PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Overweight primarily a problem among wealthier women in low- to middle-income countries

Researchers suggest policies should focus on comprehensive nutritional policy that balances the urgent need to increase nutritional intake among poor, as well as reduce overweight among the rich

2010-11-23
(Press-News.org) Boston, MA – A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) finds that high body mass index (BMI) in developing countries remains primarily a problem of the rich. The findings suggest that the shift towards overweight and obesity among the poor that has already happened in wealthier countries has not yet happened in developing countries.

The study appears in an advance online edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and will appear in an upcoming print edition.

"Previous research on the increasing overweight and obesity burden in developing countries has assumed that the burden is shared by everybody within these countries; however, we found that the social patterning of weight continues to closely resemble the unequal distribution of income and other resources," said S V Subramanian, lead author of the paper and associate professor in the department of society, human development, and health at HSPH.

Subramanian and his colleagues analyzed data from nationally representative samples of 538,140 women ages 15 to 49 drawn from Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 54 low- to middle-income countries between 1994 and 2008. They looked at BMI, education, household wealth, and the per capita Gross Domestic Product (pcGDP) from the women's home countries. The researchers found an association between BMI and wealth in every country except Moldova and Kazakhstan. Globally, a 25% increase on the measure of wealth index was associated with a 54% increase in BMI and a 33% increase in overweight. Similar patterns were observed in urban and rural areas within countries. There were no strong associations found between weight and either education or pcGDP.

The researchers theorize that these findings could be due to a number of factors, including that women in higher income groups are more likely to have diets richer in animal fats than lower-income women. Also, cultural norms in developing countries may favor fatty body shapes among wealthier women. Richer women are also less likely than poor women to engage in regular physical labor.

While increasing BMI and overweight prevalence are important public health concerns in many of these countries, their distribution among socioeconomic groups needs to be a central consideration in drafting policies for improving the nutritional status of populations in developing countries, according to the researchers.

"Our findings have serious policy implications," Subramanian said. "If being overweight is primarily concentrated among the rich, should precious public resources be targeted to reducing overweight or should they be devoted to policies that improve nutritional outcomes among the poor?" He added, "The fact that the burden of overweight and underweight is concentrated largely in two distinct socioeconomic groups actually is a good thing from a policy perspective, with the challenge being how to balance the emphasis in terms of priorities." ###

No direct funding source supported this study. Macro International Inc. provided access to the Demographic and Health Surveys. Subramanian is supported by a career development grant from the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

"Weight of nations: a socioeconomic analysis of women in low- to middle-income countries." S.V. Subramanian, Jessica M. Perkins, Emre Özaltin, and George Davey Smith. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online November 10, 2010.

Visit the HSPH website for the latest news, press releases and multimedia offerings.

Harvard School of Public Health ( http://www.hsph.harvard.edu ) is dedicated to advancing the public's health through learning, discovery, and communication. More than 400 faculty members are engaged in teaching and training the 1,000-plus student body in a broad spectrum of disciplines crucial to the health and well being of individuals and populations around the world. Programs and projects range from the molecular biology of AIDS vaccines to the epidemiology of cancer; from risk analysis to violence prevention; from maternal and children's health to quality of care measurement; from health care management to international health and human rights. For more information on the school visit: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Mayo Clinic study finds aggressive surgery is best for children with brain tumors

2010-11-23
ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A new Mayo Clinic study (http://newsblog.mayoclinic.org/2008/12/03/brain-tumors-best-treatments-for-long-term-survival/) found that children with low-grade brain tumors (gliomas) (http://www.mayoclinic.org/brain-tumors/) who undergo aggressive surgery to completely remove the tumor have an increased chance of overall survival. If complete removal is not possible, adding radiation therapy to a less complete surgery provides patients with the same outcomes as a complete removal. This study was presented at the Society for NeuroOncology Annual Scientific ...

New American Chemical Society Prized Science video focuses on shrinking the computer chip

New American Chemical Society Prized Science video focuses on shrinking the computer chip
2010-11-23
WASHINGTON, Nov. 22, 2010 — The science that helped make today's smartphones and iPods smaller but more powerful than yesterday's desktop computers highlights the latest episode in the American Chemical Society (ACS) Prized Science video series. The new high-definition video, released today, focuses on IBM chemist Robert Miller, winner of the 2010 ACS Award for Chemistry of Materials. Miller developed materials that helped pack more transistors onto each computer chip, those postage stamp-size slivers of silicon that make up the brains of computers and other electronic ...

University of Minnesota engineering researcher finds new way to fight antibiotic-resistant bacteria

2010-11-23
New findings by civil engineering researchers in the University of Minnesota's College of Science and Engineering shows that treating municipal wastewater solids at higher temperatures may be an effective tool in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Heating the solid waste to 130 degrees Fahrenheit (55 degrees Celsius) was particularly effective in eliminating the genes that confer antibiotic resistance. These genes are used by bacteria to become resistant to multiple antibiotics, which are then known as "superbacteria" or "superbugs." The research paper ...

The not-so-sweet truth about sugar -- a risk choice?

The not-so-sweet truth about sugar -- a risk choice?
2010-11-23
More and more people have become aware of the dangers of excessive fructose in diet. A new review on fructose in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN) indicates just how dangerous this simple sugar may be. Richard J. Johnson, MD and Takahiko Nakagawa, MD (Division of Renal Diseases and Hypertension, University of Colorado) provide a concise overview of recent clinical and experimental studies to understand how excessive amounts of fructose, present in added sugars, may play a role in high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and ...

