After School Activity Reduces Excess Weight Gain In Adolescent Girls

The middle school years is the time when time kids spend begin to spend less time in physical activity, a growing concern as youth obesity rates rise. A new study of middle school girls shows that after-school programs, in addition to school physical education classes, may be one answer to reducing obesity in teens. The just-released results of the Trial of Activity for Adolescent Girls (TAAG) showed that moderate to vigorous after-school physical activity, in programs that can range from hip hop dancing to surfing, can modestly increase the amount of physical activity for young teenage girls, to the point that it could prevent excess weight gain of about two pounds per year. If sustained, that extra activity could prevent a girl from becoming overweight as a teenager or adult. Results are published in the article, “Promoting Physical Activity in Middle School Girls,” in the March issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Deborah Young, professor and interim chair of the department of epidemiology and biostatistics in the University of Maryland, College Park, School of Public Health, was a researcher on the TAAG study. Below she answers questions about the study and increasing physical activity in adolescent girls.

The TAAG study found that programs which linked schools in six geographic regions of the U.S. with community partners (such as the YMCA or YWCA, local health clubs, and community recreation centers) increased time spent in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity among the middle-school female students by about two minutes per day, or 80 calories a week. This finding occurred after three years of the intervention, but not after two years.

TAAG showed a reduction of 8.2 minutes of sedentary behavior in girls in the intervention schools. Furthermore, the best results were seen in programs offered between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays, which suggest that after-school programs are more effective than programs offered at other times, such as morning weekdays and weekends. The study results, say the authors, support the need for schools and community programs to work together to provide opportunities for physical activity programs in after-school settings. The study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health.

Q: Why did you study only girls?

Young: While physical activity declines in both boys and girls across adolescence, it declines at a greater rate in girls. Also, previous studies indicate that boys and girls at this age tend to prefer different types of activities and have different reasons for being active. So we would have had to design distinct programs for boys if we included them.

Q: What was the purpose of studying after-school activities and not just school phys ed programs?

Young: We wanted to take a comprehensive approach to altering the environment in which girls are likely to be physically active. Physical education is often only conducted two to three times per week in the schools. A high quality PE class may only get 50 percent of the time in physical activity — which may be less than 20 minutes or so. So while a major focus of TAAG was on improving physical activity in PE class, we also wanted to provide more opportunities for girls to be active. From early studies we did preparing for TAAG, we found that there weren’t many after-school physical activity opportunities for girls at this age — especially for girls who are “athletes” or play on highly skilled travel teams. So providing after-school programs filled a gap.

Q: What did you find out about motivating girls at this age to stick with physical activity?

Young: To get and keep girls active, we took a comprehensive approach. We developed lessons for the teachers to teach on motivation and goal setting, and gave students an opportunity to practice those skills. We worked with the PE teachers to promote choice in PE class, which from early work the girls said they would like. It might have been a choice of skill level or a choice of activities during class. Many of the programs were short — sometimes only four weeks in length — so girls wouldn’t get bored. The promotional campaigns were designed to be motivational. For example, in some schools, classes competed against each other in the pedometer challenge.

Q: What kinds of activities did they do?

Young: After school programs included Hip-Hop dance, walking clubs, lacrosse clinics, swimming programs, training for a 5K road race. One site had surfing lessons! Schools and community agencies worked to provide a number of different activities that would appeal to different girls — athletes and non-athletes.

Q: The prevention of weight gain of two pounds a year seems small. What does this mean in the big picture?

Young: Prevention of weight gain wasn’t a goal of the study, so if we were aiming to influence weight gain we might have seen even greater results. However, given the rise of the obesity epidemic, any weight gain prevention on a population level is important. Also, two pounds per year add up to 20 lbs in 10 years — an amount that could significantly impact an adult’s health status.

Q: The paper points to difficulty of funding programs like this. What are some ways communities might address that challenge?

Young: Committed volunteers can be a valuable resource. If a responsible adult can lead a physical activity class even for as few as four weeks, that’s a start. The more volunteers that can do this, more programs can be provided. Transportation to and from off-site programs, like the YMCA, is always a problem — so again, working with volunteers to schedule carpools can help. At the broader level, the comprehensive approach needs to be taken at the school level. If schools can find funds to pay a stipend to teachers to coordinate programs like TAAG and ensure that teachers are trained to implement programs, the programs are more likely to be sustained.

Q: Were you surprised by any of the results of the study?

Young: We were surprised that the control group at the end of the second year of the intervention was as active as it was. We didn’t see changes after two intervention years, but did after three years, which we believe was because of an especially active control group. We were also somewhat surprised that at the third year of intervention, after which the program champion directed the intervention, physical activity levels in the intervention schools were identical to the second year, in which there was a more full implementation of the program.
 

