Sleepless nights linked to obesity in children

www.guardian.co.uk

By Alok Jha

Scientists have found that getting a good night's sleep reduces a child's chances of being obese.

Every additional hour of sleep a night a child gets at the age of eight or nine reduces the risk of obesity at the age of 11 or 12 by 40%.

Julie Lumeng of the University of Michigan, who led the research, said that getting more than nine hours 45 minutes of sleep lowered the chances of obesity in later life significantly.

"Many children aren't getting enough sleep, and that lack of sleep may not only be making them moody or preventing them from being alert and ready to learn at school, it may also be leading to a higher risk of being overweight," said Dr Lumeng. The study appears in this month's issue of the journal, Pediatrics.

Though scientists are not certain how sleep would directly affect a child's weight, Dr Lumeng said well-rested children may be more energetic and more likely to go out and play, rather than lying around watching TV. Tired children may seek out food when they become irritable or moody, she added.

According to Eve Van Cauter, an endocrinologist at the University of Chicago who was not involved in the new research, lack of sleep can disrupt the production of two hormones involved in regulating appetite.

Her own experiments show that sleep-deprived adults produced more ghrelin, a hormone that promotes hunger, and less leptin, a hormone that signals fullness.

Dr Lumeng's team analysed details of sleep, height and weight of 785 children when they were eight and again when they were 11. The children came from 10 US cities and were part of a larger federal study. On average, the eight-year-olds got about nine-and-a-half hours' sleep but some slept as little as seven hours and others as much as 12.

Of the children that slept 10-12 hours a night, 12% were obese by the time they were 11. Of those that slept less than nine hours at eight, 22% were obese a few years later. The research team controlled their experiment for other obesity risk factors, such as the children's body mass index when younger, but acknowledged that the parents' weight and behaviour - which may also have an influence on a child's weight - had not been taken into account.

Jodi Mindell ,of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's sleep centre , said there were many reasons for encouraging good sleep habits, such as success in school. "I don't want parents to think, 'If I get her to sleep, she's not going to be overweight'. I think this is a small piece in the picture."

Dr Lumeng's study concluded: "Our findings also provide additional support for policies that propose later school start-times. The very early school start-times for US adolescents have raised concerns in the paediatric community because of their apparent adverse impact on sleep duration and, consequently, children's general academic and behavioural functioning."

Cocktails of alcohol and energy drinks a dangerous combo

www.news-medical.net

According to new research mixing energy drinks with alcohol is a dangerous combination.

A new study, involving more than 4,000 students, has found that drinking cocktails of alcohol and energy drinks doubles the risk of clubbers getting hurt or being taken advantage of sexually.

Energy drinks such as Red Bull, Irn-Bru 32 and Lucozade, often contain high levels of caffeine and other ingredients, and mixing them with alcohol has become a popular way of boosting energy levels in order to keep dancing all night.

The researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Centre in the United States, questioned 4,271 college students about their drinking habits and the consequences.

It was found that of those who had drunk alcohol in the previous 30 days, a quarter (24 per cent) said they had consumed energy cocktails; when their behaviour was compared with students who did not mix alcohol and energy drinks, the group were twice as likely to be hurt or injured after drinking, twice as likely to need medical attention and twice as likely to travel with a drunken driver.

This group also faced double the risk of either taking sexual advantage of someone else, or being taken advantage of themselves.

The cocktails also seemed to affect the amount they drank as in a typical drinking session, those on mixed drinks drank up to 36 per cent more than the other students and also reported twice as many episodes of weekly drunkenness.

Dr Mary Claire O'Brien, lead researcher for the study, says they knew anecdotally that college students mix energy drinks and alcohol in order to drink more, and to drink longer.

But Dr O'Brien says they were surprised that the risk of serious and potentially deadly consequences is so much higher for those who mix energy drinks with alcohol.

According to Dr O'Brien mixing caffeine (a stimulant) with alcohol (a depressant) equates to "getting into a car and stepping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time".

She says students whose motor skills, visual reaction times, and judgment are impaired by alcohol may not perceive that they are intoxicated as readily when they're also ingesting a stimulant, as while the symptoms of drunkenness are reduced the drunkenness is not.

Dr O'Brien says some energy drinks contain as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine and has called for students to be informed of the risks of mixing alcohol with energy drinks.

Experts say there is currently very little information on the consequences of mixing alcohol with energy drinks and young people, need clear guidance on what impact different levels of drinking can have.

Energy drinks often contain a mixture of ingredients, such as caffeine, vitamins and herbs and products such as guarana, ginseng and ginkgo biloba; many also have high levels of sugar to help boost energy levels.

But caffeine remains the main energy-boosting ingredient, with an average energy-drink containing about the same amount as a small cup of coffee; about 65 per cent of energy-drink users are under the age of 35.

There has been criticism over the potential health effects of drinking large amounts of caffeine and France has banned the sale of the popular Red Bull brand following the death of an 18-year-old who played basketball shortly after consuming several cans of the drink; an inquest ruled that he died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) limits caffeine to 65 milligrams per serving of a food or beverage but as energy drinks are currently not regulated by the FDA, they can contain as much as 300 milligrams of caffeine in a single serving.

