Medical X-Press – Staff Writer
Physical activity has long been known to reduce depression and anxiety, and is commonly prescribed to prevent or cure negative mental health conditions. However, less is known about the impact of physical activity on positive mental health conditions, such as happiness and contentment. (more)
Medical X-Press – Marilynn Marchione
There may be a critical window for overweight kids to get to a healthy level. Those who shed their extra pounds by age 13 had the same risk of developing diabetes in adulthood as others who had never weighed too much, a large study of Danish men found. Diabetes can develop when the body can’t properly use insulin to turn food into energy. Being overweight at any age raises the chances of the most common form, Type 2. But it’s not known whether or how much that risk is reduced if people lose weight, and when. (more)
The Philadelphia Inquirer – Kimberly Garrison
A few weeks ago, an alarmed mom reached out to me with concerns about her 9-year-old daughter’s struggle with obesity and early puberty. Rightly so, this mom was desperate for solutions on how to tackle these challenges with sensitivity, consistency, intensity, and love. I could certainly empathize with this mom, because 46 years ago, I was that little 9-year-old confronted with early puberty. I can even still see the terrified look and tears in my mother’s eyes when my menses arrived way ahead of schedule, even before my 10th birthday. Being only 9, we hadn’t yet had the “talk” and I didn’t even know what it was. (more)
Medical X-Press – Staff Writer
A new study published today in the Journal of Pediatrics is the first to show that weight gain may have a negative impact on liver health in children as young as 8 years old. The study found that bigger waist circumference at age 3 raises the likelihood that by age 8, children will have markers for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. (more)
The Washington Post – Casey Seidenberg
Growing, growing, gone . . . That’s what it feels like in my house. Every time I turn around I find a boy hanging on the refrigerator door looking for more food or a boy who can’t fit his feet into the cleats I just bought him. The money I spend on food and new shoes won’t keep them home; when my boys’ growth spurts are over it will mean they will be gone, off to college, out of my refrigerator and technically no longer boys. So, while they are under my roof, how can I feed them to support their drastic development? (more)