Americans Pretty Much Only Stop Eating When They’re Sleeping

Photo: Getty Images

Be honest: Are you snacking right now? You are, aren’t you? It’s okay — so am I. According to new research published last week in Cell Metabolism, if you are awake, you are probably eating. The 156 healthy San Diego residents in this study started eating shortly after waking up and kept right on going for 15 hours, hardly pausing in between snacks. It’s disturbingly similar to the 2012 Onion headline “Report: Majority of Americans Now Eating One Continuous Meal a Day.”

The point of the study, as Science News reports, was to determine whether restricting the timing of meals might help people lose weight, as has been suggested in animal research. “Critics of the work have long contended that the animal studies don’t apply to humans, because everybody knows that people eat three meals a day within a 12-hour period,” Tina Hesman Saey writes. This, as it turned out, is not exactly true.

Like a bunch of power Instagram users, the volunteers were instructed to snap a smartphone photo of every single thing they consumed throughout the day. They did this for three weeks, and each photo came with a time stamp, allowing the researchers to figure out when they were eating — which, according to each individual’s photos, was practically all the time. Saey writes:

When analyzing the eating patterns, the researchers couldn’t pick out defined breakfast, lunch and dinner times for most participants. People started eating about 1.5 hours after waking up and finished a couple of hours before bedtime with no discernible large breaks in between, the researchers found. About 25 percent of calories were eaten before noon, and 35 percent consumed after 6 p.m.

Additionally, in a small pilot study, eight overweight study volunteers took part in a 16-week intervention period, during which time they only ate within a ten-hour period throughout the day. They were instructed to change nothing else about their eating or lifestyle habits, and yet this change alone was enough to cut back their calorie intake by about 20 percent per day, which resulted in an average of seven pounds lost over the 16 weeks.

True, eight people is not a large enough sample to say anything definitively, but it’s a step toward figuring out the actual eating habits of Americans, and the interventions obesity researchers can devise that may help people lose weight. What people eat is certainly still important, but so, apparently, is when.

More from Science of Us:

Willpower (or Lack of It) Is the Wrong Way to Think About Weight

The 4 Ways People Rationalize Eating Meat

Diets Are a Lot Like Religion

How Your Feet Can Help You Sleep

Science of Us is a smart but playful window into the latest science on human behavior, with the goal of enlightening, entertaining, and providing useful information that can be applied to everyday life.

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1L7zPi0

Kids With Mental Ills Often Treated Solely by Primary Care Doctors

By Dennis Thompson
HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, Oct. 12, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Family doctors and pediatricians are often the sole source of a child’s mental health care, particularly for kids suffering from attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

More than one-third of U.S. kids receiving care for a mental health problem are treated by their primary care physician alone, without the involvement of a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker, according to a new study.

And four out of 10 children with ADHD are treated by a primary care physician without any collaboration with a mental health professional.

Primary care physicians also appear more likely than psychiatrists to prescribe medications to treat kids with ADHD, according to the study published online Oct. 12 in the journal Pediatrics.

Children with ADHD usually have trouble paying attention and controlling impulsive behaviors. Depending on the child’s age, medication and/or behavior therapy are recommended ADHD treatments.

The laws of supply and demand are requiring family doctors and pediatricians to care for these children, said study senior author Dr. Jeanne Van Cleave, an assistant professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“There just aren’t enough child psychiatrists in the United States to treat every child with a mental health condition,” Van Cleave said. “Given that, any efforts to improve the quality of mental health care for children would be wise or appropriate to focus on improvements in primary health care, since that is where a lot of that care is happening.”

About 11 percent of U.S. kids between 4 and 17 years old — an estimated 6.4 million children — have been diagnosed with ADHD, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But only about 8,000 child psychiatrists practice in the United States, and perhaps another 600 developmental-behavioral pediatricians, said Dr. Mark Wolraich, director of the Child Study Center at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

“There isn’t any way that all of those individuals [with ADHD] are going to be able to see a child psychiatrist,” Wolraich said.

