Can Mental Work Make You Hungry?
While we all know about working up an appetite with physical activity, the same may very well be true of mental work – at least for women. Thus, a study by Miram Salama and colleagues from Laval University, QC, published in Physiology and Behavior, shows that mental work may very much influence food preferences and satiety. Using a cross-over design, 35 healthy young adults were randomly assigned the one of the two following conditions: mental work (reading a document and writing a summary of 350 words with the use of a computer) or control (rest in seated position). After 45 mins of each condition, participant were offered a standardized ad libitum buffet-type meal. Appetite sensations (desire to eat, feeling of hunger, fullness level and estimated amount of food that can be consumed) were measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS). While women not only had a higher caloric intake after the mental work (by about 100 extra Cal), men reduced their caloric intake (by about 200Cal). While women selectively increased their preference for carbs, men reduced their intakes of dessert. In both men and women, participants with the highest waist circumference also had the lowest satiety efficiency in response to mental work. These results suggest that mental work can change energy intake and preferences in both men and women, albeit in different directions. Why this would be is anyone’s guess – it is also not clear exactly how this mechanism works. One speculation would be that there are differences in how men and women respond to mental stress – but that is certainly work for a future study. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB
Guest Post: Assessing Tools For Preventing Childhood Obesity in Primary Care
Today’s guest post comes from Jillian Avis, PhD Candidate, Department of Paediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton Primary care providers (e.g., family doctor, kinesiologist, registered dietitian) play a key role in preventing childhood obesity. To assist with obesity prevention, providers use a variety of tools and resources in clinical practice to (i) assess and monitor children’s weight status (e.g., body mass index growth charts), (ii) communicate children’s weight status with families (e.g., 5As of Pediatric Obesity), (iii) educate families on healthy lifestyle behaviors (e.g., Canada’s Food Guide), and (iv) facilitate behavior change (e.g., magnetic place models). Although such tools are regularly used by providers, little is known regarding their use and suitability in practice. Thus, in a recent publication, our team pilot‐tested a mixed methods study to preliminary assess these tools – Do they work? Do providers like them? How are they used? We conducted one‐on‐ one interviews with multidisciplinary primary care providers (n=19) from 10 primary care clinics in Edmonton and Calgary. Following the interviews, we compiled a comprehensive list of all tools used by providers, which were subsequently evaluated using three assessment checklists (e.g., Suitability Assessment of Materials). Our findings show that most tools score ‘average’, and criteria on the checklists (e.g., readability level, layout, graphics) overlap with providers’ perceptions of tool suitability. However, the checklist criteria do not reflect providers’ views regarding the logistical factors that impact accessibility, such as cost, distribution, and production. Conclusions from our research highlight that to assess the overall suitability and assist those developing tools for childhood obesity prevention, objective scoring using checklists should be considered in conjunction with contextual factors and providers’ perceptions of suitability. If you’re interested in following Jill’s research, visit her blog @DrSharma Edmonton, AB
Will Low Oil Prices Lead To An Obesity Spike In Alberta?
There is no doubt that the low oil price is pummelling the Alberta economy. According to the Alberta economic dashboard, in October 2015, Alberta’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.6%, up from the 4.4% rate a year earlier and from last month’s 6.5% rate. The youth unemployment rate was 11.6%, up from last year’s 9.0% rate, while male unemployment increased precipitously from 3.6% last October to 7.3% this year. As no one seems to be expecting a rosier future for this industry, it may well be that many who lost their jobs in the wake of mass oil patch layoffs, will find the coming months (not to mention the festive season) both economically and emotionally challenging. According to this report, suicide rates from January to June in Alberta this year are up 30% compared to the same period in 2014. One challenge that may escape notice is the fact that this situation may also lead to significant weight gain in those affected. Depression, anxiety, food insecurity, insomnia and simply being unable to afford healthy food are all important risk factors for weight gain. Indeed it is hard to imagine how going from a high-paying job to being unemployed with little immediate hope of recovery will affect families. Maintaining a positive spirit – necessary for eating healthy, engaging in physical activity and healthy sleep – will clearly be a challenge. So while it may take some time for “official” statistics regarding overweight and obesity to change, I would not be surprised to see numbers go up. Unfortunately, when this happens, people putting on the extra pounds will likely face the same blame and shame for “making poor choices” as everyone else who is struggling with this problem faces everyday. As medical professionals, we need to acknowledge that unemployment and the worries that come with it can make our patients more susceptible to weight gain – let us not miss the opportunity for prevention. If you’ve been affected by the economic downturn and this is affecting your health, please feel free to leave a comment. @DrSharma Edmonton, AB
