Visceral fat puts them at greater risk of health problems

Older adults who are depressed are twice as likely to gain visceral fat, or fat around their organs, than people of the same age who aren’t depressed, a study in the Archives of General Psychiatry reports. People in their 70s were involved in the study, conducted at Wake Forest. Researchers say there may be a biological link between state of mind and state of body, at least when it comes to where fat collects. This type of fat is most commonly seen in the form of belly fat, and it increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Motor skills in youth may predict fitness as teen

Kids that have better object control skills tend to be the most physically fit teenagers, according to research from Australia. Elementary school students were tested with such tasks as kicking, catching and throwing a ball, as well as locomotor skills. Six years later the participants were asked to run laps as a measure of cardiovascular fitness. Both boys and girls who’d scored the highest on the early tests were able to run an average of six more laps than the kids with the worst performance earlier in life. Researchers say object control skills are useful in most sports, so it may be that kids who have such skills are fit because they’re more involved in sports than those who lack such skills.

Obese kids may be damaging their thyroids

In a viscous cycle of weight gain, researchers from Italy report that obese kids may be causing damage to their thyroids, which ultimately will make it more difficult for them to lose weight. Inflammation caused by obesity may damage the gland, which regulates metabolism, they say in a report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. Researchers found that changes in thyroid structure and function were common among the 186 kids they tested for three years, and while many had inflamed-looking thyroids, they did not have the antibodies for an autoimmune disorder that typically causes that sort of damage.

FDA announces two diet supplement recalls

Two dietary supplement makers have voluntarily recalled their products thanks to undisclosed ingredients. Fashion Sanctuary recalled Zhen De Shou Fat Loss Capsules because the capsules contained undisclosed sibutramine, which is approved as an appetite suppressant for weight loss but can dangerously increase blood pressure and heart rate, making it unsafe for people with a history of heart problems. And Balanced Health Products is recalling its StarCaps supplements for undeclared bumetanide, a diuretic available by prescription only. The drug can cause extreme water and electrolyte loss that may lead to low blood pressure and fainting. It’s also the ingredient that has gotten some NFL players in trouble since it is a banned substance thought to mask steroid use in the league.

Nestle denies report of melamine in Saudi Arabia

Finally, Saudi Arabia food and drug officials are reporting that a batch of milk powder made at a Nestle plant in China has melamine in it, but Nestle denies it, saying none of its products anywhere in the world have unsafe levels of melamine or are in any way unsafe to consume. Nonetheless Nestle has agreed to withdraw the product in question pending further testing. The country also pegged a chocolate made in Malaysia as having unsafe levels of melamine, and they have tested 52 different milk powder products made in China or other places where high levels of melamine have been found. None of them were for consumption by infants.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008 and is filed under Childhood obesity, Diet pills, drugs, supplements and devices, Exercise and fitness, Food safety, Foreign stories (non-U.S.), Kids and families, Nibbles: diet news shorts. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.