For their study, the researchers analyzed data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, an ongoing federal survey designed to assess the cost and use of health care in America. They specifically looked at children who’d visited a doctor for a mental health condition.

The investigators found that 35 percent of children saw only their family doctor or pediatrician, while another 10 percent received care from both their primary care provider and a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker.

About 26 percent received care solely from a psychiatrist, and 15 percent received care solely from a psychologist or social worker, the findings showed.

Overall, primary care providers saw more children with ADHD than did mental health providers, caring for a solid 42 percent of kids diagnosed with the disorder. On the other hand, they saw fewer children with anxiety or other mood disorders, the researchers found.

And nearly three-quarters of ADHD children being treated by a primary care doctor were prescribed medication, compared with 61 percent of those receiving care from a psychiatrist, the study authors said.

“This finding likely reflects the fact that the American Academy of Pediatrics has urged primary care pediatricians to take an active role in the treatment of ADHD, and that clinical guidelines for pediatricians recommend that medication should be considered a first-line treatment for all youth with ADHD that are 6 years of age and older,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of New York in New Hyde Park, N.Y.

Kids also would be better served if pediatricians had regular contact with pediatric mental health experts, from whom they could receive guidance, Van Cleave suggested.

“Training is one component, but the supports around caring for children with mental health conditions also are important,” Van Cleave said. “When primary care doctors have a question, they should be able to access experts for advice.”

More information

For more on ADHD, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1L7rhb1

Child Safety Seats Often Incompatible With Cars: Study

SUNDAY, Oct. 11, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Children’s car seats often do not fit properly inside family vehicles, which could reduce their safety and effectiveness, a new study indicates.

The researchers found that 42 percent of the time, children’s car seats are not compatible with the size and shape of vehicles’ seats.

Parents or caregivers who use towels and pool noodles to try to help a child’s car seat fit inside their car may be further compromising proper installation, the study authors added.

“I want to emphasize that all car seats are safe and have passed federal regulations. But, to really optimize the safety of a child’s car seat and provide the best protection for the child, one must make sure it fits properly in the vehicle,” study author Julie Bing, a research engineer at Ohio State College of Medicine’s Injury Biomechanics Research Center, said in a university news release.

“We want to encourage parents to take measurements of their car in order to make the most informed decision when choosing the safest car seat option for their child,” Bing added.

In the study, the researchers compiled the dimensions of 61 vehicles, as well as 59 child car seats, and compared them to identify those that were the least compatible.

After analyzing 3,600 possible child safety seat-vehicle combinations and examining 34 actual installations, the investigators found that less than 60 percent of rear-facing infant seat-vehicle combinations resulted in a proper fit, in which the vehicle seat angle and the car seat base angle met manufacturers’ requirements.

In more than 63 percent of rear-facing child seat-vehicle combinations and more than 62 percent of combinations involving forward-facing child car seats, the width of the base of the car seats fit securely between the vehicle’s seat pan bolsters, the findings showed.

Meanwhile, in more than 66 percent of combinations, forward-facing child car seats didn’t back up against the vehicle’s headrests.

The researchers cautioned parents to confirm that the angles of the seats in their vehicle and their child’s safety seat align properly, taking into account for the vehicle’s headrest.

“We recommend parents go to the store and ask if they can take the model off the shelf and go out to their car and try it,” Bing said. “It might look great on the shelf and have all the greatest safety ratings but, if it doesn’t fit in your vehicle, it may not be the best option for you.”

The study was published in the Oct. 5 online edition of the journal Traffic Injury Prevention.

More information

The American Academy of Pediatrics has more on child car seat safety.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1ZrowJ0

New Clues to How Gene Affects Women’s Body Shape, Diabetes Risk

By Amy Norton
HealthDay Reporter

SATURDAY, Oct. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Studies have shown that women with larger hips tend to have a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, and now scientists are getting a clearer picture of the genetics behind it all.

