106 posts · 72,001 views
Travis Saunders and Peter Janiszewski are PhD students in Exercise and Health Physiology at Queen's University in Ontario, Canada. Their research focuses on obesity, body composition, physical activity, nutrition and metabolic health.
Obesity Panacea
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- January 19, 2012
- 10:00 AM
- 66 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
- 425 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
- 406 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
- 682 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
- 145 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
- 363 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
- December 1, 2010
- 12:10 PM
- 642 views
Animal obesity: canary in the coal mine?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
There are a number of factors, both behavioural and environmental, which are thought to play important roles in the current epidemic of obesity. These range from things like increased soft-drink consumption and decreased physical activity, which are at least nominally under our personal control, to more external factors like viruses, light pollution, and environmental contaminants, over which we have little or no control. How much of a role do these external factors play in the obesity epidemi........ Read more »
Klimentidis, Y., Beasley, T., Lin, H., Murati, G., Glass, G., Guyton, M., Newton, W., Jorgensen, M., Heymsfield, S., Kemnitz, J.... (2010) Canaries in the coal mine: a cross-species analysis of the plurality of obesity epidemics. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1890
- November 22, 2010
- 01:35 PM
- 840 views
The Obesity Paradox Revisited
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
As Peter and I discuss frequently here at Obesity Panacea, the relationship between body weight and health is not always as neat and tidy as you might expect (For all the details, check out Peter’s 5-part series on metabolically healthy obesity). A recent paper published in the International Journal of Obesity by Drs DK Childers and David Allison examines a number of these issues, and suggests ways that they may be at least partially resolved.
In the intro to this new paper, the author........ Read more »
Childers, D., & Allison, D. (2010) The ‘obesity paradox’: a parsimonious explanation for relations among obesity, mortality rate and aging?. International Journal of Obesity, 34(8), 1231-1238. DOI: 10.1038/ijo.2010.71
- November 15, 2010
- 01:04 PM
- 798 views
Can obesity surgery for mothers prevent obesity in their children?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
…And we’re back! After a month in exile from the blogging world my comprehensive exams are done!… for now. Assuming that my committee finds my answers satisfactory I will move on to an oral exam sometime between now and the holiday season. The good news is that I have read a ton of papers in the past few months (probably somewhere north of 200) so I’ve found plenty of interesting things to blog about well into the new year!... Read more »
Kral, J., Biron, S., Simard, S., Hould, F., Lebel, S., Marceau, S., & Marceau, P. (2006) Large Maternal Weight Loss From Obesity Surgery Prevents Transmission of Obesity to Children Who Were Followed for 2 to 18 Years. PEDIATRICS, 118(6). DOI: 10.1542/peds.2006-1379
- September 10, 2010
- 10:30 AM
- 756 views
How does TV watching increase health risk?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Earlier this year I came across a very interesting study on Dr Yoni Freedhoff’s blog Weighty Matters. Yoni described a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health which suggests that the amount of commercial television (e.g. television with advertisements) that children watch before the age of 6 is associated with increased body weight 5 years down the road, even after adjustment for other important variables including physical activity, socio-economic status and mother&........ Read more »
Zimmerman, F., & Bell, J. (2009) Associations of Television Content Type and Obesity in Children. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 334-340. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2008.155119
- September 7, 2010
- 01:07 PM
- 736 views
Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP in Obesity Panacea
Regular readers of Obesity Panacea will know that I am a huge fan of active transportation, which entails commuting via active means (e.g. walking, cycling, or taking public transit rather than driving). But when I talk with my friends about the many health and societal benefits of active commuting by bicycle, they almost always bring up the fact that they value their lives too much to risk cycling on busy city streets. This is obviously not a trivial concern – here in Ottawa there were thre........ Read more »
Johan de Hartog J, Boogaard H, Nijland H, & Hoek G. (2010) Do the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks?. Environmental health perspectives, 118(8), 1109-16. PMID: 20587380
- September 1, 2010
- 01:00 PM
- 1,348 views
What Hurts Fitness More: 30 Years of Aging or 3 Weeks of Bed Rest?
by Travis Saunders, MSc, CEP 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 3 different time points: baseline, following 3 months of bed rest, and following 8 weeks of physical training. In 1996 these same 5 men were as........ 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
- June 25, 2010
- 11:23 AM
- 1,182 views
Grow More Fat and Improve Metabolic Health: Insights from TZD Treatmen
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
By now, readers of Obesity Panacea have hopefully learned that excess weight is not directly predictive of health risk, and that excess fat mass is not in itself unhealthy. Recall that approximately 30% of individuals who are classified as obese by their body weight turn out to be metabolically healthy, and in fact seem not to get much metabolic benefit (or may even get worse) when they lose weight. Also consider that individuals who have NO fat tissue (e.g. lipodystrophy) have extremely elevat........ Read more »
McLaughlin, T., Liu, T., Yee, G., Abbasi, F., Lamendola, C., Reaven, G., Tsao, P., Cushman, S., & Sherman, A. (2009) Pioglitazone Increases the Proportion of Small Cells in Human Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2009.380
- June 23, 2010
- 12:20 PM
- 1,131 views
Are High Glycemic Index Carbs Worse Than Saturated Fat?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Most people know that consuming too much fat, and especially saturated fat, is bad for your health. That's why there has been a concerted push for several decades to get people to reduce the amount of saturated fat that they consume, and to replace it with complex carbohydrates. Now unfortunately people often misinterpret that to mean that fat is evil, but carbs are ok. This is problematic since consuming too many simple carbs is also likely to increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and ........ Read more »
Hu FB. (2010) Are refined carbohydrates worse than saturated fat?. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 91(6), 1541-2. PMID: 20410095
Jakobsen MU, Dethlefsen C, Joensen AM, Stegger J, Tjønneland A, Schmidt EB, & Overvad K. (2010) Intake of carbohydrates compared with intake of saturated fatty acids and risk of myocardial infarction: importance of the glycemic index. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 91(6), 1764-8. PMID: 20375186
- June 14, 2010
- 11:15 AM
- 1,000 views
Self-report vs direct measures - new podcast!