Diet drugs can help you lose weight, and so can cutting calories and making other lifestyle changes. But combining the two approaches is far more effective than either approach alone, new research shows.

In the study, obese people who modified their eating and exercise habits and took the drug Meridia lost far more weight than people who relied on either lifestyle modification or medication.

“We found that a combination of the two approaches produced approximately twice the weight loss of either intervention used alone,” says researcher Thomas A. Wadden, PhD.

The study appears in the Nov. 17 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

Many Rely on Drugs Alone
There are two FDA-approved prescription weight loss drugs being sold in the U.S.: Abbott Laboratories’ Meridia and Roche’s Xenical. Meridia works by suppressing appetite, while Xenical works in the digestive system to block the absorption of fats.

Both drugs are intended for use as part of a comprehensive program that includes diet, exercise, and behavior therapy. But all too often patients are sent home with prescriptions alone, Wadden says.

“Certainly, the doctors who prescribe these medications recommend that their patients cut calories and increase physical activity, but these recommendations may be left at the office door,” Wadden tells WebMD.

In an effort to better understand the effectiveness of the different treatment approaches, Wadden and colleagues followed 224 obese men and women on different weight loss regimens for a year.

One group was prescribed standard doses of Meridia with scheduled 10-15 minute office visits with primary care providers. They received minimal lifestyle recommendations, which consisted of an initial pamphlet and “general encouragement.” A second group did not take the drug but did participate in an intensive group lifestyle modification program. These patients attended 30, 90-minute group education and support sessions over the course of a year. They also kept daily records of the foods they ate and their physical activity.

A third group received a combination of the drug, brief visits with a primary care provider, and intensive lifestyle modification group sessions similar to the second group. A fourth group took the diet drug and received additional counseling during regularly scheduled office visits. They also kept food and exercise journals, which were reviewed during their office visits with the primary care provider.

This fourth group was added, Wadden says, to see if doctors can provide enough lifestyle counseling to have an impact on weight loss within the confines of the typical brief office visit.

Diet and Lifestyle Changes Get Best Results
At the end of a year, the patients who took the diet drug and participated in the intensive lifestyle modification program lost the most weight, averaging 26.6 pounds.

The Meridia plus brief, doctor-delivered counseling group lost 16.5 pounds. The group that participated in the intensive program but took no Meridia lost 14.7 pounds, and the Meridia-only treatment group lost 11 pounds.

Wadden says drugs and lifestyle modification complement each other because they address different issues. Support and education programs teach people the tools they need to achieve a healthy weight and the drugs help them take in fewer calories.

Can Doctors Do It?
The findings also suggest that doctors can provide meaningful lifestyle counseling, even during rushed office visits, Wadden adds. Having patients keep daily food and exercise journals, and helping them develop a weight loss plan that met their individual needs were two important components of this counseling. But Howard Eisenson, MD, who has been on both sides of the issue, is skeptical.

He tells WebMD that he didn’t have a lot of success getting patients to lose weight as a private practice family doctor. But he has seen plenty of success stories in his current job as director of Duke University Medical Center’s well-known Diet and Fitness Center.

“We have a team approach that includes dietitians, fitness specialists, and behavioral therapists in addition to physicians,” he says. “These are people who are very important to the process. I think the physician’s role is primarily to be a cheerleader — to show confidence in the patient’s ability to make lasting changes and to follow up.”
 

WebMD Medical NewsReviewed by Louise Chang, MDOct. 17, 2006 — The weight loss drug Acomplia hasn’t been approved by the FDA, but it’s already drawing attention from the public and scientists. The researchers included graduate student Cintia Curioni, MSc, of Brazil’s University of Rio de Janeiro. They reviewed four studies on Acomplia’s use in more than 6,600 overweight and obese adults. For one or two years, participants either took Acomplia in higher or lower doses (20 milligrams or 5 milligrams daily,buy acomplia) or pills containing no medicine (placebo,buy acomplia). But they didn’t just pop pills. They also shaved about 600 calories off their daily diet.
The studies’ key question: Who lost the most weight? The answer: Participants taking the higher dose of Acomplia. In a year’s time, they lost about 11 more pounds, on average, than those taking the placebo. Dieters taking the lower Acomplia dose lost nearly 3 pounds more in a year than those taking the placebo, on average. Both Acomplia groups trimmed their waists: by an inch and a half with the higher dose and half an inch with the lower dose. People taking the higher dose also showed more improvement in blood pressure and cholesterol than those taking the lower dose or the placebo.