Recent research has shown that a variant in a gene called KLF14 is associated with the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. It also seems to be a master regulator of how and where a woman’s body stores fat: Women with one particular “allele,” or version, of the gene variant tend to have slimmer hips, while women with another are more “pear-shaped.”

Now a team of international researchers has discovered more about how the gene variant works: It appears to regulate hundreds of other genes active in fat cells, and it changes the structure and function of those cells.

The findings offer clues as to why narrow hips have the unfortunate side effect of an increased diabetes risk, the researchers reported.

“Most genes that have been associated with type 2 diabetes are related to the pancreas,” said lead researcher Kerrin Small, a genomics researcher at King’s College London in England. “What’s different about the KLF14 gene is that it’s expressed in fat tissue.”

That suggests that variations in the gene affect people’s sensitivity to insulin, Small explained. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar; type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes less responsive to insulin — causing levels of both the hormone and blood sugar to soar.

Obesity is a key risk factor for type 2 diabetes, but body fat distribution is also important: People who carry their weight around the middle are particularly at risk of diabetes, as well as heart disease.

“Differences in KLF14 variants do not affect overall body weight,” Small pointed out. “They’re only related to body fat distribution.”

Small was to present her findings Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, in Baltimore. Research presented at meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

So, why do the genetics of hip size and diabetes matter? “No, you can’t do anything about your genes,” Small acknowledged.

However, she said, gene studies allow researchers to get at the roots of the underlying disease process — and can potentially lead to new diabetes therapies down the road.

Dr. Caroline Apovian, a spokeswoman for the Obesity Society, agreed.

“This could lead to treatments down the road,” said Apovian, who directs nutrition and weight management at Boston Medical Center.

Of course, she added, the reasons that any one person gains excess weight or develops diabetes are varied and complex. And any single genetic study is “just the tip of the iceberg,” Apovian said.

“Yes, there are genetic influences over your body shape and diabetes risk,” she said. “But there’s still a lot that you can do to lower your risk.”

The take-away, Apovian said, is that women with an “apple shape” — more fat around the middle — should be especially vigilant about eating a healthy diet and getting regular exercise.

The same advice goes for men, since a large waistline also raises their risk of diabetes and heart disease, according to Apovian.

The KLF14 variant seems to influence body fat distribution in women only. But, Small said, other genes have been associated with fat stores and diabetes risk in men.

More broadly, Apovian said, this study helps illustrate the importance of fat cells — their structure and activity — to human health.

“Fat cells don’t just sit there, storing fat,” she said.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has advice on lowering your diabetes risk.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1Or2PFj

How to Do Breast Self-Exams

SATURDAY, Oct. 10, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Breast self-exams that might help detect breast cancer should be done once a month, a doctor recommends.

Women should do the self-exams about seven to 10 days from the beginning of their menstrual cycle, or about the same time each month if they no longer have periods, advised Dr. Magdalena Lombardi Plasilova, director of breast health services at Brookdale Hospital and Medical Center in New York City.

“Being a woman is the single greatest risk for breast cancer, so we must do everything we can to prevent becoming a statistic,” Plasilova said in a hospital news release.

“We need to educate ourselves, our daughters, our sisters and our neighbors. It is essential for women to self-check, schedule regular screenings, and live a healthy lifestyle,” she added.

Start the self-exam by removing your clothing and standing in front of a mirror. Look for any changes in the size, shape or color of your breasts, and any changes to the skin and nipples, such as sores, dimples or redness, she said.

Check all angles of your breasts by lifting and looking underneath them, as well as from the side. Put your hands over your head and repeat the process of checking all angles, Plasilova said.

Next, lie on the floor and feel each breast with the opposite hand, using a firm touch and a circular motion. Keep your fingers together and flat, not pointed. Do the same thing while standing, she said.

Pull your nipples forward and check for fluid or discharge.

If your self-exam detects anything unusual, call your doctor, Plasilova said.

It’s also important to get regular breast cancer screenings. Ask your doctor what type of screening you require and how often based on your individual risk. Learn your family history of breast cancer, she recommended.

