French fries, chips, drinks more to blame for the increase in long-term weight

January 20th, 2012

SOURCES: Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health and the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Lona Sandon, RD, P., Assistant Professor, Nutrition Clinic, University of Texas Southwestern, Dallas, June 23, 2011, New England Journal of MedicineThese extreme measures aren t, is sitting in front of the TV a little ‘less, Sandon said. It ‘s important to understand that the whole package, not a single thing.

The U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more information on lifestyle changes to improve heart health.

The data from three separate studies after more than 120,000 healthy, non-obese American women and men to 20 years showed that participants gained an average of £ 3.35 within each period of four years for a total of more of 16 pounds over two decades.

Sandon said weight reduction programs such as Weight Watchers work for many because they focus on long-term behavior change instead of focusing on quick fixes.

The foods associated with a stable weight or less weight gain including vegetables, whole grains, fruits, nuts, yogurt and low fat dairy products. The results were broadly in line with transnational trends related to food and obesity, according to the authors, noting that the average calorie intake in the United States increased by 22 % among women and 10 % for men between 1971 and 2004.

Our message is what you eat affects the way you eat, Mozaffarian said. It is not just a message on the overall reduction of everything. Each factor has a way of life rather low in itself, but the combined effect may explain the gradual increase in weight.

The study is published in the June 23 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The edict to eat less and exercise more is anything but large, such as new analysis points to the increased consumption of potato chips, french fries, soft drinks and red meat as a cause weight gain increased in persons in the United States.

Participants who slept less than six hours or more than eight hours a night also gained more in each period of study, as well as those who watched more television (an average of 0.31 pounds per hour of television watched by day ).

The participants included 50 422 women in the Nurses Health Study, followed from 1986-2006, 47,898 women in the Nurses Health Study II followed 22 557 men in 1991-2003, and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which followed in 1986, 2006.

Changes in lifestyle factors as inadequate watch TV, exercise and sleep were also associated with weight gain gradually but inexorably across the board.

I was surprised to see how the results were consistent, the effect size and direction of effects, he said.

These are the types of studies that help to justify the basis for dietary guidelines, we have tried to promote for years, said Lona Sandon, assistant professor of clinical nutrition at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas. In fact, there is a synergy of these habits. This is not a single food diet or a single technique or exercise until the head falls.

T do not think that people do not know what to do, but how can we change the reason that the behavior change on a daily basis? he said. It ‘s a process.

The researchers examined the independent relationships between changes in lifestyle changes and weight in terms of four years, also found that those who increased physical activity resulted in less than 1.76 pounds earned each period .