Health News
The adage "birds of a feather flock together" seems to apply when it comes to the obesity, with a study concluding that overweight people tend to befriend others who are overweight. Obesity also tends to run in families, with obese parents raising obese children, research-reporting service Newswise reports.
- More Overweight Teens Don't Consider Themselves Fat; The Problem Is That They Compare Themselves To Those Around Them
Another study has found that overweight teens in the U.S. don't realize they are overweight, and this lack of self-awareness has gotten worse in the past decade, Roberto A. Ferdman reports for The Washington Post The study, at Georgia State University,...
- Kentucky Ranks Fifth In Obesity And Its High-schoolers Rank First
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Obesity and health problems go hand in hand, and Kentuckians are known for both. Kentucky now has the fifth highest adult obesity rate in the nation, up from ninth last year, and Kentucky's high-school students...
- Child Obesity Persists Among The Poor And Less Educated; Early-life Factors Also Matter; Kentucky's Rate Is High
Although youth obesity has become slightly less prevalent, most of the improvement has been restricted to children in families with higher salaries and educations, according to a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government analysis by Robert...
- Parents Should Walk The Walk, Not Just Talk The Talk, When It Comes To Healthy Eating And Exercise, Study Shows
A new study highlights the influential role parents have in shaping their children's eating and exercise habits. Children of mothers who encourage them to exercise and eat well, while doing likewise themselves, are more likely to be active and healthy...
- The World Is Getting Fatter, But Kentucky's Rate Of Obesity Is Two And A Half Times The World Rate
Take no solace from The Economist, which proclaims in its yearly analysis-and-prognostication issue that this is the year world leaders will take on worldwide obesity because, writes Charlotte Howard, "they will realize something must be done." So,...
Health News
Overweight people tend to cluster with those who are likewise
The adage "birds of a feather flock together" seems to apply when it comes to the obesity, with a study concluding that overweight people tend to befriend others who are overweight. Obesity also tends to run in families, with obese parents raising obese children, research-reporting service Newswise reports.The Arizona State University study didn't conclude why obese people tend to "cluster," but did provide "some important information about trends in obesity and the public health implications," said Dian and Tom Grisel, who wrote TurboCharged: Accelerate Your Fat Burning Metabolism, Get Lean Fast and Leave Diet and Exercise Rules in the Dust.
"Obese families and friends usually have two things in common: food choices and activity levels or more accurately, lack of activity. Obese parents tend to raise obese children. Obese family and friends hang out and eat the same kinds of detrimental foods and participate in the same kinds of detrimental habits," the Griesels said.
That has serious implications for Kentucky, which has the sixth highest obesity rate in the country. More than 67 percent of adult Kentuckians are either obese or overweight and Kentucky was one of just six states whose obesity rate has increased two years in a row, the recently-release report "F as in Fat" found.
Though people may tend to find others who are like-minded when it comes to food, that doesn't mean they want to be overweight. "Study participants revealed that if given the choice, they would select some pretty serious diseases like alcoholism, depression or herpes instead. In fact, 25.4 percent preferred sever depression and 14.5 percent actually preferring total blindness over obesity," Newswise reports. (Read more)
- More Overweight Teens Don't Consider Themselves Fat; The Problem Is That They Compare Themselves To Those Around Them
Another study has found that overweight teens in the U.S. don't realize they are overweight, and this lack of self-awareness has gotten worse in the past decade, Roberto A. Ferdman reports for The Washington Post The study, at Georgia State University,...
- Kentucky Ranks Fifth In Obesity And Its High-schoolers Rank First
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News Obesity and health problems go hand in hand, and Kentuckians are known for both. Kentucky now has the fifth highest adult obesity rate in the nation, up from ninth last year, and Kentucky's high-school students...
- Child Obesity Persists Among The Poor And Less Educated; Early-life Factors Also Matter; Kentucky's Rate Is High
Although youth obesity has become slightly less prevalent, most of the improvement has been restricted to children in families with higher salaries and educations, according to a Harvard University Kennedy School of Government analysis by Robert...
- Parents Should Walk The Walk, Not Just Talk The Talk, When It Comes To Healthy Eating And Exercise, Study Shows
A new study highlights the influential role parents have in shaping their children's eating and exercise habits. Children of mothers who encourage them to exercise and eat well, while doing likewise themselves, are more likely to be active and healthy...
- The World Is Getting Fatter, But Kentucky's Rate Of Obesity Is Two And A Half Times The World Rate
Take no solace from The Economist, which proclaims in its yearly analysis-and-prognostication issue that this is the year world leaders will take on worldwide obesity because, writes Charlotte Howard, "they will realize something must be done." So,...