More information

The American Cancer Society has more about breast self-exams.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1FXHL6O

Get Hired on the Spot With These Interview-Appropriate Beauty Tips

Photo: Getty Images

If you’re pounding the pavement in search of a new job, it’s only a matter of time before you’re called in for an interview. And while you may not even realize it, your beauty look has a lot to do with whether or not you land your dream position. It’s all about first impressions!

In an interview, you should convey your competence, neatness, and attention to detail — which all can be communicated through your appearance. More importantly, when you feel confident about your looks, you’ll be able to focus on (and triumph at!) presenting your qualifications. Here are some beauty tips that will help you nail the job.

Hair: Keep It Simple

Wash and dry your hair the night before the interview, so you don’t run the risk of being late due to styling issues the day of. And this is NOT the moment to rely on dry shampoo.

If your hair is long, consider pulling it back in a ponytail. This way, you won’t be tempted to twirl it around your finger out of nerves.

Even if you’re not a regular user of hair spray, use a light spritz to keep flyaways at bay.

Don’t wear a hat as part of your ensemble. You don’t want to run the risk of hat head.

Skip the flashy hair accessories.

Keep your hair out of your face at all costs. Long bangs falling into your eyes are sexy for a date, but they won’t project a professional image. If you need to get them out of your face, using a simple barrette or bobby pin is a fine solution.

 Makeup: Less is More

Give yourself extra time. If you take five minutes to get ready in the morning, allow yourself at least 15.

If you don’t need much coverage, use a tinted moisturizer or BB cream to even out your skin tone, but be sure to cover any blemishes or redness with concealer.

The night before your interview, exfoliate chapped lips by exfoliating them with a warm, wet washcloth or a DIY sugar scrub. Follow with a generous coating of lip balm. Before the interview, use a sheer lipstick to give lips a hint of color. Nars Dolce Vita ($27) flatters a range of skin tones.

Wear lipstick, not lip gloss. Gloss is too shiny and youthful for a professional setting.

Use eye shadows in neutral and natural shades. A little bit of shimmer is fine, but stay away from adding a lot of shine (especially glitter!) to your eyelids.

Mascara and a bit of eyeliner are really all you need. If you’re going for liquid liner, be sure that you’ve mastered this skill and you restrict yourself to a light application.

Well-groomed brows show that you pay attention to details. Tweeze any stray hairs and use brow gel (or hair spray!) to keep your arches in place.

Applying a little bit of blush makes everyone look healthier. Use this rather than bronzer for a natural-looking, healthy glow.

While contouring and highlighting are great for a night out, you should skip this step for an interview.

Fragrance: One Easy-to-Remember Guideline

Don’t wear any. You don’t want your interviewer put off by a scent he or she doesn’t find appealing — or worse, is allergic to!

Nails: A Few Tips

Unless you have naturally clean, even, hangnail-free nails, get a manicure.

It doesn’t matter whether your nails are long or short, but they should be neatly filed.

A neutral nail is foolproof, so look for barely there beige and pink polishes.

Skip the french manicure; some people think they’re classy, but others think they’re corny, so just go with a single color.

Finally, smile. All of the primping and grooming doesn’t mean a thing if you aren’t excited to be there. Good luck!

More from Popsugar Beauty:

Declutter Your Shower Caddy With These Affordable Essentials

Tontouring Is the Perfect Sculpting Hack for Lazy Girls

15 Fall Must-Have Beauty Buys That POPSUGAR Editors Love 

POPSUGAR Beauty puts the focus on hair, makeup, nails, and fragrance — from inspiring celebrity photos and fun polls, to easy how-tos to re-create the latest trends at home, to expert tips from the world’s top stylists! Find out the latest color trends for your face, hair, and nails with hot new products and daring nail design ideas. DIY ideas turn your home into a spa, and make you knowledgeable on any beauty topic. Let POPSUGAR Beauty be your guide to all things skin care, makeup, and hair care!

