Research has shown several factors that make it more likely for your child to become overweight or obese: Mother or father are overweight Mother was overweight before she became pregnant Parents who smoke or being exposed to others who smoke Mother smoked during pregnancy The child was overweight before age 3 Obesity is a family disease.  Genetic factors as well as early childhood factors make it more or less likely that a child will become overweight or obese. As always, the focus should be on the family.  What can your family do to improve your child’s chances of being a healthy weight?  Always practice what you preach. Eating more fruits ...Read more »

When looking at individuals born between 1976-1985 and those born 1966-1975, 20% were obese by 20-29 years of age.  Comparing this to older generations, individuals born between 1946-55 were 30-39 years of age before reaching the 20% level of obesity; those born 1956-65 were 40-49.  For individuals born between 1936-45, they didn’t reach prevalence of obesity before age 50-59. So our kids are becoming obese at younger ages.  Therefore, they will have a lifetime of struggling with their weight. What can parents do? MODEL healthy eating.  You can’t tell your children what to eat if you continue to eat poorly. Exercise together as a family even if its just going ...Read more »

Walking just two hours per week can reduce your risk of stroke by 30% or more.  The lead researcher stated: “We found that increasing physical activity including brisk walking was protective against stroke, especially ischemic stroke, in middle-aged and older women,” Dr. Hu said, “and in our study, the predominant form of physical activity was walking as well.” There was also a “dose-dependent” response between the amount of time spent walking and decrease in stroke risk in the Nurses’ Health Study, and walking pace “was independently associated with a lower stroke risk as well, meaning that women who walked faster had an even lower risk of developing stroke than others,” ...Read more »

A recent article reported that a diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and high-quality meat and fish may help prevent depression and anxiety.  The typical Western diet high in refined an dprocessed foods and lots of saturated fat actually may increase the risk of depression. The study was done at the University of Melbourne in Australia and found that women on the whole food diet were 30% less likely to have major depression, dysthymia and anxiety disorders compared to those on the Western diet which was associated with a 50% increase in risk for depression. Prevention is always the best medicine!