Kids crave breakfast cereals that are the most unhealthy for them, a new study from Yale University shows. Watch this week’s WLS News to find out more. Read the full story

Obese Children consider undergoing weight loss surgery ‘cheating,’ a new study shows. Watch this week’s WLS News to find out more. Read the full story

Junk food companies are pitching in to fight obesity. Find out what these companies are doing to help promote health awareness on this week’s WLS News. Read the full story

A Scottish couple expecting their seventh child recently lost two of their children to social workers. Read the full story

Fat kids are twice as likely to have friends who are overweight, according to a new study out of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. The study examined the social networking behaviors of Los Angeles area students to raise awareness about the social impact of obesity among adolescents. Read the full story

Weight loss surgery can be effective treatment for teen metabolic syndrome, according to a recent study. Metabolic syndrome, also called Syndrome X, is linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease and high levels of triglycerides and cholesterol. Teens who have metabolic syndrome are likely to become obese, unhealthy adults, unless they become proactive about their health. Read the full story

Does Stress Cause Childhood Obesity?

Obesity is a complex metabolic disease. While its origins are uncertain, researchers are gradually zeroing in on the factors that can trigger obesity in otherwise healthy people – and it’s becoming more and more obvious that one factor – stress – is likely a direct contributor to childhood obesity.

Data from a new Iowa State University study confirms this. The study has found that adolescents exhibiting four or more of five specific “stress markers” have a greater likelihood of becoming overweight or obese.

The research results, to be published in the August issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health, are derived from data obtained from an in-depth study of more than 1000 adolescents and their mothers living in Boston, Chicago and San Antonio. The study subjects were all from low income families, as the lack of security concerning food and money are initial stressors.

The adolescents were first measured and classified according to their individual body mass index, which revealed that 47% of the teenagers were overweight or obese.

The study subjects’ data were then correlated with five stress factors that the researchers theorized to be related to the onset of obesity:

• Academic problems
• Drug and alcohol use
• Depression or other mental health problems
• Inappropriate aggression or other behaviors
• The inability to focus on the future

The correlated data showed that more than 56% of the adolescents who exhibited at least four of these five factors were overweight or obese. In other words, this study indicates that an adolescent who is stressed by poor grades, mental health problems, drug and alcohol use, or some combination of these is likely to develop weight issues.

The upshot, say the researchers, is that obesity care and prevention efforts for adolescents need to focus more on the big picture rather than on diet and exercise alone. By treating obese and overweight students holistically, including addressing stress and home-life factors, we may hope for better results in our battle against childhood obesity.

WLS News Episode 11 (March 13, 2009)

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, 16% of all children in the U.S. between the ages of 6 and 19 are obese. That’s about nine million kids – a 300% rise in the past 20 years. With this in mind, profit and non-profit corporations like the Cartoon Network, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Eating Well Media Group, have joined forces with the Association of Junior Leagues International for the fourth annual “Kids in the Kitchen” campaign – an initiative dedicated to improving the health of today’s youth by empowering them to make choices that lead to healthy lifestyles.

The program is designed to educate at-risk and obese children in nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices. More than 200 Junior Leagues are participating in the initiative, and volunteers in each locale will teach participating youngsters and their parents how to create healthy meals. Participants not only get to enjoy hands-on educational activities, but they can also access informative, fun educational content on the Kids in the Kitchen website.

Backers hope that the program can help children nationwide adopt healthy diet and lifestyle practices, both to reduce the rate of childhood obesity and to prevent a future epidemic of diabetes and other obesity-related diseases.