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Most people have good intentions when it comes to eating well, and some people even succeed at sticking to a resolution for a few months. However, at some point or another it seems that everybody succumbs to one of the greatest sabotage-artists out there in regards to food; I’m talking about cravings.

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This post comes to us courtesy of Sarah Droege, Nutritionist at Optimal Body Balance.

Counting calories doesn’t work. How many times have we said it? We like to talk about it though, because so many people still believe that if you just eat less calories or burn more calories, weight loss will happen. If it were that simple, losing weight would be much easier. And we probably wouldn’t be in business. The truth is that losing weight (and gaining weight) happens differently for everyone.

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If you’re like most people, you’re feeling the pinch right now. Many people are trying to make the most of their food dollars. Here are a couple tips that will allow you to eat well and organically with just a little effort that you can take to the bank.

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Proteins are necessary to sustain life, repair body tissues and promote cell renewal, to manufacture hormones, enzymes and blood cells as well as put on muscle and increase and maintain one’s metabolism. It is one of the most plentiful substances in the body second only to water, totaling approximately one fifth of a person’s body weight. Lack of protein in the diet will result in fatigue, weakness, poor performance, inability to lose weight and increased susceptibility to colds, flu’s and infections. Continue Reading »

Including something new in a food isn’t always a good idea, especially when it comes to your health. Here are 12 additives to subtract from your diet:

1. Sodium Nitrate (also called Sodium Nitrite) – This is a preservative, coloring, and flavoring commonly added to bacon, ham, hot dogs, luncheon meats, smoked fish, and corned beef. Studies have linked eating it to various types of cancer.

2. BHA and BHT – Butylated hydroxyanisole and butylated hydrozyttoluene are used to preserve common household foods. They are found in cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, and vegetable oils. They are oxidants, which form potentially cancer-causing reactive compounds in your body.

3. Propyl Gallate – Another preservative, often used in conjunction with BHA and BHT. It is sometimes found in meat products, chicken soup base, and chewing gum. Animals studies have suggested that it could be linked to cancer.

4. Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) – MSG is an amino acid used as a flavor enhancer in soups, salad dressings, chips, frozen entrees, and restaurant food. It can cause headaches and nausea, and animal studies link it to damaged nerve cells in the brains of infant mice.

5. Trans Fats – Trans fats are proven to cause heart disease. Restaurant food, especially fast food chains, often serve foods laden with trans fats.  They are also found in highly processed foods. You should also be careful with polyunsaturated fats. They are very easily damaged with heat and light, turning rancid.  The following oils are examples of polyunsaturated fats: soy, canola, sunflower, safflower, cottonseed, grapeseed, walnut and flaxseed. Only use these types of oils for cold applications; don’t cook with them. Even if the oil is sold for cooking it’s still dangerous!

6. Aspartame – Aspartame, also known by the brand names Nutrasweet and Equal, is a sweetener found in so-called diet foods such as low-calorie desserts, gelatins, drink mixes, and soft drinks. It may cause cancer or neurological problems, such as dizziness or hallucinations.

7. Acesulfame-K – This is a relatively new artificial sweetener found in baked goods, chewing gum, and gelatin desserts. There is a general concern that testing on this product has been scant, and some studies show the additive may cause cancer in rats.

8. Food Colorings: Blue 1, 2; Red 3; Green 3; Yellow 6 – Five food colorings still on the market are linked with cancer in animal testing. Blue 1 and 2, found in beverages, candy, baked goods and pet food, have been linked to cancer in mice. Red 3, used to dye cherries, fruit cocktail, candy, and baked goods, has been shown to cause thyroid tumors in rats. Green 3, added to candy and beverages, has been linked to bladder cancer. The widely used yellow 6, added to beverages, sausage, gelatin, baked goods, and candy, has been linked to tumors of the adrenal gland and kidney.

9. Olestra – Olestra, a synthetic fat found in some potato chip brands, can cause severe diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and gas. Olestra also inhibits healthy vitamin absorption from fat-soluble carotenoids that are found in fruits and vegetables.

