Teen Pregnancy Boosts Girls’ Risk of Getting Fat

Finally, in our last story, teenage pregnancy is a bad idea for young and unmarried women for a number of reasons.

Now, a new study shows that teenage girls who get pregnant become obese more often than their peers who don’t get pregnant.

Writing in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Dr. Erica Gunderson of Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and her colleagues report that bearing a child may boost body weight and fat accumulation in adolescents.

The researchers examined data from a decade-long national study of a group of nine-year-old girls. By the time they had reached age 19, 31 percent of the girls had been pregnant at some point, and of those, 28 percent of the white women and 49 percent of the black women were overweight or obese.

Among those who had given birth in their teens, 40 percent of whites and 57 percent of blacks were overweight or obese. And all of the women who had children during their teens were heavier and had more body fat than those who did not get pregnant.

Gunderson speculates that fat buildup during adolescence may trigger obesity along with higher insulin, lipid and blood pressure levels, and cities the need for further research on the subject of obesity in teenage mothers.

Sweet Tax Could Curb Obesity Trend

Remember that old Beatles song “Taxman”? The one where they sing about the government taxing your seat and taxing your feet? Well, the taxman’s back, and he’s here to tax something else…your soda pop.

At least that’s the proposal coming from two experts. Kelly Brownell of Yale University and New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden want a penny-per-ounce tax to be imposed on sugary drinks.

Since sodas are usually sold in 12-ounce cans and 20-ounce bottles, a lot of cash could be raised, and those dollars used to help governments pay for obesity programs.

The pair, writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, aren’t really interested in the money, though.

They’re into cutting consumption of soft drinks by penalizing users. After all, the imposition of taxes has been shown to reduce smoking. Taxing soda, sports drinks and  sugar sweetened beverages could reduce consumption by 10 percent or more, according to the proposal.

The soft drink industry is against the proposal, of course, and there’s little enthusiasm among voters in any state for a new tax – but in the long run, the taxman usually gets his way.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Bariatric Surgeon, Hospital Hit with Class?Action Suit

In our next story, Dr. Jacobo Joffe, a prominent Canadian weight-loss surgeon who last year lost his license for sexually abusing several patients, now faces a $10 million class-action lawsuit filed against him and his former employer, Toronto’s Scarborough Hospital.

In December 2008, Joffe pleaded no contest to sexual abuse accusations at a disciplinary hearing of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.

His four accusers, all women, claimed that he pressured them into having sexual relations with him over a period of ten years. The College revoked Joffe’s license to practice and ordered him to pay the victims a total of 40,000 Canadian dollars – about $33,000 in U.S. currency – in compensation.

The case, to be heard in Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice, was filed by a woman and former patient of Joffe. It claims that Scarborough Hospital “knew or should have known” about Joffee’s crimes and violations of human rights.

Joffe has not been convicted of any crime under law.

New Fat?Fighting Pathway Discovered

There’s good news in the world of weight loss research. Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University think they’ve figured out the process that controls the amount of lipids our cells store away as an emergency food supply.

It’s called autophagy, from the Greek words meaning “self-eating”.

Autophagy is carried out by lysosomes, structures within the cell that were once thought to be good only for breaking down and recycling used cellular parts.

Researchers now realize that lysosomes also break down stored-up lipid droplets, which is fat, and use them for energy production.

If food intake goes down, autophagy increases, and the lysosomes break down the stored lipids more quickly. But, when autophagy slows down, the lipid droplets stored in the cell keep growing until they’re too big for the lysosomes to handle.

This begins a vicious cycle, because the rapidly-growing fat droplets continue to slow down autophagy; even more fat builds up within the cells; and eventually conditions like diabetes and fatty liver disease can result.

So what does all this mean for you? The researchers say that therapies aimed at boosting the efficiency of autophagy could prevent disease by keeping lipid droplets under control. We’ll keep you updated as research continues.

Brown Fat Burns Calories

According to three recent studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine, brown fat – a kind of adipose tissue found in newborns – is metabolically active, burning off calories in response to low temperatures and keeping baby warm.

White adipose tissue –the regular fat that adults and older kids have – just sort of sits there, making our pants fit badly.

Brown fat’s color is created by the presence of extra mitochondria within the brown fat cells. Mitochondria are tiny onboard organelles that serve as cellular power packs.

Since each mitochondrion burns calories to power its cell, the more mitochondria, the more calories burned. And since mitochondria contain iron, brown fat has a rusty, red shade that goes with almost any décor.

While everyone has some brown fat, the study found that thinner people and the young have the most. And while brown fat burns more calories, it’s no substitute for eating healthy and being active.

Researchers admit the possibility of a brown fat-based therapy someday, but even large deposits of the stuff only burn off an extra 500 calories per day or so – the equivalent of an extra bottle of formula.

Information You Can Use

Get the Latest Medical Updates on WLS News In this week’s report, find out what kind of fat actually burns calories, learn about government plans to tax some sweet treats, and see how teen pregnancy can lead to future obesity. Plus, get the latest on a class-action lawsuit against the Canadian doctor accused of sexually abusing several patients, and discover what scientists have learned about preventing metabolic syndrome. And, don’t miss Chef Dave’s report from the road, as he gives viewers a behind-the-scenes peek at a special cooking event for bariatric patients. You’ll find all this and plenty more in this week’s edition of WLS News.

Finishing Touches

Embrace Your New Body Weight loss surgery can bring about enormous changes not only to your physical body, but also to your self-image. After reaching their goal weight, many people decide they want to “complete” the transformation by removing that last vestige of obesity — excessive loose skin. If you are considering an arm lift, thighplasty, tummy tuck, or any other body contouring procedure, we encourage you to visit our sister network, The Plastic Surgery Channel. Learn about new surgical techniques and medical technologies, and find out how to choose the surgeon who is right for your procedure. Click the image above to visit The Plastic Surgery Channel now!

Craig Thompson
12 Years PostOp RNY
President
Weight Loss Surgery Channel

In this week’s report, find out what kind of fat actually burns calories, learn about government plans to tax some sweet treats, and see how teen pregnancy can lead to future obesity. Plus, get the latest on a class-action lawsuit against the Canadian doctor accused of sexually abusing several patients, and discover what scientists have learned about preventing metabolic syndrome.

Plus, Chef Dave will check in from the road to give viewers a behind-the-scenes peek at a special cooking event for bariatric patients. You’ll find all this and plenty more in this week’s edition of WLS News.

Click the player below to see the latest newscast! Read the full story

In the latest episode of Melting Mama’s Reality Bites, host Beth Sheldon-Badore shares “pearls of freakin’ wisdom” on what life is really like after weight loss surgery — regardless of which procedure you had — and tackles the topic of getting enough vitamins and nutrients post-op. Although not a doctor or dietician, Beth has learned from her own diligent research how to avoid nutritional deficiencies, and she shares her best practices on getting enough of the good stuff (with a teaspoon of humor to help the medicine go down).  She’ll also give the inside scoop on a couple of choco-licious protein powders, and wag a finger at those who claim that weight loss surgery is the “easy way out”. Click on the player to see what Melting Mama’s got in store, and be sure to share your thoughts in the Comments box below!

Products mentioned in this episode:

• BSN Lean Dessert Protein Powder
• Syntrax Nectar Sweet Protein Powder