By Steve Edwards
Welcome to the Beachbody News Roundup, where we sit in front of our computers for hours on end seeking out the latest fitness and nutrition news so you don't have to!
Last month, we cited a number of studies showing how important exercise is when it comes to your health and longevity. This month, we're reminded that recovering from that exercise, as well as everything in your stressful lifestyle, is just as vital. Sleep was the headline of five different studies this month! (See the previous article.) And you can bet that none of them encouraged that you get less rest. Before we get to that, let's start with something encouraging—finally!—about the obesity epidemic.
- Kids getting fitter? We may have finally turned the corner on the obesity epidemic. It looks as though all this yappin' everyone is doing (well, us anyway) is finally getting through. A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has indicated that the percentage of American children who are obese has leveled off after increasing each year over the last 25 years.
Even so, across the board, experts warned that it was premature to celebrate.
"That is a first encouraging finding in what has been unremittingly bad news," said Dr. David Ludwig, director of an obesity clinic at Children's Hospital Boston, to the Associated Press (AP). "But it's too soon to know if this really means we're beginning to make meaningful inroads into this epidemic. It may simply be a statistical fluke."
According to the study, roughly 32 percent of children were overweight but not obese, 16 percent were obese, and 11 percent were extremely obese. Those levels held steady since 2005–06 after rising without interruption since 1980. CDC data reported last year showed that obesity rates for men also held steady from 2003–04 to 2005–06, at about 33 percent after two decades of increasing. The rate for women, 35 percent, remained at a plateau reached in 2003–04. "Without a substantial decline in prevalence, the full impact of the childhood epidemic will continue to mount in coming years," warned Ludwig. That is because it can take many years for obesity-related complications to translate into life-threatening events, including heart attacks and kidney failure. Dr. Reginald Washington, a children's heart specialist in Denver and member of an American Academy of Pediatrics obesity committee, summed up the situation to the AP, saying, "We still have a long way to go."
Source: Tanner, L. "Heart Disease Study hints obesity epidemic among US children has peaked." AP News Wire. May 28, 2008. JAMA: http://jama.ama-assn.org; CDC: http://www.cdc.gov.
Breakfast is back! The "most important meal of the day" is back, according to Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz, of the Hospital de Clinicas in Caracas, Venezuela. She conducted a study showing that those on a "big breakfast" diet lost weight better than those on a low-carb diet. In the study, two groups ate low-calorie diets and lost similar amounts of weight during the initial phase. However, the low-carb group participants gained most of their weight back over time, whereas those who at a large breakfast continued to lose weight.
And according to Jakubowicz, women who ate a big breakfast reported feeling less hungry, especially before lunch, and having fewer cravings for carbs than women on the low-carb diet. It's important to note that the "big breakfast" was highly nutritious, well balanced, and not "big" by most people's standards, around 600 calories—about half the daily caloric consumption of each participant. Source: "Big, Well-Balanced Breakfast Aids Weight Loss." Reuters. June 20, 2008.
Fresh news for freshmen. The good news is that the "Freshman 15" is actually the "Freshman 5," according to a study released by the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada. The bad news is that those who do gain weight during their freshman year tend to follow this road to obesity. "It's still alarming because that happened over six to seven months," Dr. Janis A. Randall Simpson told Reuters Health. "If young women going to university continue to put on weight at that rate it could be very problematic."
The most interesting aspect to the study was that these women tended to neither overeat nor drink excessive amounts of alcohol. Most of the weight gain seemed to come from reducing their amount of physical activity. Simpson suggested that this may be because most girls play a sport or participate in PE in high school, while in college, they may spend this extra time studying.
译文:
好身材新闻摘要－健康的儿童，早餐以及大一新生会增重15磅的现象
欢迎来到“好身材新闻摘要”。我们每天花上几小时一直坐在电脑前寻找最新的健身的方法，但是在这里，你不需要如此！
上个月，我们列举了一系列研究，表明了运动对我们的健康和寿命有多重要。这个月，我们要提醒你，通过运动以及紧张压力生活中的点点滴滴帮助你恢复过来是多么的重要。睡眠是本月五个不同研究里共同的关键词！（请看先前一章）没有一份研究会建议你少休息。在我们开始讨论今天的话题前，让我们先从振奋人心的消息开始——关于肥胖疾病。
儿童变得健康了？肥胖疾病的情况可能最终会好转。看起来此言论似乎在胡扯大家都能从肥胖问题中挺过来。一项由联邦疾病控制和预防中心发布的研究表明，美国肥胖儿童的比例在经过25年来的增长后出现了停止上升而保持水平发展的情况。
尽管如此，从整体情况来看，专家们还是提醒现在要庆祝还为时过早。
“在连续那么多坏消息以来，这是第一个令人振奋的发现”波士顿儿童医院肥胖诊所负责人大卫·鲁威格医生向美联社说道：“但是现在定论我们在这种疾病上开始取得显著的进展还太早。这可能只是一个统计学上的巧合。”
根据研究，32％左右的孩子超重或是肥胖，16％的孩子肥胖，11％严重肥胖。这个数据自从1980年持续增长后在2005~2006年保持稳定。去年联邦疾病控制和预防中心发布的数据显示，男性肥胖的比例在经过20年的增长后，在2003~2004和2005～2006年间保持稳定，为33%。女性肥胖的比例为35％，在2003～2004年保持稳定。“并不存在一个普遍情况地明显下降，儿童时期的疾病所产生的影响可能要几年后才显现出来”，鲁威格医生这样提醒道。因为与肥胖相关的并发症发展为危及生命的疾病（包括心脏病和肾功能衰竭）要花上许多年。丹佛儿童心脏疾病专家、美国儿科学会肥胖委员会成员雷金纳德·华盛顿医生向美联社这样总结道，“我们仍然有很长路要走”
早餐归来！根据委内瑞拉加拉加斯医院的医生丹尼拉·杰克博崴茨所说，“一天中最重要的一餐”归来啦！她的一项研究表明，那些吃丰盛早餐的人比那些吃低碳水化合物的人更容易减肥。研究中两组吃低卡路里食物的人们在初期都减少了差不多的体重。但是，吃低碳水化合物的参与者会在之后反弹更多的体重，而早餐吃得很丰盛的人体重则继续减少。
根据杰克博崴茨所说，早餐吃得丰盛的女性饥饿感会较少，尤其是在午餐前。她们比起吃低碳水化合物的女性，对碳水化合物的需求更少。需要指出重要的一点，所谓“丰盛的早餐”是高营养、均衡的，而不是大多数人们对于“丰盛”的标准。“丰盛的早餐”差不多是600卡路里，相当于每个参与者每天消耗的卡路里的一半。
一条给大一新生的新消息。加拿大安大略省圭而夫大学发表的研究带来了一条好消息——“新生会增重15磅的现象”实际是“新生增重5磅”。但是，还有一条坏消息：在大一增重的学生们会继续胖下去。
“这种情况已经发生了6，7个月，现在仍该引起我们的注意”杰尼斯·兰登·辛普森医生这样告诉路透社健康版，“如果年轻女性进入大学后继续增重，那问题就大了。”
研究中有趣一点的是，这些增重的女性既不贪吃也不酗酒。增重大多是因为她们减少了运动量。辛普森医生说大多数女孩在高中时上体育课或者参加运动，但是到了大学，她们将业余时间花在了学习上（因此运动的时间少了）。