WIN Wyoming

Thought Bullets
for
September 1999

Thought bullets for this month are quotes from the University of Minnesota workshop entitled Childhood and Adolescent Obesity: Prevention and Intervention (May 1997).

• By age 60, the average person has consumed about 55 million calories. Clearly, only a slight imbalance in calorie intake/calorie output can result in significant weight gain.

Claude Bouchard, PhD
Laval University
Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada

• The media makes us "prisoners of thinness." Models now represent less than 1% of the population. The average American is exposed to 1200 ads a day.

Marcia Alexander Meier, RN, BA
Eating Disorders Institute, Methodist Hospital System Minnesota
St Louis Park, MN

• The prediction for children born today is that at least 50% will become overweight during their lifetime.

Robert Jeffrey, PhD
University of Minnesota

• One of the greatest ties of genetics and obesity appears to be PLACEMENT of body fat. About 3 billion DNA twins make-up the human genome. Currently, seven DNA markers have already been identified as being tied to obesity (or risk of obesity).

Claude Bouchard, PhD
Laval University
Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada

• Tests of coordination and strength on American children have remained unchanged over decades of research. There have been documented decreases in fitness levels of youth (it now takes American youth longer to run a set distance).

Russell Luepker, MD
University of Minnesota

Compiled by Betty Holmes, MS, RD

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