Baby boomers hit with increasing obesity: Self-monitoring helps

Foods for weight loss

Avocado Nuts for weight loss? Oatmeal Beans

Obesity has emerged as a national and international epidemic. This is a very uncomfortable condition which is associated with a myriad of health problems which can dramatically shorten your lifespan. The baby boom generation has been hit with an unusually high rate of obesity and has been searching for effective interventions for this serious health condition. Natural interventions, including self-monitoring for weight control, are generally desired in order to help maintain as healthy a state of well being as possible while in the search for thinness.

Natural interventions for weight control are popular

Natural interventions for weight loss include adherence to a low fat, low calorie diet, drinking eight or more glasses of fresh water daily and a minimum of thirty minutes of aerobic exercise daily. There has also been a lot of interest in natural supplements to help with weight loss. Green tea is a delicious drink which appears to safely help with weight control. Reporting on the association of green tea with weight loss EmaxHealth reporter Deborah Mitchell has reviewed how green slows weight gain and fights obesity. Raspberry ketones have also gained a great deal of interest as a potent fat burner. Emaxhealth reporter Tim Boyer has discussed the evidence which supports fat burning raspberry ketone claims.

Self monitoring helps with weight control

The journal Obesity Research and Clinical Practice has published a review of research which has focused on the effect of a weight-loss program using self-weighing and feedback in overweight and obese subjects. Japanese researchers Yoshitake Oshima, Yukiyo Matsuoka, and Naoki Sakane did this study. The objective of this research was to determine the effectiveness for weight control of self-weighing twice a day with a supportive program.

There were sixty adult participants in this study. The participants in group 1 were instructed to weigh themselves at the same time once per day. Group 2 participants were instructed to weigh themselves immediately after they woke up in the morning and than again immediately before they went to bed. Furthermore, the group 2 participants were given a daily target setting during their morning weighing. They were also given the difference between the measured weight and the target weight when they weighed themselves in the evening.

It was observed that the average weight reduction in group 1 was significantly lower than the average weight reduction in group 2. The number of participants who lost ≧5% of their weight prior to the program in group 2 was noted to be significantly higher than the weight lost in group 1. It was concluded that self-weighing twice per day along with daily target setting and feedback is a significantly more effective manner to promote weight loss than once-daily self-measurements.

The baby boom generation has a serious obesity problem

Obesity has been recognized as a particularly troubling problem for the baby boom generation. Trust for America's Health writes that although access to more nutrition rich food has improved over the years, consumption of high fat foods has increased and exercise levels have not improved dramatically. The number of obese Americans aged 55-64 increased from 31 percent from 1988-1994 to 39 percent from 1999-2002. Overall members of the baby boom generation have become obese at younger ages and suffer a greater prevalence of obesity than previous generations.

It has also been highlighted that 62 percent of those aged between 50 and 64 years old suffer from at least one obesity associated chronic health condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlights many chronic health conditions which are associated with obesity:

1: Coronary heart disease

1. Prev:Lose Your Belly Fat with Dr. Oz's Latest Weight Loss Advice
2. Next:Mouse study suggests how artificial sweeteners could ruin your diet