They note that people taking the higher dose of Acomplia had “modest weight loss of about 5%” of their body weight. Meanwhile, the reviewers say drug-free methods “should remain the cornerstone of obesityobesity therapy” in people who want to lose extra weight.

“It’s not going to be a revolution, it’s going to be a substantial step forward,” Thomas Glynn, director of cancer science and trends at the American Cancer Society, said of varenicline. Glynn added that the greatest value will be for smokers who have tried Zyban or nicotine-replacement therapy but failed to quit.”My bet is that it will work as well as they do and, from the look of things, a little bit better,” he said.

Varenicline latches on to the same receptors in the brain that nicotine binds to when inhaled in cigarette smoke, an action that leads to the release of dopamine in the pleasure centers of the brain. Taking the drug blocks any inhaled nicotine from reinforcing that effect.The drug also slows the release of dopamine, which cuts the craving to smoke that occurs when nicotine’s effect wears off, said Pfizer research chemist Jotham Coe, who invented the drug.”It’s a shield and at the same time, it stabilizes you and prevents you from having the lows, which lead to craving and withdrawal, but at the same time, it shields you from the highs,” said Coe, a former 2 1/2 pack-a-day smoker who quit smoking a first time cold turkey and then a second time with the help of nicotine gum.One in five American adults, or nearly 45 million people, smoke. An estimated 32 million of those smokers would like to quit, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking kills nearly 440,000 Americans a year.

“Tobacco use, particularly cigarette smoking, is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for a growing list of cancers, as well as chronic diseases including those of the lung and heart,” said Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the FDA’s Deputy Commissioner for Medical and Scientific Affairs.Quitting, as any smoker will tell you, isn’t easy. Fewer than one in 20 smokers can do so without help, Schroeder said. With help, whether it’s a drug, counseling or both, the success rate rises at most to roughly one in five, he added.Both the FDA and European regulators recently shot down attempts by Sanofi-Aventis to gain approval for Rimonabant-Acomplia, or Generic Accomplia, as a stop-smoking aid. Both have recommended that the drug, which blocks the same pleasure centers in the body activated when pot smokers get the munchies, be approved for weight loss.And at least two vaccines are being developed that could block nicotine from ever reaching the brain.

It seems to have two entirely diferent but useful effets. One is that it helps you to stop smoking (a very good idea in itself). The other is that at the same time it also reduces appetite. It appears to do both by not working on the body itself, at all, but by playing tricks with the brain’s regulation of your appetitite.The full press release: Accomplea is the first of a class of medicines that blocks the so-called endocannabinoid system in the central nervous system thereby enabling to control appetite as well as the urge to smoke. People who tend to eat more often have an over-stimulated endocannabinoid system. Acomplia blocks some receptors in the endocannabinoid system, giving it improved balance, which in turn curbs appetite and the urge to overeat.

PARIS, Sept. 19, 2007-The first direct evidence of the effects of Acomplia® (purchase rimonabant) in significantly reducing human visceral fat (the metabolically active fat wrapped around the body’s vital organs in the abdomen, such as liver, pancreas) is being presented today at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD).

The visceral fat area was significantly more reduced with rimonabant 20mg (-40.6cm2) than with placebo (-20.3cm2); (p< 0.0001).Visceral fat is a cardio-metabolic risk factor in Japanese patients as it is in the global studies. Visceral fat accumulation has been shown to correlate with a number of other cardio-metabolic risk factors, such as dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, glucose intolerance and type 2 diabetes.

526 obese Japanese patients (BMI equal or greater than 25 kg/m2) with associated cardio-metabolic risk factors from 73 centres were exposed for this double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group 6-month study duration, to determine the effective dose of rimonabant (5, 10 and 20mg) on body weight and multiple cardiometabolic risk factors. The inclusion criteria included at least 2 of the following cardiometobolic risk factors: impaired glucose tolerance, type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia and/or low HDLcholesterolemia) or hypertension.

The primary endpoint was reduction in body weight. Important secondary endpoints included percentage of patients responders on body weight, waist circumference, visceral fat area (VFA) assessed by CT scan, HDLcholesterol, and triglycerides. Rimonabant 20 mg demonstrated significant improvement on all these endpoints from baseline to six months compared to the placebo arm.

Rimonabant 20mg demonstrated a favorable safety profile with a discontinuation rate from treatment due to adverse events higher with placebo (7.6%) versus rimonabant 20 mg (4.5%). Overall more than 86 percent of the patients completed treatment.

The rimonabant 20mg dose is being studied in 3 ongoing phase III clinical trials in Japan.

