Parents Are Responsible for Child's Weight

This post is about weight loss.  It's about basic physiology, and personal responsibility (ooh, dirty words).  I recently tweeted a bunch on a subject I wrote about three years ago.  The number of responses I received was incredible.  The subject was on giving the cholesterol lowering medication, statins, to children.  In 2008, the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommended screening children as young as two-years-old for high cholesterol.  If a child is found to have high cholesterol, the Academy recommended putting him or her on statins to prevent future cardiovascular disease.  My response today is the same as it was three years ago--it's a freakin' crime!

I know too much about physiology and human health to accept this as a treatment option for children, let alone the first line of defense.  Statins have side-effects, and they are also based on a faulty premise--that low density lipoproteins (LDLs) are the most important factors in cardiovascular health.  While definite contributors, LDLs are simply not as important as high density lipoproteins (HDLs) when it comes to cardiovascular risk.  To consider giving drugs that most people take for a lifetime to children as a preventative is purely irresponsible.

But, really, the criticisms I encountered weren't about points I made on statin use in children.  They were mostly directed at a particular line, an idea,

"Childhood obesity? Excuse my language, but...that's effin' child neglect and abuse by lazy, undisciplined, ignorant parents."

Now many people said, "Bravo! Thank you for telling it like it is."  Many others, however, felt it was callous, off-base and out-of-sync with the real causes of obesity.  Some tweeters informed me that my understanding of basic physiology was prehistoric, and that my solution to the obesity problem (I didn't know I had actually given one) was short-sighted and erroneous.  So in the next few posts I will attempt to clarify my thoughts on weight loss/weight gain, the obesity epidemic and parental responsibility as it relates to the weight--and health--of a child.

I am actually going to start with my thoughts on parental responsibility.  I contend that if you as a parent are not responsible for your child and his or her health, then who is?  This question is only obvious to those parents who share this philosophy, and won't be to those believing (either consciously or subconsciously) that health is the responsibility, and byproduct, of something outside themselves.

Every parent will say that they take full responsibility for their child, but far too many act otherwise.  What you do your children will do, period.  They eat what you eat, they think like you think, and they care for themselves in the same way you care for yourself.  How is your child's weight, then, independent of you?  Oh, you didn't shove the cookies down his or her throat...but did you buy them?  Maybe you thought it was harmless to feed your child cookies as a baby...I hope you know better now (Plenty of tweeter critics claimed to not feed their children junk food...listen, your obese child is eating junk food--WAKE UP!)

Parents of heavy children have lots of support for their innocence.  The concept that "your illness is not your fault" is preached by many doctors, psychologists, talk show hosts, media celebrities and support groups; and while it's true that illness is not a fault, it certainly isn't true that we have no hand in how our health plays out.  More importantly, though, everyone has the potential to achieve and maintain great health, no matter what the current circumstances.

When health issues arise, the most important thing to do is determine where changes need to be made.  Whether talking about major lifestyle modifications--like quitting smoking, or changing food habits, or exercising--or simply getting checked by a professional, change is an absolute necessity in correcting any health problem.  How soon you make that decision can mean the difference between life and death.  Symptoms are your body's way of telling you something needs attention.  Ignoring them is the worst possible approach you can take toward your health.

Obesity, as a morphological symptom, is a major change--and it just doesn't happen overnight.  Once parents see it unfolding, they have a responsibility to act (neither children nor teens can make this decision on their own) and create change.  For parents of chubby or obese children, this also means how you decide to change.  A child isn't going to change independently from his or her parents.  Are you going to change your diet to a more healthful one?  Are you going to eat less, and decrease your intake of junk foods, fast foods and sodas?  Are you going to work out, play sports with your kids or take fitness classes together?  Your child isn't going to change without you--you've got to change as well.  And simply dishing them off to Little League will not do either, as building their confidence before they compete in groups will be paramount to their psychological health and well-being.  The bottom line is that parents must get actively involved in the obese child's life, if they are to stand a chance of losing weight.

For new parents, it simply begins with creating good habits from the very start--the foods you expose your children to, the activities you share, how much television you watch, and so on.  You control the environment, and your choices contribute to your children's bodies, and their health.

Obesity is reversible, that's a fact.  How you see things, and how you approach the world determines your chances of overcoming (or your child overcoming) obesity.  Too many people lose weight to make it a hopeless situation.  Blaming obesity on genetics, hormones, depression, lack of health insurance or anything else will not change the fact that everybody is capable of being either obese or anorexic, and everything else in between; it just comes down to one's habits in determining where one will weigh on the scale.  You have the power to change anything with regard to your health, or that of your child's.  Understanding this, and fully embracing it, is the only way to create lasting changes.  Denying it will only get you the same, which is definitely your prerogative, but don't act as if you have no hand in the matter.

Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked to HBP

Wow!  More out of the vitamin-D-has-greater-importance-than-we-ever-thought camp: Low vitamin D levels in the blood lead to unhealthy blood vessels.  You heard right, new research shows a link between vitamin D concentrations and cardiovascular health.

A study conducted by researchers from the Emory/Georgia Tech Predictive Health Institute showed that participants with the lowest D levels had an increased blood pressure, and thus increased risk of heart disease and stroke.  Even more amazing is that when the participants increased their blood levels of vitamin D, their blood pressure went down.  Amazing...

Here's how they found out: The 554 participants in the study were Emory or Georgia Tech employees with an average age of 47 and in general good health.  Blood levels of vitamin D were measured.  The average concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (a stable form of the vitamin reflecting diet as well as that produced in the skin) in participants' blood was 31.8 nanograms per milliliter.  In this group, 14% had 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels considered deficient (less than 20 nanograms per milliliter), and 33% had levels considered insufficient (less than 30 nanograms per milliliter).

Researchers monitored the blood vessels' ability to relax by using a blood pressure cuff.  To allow blood to flow back into the arm, blood vessels must relax and enlarge--a change measured by ultrasound.  The researchers also examined the resistance to blood flow imposed by the arteries.

After controlling for factors like age age, weight and cholesterol, people with lower vitamin D levels still had stiffer arteries and impaired vascular function.  Lead author Ibhar Al Mheid, MD, a cardiovascular researcher at Emory University School of Medicine said,

"We found that people with vitamin D deficiency had vascular dysfunction comparable to those with diabetes or hypertension."

The researchers believe that vitamin D acts to strengthen the endothelial cells and muscles that surround blood vessels.  Al Mheid also believes that it could be reducing levels of angiotensin, a hormone that drives increased blood pressure, or regulating inflammation.  Wow, I wonder what these results mean for the overuse of statins?

But again, the best part: Those study participants with low blood vitamin D levels that then increased their concentrations by either supplementing or spending more time in the sun, were rechecked after six months and showed improvement to their vascular health measures and lowered their blood pressure.  Booyah!  Forty-two participants with vitamin D insufficiency whose levels later went back to normal had an average drop in blood pressure of 4.6 mmHg.  The study's findings were reported at this year's annual American College of Cardiology meeting in New Orleans.

What can I say other than "heck yes!"  Why should I care about these results?  Because it makes the universe more understandable to me.  I know with certainty that human health operates within universal laws.  I know that the increased incidence of high blood pressure today is not due to a lack of statin medication.  I also know that health is not random (genetics), and that vitamin D insufficiency is epidemic in North America.  Furthermore, it is not lost on me that blood vitamin D levels are low in many people at a time when dermatologists have scared people out of the sunshine and into big hats and SPF5000.

Here is just some more evidence that sun energy is essential to human health.  Everybody needs unprotected sun exposure on a daily basis, period.  Supplementation helps, but nothing--and I mean nothing--beats the healing energy of our life-giving sun.

Education and Mental Preservation

Losing one's memory is a natural consequence of aging, right? Not necessarily; in fact, it has been shown in several studies that the more one stimulates one's mind--in the form of learning--the greater one's chances of retaining mental sharpness well into old age. Yet another study has been released confirming these conclusions.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that the more educated a person is, the better he or she performed on cognitive tests. Nothing new there, as we reported the same in this blog back in October. What is new, though, is that the study found that significant memory loss has declined in the elderly (people 70+) over the last decade, which may be due to that generation's longer education and schooling when compared to previous ones. According to lead author Dr. Ken Langa, "the research reinforces other studies that suggest people who do mentally challenging tasks early on build up a reserve of brain power that helps them withstand later injuries to the brain, such as a mini-stroke." He was also sure to point out the link between good cardiovascular health and brain health, another way to reduce mental decline, strokes and possibly Alzheimer's.

You want to know why I keep plugging these studies? Because everyone seems to be into anti-aging these days. Great--here's how to do it. My top seven tips to keeping the brain young:

• Drink lots of water (1-2L per day)
  
• Do 30-60 minutes of cardio (that makes you sweat) every week.
• Learn something new at all times. Once you master it, move on tho the next thing. My favorites:
• Languages (Chinese anyone?)
• Musical instruments 
• Brain Puzzles (try this cool site)
• Mathematics (always a great brain developer)
• An art (photography, web design, sculpting, knitting)
  
• Anything new (economics, poetry, cosmology, quantum physics, philosophy, psychology, etc.)
• Take essential fatty acids (EFAs) daily
  
• Meditate (sit in silence) every day
• Practice daily gratitude (for your life exactly as it is now)

Do these things and rest assured that you will keep trucking through life sharp as a whip. Don't just take my word for it, or the bevy of studies coming out each year; instead, prove it to yourself. And check back in with me when you hit your seventies--something tells me you'll remember my words.