10. Potassium Bromate – Potassium bromate is used as an additive to increase volume in some white flour, breads, and rolls. It is known to cause cancer in animals, and even small amounts in bread can create a risk for humans.

11. White Sugar – Watch out for foods with added sugars, such as baked goods, cereals, crackers, sauces and many other processed foods. It is unsafe for your health, and promotes bad nutrition.

12. Sodium Chloride – A dash of sodium chloride, more commonly known as salt, can bring flavor to your meal. But too much salt can be dangerous for your health, leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.

Resource: MSN Health Link

13. Carrageenans or carrageenins – Carrageenan is a polysaccharide extracted from seaweed.  It is used as a thickener in many products such as: cheese, ice cream, desserts and beer. Degraded carrageenan is a known carcinogen in animal models. There is evidence from studies performed on rats, guinea pigs and monkeys which indicates that both degraded and undegraded carrageenan (poligeenan) may cause ulcerations in the gastro-intestinal tract. Guar gum is found in similar foods and can have the same irritating affects to the digestive system.

Resources: Wikipedia link

You are only as healthy as your body’s ability to digest and absorb the food you eat.  Except for typical cold symptoms, digestive issues are the most common reason people seek medical advice.  Every year, Americans spend 87 billion dollars on direct medical cost due to digestive issues. (Lipski xv)  These numbers demonstrate what an extreme issue our lack of digestive wellness is costing not only our pocket books but also our health and well being.

With that said, the following are a few simple steps we all can take to improve one of the most important keys to having health this year…..our digestion:

• Eat in a relaxed environment – Turn off the TV and sit down! Allow your body to focus on eating. Eating in a relaxed environment activates the parasympathetic nervous system and facilitates digestion.
• Chew your food!! – Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth and chewing your food completely before swallowing puts less stress on your digestive system. Hint: Put your fork down between bites and pick it back up after you have completely chewed and swallowed the previous one.
• Drink less fluid with your meals – drinking water throughout the day is a must, but with meals consider limiting intake because it dilutes important digestive juices and stomach acid that facilitates digestion.
• Choose whole organic foods – Whole foods are in the state nature intended. Whole foods are not processed and are nutrient dense. Also, avoid toxins and eat organically. This includes not only produce but also meat and dairy too.
• Eat a wide variety of nutrient dense whole foods – It is estimated that the average American consumes 75% of their foods from the same 10 foods. (Hass 29) It is important to mix it up because when we over eat one food, we start to limit our body’s ability to digest it.
• Eliminate refined fake foods – Heavily processed foods and fake foods like artificial sweeteners and trans-fat are void of nutrients and contain chemicals that the body can not properly metabolize.
• Identify problem areas – if you are having current digestive issues, such as low stomach acid or constipation do some research, and take appropriate steps to solve the problem. Visit the GI Disorders: Improper Digestion section of our website for more information. Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski is another wonderful resource.

Incorporating these simple tips can help you achieve digestive wellness and optimal health!

Resources:

The False Fat Diet: The Revolutionary 21-Day Program for Losing the Weight You Think Is Fat Hass, Elson. The False Fat Diet. New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2000.

Digestive Wellness Lipski, Elizabeth. Digestive Wellness. 3rd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

The first two posts in this series detailed how the brain can become addicted to sugar and what happens if you try to stop eating sugar, even for a short period of time. Most people feel awful when they try to quit, so they end up consuming more and more sugar, which perpetuates the problem even further. This final installment of this three part series will detail several ways that we have used to help sugar-addicts the world over free themselves from this sometimes crippling affliction.

