The Social and Health Research Center (SHRC) in San Antonio, Texas, has found that overweight and obese children who live in poverty may have weight issues because they're not eating enough, and when they do eat, they consume the wrong things.

"Missing from the children's diets were four key nutrients: calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus. All play important roles, but magnesium is involved in more than 300 enzymatic reactions in the body that help to spur metabolism and cell function."

SHRC Director Dr. Roberto Trevino said that when magnesium is missing from a child's diet, it predisposes that child to diabetes. Results of the study reveal a new facet of the fight against childhood obesity and put the emphases squarely on food & nutrition. Source: Star-Telegram (TX)

Labels: dieting, nutrition, poverty

Smoking makes teenage girls fat - but it may take 10 years to happen.

A new study in the American Journal of Public Health followed more than 4,200 twins from age 16 to their mid 20s. The women in the study who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day as teenagers were 2.5 times more likely to be overweight in their twenties than were non-smoking girls. The effect did not hold true for boys.

"My hunch is that women are more likely to smoke for weight control in adolescence," said the study's lead author, Professor Sherry Pagoto of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. "When people quit, they start snacking during those times they used to be smoking."

Labels: smoking, weight_gain

McGill University in Montreal, Canada, attracts perfectionists - and staff dietician Monique Lauzon thinks that the school's high-pressure environment can cause relapses in students who have previously struggled with eating disorders.

"'It is possible [eating disorders] will develop associated with a competition over marks. Perfectionists are always looking at someone whose body is closer to perfection than one's own, and the residence environment tends to encourage that,' [Lauzon] said, adding that McGill attracts perfectionists given its high acceptance standards for prospective students."

Students - freshmen in particular - may revert back to disordered eating habits if they feel that some aspect of their academic career is out of their hands. They may not be able to control their grades, they think, but they can control their eating and weight. Source: The Muse (McGill Student Newspaper)

Labels: colleges, students

Stressful life events such as car accidents or a parent's death can mark the beginning of an eating disorder in young adults.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota found that 32 percent of young women and 20 percent of young men in their study who report three or more stressful life events also suffer from eating disorders. The study is the first phase of a three-part project from the University's Epidemiology and Community Heath division.

Katie Loth, lead author, hopes the study will raise awareness among parents and counselors who work with young people. "People are aware of these life events," she said, "but they are not always aware of how people are coping with them.

Labels: causes of eating disorders, stress, trauma

A small study of anorexic girls found that the eating disorder might cause abnormalities in bone structure and density.

Researchers from Harvard Medical School used computer tomography (CT) scans, instead of x-rays, for the new study. They compared the bone scans of ten anorexic girls ages 10 to 18 years old with those of ten age-matched girls who didn't have the disorder. The anorexic group showed changes not only in bone density, but also in structure.

"Adolescence is the most critical period for growth of bone mass, and the onset of anorexia interferes with that process," said Miriam A. Bredella, M.D., musculoskeletal radiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School. "Impairment of bone development may permanently alter bone structure and increase the risk of fractures and osteoporosis in adult life."

Anorexia is an eating disorder characterized by fears about gaining weight and consequently over-dieting to the point of starvation. Anorexics think of themselves as fat even when they are dangerously thin. The disorder affects about one percent of all young women and teenage girls.

Labels: anorexia, bone_density, bone_loss

Students at the University of New Hampshire are working to dispel the media-propagated myths and misconceptions about beauty by participating in Mind/Body Dialogues. The dialogues begin as a scripted play, but end in an open question-and-answer session.

"The event illuminated some startling statistics while sharing a number of poignant experiences related to body issues. In a survey conducted at UNH in 2001 aimed at finding where UNH stands on body issues, 25 percent of students had symptoms of eating disorders and over half the people surveyed said they knew people with eating disorders."

Those who attended the event felt empowered by the play, but more so by the discussion that followed. The Mind/Body Dialogues have been performed twice so far, and organizers are planning a third for the upcoming semester. Source: The New Hampshire (UNH)

Labels: beauty, media_influences, myths

Susan Barry knows all too well that eating disorders don't affect only girls and women. Her son died of anorexia at the age of 22.

"About 10 percent of the eight million people in the United States who have an eating disorder are men, though many of them go undiagnosed and suffer in silence, according to Judy Teffer of the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders."

Awareness of male anorexia is on the rise, thanks in large part to people like Barry who are willing to share their experiences. Barry currently writing a book about her son's battle with anorexia and poor body image, which started when he was in the eighth grade. Source: The Flint (MI) Journal

Labels: diagnosis, men, support