Dr O'Brien was speaking at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Washington DC.

Adults With Diabetes Doing Better Prevention Job

health.usnews.com

U.S. studies show they're keeping good track of daily blood sugar levels, while avoiding heart disease

Fewer American adults with diabetes are developing cardiovascular disease, and more of them are closely monitoring their blood sugar levels, according to new U.S. government research released Thursday.

Two U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies, published in the CDC's weekly journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, delivered the good news on the first day of National Diabetes Awareness Month.

One study of diabetes patients aged 35 and older found that the self-reported prevalence of cardiovascular disease decreased by more than 11 percent between 1997 and 2005. Cardiovascular disease among black adults with diabetes, who tend to have higher diabetes rates than whites or Hispanics, decreased by more than 25 percent during the period.

The study also found a 14 percent reduction (31.1 percent to 26.7 percent) in self-reported cardiovascular disease among adults ages 35 to 64 with diabetes. This age group accounts for the majority of all new diagnosed cases of diabetes among adults.

The overall decrease may be due to declining rates of such cardiovascular disease risk factors as smoking, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, along with increased use of such preventive treatments as daily aspirin, said the researchers, who analyzed self-reported data from the National Health Interview Survey.

Heart disease and stroke account for about 65 percent of deaths in people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die of heart disease than adults without diabetes.

"While the trends in this report are very encouraging, it is important that we continue to take steps to help prevent and control diabetes, which will also aid in the fight against cardiovascular disease," study lead author Nilka Burrows, of the CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, said in a prepared statement.

The second study found that adults with diabetes who checked their blood glucose levels at least once a day increased by more than 22 percent between 1997 and 2006.

An analysis of data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance system revealed that more than 63 percent of adults with diabetes checked their blood glucose at least once daily in 2006, surpassing the 61 percent goal outlined in the federal government's Healthy People 2010 program.

Control of blood glucose is critical for managing diabetes and preventing diabetes-related complications such as heart disease, foot and leg amputation, and retinopathy, which can lead to blindness, researchers noted.

"People are taking better advantage of a tool that can aid in making critical decisions about how to treat their diabetes. Continued education about diabetes self-management can help ensure that people have the knowledge to continue -- or start -- taking steps to prevent or control diabetes," study lead author Liping Pan said in a prepared statement.

In 2005, according to CDC statistics, approximately 21 million persons in the United States had diabetes.

Keep slim or risk cancer

Report ties meat, body fat to cancer

www.guardian.co.uk

Even people of a healthy weight should slim if they want to reduce their risk of developing cancer, a landmark study advised today.

Everyone should aim to be as slim as possible without being underweight, said the World Cancer Research Fund.

Its analysis of 40 years of international research into the links between lifestyle and cancer also advised that people should not eat processed meat, such as ham and bacon, gain no weight after 21 years of age, and avoid drinking alcohol.

The researchers found "convincing" evidence that excess body fat can cause six different types of common cancers, including those of the breast, bowel and pancreas.

They said that to enjoy maximum protection against cancer everyone should be at the lower end of the healthy weight range.

Sir Michael Marmot, who chaired the expert panel, said: "We are recommending that people aim to be as lean as possible within the healthy range, and that they avoid weight gain throughout adulthood.

"This might sound difficult, but this is what the science is telling us more clearly than ever before. The fact is that putting on weight can increase your cancer risk, even if you are still within the healthy range.

"So the best advice for cancer prevention is to avoid weight gain, and if you are already overweight then you should aim to lose weight."

People with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 are considered to be within a healthy weight range. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.9 are considered "overweight", while anyone with a 30+ rating is classified as clinically obese.

But the study said the risk of cancer rises as people get nearer to a BMI of 25 and everyone should try to be as close to the lower end of the weight range as possible.

The researchers said body fat was a key factor in the development of cancer, claiming that its links to cancer are much stronger than generally realised.

The report is based on an analysis of 7,000 cancer studies published since the 1960s, and includes recommendations from a panel of 21 world-renowned scientists.

The report concludes there is strong evidence that excess body fat is a trigger for cancers of the oesophagus, pancreas, bowel, kidney, the lining of the womb, and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.

The survey also links diet to the risk of developing certain cancers, particularly those of the bowel.

The researchers particularly warned against eating processed meat, including ham, bacon, pastrami, salami, and frankfurters.

The study also found a strong link between eating red meat and colorectal cancer and recommend that people consume no more than 500g of cooked red meat a week.

All alcoholic drinks should be avoided to protect against cancer, but the study acknowledged that modest consumption was said to have a protective benefit for heart disease. Alcohol was particularly linked to mouth, oesophagus and breast cancers.

Mothers are advised to breastfeed exclusively for six months and to continue with complementary breastfeeding after that to protect against breast cancer and "probably" protect their child against obesity later in life. The most recent data shows that in 2004 nearly a quarter of men and women in England were obese, as well as 10% of girls and 8% of boys aged under 20.

A government report published earlier this month warned that if trends continue some 60% of UK men, 50% of women and a quarter of all children could be clinically obese by 2050.

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