154 posts · 111,407 views
Two health physiology researchers discuss the latest obesity news, research, and weight loss products.
Travis Saunders, MSc
106 posts
Peter Janiszewski, PhD
3 posts
Sort by: Latest Post, Most Popular
View by: Condensed, Full
- January 19, 2012
- 10:00 AM
- 90 views
30 Years of Aging vs 3 Weeks of Bed Rest – Which is Worse For Aerobic Fitness?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
I recently came across a very interesting study published in Circulation in 2001. In it, authors Darren McGuire and colleagues perform the 30-year follow-up on a group of 5 men who had taken part in the Dallas Bed Rest and Training Study (DBRTS). The DBRTS took place in 1966, when all 5 men were healthy 20 year-olds. They were assessed extensively at baseline, following 3 months of bed rest, and following 8 weeks of physical training. In 1996 these same 5 men were re-assessed, allowing the re........ Read more »
McGuire DK, Levine BD, Williamson JW, Snell PG, Blomqvist CG, Saltin B, & Mitchell JH. (2001) A 30-year follow-up of the Dallas Bedrest and Training Study: I. Effect of age on the cardiovascular response to exercise. Circulation, 104(12), 1350-7. PMID: 11560849
- December 16, 2011
- 11:55 AM
- 497 views
Contributors to the Pediatric Obesity Epidemic Part 5: Risk Factors I Missed
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Today we will look at other potential contributors to the pediatric obesity epidemic which I didn’t include in my paper. There are a few reasons for that – some risk factors are ones that I just felt didn’t have much evidence behind them, others were similar to ones that were included, and some just didn’t fit within the space constraints (since this paper was originally written for my comprehensive exams, it was limited to 15 pages).... Read more »
Saunders, T. (2011) Potential Contributors to the Canadian Pediatric Obesity Epidemic. ISRN Pediatrics, 1-10. DOI: 10.5402/2011/917684
- December 15, 2011
- 09:43 AM
- 481 views
Contributors to the Pediatric Obesity Epidemic Part 4: Adult Obesity, and Relative Contributions of All Risk Factors
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In Part 1 we examined the impact of changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour, in Part 2 we looked at changes in food intake, and in Part 3 we looked at sleep, breastfeeding, maternal age and pollution. Today we look at the evidence (or lack thereof) linking adult obesity with the pediatric obesity epidemic, then examine the relative contributions of all of the risk factors we’ve discussed so far.... Read more »
Saunders, T. (2011) Potential Contributors to the Canadian Pediatric Obesity Epidemic. ISRN Pediatrics, 1-10. DOI: 10.5402/2011/917684
- December 14, 2011
- 09:00 AM
- 846 views
Contributors to the Pediatric Obesity Epidemic Part 3: Sleep, Maternal Age, Pollution & Breastfeeding
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In Part 1 we examined the impact of changes in physical activity and sedentary behaviour, and in Part 2 we looked at changes in food intake. Today we look at the evidence (or lack thereof) linking sleep, pollution, maternal age and breastfeeding with the pediatric obesity epidemic.... Read more »
Saunders, T. (2011) Potential Contributors to the Canadian Pediatric Obesity Epidemic. ISRN Pediatrics, 1-10. DOI: 10.5402/2011/917684
- December 8, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 159 views
Dear Newspapers: Individual Studies Do Not Exist In A Vacuum
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Just because one study finds a relationship between A and B, does not mean that other studies will be able to replicate that finding, or that it will extend to other situations. On the face of it, this seems like an incredibly obvious statement. And yet it’s something that newspapers often forget, and which I think could have some very negative consequences.... Read more »
Goldfield, G., Kenny, G., Hadjiyannakis, S., Phillips, P., Alberga, A., Saunders, T., Tremblay, M., Malcolm, J., Prud'homme, D., Gougeon, R.... (2011) Video Game Playing Is Independently Associated with Blood Pressure and Lipids in Overweight and Obese Adolescents. PLoS ONE, 6(11). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026643
Carson, V., & Janssen, I. (2011) Volume, patterns, and types of sedentary behavior and cardio-metabolic health in children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study. BMC Public Health, 11(1), 274. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-274
- September 27, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 392 views
World’s First Systematic Review On Sedentary Behaviour & Health in School-Aged Children
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Some exciting news this week - the world’s first systematic review on the relationship between sedentary behaviour and health in school-aged children has just been published online in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity. I am one of 8 authors on the review (nestled nicely in the middle), which was created to inform the Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines, released earlier this year.... Read more »
Tremblay, M., LeBlanc, A., Kho, M., Saunders, T., Larouche, R., Colley, R., Goldfield, G., & Connor Gorber, S. (2011) Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 8(1), 98. DOI: 10.1186/1479-5868-8-98
- August 3, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 521 views
Honey I shrunk the Kids! Daily variation in Height and Weight and it’s Implications for BMI Based Public Health Surveillance
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Image by mhowry
Travis’ Note: Today’s post comes from PhD Student Ash Routen. You can find out more about Ash and his work at the bottom of this post.
