesity

Obesity

Diet, surgery, exercise and medications have all been used to promote weight loss.

In this poll we are trying to find out what methods our readers have used.

Please take the poll below to let us know. Feel free to use the comments box to tell about what has worked for you!

Many thanks in advance



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National Childhood Obesity Awareness Week

childhood obesity1-7th July 2013 is National Childhood Obesity Awareness Week.  At PatientTalk.Org we thought we would use this opportunity to help raise awareness of childhood obesity and, at the same time, spark a discussion of how it might be combatted by our readers.

Firstly a few facts which we think you might find surprising.  According to the US Government’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention childhood obesity has doubled in the last thirty years.  In fact by 2010 18% of children aged between 6-11 could be classified as obese.  The same figure applies to teenagers in America.  You can check out the CDC’s web site for more information http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm.

So how does this present a health problem?  Well in the short term obese children have an increased risk of high cholesterol or high blood pressure among various cardiovascular conditions.  Diabetes and pre-diabetes is also a worry.  Until recently a person under 18 developing Type 2 diabetes was considered a rarity but this is no longer so.  Sleep apnea is also a problem for younger people.  To find out more about sleep apnea please have a look at https://patienttalk.org/?p=421.

In the long term the CDC notes that children with obesity are likely to become adults with obesity.  This means they will run an increased risk of “heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis”.

This, of course, leads us to the crux of the matter- how might we end the epidemic of childhood obesity?  There have been a large number of suggestions made by government and healthcare providers.  These vary from banning “fast food” outlets in close proximity to schools, encouraging more structured family dining and improved medical education in schools.

But would these ideas work?  It’s a tough question and we would be very keen to hear you thoughts in the comment box below.  In particular it would be great if you could think about the following questions in your responses:-

  • Do you have direct experience of childhood obesity?  If so can you tell us a bit more?
  • What do you think are the long term effects of childhood obesity?
  • And most importantly how can childhood obesity be tackled?

Thanks very much in advance for your comments.

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Gastric bands and obesity -Have you ever had a gastric band to help you lose weight?

Obesity

Obesity

Welcome to our new blog on the subject of gastric bands and obesity.  The aim of this blog is to encourage people who have had gastric bands to share their experiences with people who might be considering such bariatric surgery.

Over the last few years bariatric surgery (weight loss) has become far more common as a strategy to fight obesity.

So how does a gastric band work?  Actually the principle of the gastric band is very simple.  It involves the surgical implant of a band which reduces the size of the stomach.  This means that a person who has had a gastric band feels full more quickly than before and will eat less and this will lead to weight loss.


To help our readers understand what it is like to have a gastric band we would love it if you could share your experiences here on the blog.  Anything you have to say about weight loss surgery will be really useful but you might want to think about the following questions:-

  1. Have you had a gastric band?  If so what was the surgery like and how successful was the operation?
  2. If you have not had a gastric band would you ever considering having the implant?
  3. What other strategies have you used to lose weight?  How successful were they?
  4. Would you recommend the operation to other people?

Please feel free to use the comments box below to share you thoughts and experiences about weight loss surgery.  Please feel free to include any links which you think other readers may find of interest.

Many thanks in advance