Jim Liebelt's Youth Culture Watch

Teenage Obesity Increases Risk for 17 Different Cancers in Adulthood

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

Researchers have discovered a dangerous link between obesity in male teenagers and over a dozen forms of cancer. A team from the University of Gothenburg reveals young adults who are overweight when they’re 18 years old have a significantly higher risk of developing 17 different types of cancer later in life. The research also sheds light on the potential impact of the ongoing youth obesity epidemic on the cancer landscape over the next three decades.

In two new studies, the research team focused on body mass index (BMI) as a factor while considering the participants’ aerobic fitness levels. The results revealed that having a higher BMI at age 18 is associated with an even greater risk of developing various cancers later in life, surpassing the impact of poor fitness at the same age.

The study identified a correlation between high BMI at conscription and a heightened risk of 17 different types of cancer, including:

• Lung cancer
• Head and neck cancer
• Brain cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Esophageal cancer
• Stomach cancer
• Pancreatic cancer
• Liver cancer
• Colon cancer
• Rectal cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Bladder cancer
• Malignant melanoma
• Leukemia
• Myeloma
• Lymphoma, both Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s.

“Overweight and obesity at a young age seems to increase the risk of developing cancer, and we see links between unhealthy weight and cancer in almost every organ,” says study first author Aron Onerup, postdoc at Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, in a university release. “Given the alarming trend of obesity in childhood and adolescence, this study reinforces the need to deploy strong resources to reverse this trend.”

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/obesity-cancer-young-men/

A Healthy Diet, Reading, and Doing Sports Promote Reasoning Skills in Children

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by ScienceDaily.

Reasoning skills are crucial skills in learning, academic performance, and everyday problem-solving. According to a recent study conducted at the University of Eastern Finland, improved overall diet quality and reduced consumption of red meat, as well as increased time spent in reading and organized sports, enhanced reasoning skills among children over the first two school years.

"Children with healthier eating habits showed greater cognitive development than other children. Specifically, better overall diet quality, lower red meat consumption, and higher low-fat dairy product intake were linked to better reasoning skills," says Doctoral Researcher Sehrish Naveed of the University of Eastern Finland.

Children who spent more time in reading and organized sports showed better reasoning skills than their peers. On the other hand, excessive time spent on a computer and unsupervised leisure-time physical activity were associated with poorer reasoning skills. Screen time, active school transportation, recess physical activity, and physical activity intensity were not associated with reasoning skills.

Published in the  Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, the results of this study are based on data from the Physical Activity and Nutrition in Children (PANIC) study. This sub-study examined the effects of a two-year diet and physical activity intervention on cognition among 397 Finnish elementary school children. The associations of dietary factors, physical activity, and sedentary behavior with cognition over two years were also studied. The analyses considered parental education and income as well as children's body fat percentage and maturity level.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230817164006.htm

School Meals Are Healthier Today — But Many Still Don’t Meet U.S. Nutrition Standards

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

Today’s school lunches are actually much healthier than what older generations had to eat decades ago. Even so, recent data reveals that as many as one in four U.S. lunches still have poor nutritional quality. What can be done? Scientists at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University believe aligning student meals to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans could have a positive impact on hundreds of thousands of children as they mature into adults.

The latest Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) recommend that American meals feature far less sugar and salt, and much more whole grains. The team at Tufts says ensuring school lunches all over the country follow these guidelines could benefit the health of countless children.

“On average, school meals are healthier than the food American children consume from any other source, including at home, but we’re at a critical time to further strengthen their nutrition,” says senior author Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition at the Friedman School, in a university release. “Our findings suggest a real positive impact on long-term health and healthcare costs with even modest updates to the current school meal nutrition standards.”

f all schools fully complied with these new standards, it could potentially prevent more than 10,600 deaths per year due to fewer diet-related diseases and save over $19 billion annually in healthcare-related costs during later adulthood. The worst-case scenario, on the other hand, in which schools remained with their current food offerings, was estimated to only save a little over half as many lives and healthcare dollars.

The cost, meanwhile, of fully implementing new school meal standards has yet to be determined. However, previous alignments suggest it would add at least another $1 billion nationally to the cost of these programs. That may sound like a lot, but it’s actually only about five percent of the total predicted annual long-term healthcare savings this change would likely yield.

The study was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/school-meals-healthier-standards/

Drinking Soda Linked to Obesity Among Teenagers in Over 100 Countries

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

Is soda and other sugary beverages the root cause of childhood obesity? A new study argues that there’s a strong link between the consumption of soda and obesity among teenagers in over 100 countries. The research, conducted across 107 nations worldwide, reveals that every 10-percent increase in daily soft drink consumption has a correlation with a 3.7-percent increase in the number of overweight and obese adolescents.

The findings highlight a strong connection between consistently drinking carbonated beverages and the risk of weight gain in adolescents. Niue, a small Pacific Island nation, had the highest prevalence of both overweight and obese youngsters, as well as the highest number of teens consuming at least one soft drink each day.

The study was based on school surveys across 107 countries, designed to measure the link between the consumption of sugary drinks and obesity among adolescents. Some of these countries have imposed taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, while others have not.