Consistent with the majority of developed countries, a significant proportion of children here in the UK are overweight or obese (around 30% of 10-11 year olds as of 2010). How do we know this? Well, since 2005 the UK Department of Health have been operating the ‘National Child Measurement Programme’ (NCMP) a nationwide public he........ Read more »
Routen, A., Edwards, M., Upton, D., & Peters, D. (2011) The impact of school-day variation in weight and height on National Child Measurement Programme body mass index-determined weight category in Year 6 children. Child: Care, Health and Development, 37(3), 360-367. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2010.01204.x
- July 12, 2011
- 10:10 AM
- 599 views
No Really – Sitting Is Killing You
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Earlier this year I posted an infographic on the health impact of sedentary behaviour which has generated plenty of discussion both here and elsewhere. Many people are understandably skeptical about the relationship between sedentary behaviour and mortality, so I was excited about the recent publication of two recent systematic reviews focusing on just this issue.
The first, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine by Karin Proper and colleagues, focused on the prospective a........ Read more »
Proper, K., Singh, A., van Mechelen, W., & Chinapaw, M. (2011) Sedentary Behaviors and Health Outcomes Among Adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(2), 174-182. DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2010.10.015
- June 27, 2011
- 09:00 AM
- 578 views
Why The “Chocolate Milk Diet” Won’t Work
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Image by Editor B
A few weeks ago our friend Colby Vorland of Nutritional Blogma emailed me an article titled “The Chocolate Milk Diet“, which he had come across via Twitter. The article (which was written and published last year by the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health and Women’s Health David Zinczenko) got both of our BS detectors going, and we thought it would be a good idea to tag-team a post deconstructing the arguments in the original article (Given that Colby........ Read more »
Onakpoya, I., Perry, R., Zhang, J., & Ernst, E. (2011) Efficacy of calcium supplementation for management of overweight and obesity: systematic review of randomized clinical trials. Nutrition Reviews, 69(6), 335-343. DOI: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2011.00397.x
- May 26, 2011
- 09:56 AM
- 791 views
Even Tiny Bouts of Exercise are Associated with Increased Fitness
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Image by cloudchaser32000
Travis’ Note: Today’s guest post comes from our friend and colleague Dr Ashlee McGuire. The study that Ashlee discusses in this post can be found here. More details on Ashlee and her work can be found at the bottom of this post.
I am sure that most people have heard that some physical activity is better than none and that any increase in physical activity is associated with health benefits. However, when considering a change in physical activity habits to im........ Read more »
McGuire, K., & Ross, R. (2011) Incidental Physical Activity Is Positively Associated With Cardiorespiratory Fitness. Medicine , 1. DOI: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31821e4ff2
- May 24, 2011
- 08:34 AM
- 692 views
Does sexual intercourse affect athletic performance?
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
A commonly held belief among many athletes and coaches (particularly male ones) is that sexual intercourse the evening before a competition spells disaster on the big day. Thus, many high-level athletes practice abstinence prior to competition. Muhammad Ali was an outspoken proponent of this rule, as was Marv Levy, head coach of the Buffalo Bills, who separated his athletes from their partners leading up to the SuperBowl.
