Too Little Exercise for Today's Youth?
In the British journal The Lancet, University of Glasgow researchers and scientists reported that today’s 3-year-olds aren’t getting enough exercise. The researchers studied 78 children by having the children wear a device that counted the number of calories burned. The study reported that these 3-year-olds were burning approximately 1,300 calories each day. Toddlers that age are recommended to burn 1,500 calories per day, leaving about 200 extra calories unused—the equivalent of one McDonald’s quarter pounder per day.
Research said that children spent only 20 minutes a day in moderate to vigorous activity. The study did not take into account calories burned while sleeping.
High Carb Intake Equals Weight Loss?
A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine points to a link between high-carb diets and weight loss. Flying in the face of the recent craze over Atkins and South Beach diets that have inspired such things as bun-less hamburgers and low-carb pizzas, the research studied 34 overweight adults. The study’s researchers had these participants eat high-carbohydrate meals with very little fat. Participants who did not lower their average calorie intake, ate high-carb meals and did not exercise, lost seven pounds on average over the three month analysis period. Those who exercised using a stationary bicycle four times a week but who also followed the same high-carb, low-fat diet lost an average of 11 pounds. Still, don’t put too much credence on the data. The research, authored by William Evans from the University of Arkansas, has been publicly questioned as to its accuracy.
B Vitamins May Not Drop Risk of Stroke
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) suggests that vitamins believed to lower stroke risk in stroke victims may not have much of an effect. The research, led by Dr. James Toole, a neurologist from Wake Forest University, compared use of B vitamins in stroke patients by comparing patients using high doses of the B vitamins with patients who were receiving low doses. The concept was that B vitamins might lower levels of homocysteine—a known risk factor for stroke. High-dosage participants did see a drop in homocysteine, but 8 percent of the participants in both the high and low-dosage groups faced another stroke in the two-year study period. While the study did not find any increase value of B vitamins for stroke patients, it was speculated that earlier, pre-stroke use of B vitamins might help prevent the first stroke from happening.
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