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Diet Bytes May 2005

By WLR Dietitian, Juliette Kellow BSc RD

Diet with the Dog

Forget dumb bells, resistance bands and pedometers. If you want to shape up and lose those excess pounds, this year’s must-have fashion accessory is a dog! In the first experiment of it’s kind – and yes, it is from America – researchers have found that overweight owners and their podgy pets can lose weight and keep it off by following a diet and exercise programme together!

The study carried out by the Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Institute in Chicago and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which makes diet food for dogs, enrolled three groups of participants – people alone, dogs alone and people and their pets – for one year. During this time, the people were encouraged to walk for 20 minutes a day and limit their daily intake to 1,400 calories. Dogs were fed a prescription diet, with target weights being set according to a ‘doggie BMI’.

The dog owners did slightly better than the dieters who dieted and exercised alone. On average, the humans lost five percent of their body weight. But the pooches did far better, losing an average of 15 percent of their body weight.

Dr Robert Kushner, medical director of the Wellness Institute and the lead author of the study says, “We’re always looking for creative ways to help people manage their weight so they find it fun and rewarding.” Looks like they’ve done just that!

Weight Loss Resources says…

This is a really fun way to lose those pounds. We’ve always recommended finding a ‘diet and exercise buddy’ to help keep you motivated and on track – and there’s no reason why it can’t be a pet pooch. Even if your dog isn’t overweight, taking him or her for walks will benefit you both – walking at a speed of three miles per hour burns around 125 calories in 30 minutes. If you don’t have a pet, you could always offer to walk a neighbours or why not lose lbs and save £s by becoming a professional dog walker? For more information, log on to www.dogwalkersuk.com

Workout Less – and Gain More

It’s the news we’ve all been waiting for! A new study from the University of Glamorgan Health and Exercise Science Unit has found that people can reduce the amount of time they spend in the gym by up to two thirds – and still achieve the same results. The study revealed that a similar improvement in muscle strength was seen in men who performed either one or three sets of upper body resistance training exercises. Better still, a significant reduction in body fat was also seen in the group who did just one set of exercises.

Dr Julien Steven Baker, author of the report, said, “This study indicates that it’s counter productive to spend hours at the gym and that a shorter workout can achieve exactly the same results. Our research focussed on upper body strength training but these results may also be true for other types of exercise.”

Dr Baker suggests the reason additional benefits weren’t seen in the group who did three sets of exercises may be linked to the fact that muscles get tired and reach their maximum potential early on.

Weight Loss Resources says…

This is great news and has the potential to revolutionise the way we work out. Already there’s a growing trend towards fitness classes of a shorter duration that promise the same results. Plus there’s plenty of good research to suggest that interval training – where spurts of high intensity exercise such as running are interspersed with lower intensity activities such as walking – can achieve maximum results in minimum time. Certainly, doing more frequent, but shorter workouts will fit into most people’s busy lifestyles. So next time you have 20 minutes to spare, why not head to the gym after all?

In the Swim

For the first time ever, scientists have discovered that swimming may actually strengthen bones. The research, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, discovered that female lap swimmers aged 8 to 26 had a greater bone mineral density in their lower legs compared with non-swimmers. The researchers suggest that more studies are needed to assess whether this difference is due to swimmers being generally more active than non-swimmers or whether it’s something specific to do with the action of swimming. For example, Baraket Falk, who led the study, believes it may be related to the high number of leg pushes from the swimming pool wall at each turn that lap swimmers do.

Weight Loss Resources says…

It’s well known that swimming is a great exercise for burning calories, improving cardiovascular fitness and toning muscles, but because it’s a non-weight bearing activity, in the past, it’s not thought to have had much effect on improving bone strength. More research is clearly needed – this study was very small with just 130 participants – but it’s certainly interesting. While it’s unlikely that swimming will ever beat weight-bearing activities in it’s ability to boost bone strength (and therefore help to prevent osteoporosis) it’s good to know it might have some impact. Next time you go swimming, remember to push off hard from the pool wall and take heart in the fact that just 30 minutes of swimming can burn a significant number of calories – allow around 350 for fast front crawl and breast stroke and 280 for a slow crawl, back stroke or side stroke!

Learning About Obesity

Some pupils will get a new lesson they hadn’t bargained for next year – a traditional school medical! In an effort to halt rising rates of obesity in children, the government’s Health Secretary and Public Health Minister have approved pilot schemes to help monitor pupils’ weight in some areas of the country. The checks will involve calculating Body Mass Index and parents will be alerted if their children’s weight appears to be a problem. At the moment it’s unclear whether the medicals will be made compulsory.

Weight Loss Resources says…

While it might seem like a draconian measure, childhood obesity is rising at an alarming rate. Currently, it’s estimated that 8.5 percent of six year olds and 15 percent of 15 year olds are already obese. Meanwhile, recently released official figures have found that hospital admissions for obese children have doubled in eight years and increased by a third in the last year alone, placing an extra burden on the National Health Service.

While some may argue that it’s the parents responsibility to monitor their children’s weight – and help them control it – research worryingly shows that some parents are getting so used to seeing fat kids, they don’t recognise their own children are obese. Last year, a study from the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, revealed that one third of obese girls and half of obese boys were considered to be ‘about right’ by their parents! Meanwhile, some health experts even believe we may be the first generation that sees parents outliving their children.

In view of all these things, we think weighing children at school is a good thing. But the weigh-ins must be handled sensitively and where weight problems are apparent, sensible advice and continued support must be given for the whole family – rather than children (and their parents) simply being ticked off and told to eat less and exercise more!

Whopper Whammie

Burger King has recently been criticised for deciding to bring their Enormous Omelette Sandwich to the UK. Consisting of bacon, egg, sausage and cheese this big breakfast contains a massive 730 calories and 47g fat. However, a quick glance at Burger King’s current UK menu shows that it already offers even higher-calorie meals. The XL Double Whopper, for example, contains 840 calories and 50g fat, while adding cheese pushes it up to 922 calories and 57g fat. Serve with a super portion of King Fries at 600 calories and 24g fat and most of us will have had almost all the calories we need in a day to maintain our weight!

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