The survey, which included 405,528 school-going adolescents, asked about each child’s consumption of “soft drinks.” These were defined as carbonated beverages that typically contain sugar, including well-known brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, as well as unbranded drinks. The teens were asked about their daily consumption of these drinks, as well as their intake of fruits and vegetables.

The authors of the study found a consistent trend across all nations: every 10-percent increase in the daily consumption of soft drinks led to a 3.7-percent increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese teens.

The study was published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/drinking-soda-obesity-teenagers/

Study Links Ultra-Processed Food Consumption with Psychosocial Problems in Adolescents

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Adolescents who consume a greater amount of ultra-processed foods and drinks have more difficulties in terms of mental health, according to new research carried out by the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB) and the Girona Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBGI), which analyzes the habits of five hundred Spanish adolescents aged between 13 and 18.

The study, which also involves the Faculty of Medicine and the Institut de Neurociències, both at the UAB, and the Barcelona Public Health Agency, analyzes the relationship between the intake of ultra-processed foods and psychosocial difficulties—such as low mood, feelings of anxiety, attentional problems—and other behavioral symptoms, taking into account the daily consumption of fruit and vegetables and the weekly physical activity of the participants, variables that have proven to have positive effects on mental health.

The research showed a direct association between high consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages, emotional distress, and behavioral problems, with the association with low mood reported by adolescent participants being most significant.

"The association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and mood and anxiety problems in adolescents is consistent with previous studies carried out on similar samples," explains Pietro Tonini, ICTA-UAB researcher and first author of the study together with Marta Reales from IDIBGI, and adds that the results obtained indicate that the relationship between the consumption of these products and attentional and behavioral problems should be studied more in-depth.

The findings are published in the journal Nutrients.

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-05-links-ultra-processed-food-consumption-psychosocial.html

Red Alert on Energy Drinks - Severe Health Risks for Kids and Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by News-Medical.

In a recent study published in the journal Nutrients, researchers reviewed the adverse health events associated with consuming energy drinks among adolescents and children in the context of preexisting health conditions and other trigger factors.

Energy drinks, marketed as physical and mental enhancers, contain stimulants such as guarana and caffeine and are known to have cardiovascular side effects, including cardiac arrhythmia and arterial hypertension. Despite these known dangers, the consumption of energy drinks remains high, especially among adolescents. Among the underaged consumers of energy drinks, the chronic high consumption of energy drinks is higher among children than adolescents (16% versus 12%), while the high acute consumption of energy drinks is around 12% in both.

In the present study, the researchers reviewed case reports in English that comprised a study population below the age of 18 years with confirmed consumption of energy drinks.

The results reported associations between excessive energy drink consumption and various adverse effects on health in minors. A total of 18 cases were included in the review, and a majority of the health events were related to the neuropsychiatric or cardiovascular systems. Furthermore, 61% of these cases were associated with preexisting health conditions or the existence of other potential triggers.

About 45% of the case reports included in the review reported cardiovascular events such as arterial hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, spontaneous coronary artery dissection, and acute coronary artery vasospasm. While in some cases, there were preexisting health conditions or potential triggers, in a few cases, cardiovascular adverse events occurred without other triggers or medical conditions after the consumption of large amounts of energy drinks over multiple days. One case of spontaneous coronary artery dissection occurred after the consumption of a reasonable amount of caffeinated energy drinks.

The high caffeine content of energy drinks is believed to be associated with adverse cardiovascular effects.

Overall, the findings suggested that excessive intake of energy drinks, especially those containing caffeine, could have severe adverse impacts on the health of minors. The consumption of energy drinks by individuals with preexisting medical conditions or along with stimulants or party drugs, can harm adolescents' cardiovascular and neuropsychological health. Minors need to be educated about the potential hazards of energy drink consumption to help them make informed choices.

Source: News-Medical
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230530/Red-alert-on-energy-drinks-Severe-health-risks-for-kids-and-teens.aspx

A Poor Diet in College Can Lead to a Lifetime of Bad Health

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by StudyFinds.

University students often get a reputation of living on a diet of microwavable meals and energy drinks. While these questionable decisions are usually chalked up to the college lifestyle, a new study is stressing the importance of ditching these habits after graduation. Researchers from the University of British Columbia Okanagan suggest poor dietary habits established during college can contribute to future health issues years and even decades later — including obesity, respiratory illnesses, and depression.

Dr. Joan Bottorff, a professor with UBCO’s School of Nursing, is one of several international researchers involved with this multi-site study that assessed the eating habits of university students. Nearly 12,000 medical students from 31 universities in China took part in this project, which aimed to determine the association between eating behaviors, obesity, and various diseases.

We know many students consume high-calorie meals along with sugary foods and drinks and there is lots of evidence to show those kinds of eating behaviors can lead to obesity,” Dr. Bottorff says in a university release. “These are not the only habits that lead to obesity, but they are important and can’t be ruled out.”

A typical student diet consisting of high-sugar or high-calorie foods can be a long-term issue; these habits often lead to obesity. Dr. Bottorff adds there is evidence suggesting stress and anxiety can cause overeating, and overeating is also known to lead to stress and depression.