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1R2XQbA

Move of the Week: Hip Bridge

Could your booty use a pick-me-up? Hip bridges are a super effective exercise that will tone your toosh in no time. Demonstrated here by Health‘s contributing fitness editor, Kristin McGee, this workout move is something you can add to your current routine, easy.

RELATED: Leg and Butt Exercises

Here’s how to do it: Lie on your back with your knees bent, feet on the floor, and arms at your sides. Push through your heels to raise your butt off the ground, hold for a second then lower slowly. Repeat 15 times.

Trainer tip: Make sure your back forms a straight line from your knees to your shoulders.

Try this move: Hip Bridge

RELATED: 4 Moves to Perk Up a Flat Butt

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1G3k7FD

This 6-Move BOSU Ball Workout Will Tone Your Whole Body

Photo: Getty Images

How many times have you wandered by one of those BOSU ball things in the gym and wondered, “what do I do with that?”

A BOSU ball, aka that half-ball on a rigid platform that’s normally near the other stability balls, can be used in a variety of ways, and it can really help to take your standard moves to another level.

The great thing about a BOSU ball is the versatility. You can not only use this with the rigid back on the ground, but you can also flip it over and balance on the ball-side.

Ready to get to work? Here are 6 BOSU ball moves to tone your whole body. You’ll perform 30 to 60 seconds of each exercise, resting 1 minute in between. Perform this circuit 2 to 4 times depending on your fitness level.

RELATED: Drop an Entire Dress Size With This Speedy Strength Workout

Lateral jump-over

Photos: Jennifer Cohen

Place the BOSU ball with the rigid back down and the ball-side up. Stand to the left of the BOSE and place your right foot on the ball. Push through your right leg and then switch your feet mid-air so that your left leg is placed on the ball as your right leg lands to the right of the ball. Repeat this on the other side and then continue this side-to-side movement until your timer runs out.

Squat to curl

Photos: Jennifer Cohen

Place the BOSU ball with the rigid back down and the ball-side up. Grab a set of dumbbells and stand with both feet on the ball-side of the BOSU ball. Stand tall with your chest out, shoulders back, and dumbbells at your sides. When you’ve got your balance, slowly squat down, keeping the dumbbells at your sides. Perform a dumbbell bicep curl as you move back up to standing, and repeat for the allotted time.

Plyo jumps

Photo: Jennifer Cohen

Place the BOSU ball with the rigid back down and the ball-side up. Stand with both feet on the ball-side and find your balance. Stand tall with your chest out, shoulders back, and feet shoulder-width apart. Begin jumping straight up and down (as if you were on a trampoline) being careful to land as softly as possible. Jump until the timer runs out.

RELATED: Total Body Makeover Workout

Over-the-shoulder thrusters

Photo: Jennifer Cohen

Pick up the BOSU ball with the handles, making sure the ball side is facing the ground. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, and chest out. Squat down, bringing the BOSU ball to the floor, and jump your legs back into a plank position. Next, jump or step back up into low squat. While staying in your low squat, lift the BOSU over one shoulder then the other. Remember to keep all weight in your heels while sitting in your squat. Repeat until the timer runs out.

BOSU burpee

Photo: Jennifer Cohen

Pick up the BOSU ball with the handles, making sure the ball side is facing the ground. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, shoulders back, and chest out. Squat down, bringing the BOSU ball to the floor, with the ball-side down. Jump back into a plank position, perform a push-up, and then jump or step your feet back to a low squat. From here, you’ll stand straight up and bring the ball straight overhead. Repeat as many times as you can for 30 to 60 seconds.

BOSU crunch

Photo: Jennifer Cohen

Place the BOSU ball with the rigid back down and the ball-side up. Lay back into the BOSU ball, making sure your lower back is supported. Place your hands behind your head loosely, and place your feet on the floor in front of you with your legs at a 45 degree angle. Engage your core and crunch up. Hold for 1-2 seconds and then release. Be sure to keep your chin towards the ceiling and your hands just lightly touching your head, so as to not pull on your neck. Repeat for 30-60 seconds.