Leaders Have To Understand, Accommodate, Embrace & Support Diversity
Earlier this week, I spoke at a leadership lecture series on barriers to participation at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College at the University of Alberta. The speaker series was hosted by the principal of the college,the Right Honourable Kim Campbell, who served as Canada’s 19th prime minister in 1993. While I spoke about the particular challenges and barriers faced by Canadians living with obesity and how these can be accommodated and supported in the workplace and society in general, other speakers spoke on the accommodation of individuals living with other challenges. Thus, Kelly Falardeau, herself a victim and advocate for burn survivors and Deryk Beal, one of Canada’s leading clinician scientists on stuttering and other speech impediments, joined me in speaking on the importance of diversity and the need to identify obstacles to social inclusion that keep individuals from reaching their full potential. In my presentation I did my best to portray the biological, physical, emotional and societal challenges that Canadians living with obesity face everyday. Here is what I asked the students to think about: “So how can we help people living with such barriers? For one, let us educate ourselves on the real issues – if there was an easy solution that actually worked, believe me my clinic would be empty. Secondly, let us show some respect for people who wake up with this barrier every single morning and go through their day – for the most part doing everything everyone else does. Thirdly, let us acknowledge that once you have obesity there is no easy way back. I have patients who have lost their entire weight over on diet after diet after diet only to put the weight back again. Diet and exercise is simply not enough for most people – surgery works but is not available and not scalable – we cannot do surgery on 120,000 Albertans. So let us not pretend that there is an easy solution to the problem – we simply don’t have enough treatments that work. Fourthly, till we do come up with more treatments that actually work or maybe even get our act together on prevention, let us not make life harder for people living with this barrier than it has to be. We can do many things to accommodate people living with obesity – we accommodate people with all kinds of “special needs” at home, in society in the workplace –… Read More »
100+ Putative Causes Of Obesity – Take Your Pick
Listening to (or reading the bestsellers written by) pundits, one may easily think that the entire obesity problem can be brought down to a couple of factors – sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food, sedentariness, screen-time, – take your pick. Now, Morgan Downey, former CEO of the Obesity Society on his blog – the Downey Obesity Report – provides an update of previous lists of putative causes of obesity – a list that now included 104 items. As he is careful to point out, “The links are not meant to be definitive or best study but merely a demonstration of the interest in the particular cause.” Given that many of these factors are implicated based largely on observational studies, which by their very nature cannot prove causality, some scepticism is in order. However, for many factors on this list there is biological plausibility, often backed by findings from animal or experimental studies. Here is Downey’s list of putative causes of obesity: 1. agricultural policies 2. air conditioning, 3. air pollution, 4. antibiotic usage at early age, 5. arcea nut chewing, 6. artificial sweeteners, 7. Asian tiger mosquitos, 8. assortative mating, 9. being a single mother, 10. birth by C-section, 11. built environment, 12. celebrity chefs, 13. chemical toxins, (endocrine disruptors) 14. child maltreatment, 15. compulsive buying, 16. competitive food sales in schools, 17. consuming skim milk in preschool children, 18. consumption of pastries and chocolate (in Burkina Faso), 19. decline in occupational physical activity, 20. delayed prenatal care, 21. delayed satiety, 22. depression 23. driving children to school 24. eating away from home 25. economic development (nutrition transition) 26. entering into a romantic relationship, 27. epigenetic factors, 28. eradication of Helicobacter pylori, 29. family conflict, 30. family divorce, 31. first-born in family, 32. food addiction, 33. food deserts, 34. food insecurity, 35. food marketing to children, 36. food overproduction, 37. friends, 38. genetics, 39. gestational diabetes, 40. global food system,(international trade policies) 41. grilled foods, 42. gut microbioata, 43. having children, for women, 44. heavy alcohol consumption, 45. home labor saving devices, 46. hormones (insulin,glucagon,ghrelin), 47. hunger-response to food cues, 48. high fructose corn syrup, 49. interpersonal violence, 50. lack of family meals, 51. lack of nutritional education, 52. lack of self-control, 53. large portion sizes, 54. living in crime-prone areas, 55. low educational levels for women, 56. low levels of physical activity, 57. low Vitamin D levels, 58. low socioeconomic status, 59. market economy, 60. marrying in later life 61. maternal employment, 62. maternal obesity, 63. maternal over-nutrition during pregnancy, 64. maternal smoking, 65. meat consumption, 66. menopause, 67. mental disabilities, 68. no or short term breastfeeding, 69. non-parental childcare 70. outdoor advertising, 71. overeating, 72. participation in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly Food Stamp Program) 73. perceived weight discrimination, 74. perception of neighborhood safety, 75. physical disabilities, 76. prenatal maternal exposure to natural disasters, 77. poor emotional coping 78. sleep deficits, 79. skipping… Read More »
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