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The article deals with childhood obesity in the U.S. The prevalence of obesity among children and adults is discussed. The challenges and strategies to combat childhood obesity are given, including identification of effective interventions and policies and systems changes. Information on the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative program is presented.

Objectives: To describe child and adolescent dietary patterns and to determine associations between childhood dietary pattern and longitudinal change in body mass index (BMI) z-score among girls.Population and Methods: Healthy girls (n = 101) aged 8-12 years at baseline and 11-19 years at follow-up participated in a longitudinal study of growth and development. Participants kept 7-day dietary records at two points in time. We incorporated time of day, frequency, and amount of energy consumed (defined as percentage of total energy consumed per dietary event) when characterizing dietary patterns.Results: Girls ate an average of 4-5 times per day and consumed most energy in the afternoon and in the evening/night, rather than in the morning. After controlling for baseline BMI, the mean percentage of daily energy consumed in the evening/night was positively associated with change in BMI z-score (P = 0.039). Eating between 4.0 and 5.9 times per day overall and no more than 1.9 times in the evening/night daily were negatively associated with change in BMI z-score (P = 0.002 and 0.047, respectively), after controlling for baseline BMI z-score.Discussion: Recommendations to decrease the percentage of energy coming from the evening/night meal and the number of dietary events to no more than six times per day and two times in the evening/night should be evaluated in future longitudinal investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels and their relationship to isohaemagglutinins, febrile agglutinins, sheep cell agglutinins, and rheumatoid factor were measured in patients with acute hepatitis A. acute hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis B antigenaemia, and normal control populations. Significant IgM elevations were observed in both types of acute hepatitis, but not in chronic hepatitis B antigenaemia. There was no correlation of the IgM level with either the prevalence or titre of any IgM-mediated immune response studied. These data suggest that the IgM elevations in both types of hepatitis may reflect virus-specific IgM synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Few studies have examined the long-term effects of childhood obesity on adult disease. Nonetheless, obesity present in childhood or adolescence seems to increase the likelihood of adult morbidity and mortality. In men who were obese during adolescence, all-cause mortality and mortality from cardiovascular disease and colon cancer were increased. In both men and women obese during adolescence, rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes were increased. Among women but not men obese during adolescence, obesity has a variety of adverse psychosocial consequences. These include completion of fewer years of education, higher rates of poverty, and lower rates of marriage and household income. These effects seem related both to the persistence of obesity and to the effects of childhood or adolescent obesity on the quantity and location of body fat deposition. Approximately 50% of obese adolescents with a body mass index at or above the 95th percentile become obese adults. Furthermore, the risk factors for adult disease that are associated with obesity in children and adolescents persist into adulthood or increase in prevalence if weight gain occurs. Although both total body fat and regional fat deposition could account for the association of childhood or adolescent obesity with adult disease, no studies to date have examined cardiovascular risk factors and related them to visceral fat, controlled for total body fat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously reported that differences in fat-free mass (FFM) estimated by isotope dilution of 18O-labeled water could not fully account for lower resting metabolic rates (RMR) in old men and women compared to RMR in young men.Methods: Since age-related changes in the distribution of water between extracellular and intracellular spaces could lead to overestimation of FFM in the old, we reanalyzed our data using estimates for total body and intracellular water (TBW and ICW, respectively) derived from published equations and included data from adolescent boys and girls studied under similar conditions.Results: In both sexes, the age-related reduction in RMR remained significant after adjustment for estimated body water compartments (p < .05). While adjusted RMR differed in boys and girls (p < .0001), it did not in old men and women (p = .15).Conclusion: We conclude that aging per se reduces RMR in lean tissue, a difference which cannot be fully explained by changes in body water or its distribution. Investigators should be cautious when selecting models and equations to estimate body water compartments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes a study on adult obesity in the United States undertaken by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study assessed the prevalence of obesity by state and demographic characteristics by using data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. There was a significant increase in state-level prevalence of obesity from 1995-2005. Limitations to the study include the fact that the data was self-reported and that people without land-line telephones were not included in the study. Public health initiatives are needed to combat the prevalence of obesity in the United States.