The more sugar you eat, the wider your girth may be, the results of a recent study suggest.
Reported last month at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions, the study analyzed data on food intake and body weight collected on residents in Minneapolis-St. Paul over 27 years. Although the original data focused on heart health, the new study looked at what impact added sugar had on participants’ weight during that period.
Added sugar is sugar that is added to processed foods, as well as sweeteners added in home cooking and at the table.
“When it comes to cardiovascular disease and dietary controls, most of the focus has been on fats, but carbohydrates – sugars – are a big component of weight gain and the cardiovascular risk that results,” said Cooper University Hospital cardiologist Kathleen M. Heintz, DO, FACC, a specialist in women and heart disease at the Cooper Heart Institute.
Perhaps the season’s emphasis on “boardwalk banquets,” pool-side margaritas and drive-by ice cream vendors has caused you to gain a few extra pounds. There are several steps you can take now to help you keep your weight from escalating and still enjoy some of your fun-in-the-sun favorites.
Girls who are inactive during adolescence gain an average of 10 to 15 pounds more than active girls, according to results of a 10-year observational study of obesity. These new results show that a previously reported steep decline in physical activity among adolescent girls is directly associated with increased fatness and an increase of body mass index (BMI), a measure of body weight adjusted for height. 
It’s just about impossible to go to a holiday gathering and not expect to be surrounded by tantalizing food. Unfortunately, many of these delectable delights are eaten to excess and loaded with calories and fat. Weight gain seems inevitable – or is it?