Breaking the Cycle

If you feel like you, or someone you know, is addicted to sugar take comfort in knowing this: you are not the first one. There have been thousands and thousands of people that have faced this addiction and beaten it. Here are a number of ways for you to begin to overcome your sugar addiction:

• Eat real food. Ideally, food shouldn’t need a label (i.e., fresh/frozen fruits and vegetables; raw nuts and seeds; grass-fed or organic meats, poultry and eggs; legumes (beans, peas and lentils); fresh fish and organic dairy products. If your food does have a label, make sure you can identify all the ingredients as real food. Studies have shown that the more you eat healthy food, the more you will crave it.
• Eat regularly – every 2-4 hours works best for most people.
• Eat balanced meals – this means when you look at your plate, roughly ½ of it should contain vegetables and/or fruit, ¼ should contain protein (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, lentils, protein powder) and ¼ should contain a starchy vegetable (carrot, sweet potato, yams, potato, etc.) or whole grain (brown rice, quinoa, barley, etc.). This link provides great recipes and a searchable database for you to find exactly what you need, even if you have food allergies.
• Eat protein at every meal; if you are following the suggestion above this will help. This is especially important at breakfast and lunch to help curb cravings later in the day.
• Eat within 60 minutes of waking; this will help curb cravings. Smoothies work great!
• Eliminate sugar and artificial sweeteners. If you want to end cravings, you must reset your brain and the only way to do that is to give it new information. Clear anything that contains sugar (including corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup) in the first six ingredients out of your house and don’t buy it at the grocery store. Same goes for ‘diet’ goods and artificial sweeteners.
• When you have sugar craving, drink water and have a snack, like a piece of fruit along with a palm-full of nuts. Get active with something and the craving will pass.

• Determine if you have any underlying food allergies or intolerances. We often crave foods that we are allergic to. Specific laboratory testing can help you pinpoint your exact hypersensitivities. Eliminating your allergic foods can help reduce cravings immensely!
• Get more sleep. Lack of sleep intensifies cravings. Aim for 8 hours/night with as much before midnight as possible.
• Talk to a health care professional about supplements. There are many supplements that act as natural appetite suppressants and can reduce cravings or modulate dopamine receptor function to regulate appetite. This can make all the difference in the world to ease withdrawal, eliminate cravings and establish new habits that allow you to kick the sugar-habit.

Sugar addiction is very real and it can make achieving vibrant health seem almost impossible. Thankfully, there are a number of ways to break the sugar addiction cycle and retrain your brain to crave healthy foods. If you’d like more support and guidance, don’t hesitate to contact us – we’d love to help you free yourself from sugar addiction and lead the life you’ve always wanted.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

Houston, we have a problem

Not only do sweet foods increase dopamine levels, but over-consumption of sweet foods can actually cause a breakdown in brain chemistry. According to a study published in Nature Neuroscience, “common mechanisms may underlie obesity and drug addiction.” (3) Researchers found that when animals were given a diet of high calorie foods, there was a significant reduction in the activity of their dopamine receptors. This is very similar to the affect that cocaine or heroin has on the brain. (3)

What does decreased receptor activity mean? It means that the brain becomes tolerant to dopamine signals. This is similar to what happens when you go to a concert. When you first get there, the music seems very loud. But as the concert goes on, you get used to the noise level, and it no longer seems as loud as it did when the band started playing – you become tolerant to the noise level. That’s exactly what happens with dopamine in the brain. If you are constantly eating or seeing sweet, high-calorie foods, your dopamine levels are always high, just like the music at the concert is always loud. Your brain gets used to the high dopamine levels and starts tuning them out. The signal does not seem as strong anymore. This means that you will need more dopamine to feel any effect, just like the music would have to be turned up for you to notice any change in volume.

For someone with constantly high dopamine levels, more and more sweet, high-calorie foods are needed to get the same kind of pleasure. This sets many people up for a catch-22 situation – they remember how great something a certain food made them feel and expect it to bring them the same amount of pleasure. However, when they eat the food they aren’t as satisfied as they expected to be, so they eat more and more in hopes of regaining that original feeling (or ‘high’). This often becomes a cycle of constantly elevated dopamine levels, leading to decreased dopamine receptor response, causing decreased pleasure and constant attempts to achieve more pleasure (by raising dopamine levels even higher) by eating more and more super-sweet, high calorie foods. (4) This should start to sound a lot like addiction.

