Poor, older teenagers are more likely to be overweight than their well-off counterparts.
That's the conclusion of a new study that found the prevalence of overweight was more than 50 percent higher in older teens living below the poverty line, compared to those living above the poverty line. However, the study found no association between poverty and overweight in younger teens - those between the ages of 12 and 14.
The study also looked for important factors that might contribute to teen overweight, and concluded that physical inactivity, increasing consumption of sweetened beverages and skipping breakfast were important forces, especially in poorer communities.
50% More likely to be overweight
"Those who live in poverty are about 50 percent more likely to be overweight compared to those not living in poverty," said the study's lead author, Richard Miech, an associate professor in the department of mental health at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.
"Not only that, but one of our key findings is that this difference has emerged recently. In the '70s and '80s, there was no difference at all," said Miech.
The study findings appear in the May 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Numbers are swelling
The number of overweight American teens has risen dramatically over the past 30 years. And, the number of adolescents considered overweight has more than doubled in that time period, according to the study.
With the rise in the prevalence of overweight, health-care professionals are concerned that diseases such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and sleep apnoea will also dramatically increase and begin to affect younger and younger people.
How the research was conducted
To get a better idea of how many teens are overweight and what populations are most at risk, the researchers pooled data from four different nationally representative surveys - the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) from 1971-1974, 1976-1980, 1988-1994 and 1999-2004.
The four surveys included more than 10 000 children between the ages of 12 and 17. Information was gathered on height, weight, physical activity, dietary habits and socio-economic status.
The researchers used US Census Bureau data to assess poverty level status. As an example, in 2004, a family of four with an income of less than $19,157 was considered to be living in poverty.
Clear differences in older teens
The researchers didn't find any significant difference in the prevalence of overweight in young teens (12-14) based on income levels. However, the difference was clear in older teens (15-17). The rate of overweight in older adolescents from poor families was 23 percent, compared to only 14 percent for older teens from more affluent areas.
Some factors that may influence that difference, according to the researchers, are sedentary lifestyles, skipping breakfast and drinking sweetened drinks, such as energy drinks, soda and fruit juices.
"In the past 10 years, the percent of calories that adolescents get from sweetened beverages has increased by 20 percent, and particularly among the poor," Miech said.
He said the recent voluntary withdrawal of soft drinks from schools is a step in the right direction, but added that schools and parents need to do more to encourage physical activity.
Exercise is essential
Cathy Nonas, a registered dietician and director of the diabetes and obesity programs at North General Hospital in New York City, agreed that physical activity is essential.
"Kids often end up with less gym time, to have more class time, so they can test better. We're trying so hard to get math and English scores up that we're destroying their health," said Nonas. "We're creating an environment for our children that is very unhealthy."
Plus, she added, in urban areas, the problem is compounded because there often isn't room for fields or gyms.
She recommends walking as much as possible, and added that the whole family should be walking. Additionally, she suggests that when teens are listening to music, they shouldn't just listen passively, but get up and dance.
Both Nonas and Miech said eating breakfast is important, and that numerous studies have shown that skipping breakfast can contribute to excess weight. Nonas said if you don't have time to sit down to a bowl of cereal and a piece of fruit, grab a high-fibre, high-protein nutrition bar that's low in sugar.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
[Indonesia] Poverty, forgotten diseases weigh heavily
JAKARTA, May 25 (Reuters) - In a squatter settlement at the heart of central Jakarta, half a dozen Indonesian children play as a few scrawny chickens flit amongst them.
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed 33 people in Indonesia -- and as many as seven in a single family in north Sumatra this month -- but Suhadi, 71, could not be less concerned.
"I have reared chickens for the last 40 years and never been sick. We have traditional medicine and herbs," said Suhadi, who brought up his 11 children selling drinks from his ramshackle hut. He also supplements his income selling eggs and chickens.
His family kept more than 30 chickens until two months ago, when the government began cleaning up the city's backyard poultry. Although officials promised to pay 5,000 rupiah ($0.5) for every chicken turned in, Suhadi and his wife Hapsah gave most of their birds away to relatives. They are now left with six.
"I was very sad to give them away. It's always sad to see them killed because of bird flu," Hapsah said.
Since H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, experts stress the best solution is to separate poultry from people. But that is far easier said than done.
Nearly 10 years on, out of simple economic necessity, 60 percent of China's estimated 14 billion chicken population and 30 percent of Indonesia's one billion are still kept in the backyards of homes, free to roam and play with children.
"We are poor. We sell some of our chickens sometimes, and sometimes, we eat them," said Hapsah, who says an egg fetches 1,000 rupiah and a hen as much as 35,000 rupiah.
WEIGHTIER PROBLEMS IN INDONESIA
Experts are now probing if there might have been occurrences of limited human-to-human transmission in the Sumatran family cluster, the largest to date.
This has spooked financial markets even though scientific evidence has shown that the virus has not mutated into one that can spread easily among people, a necessary precursor to a pandemic possibly happening.
But in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands where more than half of the 220 million population live on less than $2 a day, there are far weightier problems to worry about.
And poverty is just one of those, as the World Health Organisation underlined.
"What I want to put into perspective," said Firdosi Mehta, the WHO's acting representative in Indonesia, "is an estimated 300 people die every day from tuberculosis, 2,000 children die every day of acute respiratory infections, 30,000 people die annually from malaria, do people even bat an eyelid?"
The country was rocked last year when polio, which had been absent for 10 years, suddenly made a comeback.
"An importation took place from Nigeria due to migrant workers, Haj travellers. It came into Indonesia, very close to Jakarta and spread to several provinces. Up till now we have 304 confirmed polio cases in the country," Mehta said.
