By Nic Fleming, Medical Correspondent

Thousands of cases of obesity could have been caused by mothers being encouraged to overfeed their babies, scientists say.

Official charts used by doctors and health visitors to check infants are growing correctly date back to 1990, when around half of babies were breastfed and half given formula milk.

Today, three-quarters of babies are breastfed, and as those fed on formula gain weight at a quicker rate, mothers following the charts may have been overfeeding.

Studies suggest overfed babies are at greater risk of becoming obese later in life and suffering associated illnesses such as diabetes.

Prof Bert Koletzko, of the University of Munich, last week produced results from a study into the effects of infant nutrition in adult life.

He told New Scientist magazine that infant growth charts used in the United States “have been skewing infant nutrition towards overfeeding for decades”.

The weight charts given to British mothers since 1990 are based on studies carried out between 1978 and 1993.

Prof Tim Cole, of the University College London’s Institute for Child Health, said: “There is a general feeling that growing fast during infancy is not a good thing to do, partly because it encourages obesity.”

For those of you who are or know new moms, please make sure you pass along this information.

Jim

I was just on “The Morning Show With Mike And Juliet” in New York. After me, there was a big segment on Valerie and her weight loss.

Once again, while I applaud Valerie for losing weight, she is being paid for it. Look at the history:

Joy Behar – The View – Jenny Craig, lost and gained it all back and possibly then some.

Whoopi Goldberg – The View – Nutrisystem, lost and gained it almost all back.

Kertsi Alley – Jenny Craig, lost and then gained it all back and then some.

Queen Latifa – Jenny Criag, lost a little weight and was removed as a spokesperson when she failed to lose any more.

Valerie Bertinelli – Jenny Criag, has lost 40 and we need to wait and see.

Phyicia Ryshad – Down 21 pounds and we need to wait and see.

Again, I think it is great that they lose weight, but wouldn’t you if they were paying you by the pound? It’s a great motivator, but when the dollars stop, look at the history of success.

And if they are not strength training, then they are losing muscle and fat and when they gain it back, it’s all fat.

Jim

I am cleaning up my DVR and have an old segment of OPRAH that I was just watching with Dr. Oz, who is happen to think is great.

On his list of “To Eat” foods he has ONE tablespoon of olive oil.

That is absolutely all you should have on a daily basis, if any.

The media keeps saying that olive oil is healthy.

Sure, it has the right fat, but one tablespoon a day is all that you need.

If you eat a salad in a restaurant with vinagrette, you are probably getting 3+ tablespoons on that one salad.

PLEASE cut down on your olive oil use. Don’t dip bread it in, don’t drown your salad and grilled vegetables.

Be smart. You will lose weight right away if you cut down on the olive oil.

Jim

I didn’t know this and just read it as a part of an article on Ezine:

Everyone needs to add natural fiber to their diet. Research has shown that certain types of fiber such as resistant starch can increase fat metabolism by up to 30%. Resistant starch is formed when foods such as potatoes, grains and beans are cooked and allowed to cool down. Such foods should not be re-heated as it would transform them. They are called resistant starch because they are resistant to quick digestion. Therefore such foods give the feeling of fullness and curbs hunger.

Since resistant starches are resistant to digestion they are also not broken down and stored as fat. Instead what happens is that they get fermented as they get to the large intestine creating small fatty acids called butyrates which inhibit metabolism of carbohydrates. Since the body is deprived of breaking down carbohydrates it breaks down fat instead. A good choice would be to consume at least 20-30 grams a day of such resistant starch daily. This would roughly correspond to about half cup of potato, rice or cereal plus half cup cooked vegetables or one cup of cooked beans and 1 slightly unripe banana.

Jim

I  am just reading an old “Health” magazine and it say that the caffeine count of drinks is as follows:

Energy drinks = 50-500 milligrams of caffeine

Coffee = 80-150 milligrams of caffeine

Tea = 47 milligrams of caffeine

Soda = 35 milligrams of caffeine

I have to respectfully disagree.

Many of Starbucks coffees are over 300 milligrams of caffeine per cup. That is why people love it so much.

As for tea, that depends on how long you leave the bag in the hot water. Generally, if you put the tea bag in and quickly take it out and dump the water, you will get more of the caffeine out. If you leave it in, you will get more.

And some sodas are more than 35 milligrams of caffeine per serving.

So, as much as I generally like “Health” magazine, I have to disagree with this information.

Jim

From the January/February issue of “Men’s Health;”

Harvard scientists found that people with gum disease have a 30-50% higher risk of kidney, blood or pancreatic cancer.

An easy solution?

Invest in dental floss.

A study in the “Journal of Periodontology” determined that all types of floss are equally effective, but only if you actually use the stuff.

I hate it, but I do floss twice a day and make my kids do it as well.

Jim

There was an article in “Crain’s” Chicago Business that said that 60% of all New Yorkers eating in fast food establishments WITH the calories shown are making better choices.

I know that SO many people would be shocked to know the calories of many of the items that they frequently eat.

If other cities would do the same, I truly believe we could reverse this obesity epidemic. Nothing else has worked. Clearly this is worth a shot.

Don’t forget, you can almost always find out this information on the websites of almost every fast food establishment.

Jim

Oh, and one more thing about today’s “Good Morning America” segment.

They placed granola in the “healthy food” category.

I could NOT disagree more.

Granola is PACKED with calories. When my firm has a client in New York or Chicago that needs to GAIN weight, we urge them to eat lots and lots of granola.

Sure, there are some healthy properties in granola, but from a weight loss standpoint, it’s a disaster.

But there is one use of granola that I am okay with. If you can place about a tablespoon of it into your yogurt, you make like the crunch with the creamy texture and in that instance, I am okay.

But only a tablespoon.

Jim

I just watched a very interesting segment on Good Morning America.

In it, the filmed a behavior lab and offered both healthy and unhealthy foods in a break room at a company in New York.

What they found was that:

1.  If the healthy food is placed higher, say, on a pedestal, people will eat more of it and the platter will empty faster.

2.  If a mirror is placed in front of the unhealthy food, people will eat less of it.

So, think about this when you are eating or putting food out for others to eat. If you place the healthy food up high, odds are, it will be eaten more often.

And if you do have less healthy food out, prop a mirror up behind it and see what happens.

Jim

According to Web MD, one quarter of US adults have prediabetes and only 4% have been diagnosed.

I think this happens because so many people do not go to their annual physical. If they did, more and more would be aware of this devastating condition, that doesn’t have to be so life threatening.

I know many people who are living a very healthy life while dealing with elevated blood sugar. It simply requires them to be smart with their eating, drinking, exercise and sleep.

If you or a loved one has not been to the doctor in the past year, please make an appointment to do so.

Jim