Sugar addiction

Studies have shown that people with addictive-like eating behaviors – which includes addiction to sweet, high-calorie foods, insatiable cravings and binge eating – have greater brain activity in regions associated with substance dependence and abuse. They also have increased activity in their reward circuitry and less activity going on with inhibitory regions of the brain (5). This means that they are more prone to seek out pleasure-inducing experiences and less likely to be able to stop themselves in the process. Their reward systems are being triggered at a higher rate than people who don’t have addictive-like eating behaviors, and they are less able to keep themselves from acting on their desires.

Some professionals have questioned whether sugar addiction, and addictive behavior in general, is due more to willpower or genetics. We know that there are a decreased number of dopamine receptors in the brain in both drug addicts and in obese people. The question is whether the decreased number is due to the brain trying to compensate for the abnormally high levels of dopamine or just because those people were born with lower levels of receptors. (2) The evidence to date seems to indicate that it could be a bit of both, with the compensation piece playing a much larger role. For instance, research has shown that the more obese a person is, the fewer dopamine receptors they have (2). This seems to suggest that the brain has built up a tolerance to the high levels of dopamine. Regardless of cause, a person with a decreased number (or function) of dopamine receptors would require more stimulation than the average person to feel the same amount of pleasure, putting them at greater risk for addictive behaviors. (6)

Withdrawal

The final criterion for addiction is evidence of withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms from sugar addiction can occur within a few hours to several days after discontinuation depending on the person and severity of sugar use. Carvings, often moderate to severe, are the most common withdrawal symptom; people often also have an increased appetite, especially for sweet foods. However, some people have much more severe symptoms, including depression, anxiety, mood swings and an extreme drive to continue eating sugar despite the significant harm it is causing them. People that experience these types of symptoms usually have very low levels (or very low functioning) of dopamine receptors due to years and years of sugar use. Once the sugar is discontinued, there is not enough dopamine to help them feel ‘normal’ and they can feel like their world is crumbling around them. This is why many people need guidance and support to help them break their sugar addiction.

The final part of this three part series will detail how you can break your sugar addiction and free yourself from the daily cravings and binges that can thwart even the best-laid intentions.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

Many people feel like they are ‘addicted’ to sugar. New research is providing clues as to how this may happen and what can be done about it. In this three part series, we will look at the reasons why some people can’t seem to help themselves when it comes to sugar/sweets and exactly what you can do to break the sugar addiction cycle.

There has been a lot of research and disagreement in the health/medical world lately about sugar and whether or not a person could be truly “addicted” to it. Sure, we all like to eat sweets, and sometimes we find ourselves craving and overindulging in sweet treats. But there are people who have an insatiable sweet tooth; people who “can’t live without chocolate” or it ends up affecting how they feel, their mood and their actions. Could these people actually be addicted to sugar? New research indicates that they could.

Sugar Addicts

First, some background. Medically speaking, an addictive substance is something which induces a pleasant state or relieves distress, leads to adaptive changes in the brain that triggers tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings and causes dependence to such an extent that abstaining is difficult (1). Using these criteria, it doesn’t sound so far-fetched that sugar addiction could exist. People are usually happy after they eat cake or some other treat. Some people will eat sweet things to relieve distress; think stress eating or eating chocolate to ease PMS symptoms. And, there are people out there who have such intense cravings for sweets that willpower is literally not enough to abstain – they have to have something sweet every day or they have a very, very bad day. So what are these ‘adaptive changes in the brain that trigger tolerance, physical dependence and uncontrollable cravings’? The answer lies with brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.

“I gotta have that!”

Before we get into the science of neurotransmitters and brain responses, we need to talk about some biology and evolution. Back when humans were hunter-gatherers, food was not always in abundance. You could go through a food-drought at any time, so our bodies were designed to build energy stores out of excess calories whenever possible. That way, when there was an unexpected period of time without enough food, we could survive off of what our bodies had stored as fat. Sweet, sugary foods are often high-calorie foods. So when we are presented with something sweet our body says, “That tastes good. Eat a lot of that so I can build up energy stores for the food-drought.” We are biologically wired to enjoy and seek out sweet, high calorie foods because from an evolutionary standpoint, they provided us the best chance to survive a food-drought. We can’t help it.

