<[email hidden]> wrote in message
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Quoted message said:Hi all,
I created a poll to see what most of you feel are the biggest
contributing factors to the child obesity problem in the United States.
Over-worry about fat in the diet, incomplete understanding of the insulin
cycle, a lack of understanding of what is obese, child-to-child comparisons,
and the cycle of children's growth patterns.
In short and in lay terms (if you want the accurate technical mechnisms,
consult mid level bio-med college texts wherte the exact mechanisms are
described in detail):
Fat in a child's diet - Parents who deny their children at least 30% fat
in their diet handicap their children mentally and physically. I also
beleive that children will naturally seek fats in their diet, and when
denied dietary fat, they will increase calorie intake to have their own
necessary fat stores for their growth periods.
It is almost universally accepted among sports nutritionists that the
average person needs 30% minimum fat in their diet for the ATP cycle. Below
that level in the diet, human physical performance drops measurably. (The
forums I have read have them arguing about how much protein vs
carbohydrtates - NEVER about the fat percent)
The human brain grows fastest during the first year and in the early teen
years. The primary nutrient for brain tissue development is lipids found
only in fat. Logically, and in socio-economic/socio-parent group studies,
children with lower fat diets did less well than children with adequate fat.
(Polar bear and orca will leave the meat and eat only fat of a kill, if
food is plentiful - and they have a LOT of muscle built from fat)
Insulin cycle - Since insulin is a poison to tissues, the body strikes a
fine balance between sugar and insulin, in amount and in timing of its
release.
First, there are only three sugars that the body uses that pass thru the
intestinal walls - glucose, fructose, and galactose (from milk, not able to
be used by 80% of adults).
After eating carbohydrates, the adult body breaks it down into the two
absorbable ones. For glucose, the body responds by secreting insulin. For
fructose, insulin is not released. This presents two problems:
Fructose - Insulin creates the depressed appetite. The use of cheaper
fructose now used as sweeteners -which does not cause an insulin release -
does not depress the appetite as would have the sucrose used decades ago
(sucrose is basically glucose hung on a fructose molecule). Eat fructose,
still hungry. In short, with fructose (fruits and the mpost common sweetener
now used), the calories eaten do not depress the appetite.
Glucose - More insulin than needed for the sugar in the blood "shocks"
the cells, gradually building intolerance for the insulin in cells. This is
normally prevented by the body by the slow relase of glucose - except when
the timing of glucoise ingestion and insulin release is upset by short
shocks of sugar. I.e., the rapid absorption of glucose into the blood and
the rapid use by the cells as the pancreas responds to the intial rush
sometimes presents an imbalance when the sugar runs out while the pancreas
is still responding -known as "insulin bounce".
In modern jargon, the glycemic index of ingested glucose is too fast for the
body to handle before the insulin begins to create resistance
After 30 years of eating sugared cereal and skim milk/ sugared coffee for
breakfast, that human is so insulin resitant that type 2 diabetes creeps in.
What is obese - indeed. Clinically, it is different for males and females
and is a diagnosed medical condition, not the "Healthy Council for
Americans" or some press-pandering think tank. It is NOT "chubby", it is not
"stocky", or any cultural perception. And my pet peeve as a coach for
years - it is not some kid who is defined by some right-wing congressional
subcommittee as fat because they falied a pinch test at age 12 -
(Rant - I personally know of two kids I coached who ran under-5 miles,
100 situps in a minute, did the stretch tests, and maxed ALL the
Presidential fitness requirements - but failed the pinch test and their
parents got letters warning them that their children were obese. Parents
made no changes, no diets. Both kids are now 6'3, weigh 210-220, both
played D1 sports, and they now fail the BMI, even though they have 6-10%
body fat as measured by their teams. )
Body fat is not obese.
Body fat and growth - While some children are obese (defined by being more
than 30-40% body fat) at their particular stage of development, a healthy
child will store fat readying for growth spurts. (Thin children entering
growth spurts in elementary school and in their early teens are smaller than
their heavier counterparts at the end of the spurt)
E.g., teen boys can go from 140 pounds to 165, 160 to 190 pounds of
"muscle" - putting on 25-30 pounds in the space of one year. That is a
half-pound of muscle and bone a week - with humans as inefficient as they
are at using claories, a lot of extra calories are required to sustain that
kind of growth, and once started, only the lack of calories seems to slow it
for those years - IMHE, as long as the body has fat stores, it will
supplement normal intake with fat stores to sustain the growth spurt.
That is not to say that some kids are not obese. It is meant to note
that insufficient fat and intake slows physical development, and stored fat
is used for growth.
Child-to-child comparisons - I was always envious of the body builders
definition, until I found out that it is gotten by creating high blood
pressure just before the meet. That kid with unending muscle definition has
high blood pressure to create that definition. I was as strong or stronger,
played several sports, but couldn't get definition.
Until the age of 13-14, it is poor practice to compare general physical
attributes among children in age groups. There is too much variation in
physical and mental and emotiuonal developement that a norm is hard to
define.
As to older children - go back to a high school reunion and see how small
all those chosen high school athletes actually were. Most were early
developers, who had their growth spurt arrested earlier (because of low body
fat when the spurt started?), picked out of the crowd by adults and assigned
values.
fwiw... sorry - time flies and I gotta go without checking or editing...
Quoted message said:In my opinion, not only is this a huge problem health wise, but it will
become an enormous financial burden on this country as these kids grow
up to be obese adults who depend on extremely expensive medical
assistance throughout their lives, often funded by tax payers.
Please go here to take the poll:
http://www.pollmenow.com/poll.aspx?goto=276
I'll be happy to share the results when enough people have taken it.
Thanks
