Salt Lake Study

Do you find any link between walkways and obesity? If not, then you may be wrong. Conclusion of a study on residents of Salt Lake County in United States reveals nearly 70% of males and 61% of females are obese. The provision of walkways were found to make a huge difference in that people who stayed in areas established before 1950 were found to be fit than people who inhabited areas designed after 1950. And the finding was something interesting.

Residents that lived in the first case had enough space for walking with exclusive walkways around them, whereas the other section did not have walkways, the fact that prevented them from walking. A research team led by Dr. Ken Smith of Utah University concluded the fact. The fact that automobile developments needed a huge space as years passed by seems to be a highly contributing factor for elimination of walkways around residential areas.

Regular walking seemed to allow consistent and healthy weight maintenance in people who walked. A six foot, 200 pound man weighed 10 pounds less if he lived in an older neighborhood. A five foot five woman weighed six pounds less with a weight of 149 pounds. Mere settling in such older areas could have a health benefit, as it would motivate people to walk for their benefit. Even otherwise, beware of the fact that another study alarms on a rate of 86% obesity among US citizens around 2030.

Weight Dairies

Do your weight management in a professional way, even if you are going to carry a little more weight along with you. Are you perplexed? The negligible weight is nothing but a small diary that researchers are suggesting in which you would record the food items that you are eating and drinking.

A study involving 1,685 middle-aged men and women with average age of 55 years revealed that those who cared to keep a record of their food habits lost about twice as much weight as those who did not.

Victor Stevans of Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research in Portland who lead the study attributes the success to the fact that the participants are able to see the origin of the extra calories and then develop specific strategies to deal with the problem. The study was conducted on people from US cities Portland, Oregon; Baltimore, Maryland; Curham, North Carolina; and Baton Rouge Louisiana. Those keeping food diaries six or seven days a week lost about 18 pounds (8 kg) compared t0 9 pounds (4kg) who didn’t keep a diary.

World 'Anti-Obesity Day'

November 26 was Anti-Obesity day. It’s not a sin to be obese, but it’s no fun either. Thin roads in many places all over the world became fat filled with people that created awareness against Obesity. According to WHO statistics, 60% of US citizens and 35% of Indians are obese- the news, which is not worth enjoying. About 310 million or 31 crore people world over are excessively fat, according to figures. Public conducted rallies with placards, banners and funny dresses to spark the fire of fighting obesity. Many carried slogans against fast foods, Pizzas etc. asking public to refrain from such high calorie foods that lead to unhealthy body.

Interestingly, there seems to be a significant relationship between TV watching and Obesity, if results according to practical studies are any indications to go by. Children watching the idiot box for more than 3 hrs have the risk of 4 times suffering form Obesity than their peers who don’t watch Television for long durations. So, parents are to ensure that their children are fit as a fiddle by giving them the right food, making them play lot of games and importantly make them understand that intelligent kids stay away from the idiot box. And tell them not pester you for preserved foods and junk diets. Of course, do take care of yourselves- not to be obese. After all we have to practice before we preach.