My fiancée, Marina, and I are running 10k and 5k races this weekend in Ot........ Read more »
McGlone, S., & Shrier, I. (2000) Does Sex the Night Before Competition Decrease Performance?. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine, 10(4), 233-234. DOI: 10.1097/00042752-200010000-00001
- May 13, 2011
- 11:52 AM
- 894 views
The Science of Starvation: How long can humans survive without food or water?
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
Rita Chretien, a Canadian woman survived being stranded inside a vehicle in Nevada for 48 days, by eating only some trail mix and candy, and drinking water from a stream. Apparently, she and her husband were following their GPS instructions on their way to Las Vegas from British Columbia when they took a rural road that essentially turns to a bog in the winter months. Their van eventually got stuck in the mud in the middle of nowhere, and they both waited for help for 3 days without sighting a........ Read more »
Peel M. (1997) Hunger strikes. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 315(7112), 829-30. PMID: 9353494
- April 26, 2011
- 08:24 AM
- 711 views
Liposuction does not permanently remove fat
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
Due to the increasing obsession with quick solutions to excess fat mass, liposuction has become one of the most popular cosmetic procedures.
And as far as simply removing large volumes of subcutaneous fat from one’s body, it just may be the most effective method – certainly, far superior to diet/exercise or bariatric surgery.
But there are a few catches.
As I have previously discussed, in contrast to losing weight via lifestyle modification or bariatric surgery, liposuction does not make an ........ Read more »
Hernandez, T., Kittelson, J., Law, C., Ketch, L., Stob, N., Lindstrom, R., Scherzinger, A., Stamm, E., & Eckel, R. (2011) Fat Redistribution Following Suction Lipectomy: Defense of Body Fat and Patterns of Restoration. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2011.64
- April 14, 2011
- 10:15 AM
- 730 views
Is GameBike An Effective Way To Increase Physical Activity?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Image from Gamebike.com
Active gaming (aka exer-gaming) is the term used for video games that involve some level of physical activity. I’ve discussed active gaming on Obesity Panacea in the past, and while I don’t doubt that it can be an effective tool for promoting physical activity in certain specific situations (eg as a form of physiotherapy), I remain skeptical about it’s ability to increase physical activity levels for the vast majority of children.
Unfortunately for act........ Read more »
Adamo KB, Rutherford JA, & Goldfield GS. (2010) Effects of interactive video game cycling on overweight and obese adolescent health. Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism , 35(6), 805-15. PMID: 21164552
- April 12, 2011
- 10:30 AM
- 666 views
Do Genes Modify The Health Impact of Sedentary Behaviour?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Regular readers of Obesity Panacea will know that one of my favourite topics (and the focus of my PhD) is the health impact of sedentary behaviour. Last fall computational biologist Larry Parnell left a comment linking to a recent paper of his exploring how genes modify the health impact of sedentary behaviour. The paper was fascinating, but since genes aren’t my area of expertise I wasn’t sure that I could do it justice on my own. Luckily, Larry put me in touch with the study&........ Read more »
Smith, C., Arnett, D., Tsai, M., Lai, C., Parnell, L., Shen, J., Laclaustra, M., Junyent, M., & Ordovás, J. (2009) Physical inactivity interacts with an endothelial lipase polymorphism to modulate high density lipoprotein cholesterol in the GOLDN study. Atherosclerosis, 206(2), 500-504. DOI: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2009.03.012
- April 8, 2011
- 10:15 AM
- 785 views
Canada’s Children’s Fitness Tax Credit – The Rich Get Richer?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
As many of our readers will know Canada is in the midst of an election campaign and the major parties are putting out a number of policy ideas on a daily basis. One idea proposed by Conservative leader Stephen Harper was to expand the Canadian Children’s Fitness Tax Credit (CFTC). As it currently stands, the CFTC offers a $500 non-refundable tax credit that parents can receive by enrolling their child in an approved physical activity program. If I understand it correctly, this means th........ Read more »
Spence, J., Holt, N., Dutove, J., & Carson, V. (2010) Uptake and effectiveness of the Children's Fitness Tax Credit in Canada: the rich get richer. BMC Public Health, 10(1), 356. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-10-356
- April 7, 2011
- 10:34 AM
- 662 views
Kids who skip breakfast tend to gain more weight
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, or so goes the old adage. However, in today’s fast-paced society, people are cutting corners at every turn to save some time. One of these oft-cut corners during the morning rush is breakfast.