"The routine immunisation programme was very deficient in some areas. There were pockets of unimmunised children which let the virus come in and spread widely in such a large country."
International health agencies and the government have since conducted five nationwide vaccination programmes to try to interrupt the transmission of the wild polio virus. But authorities would have to monitor for the next six months to see if the efforts are successful. (With additional reporting by Telly Nathalia)
The H5N1 bird flu virus has killed 33 people in Indonesia -- and as many as seven in a single family in north Sumatra this month -- but Suhadi, 71, could not be less concerned.
"I have reared chickens for the last 40 years and never been sick. We have traditional medicine and herbs," said Suhadi, who brought up his 11 children selling drinks from his ramshackle hut. He also supplements his income selling eggs and chickens.
His family kept more than 30 chickens until two months ago, when the government began cleaning up the city's backyard poultry. Although officials promised to pay 5,000 rupiah ($0.5) for every chicken turned in, Suhadi and his wife Hapsah gave most of their birds away to relatives. They are now left with six.
"I was very sad to give them away. It's always sad to see them killed because of bird flu," Hapsah said.
Since H5N1 made its first known jump to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, experts stress the best solution is to separate poultry from people. But that is far easier said than done.
Nearly 10 years on, out of simple economic necessity, 60 percent of China's estimated 14 billion chicken population and 30 percent of Indonesia's one billion are still kept in the backyards of homes, free to roam and play with children.
"We are poor. We sell some of our chickens sometimes, and sometimes, we eat them," said Hapsah, who says an egg fetches 1,000 rupiah and a hen as much as 35,000 rupiah.
WEIGHTIER PROBLEMS IN INDONESIA
Experts are now probing if there might have been occurrences of limited human-to-human transmission in the Sumatran family cluster, the largest to date.
This has spooked financial markets even though scientific evidence has shown that the virus has not mutated into one that can spread easily among people, a necessary precursor to a pandemic possibly happening.
But in Indonesia, a vast archipelago of 17,000 islands where more than half of the 220 million population live on less than $2 a day, there are far weightier problems to worry about.
And poverty is just one of those, as the World Health Organisation underlined.
"What I want to put into perspective," said Firdosi Mehta, the WHO's acting representative in Indonesia, "is an estimated 300 people die every day from tuberculosis, 2,000 children die every day of acute respiratory infections, 30,000 people die annually from malaria, do people even bat an eyelid?"
The country was rocked last year when polio, which had been absent for 10 years, suddenly made a comeback.
"An importation took place from Nigeria due to migrant workers, Haj travellers. It came into Indonesia, very close to Jakarta and spread to several provinces. Up till now we have 304 confirmed polio cases in the country," Mehta said.
"The routine immunisation programme was very deficient in some areas. There were pockets of unimmunised children which let the virus come in and spread widely in such a large country."
International health agencies and the government have since conducted five nationwide vaccination programmes to try to interrupt the transmission of the wild polio virus. But authorities would have to monitor for the next six months to see if the efforts are successful. (With additional reporting by Telly Nathalia)
[Somalia] Malaria Kills Dozens in Somalia Gedo Region
A number of children have been reportedly dead for malaria around Bardere district of Somalia's Gedo region and its' surroundings.
The matter is part of intensified poor health conditions in the region according reports by Shabelle correspondent in Bardhere Ahmed Omar Salihi.
Some villages under Bardhere district suffer from permanent poor health conditions since the region lacks enough health Care centres, our correspondent said.
The deadly disease of Malaria is the major cause of recent deaths in the region health sources said, adding that at least five people four of them children have been killed by malaria for the last two days.
Dr. Abdulahi Ali, a doctor in the district said that more people with Malaria are treated at the private Health centres in the town while some of them have been brought from place so far
The matter is part of intensified poor health conditions in the region according reports by Shabelle correspondent in Bardhere Ahmed Omar Salihi.
Some villages under Bardhere district suffer from permanent poor health conditions since the region lacks enough health Care centres, our correspondent said.
The deadly disease of Malaria is the major cause of recent deaths in the region health sources said, adding that at least five people four of them children have been killed by malaria for the last two days.
Dr. Abdulahi Ali, a doctor in the district said that more people with Malaria are treated at the private Health centres in the town while some of them have been brought from place so far
[Costa Rica] Poverty Causes School Exodus
Costa Rican authorities recognized poverty as key cause of school drop-outs and announced the Money Transfer Program, a subsidy to help poor children complete their studies.
Official statistics show that last year, 12 of every 100 junior high school students dropped out, while national data indicate that each year 6.8 percent of all students, 64,459 children, quit school.
Education Minister Leonardo Garnier and Minister-Dean Fernando Zumbado, of the social sector and fight against poverty, announced the project and said it will benefit 3,500 students, beginning in July.
Conditions to enjoy the subsidy include remaining three years in the same education system, to prevent moving to other schools.
Costa Rica's population of 4.1 million consists of 206, 680 poor families, 5.6 percent living in abject poverty, and 53,941 families, mostly farmers, who are destitute.
Official statistics show that last year, 12 of every 100 junior high school students dropped out, while national data indicate that each year 6.8 percent of all students, 64,459 children, quit school.
Education Minister Leonardo Garnier and Minister-Dean Fernando Zumbado, of the social sector and fight against poverty, announced the project and said it will benefit 3,500 students, beginning in July.
Conditions to enjoy the subsidy include remaining three years in the same education system, to prevent moving to other schools.
Costa Rica's population of 4.1 million consists of 206, 680 poor families, 5.6 percent living in abject poverty, and 53,941 families, mostly farmers, who are destitute.
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