Perceptual training improves vision of the elderly

2010-11-23
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Elderly adults can improve their vision with perceptual training, according to a study from the University of California, Riverside and Boston University that has implications for the health and mobility of senior citizens. The study, "Perceptual learning, aging, and improved visual performance in early stages of visual processing," appears in the current online issue of the Journal of Vision. It was funded by a $3.5 million grant from the National Institute on Aging. UCR researchers G. John Andersen, professor of psychology; Rui Ni, formerly a postdoctoral ...

HIV drugs interfere with blood sugar, lead to insulin resistance

2010-11-23
The same powerful drugs that have extended the lives of countless people with HIV come with a price – insulin resistance that can lead to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have determined why that happens. Their research shows that HIV protease inhibitors directly interfere with the way blood sugar levels are controlled in the body. This leads to insulin resistance, a condition that occurs when the body produces enough insulin but doesn't use it properly. This confirmation provides the potential ...

Number of doctorates awarded continued to grow in 2009

2010-11-23
U.S. academic institutions awarded 49,562 research doctorate degrees in 2009, the highest number ever reported by the National Science Foundation's Survey of Earned Doctorates (SED), and a 1.6 percent increase over 2008's total of 48,802. The SED is an annual census of all individuals who receive a research doctorate from a U.S. academic institution in an academic year, which is July 1 through June 30 of the following year. The 2009 census covered individuals who earned doctorates in the academic year ending June 2009. NSF's Science Resources Statistics division compiled ...

AGU highlights: Nov. 22, 2010

2010-11-23
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Water Resources Research (WRR), and Journal of Geophysical Research - Earth Surface (JGR-F). In this release: Changing winds can influence amounts of carbon dioxide the ocean holds Large methane release from ocean sediments during glacial periods? Magnetic island observed at Earth's magnetopause Understanding particle movement improves models of stream erosion and deposition New method for assessing uncertainty in groundwater models ...

Gene find could lead to healthier food, better biofuel production

2010-11-23
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue University scientists have found the last undiscovered gene responsible for the production of the amino acid phenylalanine, a discovery that could lead to processes to control the amino acid to boost plants' nutritional values and produce better biofuel feedstocks. Natalia Dudareva, a distinguished professor of horticulture, and Hiroshi Maeda, a postdoctoral researcher in Dudareva's laboratory, determined that the gene is one of 10 responsible for phenylalanine production in plants. Understanding how the amino acid is produced could provide ...

The puzzle of biological diversity

The puzzle of biological diversity
2010-11-23
Biologists have long thought that interactions between plants and pollinating insects hasten evolutionary changes and promote biological diversity. However, new findings show that some interactions between plants and pollinators are less likely to increase diversity than previously thought, and in some instances, reduce it. Findings, published in the Journal of Evolutionary Biology, show that local populations of one of the most distinctive plants in the Mojave Desert, the Joshua tree, are not as biologically diverse as would be expected. Joshua trees cannot produce seeds ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

CMD-OPT model enables the discovery of a potent and selective RIPK2 inhibitor as preclinical candidate for the treatment of acute liver injury

Melatonin receptor 1a alleviates sleep fragmentation-aggravated testicular injury in T2DM by suppression of TAB1/TAK1 complex through FGFR1

Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals Shen-Bai-Jie-Du decoction retards colorectal tumorigenesis by regulating the TMEM131–TNF signaling pathway-mediated differentiation of immunosuppressive dendritic ce

Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B Volume 15, Issue 7 Publishes

New research expands laser technology

Targeted radiation offers promise in patients with metastasized small cell lung cancer to the brain

A high clinically translatable strategy to anti-aging using hyaluronic acid and silk fibroin co-crosslinked hydrogels as dermal regenerative fillers

Mount Sinai researchers uncover differences in how males and females change their mind when reflecting on past mistakes

CTE and normal aging are difficult to distinguish, new study finds

Molecular arms race: How the genome defends itself against internal enemies

Tiny chip speeds up antibody mapping for faster vaccine design

KTU experts reveal why cultural heritage is important for community unity

More misfolded proteins than previously known may contribute to Alzheimer’s and dementia

“Too much going on”: Autistic adults overwhelmed by non-verbal social cues

What’s driving America’s deep freezes in a warming world?

A key role of brain protein in learning and memory is deciphered by scientists

Heart attacks don’t follow a Hollywood script

Erin M. Schuman wins 2026 Nakasone Award for discovery on neural synapse function and change during formation of memories

Global ocean analysis could replace costly in-situ sound speed profiles in seafloor positioning, study finds

Power in numbers: Small group professional coaching reduces rates of physician burnout by nearly 30%

Carbon capture, utilization, and storage: A comprehensive review of CCUS-EOR

New high-temperature stable dispersed particle gel for enhanced profile control in CCUS applications

State gun laws and firearm-related homicides and suicides

Use of tobacco and cannabis following state-level cannabis legalization

Long-term obesity and biological aging in young adults

Eindhoven University of Technology and JMIR Publications announce unlimited open access publishing agreement

Orphan nuclear receptors in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease development

A technological breakthrough for ultra-fast and greener AI

Pusan National University researchers identify key barriers hindering data-driven smart manufacturing adoption

Inking heterometallic nanosheets: A scalable breakthrough for coating, electronics, and electrocatalyst applications

[Press-News.org] Overweight primarily a problem among wealthier women in low- to middle-income countries
Researchers suggest policies should focus on comprehensive nutritional policy that balances the urgent need to increase nutritional intake among poor, as well as reduce overweight among the rich