Obesity

2 articles of interest on the topic of obesity in children and in elderly people.

"Indulgent Grandparents 'overfeed' kids and make them fat"
The Daily Mail headline (16 Feb) makes a link between childcare and obesity, based on a study looking at different childcare for infants (ages 9 months to 3 years). The results showed that 75% of children receiving informal childcare were provided by the grandparents. The children receiving full time informal care with their grandparents had a 34% increased risk of suffering from obesity. However the sample size was limited to children from a more advanced socio-economic group, suggesting that the study lacks in population validity; making it difficult to generalise to a wider community.
80% of 3-6 yr olds and 25% of children under the age of 3 are in childcare/ early education, which researchers believe is a valuable setting for obesity prevention.
I found this article of interest because obesity is an ongoing problem in more economically developed countries. I also found this of personal interest as my Mum is a childminder, and teaches children the importance of having a healthy lifestyle and diet from a young age.

"Being fat can help you live longer in old age" The Daily Express

it has been reported that the death rate for people aged 70-75 is lower for people who are considered overweight, after a cohort study took place in Australia. Those considered obese have the same risk as those considered a healthy weight and those considered underweight have the highest death rate.
These labels have been categorized using body mass index (BMI) as a measure, which is not the most accurate measurement; for example it does not take the changes in body fat distribution associated with old age into consideration. Further research will need to be done into this topic to make further conclusions and also the use of BMI as a measure will need to be evaluated.