Obesity

Germany's young soldiers are fat, smoke too much and don't exercise enough, a report on the armed services says. "The public perception is that soldiers are slim, sporty and healthy. Unfortunately, the reality is very different," said army commissioner Reinhold Robbe, who blamed a passive lifestyle. About 40% of soldiers between 18 and 29 are overweight, compared with 35% of civilians, the report says.

A portion is a portion is a portion -- unless, that is, it's a giant, super, king or grande portion, in which case it's probably trouble. Over the last 30 years, portions have grown by heaps and mounds in restaurants across the country and in many homes as well. During that same time, the waistlines of Americans consuming those mega-meals have grown more and more generous too -- to the point that now two-thirds of American adults are considered overweight.

Rising obesity rates and a large percentage of low-birth-weight children are dragging down the overall health of American children in their first decade of life, according to a report tracking the health and well-being of young children in the United States. Though U.S. children overall have seen improvements in their well-being in recent years, children ages 6 to 11 are four times more likely to be obese than their counterparts in the 1960s, the report found. The study, led by researchers at Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development, also found that the percentage of babies born with low weight rose 12.3% from 1994 to 2005, a trend they said was probably tied to delayed childbearing among working mothers and increased use of fertility drugs.

What's new: Obesity appears to increase a person's chances of cognitive decline in old age -- but so, paradoxically, does weighing too little for one's height. The finding: People who maintain a healthy weight have a lower risk of dementia compared with those who are underweight or obese, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Iowa, published in the journal Obesity Reviews last month.

Gastric bypass surgery -- a treatment for obesity that is already known to reduce heart disease and diabetes -- decreases the incidence of cancer by 80% over the five years following the procedure, Canadian researchers reported Wednesday. The incidence of two of the most common tumors, breast and colon, was reduced by 85% and 70%, respectively, Dr. Nicolas Christou of McGill University in Montreal said.

Re "He's a tall-order chef," June 22 If the Los Angeles Unified School District thinks that macaroni and cheese, enchiladas and lasagna constitute healthy food, then its "meals" will only contribute to an already admitted epidemic of obesity in young adults. Feeding kids a meal consisting of 70% to 80% carbohydrates is not the answer to rising obesity. It's more junk food. Samuel Shultz Thousand Oaks The writer is an L.A. Unified teacher.

The South tips the scales again as the nation's fattest region, according to a new survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. More than 30% of adults in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee are considered obese. In part, experts blame Southern eating habits, poverty and demographic groups that have higher obesity rates. Colorado was the least obese, with about 19%. Nationwide, about 26% of adults were obese. Obesity is based on the body mass index, a calculation using height and weight.

Scientists have used a special blend of vitamins and nutrients to stop successive generations of mice from becoming progressively more overweight. The researchers looked at three generations of genetically identical mice that were prone to obesity and found that the offspring got heavier even though they were fed the same diet as their mothers. But the mice didn't get any plumper when that diet was supplemented with folic acid, vitamin B-12, choline and betaine, according to a study published Tuesday in the International Journal of Obesity.

Re "Panel OKs fast-food curbs," July 23 Obesity and its resultant health complications, especially diabetes, are indeed a challenging public health problem in our nation. But banning so-called fast-food restaurants from specific zones will not ameliorate the problem. People will walk a few extra blocks to get the products they crave, especially in today's cost-conscious environment. Eliminating Big Macs and their ilk won't bring in supermarkets and green grocers -- and even if it did, the public needs to be educated about the real root causes of obesity: poor nutritional balance and inadequate exercise.