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Regular readers know that that Peter and I do a semi-regular podcast on obesity-related issues. This week, I have a discussion with psychology researcher (and fellow ScienceBlogger) Jason Goldman. For the uninitiated, self-report data refers to information that people provide themselves - questionnaires and interviews are very common examples. This is in contrast to direct measurement, which is exactly what it sounds like - researchers measuring your height and weight themselves, etc. The po........ Read more »
Schwarz, N. (1999) Self-reports: How the questions shape the answers. American Psychologist, 54(2), 93-105. DOI: 10.1037//0003-066X.54.2.93
- June 4, 2010
- 11:45 AM
- 1,276 views
Increased Physical Activity Prevents the Accumulation of Abdominal Fat
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
One of the most interesting things about exercise is that it results in important health improvements even in the absence of weight loss. For example, just a single session of exercise can result in improved insulin sensitivity, increased levels of HDL cholesterol (aka the "good" cholesterol) and reductions in plasma triglyceride levels - all tremendously important markers of disease risk. In addition to these metabolic changes, new research by our friend and former labmate Lance Dav........ Read more »
Davidson, LE, Tucker, L, & Peterson, T. (2010) Physical Activity Changes Predict Abdominal Fat Change in Midlife Women. Journal of Physical Activity and Health. info:/
- June 2, 2010
- 11:41 AM
- 956 views
New Publication: Big Breasts, An Indicator of Dangerous Fat Deposition?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
In June of last year, I discussed the results of a large epidemiological study in women that showed that women with larger breasts have an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes.
As soon as Travis and I read this study, we knew we had to do a follow-up study of our own to see if this finding was simply spurious or if there was actually something to large breasts that indicated health risk - beyond that explained by obesity per se.
The project that Travis and I began over a year ago has ........ Read more »
Janiszewski, P., Saunders, T., & Ross, R. (2009) Breast Volume is an Independent Predictor of Visceral and Ectopic Fat in Premenopausal Women. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2009.336
- May 18, 2010
- 11:32 AM
- 1,292 views
Canadian Health Authorities Release New Physical Activity Recommendations
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Last week ParticipACTION and the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) released recommendations for updated Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines. The previous guidelines were released between 1998 and 2002, and although they were based on the best research available at the time, from what I understand there simply wasn't a tremendous amount of evidence to draw on in some situations. Since then there have been a number of advances in physical activity research, allowing for the........ Read more »
Janssen I, & Leblanc AG. (2010) Systematic review of the health benefits of physical activity and fitness in school-aged children and youth. The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity, 7(1), 40. PMID: 20459784
- May 6, 2010
- 12:56 PM
- 943 views
How much salt is in your fast food order?
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Way too much, according to a recent study by Johnson and colleagues, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Personally, I love salty foods. While I have never been too fond of sweet things (chocolate, candy, etc.), just a few years ago I could have easily gone through a bag of chips or pretzels in one sitting. Just writing about that crunchy/salty goodness makes my mouth water.
However, since hypertension runs in my family, I have recently made a concerted effort to limit my sodium........ Read more »
Johnson CM, Angell SY, Lederer A, Dumanovsky T, Huang C, Bassett MT, & Silver LD. (2010) Sodium content of lunchtime fast food purchases at major US chains. Archives of internal medicine, 170(8), 732-4. PMID: 20421561
- April 12, 2010
- 04:44 PM
- 969 views
Excess Weight Predicts Younger Age at Hip and Knee Replacement
by Travis Saunders, MSc in Obesity Panacea
Given that I have put myself out of commission due to a musculoskeletal injury I acquired over the weekend, I thought a discussion of joint injuries and such would be most appropriate in my Robaxocet induced state.Just last week Travis discussed the issue of injuries associated with exercise among obese individuals. In that post, based on recent evidence, Travis concluded:"...in overweight and obese individuals, exercise (in the form of walking) has little or no association with injury or illn........ Read more »
Gandhi, R., Wasserstein, D., Razak, F., Davey, J., & Mahomed, N. (2010) BMI Independently Predicts Younger Age at Hip and Knee Replacement. Obesity. DOI: 10.1038/oby.2010.72
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