This is so sad and SHOCKING!

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Study finds obese kids have arteries like 45-year-olds’

Many overweight children and teenagers could have severe cardiovascular disease in their 20s and 30s, causing a healthcare crisis. Early identification of the problem is a key.

By Thomas H. Maugh II
November 12, 2008

The arteries of many obese children and teenagers are as thick and stiff as those of 45-year-olds, a sign that such children could have severe cardiovascular disease at a much younger age than their parents unless their condition is reversed, researchers said Tuesday.

“It’s possible that they will have heart disease in their 20s and 30s,” said Dr. Geetha Raghuveer of the University of Missouri at Kansas City, who led the study presented at a New Orleans meeting of the American Heart Assn.

“There’s a saying that ‘you’re as old as your arteries,’ meaning that the state of your arteries is more important than your actual age in the evolution of heart disease and stroke,” she said. “We found that the state of the arteries of these children is more typical of a 45-year-old than of someone their own age.”

Experts did not find the results surprising, but they did view it as “alarming.”

“We’re facing an epidemic of childhood obesity,” said Dr. Michael Schloss, co-director of the lipid treatment program at the New York University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study. “We are raising a generation of children that are going to have a significant increase in vascular disease as they get older.”
A May study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 16.3% of U.S. children and teenagers are obese and an additional 15.6% are overweight.

Raghuveer runs a preventive cardiology clinic for children who have high cholesterol levels, obesity and a family history of cardiac deaths. She and her colleagues used ultrasound imaging to measure the thickness of the inner walls of the carotid arteries on 70 children considered at risk. Read the entire article here.

 
Take care of you child’s health!

Get excited and enthusiastic about you own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away. - Denis Waitley

Fitness Motivation:

It is often said that:

“Nothing great comes without Enthusiasm”

and

I can’t agree more.

The energy you  bring into a task -

Influences the results  you reap.

And why wouldn’t you be excited?

happy?

enthused?

You are taking another step closer to your goal!

So as you continue to accomplish your dreams today -

Feel GOOD about OWNING it further…

and be enthusiastic about your actions…

Apply it to your energy.

And watch something great happen.

Love chocolate?! Wanna trim down on your diet???

THEN EXERCISE! check out this new study!

Brisk Walk Could Help Chocoholics Stop Snacking

ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2008) — Researchers at the University of Exeter have found that a walk of just fifteen minutes can reduce chocolate cravings. The benefits of exercise in helping people manage dependencies on nicotine and other drugs have previously been recognised. Now, for the first time, newly-published research shows that the same may be true for food cravings.

Following three days of abstinence, 25 regular chocolate eaters were asked to either complete a 15-minute brisk walk or rest, in a random order. They then engaged in tasks that would normally induce chocolate cravings, including a mental challenge and opening a chocolate bar.

After exercise participants reported lower cravings than after rest. Cravings were not only reduced during the walk, but for at least ten minutes afterwards. The exercise also limited increases in cravings in response to the two tasks.

Professor Adrian Taylor comments: “Our ongoing work consistently shows that brief bouts of physical activity reduce cigarette cravings, but this is the first study to link exercise to reduced chocolate cravings. Neuroscientists have suggested common processes in the reward centres of the brain between drug and food addictions, and it may be that exercise effects brain chemicals that help to regulate mood and cravings. This could be good news for people who struggle to manage their cravings for sugary snacks and want to lose weight.”

Previous research has suggested that 97% of women and 68% of men experience food cravings. Craved foods tend to be calorie-dense, fatty or sugary foods, with chocolate being the most commonly reported. Chocolate has a number of biologically active constituents that temporarily enhance our mood with a result that eating it can become a habit, particularly when we are under stress and when it is readily available, and perhaps when we are least active. read the full study here.

Gosh that looks good!!!

“I definitely love to stay active. If it gets me outside and gets me moving, then I love doing it.” - Zac Efron

“It’s about mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it don’t matter” -Unknown

Fitness Motivation:
You CHOOSE what you allow to:

hurt you.

distract you.

frustrate you…

YOU choose what matters.

In this fitness journey -

Utilize your mind

to overcome obstacles

and stay focused on the purpose

and not the problems.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!