The study was published in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.

Source: StudyFinds
https://studyfinds.org/poor-diet-college-bad-health/

Sharing Meals with Friends May Lower Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Teens

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by News Medical.

Previous research shows that family meals influence mental well-being; however, limited studies have evaluated the relationship between social eating behavior and mental disorders in adolescents.

A recent Clinical Nutrition study investigated the impact of family meals and social eating behavior on anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms in adolescents.

The current cross-sectional study evaluated data from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study. The EHDLA study obtained representative samples of adolescents between 12 and 17 years of age from Valle de Ricote, Spain. The study cohort included a total of 649 adolescents, 56.7% of whom were girls.

Mental disorders were evaluated by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), which considered 21 symptoms that were used to score participants on a four-point Likert-type scale. In this scoring system, zero was defined as "did not apply to me at all," with the gradual escalation in the score indicating an increase in depression, anxiety, and stress.

As compared to family meals, more social eating among friends was strongly associated with reduced anxiety, depression, and stress symptoms in Spanish adolescents. Family meals were also inversely associated with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms.

Social eating behavior is associated with a reduction in depressive symptoms in adolescents and could be due to the protection and support that they receive from family/peers. Sharing a good meal with family and friends also improves communication with peers/family, which has a positive effect on anxiety.

Adolescents who generally eat in the company of their peers have greater peer acceptance, which prevents anxiety symptoms.

Source: News Medical
https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230503/Sharing-meals-with-friends-may-lower-depression-anxiety-and-stress-in-teens.aspx

Eating Walnuts Could Benefit Adolescents' Cognitive Development, Contribute to Psychological Maturation

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by MedicalXpress.

Eating walnuts on a regular basis could benefit the cognitive development of adolescents and contribute to their psychological maturation. These are some of the conclusions reached by a study led by the Institut d'Investigació Sanitària Pere Virgili (IISPV), in which ISGlobal (a center promoted by "la Caixa" Foundation) and the Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM) have collaborated. This is unprecedented research; while there have been previous studies on the effect of nuts on our health, the impact of their consumption at such a critical stage for cognitive development as adolescence has never been examined.

Walnuts are rich in alpha-linolenic fatty acid (ALA), a type of omega-3 that plays a fundamental role in brain development, especially at this life stage.

In the study, which has been published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, 700 secondary school students between 11 and 16 years of age from 12 different high schools in Barcelona participated voluntarily. They were randomly divided into two groups: the control group, which received no intervention of any kind, and the experimental group, which received sachets containing 30 grams of walnut kernels, indicating to the young people who participated that they could consume them daily for a period of 6 months.

The research team found that adolescents who ate walnuts for at least 100 days (not necessarily continuously every day) increased their attention functions, and those who had some symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) improved their behavior significantly (in class, they paid more attention to the teacher and were less hyperactive).

Source: MedicalXpress
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-04-walnuts-benefit-adolescents-cognitive-contribute.html

Erratic Sleep Patterns Linked to Elevated Blood Pressure in Teens with Extra Belly Weight

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by EurekAlert!

Staying awake later into the night and sleeping in on the weekends are hallmarks of adolescent behavior, however, erratic sleep patterns may have consequences for future heart health by increasing blood pressure among teens who have more abdominal fat, according to new research published in Hypertension, an American Heart Association journal.

The researchers evaluated sleep, visceral fat, and blood pressure in 303 adolescents from central Pennsylvania (average age 16.2 years) who returned for a repeat evaluation after participating as children in the Penn State Child Cohort study. Sleep was measured during one night in the sleep lab and at home over seven days by wearing a wristwatch-like sleep monitoring device. With this device, researchers tracked sleep duration and its variability (to capture how much and how little adolescents slept night-to-night), sleep midpoint (the midpoint between sleep and wake-up time), and its regularity (to capture their sleep patterns over time). A sleep midpoint at 2 a.m. or later is considered delayed for a typical adolescent during the school week, and night-to-night differences of 45 minutes or more in the sleep midpoint was considered highly irregular.

Overall, the participants had sleep habits typical of adolescents – going to bed later than they did during grade school and sleeping later on weekends and school breaks than on school days.

Among the adolescents studied during the school year and whose sleep varied by 45 minutes or more during the school week, each unit increase in visceral abdominal fat was linked to a 7 mm Hg higher systolic (top number) blood pressure and a 3 mm Hg higher diastolic (bottom number) blood pressure.

In contrast, among teens whose sleep varied less than 45 minutes during the school week, there was no link between visceral abdominal fat and elevated blood pressure.

In teens who described themselves as “evening people,” each unit increase in visceral abdominal fat was linked to about a 3 mm Hg higher diastolic blood pressure; however, among self-described “morning people,” there was no impact of visceral abdominal fat on blood pressure.

“These results suggest that keeping a regular sleep pattern may protect adolescents from the cardiovascular consequences of obesity,” said Natasha Morales-Ghinaglia, B.S., first author of the study and an American Heart Association predoctoral fellow at the Penn State College of Medicine Sleep Research & Treatment Center in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.

Source: EurekAlert!
https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/981240