However, in today’s world we very seldom (never!) experience a food-drought, as there is an abundance of food (and processed goods that slightly resemble food) wherever we go. This causes our own instincts to lead us astray and be drawn to sweet, high calorie foods when we, from a biological standpoint, don’t need them.

Now, on to brain chemistry. When we eat sweets, our brain levels of dopamine increase. (1) Dopamine is a neurotransmitter in the brain that controls the brain’s reward and pleasure centers. In essence, when our dopamine levels are high we feel happy. Dopamine also tells you to get into action to achieve a goal that will bring a reward or pleasure (such as eating a cookie). It motivates us to do things that bring us pleasure and it is a very powerful neurotransmitter. This means that the signals it sends can be very hard to overcome with willpower. (2)

It gets worse. Research shows that we don’t even have to eat these high-calorie foods to rev up our motivation to have them; all you have to do is see a high-calorie food and your dopamine levels will rise. (2) This means that just looking at a picture of an ice cream sundae will get you thinking about how much you want to eat it and wondering where you can get one – right now. For others, simply thinking about a food can elicit a rise in dopamine and increase their desire for immediate gratification. For many people, this urge is enough to make them feel like they have to act on it, so they run out and get the food or some other high-calorie alternative.

Marketers know this; why do you think that every TV, billboard or magazine ad has beautiful pictures of tantalizing high calorie foods? They know that just by seeing those ads, you’ll want that food, and want it now. This is also the reason so many fast food ads run at night and during sporting events – people see them and order.

This is just part of the story however; the next post will detail how eating sugar and highly sweetened foods can actually change how your brain processes information, making you crave and eat more, setting up a cycle that is hard to break.

Sources

1. “Can sugar be addictive?” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 16 Jan. 2006.
2. Leutwyler Ozelli, Kristin. “This is your brain on food.” Scientific American Sep. 2007: 84-85.
3. Daniells, Stephen. “Food addiction: Fat may rewire brain like hard drugs.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 29 Mar. 2010.
4. Gardner, Amanda. “Compulsive Eaters May Have ‘Food Addiction,’ Study Finds.” healthday.com. Health Day, 4 Apr. 2011.
5. Gray, Nathan. “Food addiction has similar brain response to drug addiction: Study.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 5 Apr. 2011.
6. Hyman, Mark MD. “Stopping Addiction to Sugar: Willpower or Genetics?”
7. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Animal study suggests existence of sugar addiction, says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 11 Dec. 2008.
8. Scott-Thomas, Caroline. “Sugar addiction ‘unlikely in humans,’ says scientist.” foodnavigator.com. William Reed Business Media, 9 Jan. 2009.

Cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, asthma, fatty liver disease, acid reflux – these diseases plague the adults in the U.S. Now they are being seen in our children. In Part 2 of our four part series on childhood obesity, we will look at the physical consequences of childhood obesity and what it means for their future.

A Very Large Problem

Childhood obesity is reaching epidemic proportions in this country and around the world. In the U.S., federal statistics estimate that 9 million adolescents (17% of the population) are obese and 1 in 3 kids are either overweight or obese. Even more startling is that the rate of childhood obesity is growing at a staggering rate, having gone up 300% since 1970. What does this mean? It means that our current generation of kids are the sickest they’ve been in recent history. However, unlike epidemics of the past, most of what plagues today’s youth has everything to do with what they eat and what they do (or more likely, don’t do), and it’s a big problem.