Looking for more quick and easy ways to get your workout in? Try this 7-Move Resistance Band Workout You Can Do Anywhere

Jennifer Cohen is a leading fitness authority, TV personality, entrepreneur and best-selling author of the new book, Strong is the New Skinny. With her signature, straight-talking approach to wellness, Jennifer was the featured trainer on The CW’s Shedding for the Wedding, mentoring the contestants’ to lose hundreds of pounds before their big day, and she appears regularly on NBC’s Today show, Extra, The Doctors and Good Morning America. Connect with Jennifer on Facebook, Twitter, G+ and on Pinterest.

 

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1jg9W6V

The Truth About Wheat and Your Waistline

Photo: Getty Images

Could eating wheat be giving me a belly?

Well, in theory, yes. Many women tend to accumulate fat in their abdominal area, so anything you eat in excess—including wheat—could make you grow a bigger belly. But foods that are high in fat and calories are much more likely suspects.

You may be confusing belly fat with bloat, and bloating after eating wheat is a symptom of gluten sensitivity. When you’re bloated, you feel uncomfortably full on account of the excess gas trapped in your abdomen, and your stomach may be taut like a drum. Belly fat, on the other hand, feels soft and squishy—and it doesn’t change. Bloating fluctuates throughout the course of the day; it’s typically worse after eating, and better at night and first thing in the morning.

If you think you might have an intolerance, get tested for a wheat allergy and celiac disease. (Do so before you swear off bread because it’s hard to get an accurate diagnosis after you’ve cut out gluten.) If you test negative, your doctor may still suggest you go gluten-free on a trial basis to see if your symptoms improve.

Health’s medical editor, Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, is associate professor of medicine at the NYU School of Medicine and co-founder of Tula Skincare.

RELATED:

Beat Bloat with Yoga

Bloated All the Time? 11 Reasons Why

11 Reasons Why You’re Not Losing Belly Fat

 

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1VJHS7x

Telecommuting Isn’t Always a Win-Win Situation

FRIDAY, Oct. 9, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Many people dream of giving up their daily commute and padding to work in their pajamas and slippers. But telecommuting has to be carefully thought out and implemented to be successful, new research says.

A growing number of companies offer work-from-home options even though there is conflicting evidence about the effectiveness of this approach, the study authors said.

“Our intent is to provide a balanced picture of what we know and do not know based on the scientific findings. This sort of comprehensive view is essential to aiding individuals, organizations, and public policy-makers in shaping telecommuting practices,” Tammy Allen, a workplace psychology researcher at the University of South Florida, and colleagues wrote.

Their review of available research showed that telecommuting can offer workers a number of benefits. These include lower job-related stress, improved job performance and greater job satisfaction, the researchers said. But these advantages don’t occur for all workers in all situations.

“Telecommuting may be most beneficial when it’s practiced to a moderate degree,” the researchers said in a news release from the Association for Psychological Science. “Face-to-face time may be particularly important at the start of new projects.”

The researchers said other important factors include:

• Whether workers get to decide if they telecommute,
• How much control employees have over their schedules,
• The degree to which an employee’s work depends on others in the company,
• Relationships with coworkers and supervisors.

The study authors also identified tradeoffs that come with some of the benefits of telecommuting. Such tradeoffs may include: increased productivity, but also longer work days; greater feelings of independence, but less knowledge sharing with colleagues; more flexibility to manage family and work, but blurred boundaries between the two.

The success of telecommuting depends on personal fit, supportive bosses and clear communication, the researchers concluded.

“Implementing an effective telecommuting plan can help organizations recruit top talent and create a more diverse work force,” they wrote. “And it can also give organizations an advantage in emergency situations, allowing employees to work when public transportation or power outages would otherwise prevent commuting.”

The study was published recently in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest.

More information

The Families and Work Institute offers workplace and home resources.

---

from Health News / Tips & Trends / Celebrity Health http://ift.tt/1VJFWft