While some individuals skip breakfast in an effort to curb their daily calorie intake and thus lose weight, others simply don’t give themselves enough time in the morning before they’re off for the day. Whatever the case, research suggests breakfast ........ Read more »
Tin, S., Ho, S., Mak, K., Wan, K., & Lam, T. (2011) Breakfast skipping and change in body mass index in young children. International Journal of Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2011.58
- March 29, 2011
- 10:00 AM
- 733 views
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin – Won’t Help You Lose Weight, May Give You Mad Cow Disease
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Photo by cupcakes2
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) is the most thoroughly debunked weight loss gimmick in medical history. We have known since the mid-1970′s that hCG has no impact on body weight whatsoever. I’ve discussed it a number of times, and it always amazes me just how much evidence there is that hCG is no better than a placebo. My favourite hCG-related quote comes from this systematic review, which sums things up pretty nicely:
“there is no scientific evidence tha........ Read more »
Van Dorsselaer, A., Carapito, C., Delalande, F., Schaeffer-Reiss, C., Thierse, D., Diemer, H., McNair, D., Krewski, D., & Cashman, N. (2011) Detection of Prion Protein in Urine-Derived Injectable Fertility Products by a Targeted Proteomic Approach. PLoS ONE, 6(3). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0017815
- March 15, 2011
- 11:24 AM
- 713 views
Preventing Obesity Part 2: Mental Work (Podcast # 20)
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Dr Angelo Tremblay
It’s time for part 2 in our series on obesity prevention with Universite Laval obesity researcher Angelo Tremblay (Part 1, which focused on the relationship between sleep and obesity, can be found here).
In today’s episode he discusses the important role that mental work and stress have on appetite, and therefore energy balance. He also explains ways that we can reduce the impact of mental work on energy balance, either by reducing the amount of mental work that ........ Read more »
CHAPUT, J., & TREMBLAY, A. (2007) Acute effects of knowledge-based work on feeding behavior and energy intake. Physiology , 90(1), 66-72. DOI: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2006.08.030
- March 11, 2011
- 11:10 AM
- 788 views
Physical activity protects our body from cognitive stress
by Peter Janiszewski, Ph.D. in Obesity Panacea
There are few of us who can honestly say they are not stressed out at least some of the time. Too much to do, not enough time, looming deadlines, financial concerns, health problems, etc. can all cause us to feel on edge.
Your heart rate and blood pressure soar, you start perspiring, sleeping becomes a challenge, you’re irritable, and so on.
As you might have imagined, chronic psychological stress negatively impacts on your physical health, increasing the chances of countless chronic diseases......... Read more »
Puterman, E., Lin, J., Blackburn, E., O'Donovan, A., Adler, N., & Epel, E. (2010) The Power of Exercise: Buffering the Effect of Chronic Stress on Telomere Length. PLoS ONE, 5(5). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0010837
topics
join us!
Do you write about peer-reviewed research in your blog? Use ResearchBlogging.org to make it easy for your readers — and others from around the world — to find your serious posts about academic research.
If you don't have a blog, you can still use our site to learn about fascinating developments in cutting-edge research from around the world.
News
Editor's Selections: Programmed cell death in unicellular parasites, a novel gene transfer agent from Baronella, and full-contact herpes gladiatorum
Editor's Selections: Family medical histories, a grave in the Bahamas, medieval malaria, and macaques
Editor's Selections: Blood Tests for Depression, the Axolotl, Dopamine, and The Bachelor