What used to be considered diseases of aging are now becoming diseases of overconsumption. Recent statistics are shining a bright light on this growing problem:

• 70% of obese children are now exhibiting at least one symptom of cardiovascular disease and 39% had two or more¹; this includes high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides.
• Approximately 20-30% of obese children between the ages of 5-11 years old have elevated blood pressure.⁷
• Obese children as young as 2 years old are showing signs of metabolic syndrome, which is a condition that can lead to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.²
• Obese children have increased risk of impaired glucose tolerance, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.³ In fact, children as young as 5 years old have been found to be insulin-resistant.²
• Fatty liver disease (which was unheard of in children before the 1980s) occurs in about 33% of obese children.⁴
• Obese girls often experience menstrual irregularities, including early puberty (many before the age of 10 years old), absence of menses and polycystic ovarian syndrome.⁶

And the list goes on and on – sleep apnea, asthma, joint and muscle pain, gallstones, acid reflux – and these are what they experience as children. Our kids are suffering diseases and disorders that many adults never have to face. The worst part is, without significant changes, things are only going to get worse.

The Shape of Things to come

If our kids are already experiencing all these health conditions, what hope do they have for the future? Unfortunately, research is showing us more of the same. Part of this is due to the fact that 80% of overweight adolescents grow up to be obese adults.⁵ This doesn’t bode well for their health:

• Obese and overweight kids are 8.5-10 times as likely to develop high blood pressure as young adults than non-obese children.⁶
• Overweight kids are 3 times as likely as non-obese children to have high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and 8 times as likely to have low HDL (“good”) cholesterol by the time they are 30 years old.⁶ This puts them at a much higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Obese girls are significantly more likely to have severe menstrual problems and fertility issues as they age. If they do become pregnant, they are also more likely to develop gestational hypertension.⁶
• Obese children are more than twice as likely to die prematurely, before the age of 55, than their lean counterparts.⁹

Overall, what this means is that being overweight or obese in early adolescence puts children at risk for adult-onset cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and many other health complications well before they become teenagers.⁸ In addition, obese children are much more likely to die young, and die due to complications due directly to being overweight or obese most or all of their lives.

Changing Shape

Research has shown that childhood obesity will have devastating effects, not only for our children’s health, but to an already overburdened healthcare system that will have to deal with an ever increasing number of obesity-related illnesses. However, research also shows that the negative effects of obesity can be largely overcome by incorporating healthier eating habits and exercise into a child’s lifestyle. Part 4 of this series will show you exactly what this means and how to do it. But first, Part 3 of this series will review the social, mental and psychological consequence of the childhood obesity epidemic.

References

1. Freedman DS, Mei Z, Srinivasan SR, Berenson GS, Dietz WH. Cardiovascular risk factors and excess adiposity among overweight children and adolescents: the Bagalusa Heart Study. J Pediatr. 2007;150(1):12-17.
2. http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/14/2359304/overweight-2-year-olds-showing.html
3. Whitlock EP, Williams SB, Gold R, Smith PR, Shipman SA. Screening and interventions for childhood overweight: a summary of evidence for the US Preventive Services Task Force. Pediatrics. 2005;116(1):e125—144.
4. Ebbeling CB, Pawlak DB, Ludwig DS. Childhood obesity: public health crisis, common sense cure. Lancet 2002;360:473-82.
5. http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/071205/overweight-kids-often-become-obese-unhealthy-adults.htm
6. Must A, Strauss RS. Risks and consequences of childhood and adolescent obesity. International Journal of Obesity (1999) 23, Suppl 2, S2-S11.
7. Figueroa-Colon R, Franklin FA, Lee JY, Aldreidge R, Alexander L. Prevalence of obesity with increased blood pressure in elementary school-aged children. South Med J 1997; 90:806-813.
8. Messiah SE, Arheart KL, Luke B, Lipshultz SE, Miller TL. Relationship between Body Mass Index and Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors among US 8- to 14-year-olds, 1999 to 2002. The Journal of Pediatrics , August 2008, Volume 153, Issue 2,pp. 215-221.
9. Franks PW, Hanson RL, Knowler WC, Sievers ML, Bennett PH, Looker HC. Childhood obesity, other cardiovascular risk factors, and premature death. N Engl J Med 2010; 362:485-493.