About intra-abdominal fat Obesity is traditionally determined by an indirect measure, the BMI (get cheap rimonabant online,body mass index). The BMI does not take into account type and distribution of adipose tissue. Two types of adipose tissue exist in the human body, characterised by anatomical and metabolic differences:

Subcutaneous fat, located directly under the skin contains small insulin-sensitive adipocytes (fat cells,low cost rimonabant-acomplia), while the visceral fat (inter-abdominal adipose tissue), wrapped around the organs in the abdomen, contains large insulinresistant adipocytes.

The visceral fat is the metabolically more active fat. Excess visceral fat, present in patients with abdominal obesity, leads to metabolic imbalance, such as lipid disorders, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, factors leading to cardio-metabolic disease. Waist circumference is used in daily practice to determine the presence of abdominal obesity. To directly quantify the visceral fat one applies an imaging technique, the computer tomography. This method was integrated in the trial presented today, to study the direct effect of rimonabant on this dangerous body fat.

About Rimonabant
Acomplia® (rimonabant) is approved in 42 countries. In the European Union, Acomplia® (rimonabant) is approved for the treatment of obese patients (order generic acomplia onlineBMI equal to or greater than 30kg/m2), or those overweight (BMI greater than 27 kg/m2) with associated risk factors such as Type 2 diabetes or dyslipidemia, in conjunction with diet and physical exercise (see section 5.1).

In pivotal clinical trials lasting up to two years, rimonabant significantly reduced body weight and waist
circumference, a measure of intra-abdominal fat. Rimonabant also improved blood glucose levels, HDL, triglycerides (order cheap acomplia,fats in the blood), and insulin sensitivity.

The most common adverse events associated with rimonabant were consistent across studies and included gastrointestinal (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), nervous system (headache, dizziness, paresthesia/
hypoesthesia/dysesthesia) and psychiatric disorders (order rimonabant,anxiety, insomnia, depressed mood and depression).

About sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis is one of the world leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, ranking number one in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organisation, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases, central nervous system, internal medicine and vaccines. Sanofi-aventis is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

Forward-looking statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. These statements include product development, product potential projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to future events, operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “plans” and similar expressions. Although sanofi-aventis’ management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including post marketing, decisions by regulatory authorities, such as the FDA or the EMEA, regarding whether and when to approve any drug, device or biological application that may be filed for any such product candidates as well as their decisions regarding labelling and other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of such
products candidates, the absence of guarantee that the products candidates if approved will be commercially successful, the future approval and commercial success of therapeutic alternatives as well as those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in sanofi-aventis’ annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2006. Other than as required by applicable law, sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update
or revise any forward-looking information or statements.
 

Acomplia diet pill is an innovative way to remove extra pounds from your body. Acomplia work effectively by suppressing your appetite. You can lose your excess weight when you take these diet pills in combination with mild exercises and a balanced diet.

A weight-loss drug used by thousands of UK patients should not be taken by people on anti-depressants, a European health watchdog warned yesterday delivery overnight in guaranteed acomplia stock.

The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) said it was recommending that anyone taking anti-depressants or suffering ongoing major depression should not take rimonabant, which is sold under the brand name Acomplia.

About 41,000 patients in the UK have been treated with rimonabant since it was launched here in June 2006 lowest price for acomplia.

A new exercise pill turns your body into a fat-burning machine allowing it to burn twice the fat.The pill has been developed by American scientists and to this point stil does not have a name. The pill is in early stages of development but could cure the obesity crisis in America as well as the world.The pill has been tested i mice thus far. The pill allowed the mice to eat a very high-fat diet without gaining an ounce. This would be a major break-through as it would allow more freedom in the diets of fast-paced peopel around the world.The pill works by triggering the same type of fat-burning processes which occur when you go to the gym or go for a run. This exercise can be doubled by taking the pill. When they are not active, the mice continued to burn fat.

Dr. Ronald Evans stated “Too few people get an ideal amount of exercise. Having access to an exercise pill would improve the quality of muscles, and increase the burning of energy or excess fat [lowering] the risks of heart disease and diabetes.”The rule of thumb is as long as more calories are burned than taken in, you will lose weight.

Have you ever heard of a miracle drug which can be applied both as weight loss diet pills as well as a medicine for smoking surcease?

Yes, there is a miracle drug which can be applied for both the intents. The name of the medicine is Acompila and whose generic name is rimonabant.

Acomplia diet pills are anorectic anti fleshiness drug which should be applied for an obese someone with physical structure the great unwasheds index of 30 or more.

In acute causas when a someone is suffering from Type 2 diabetes or any other physical structure problems, this oral medicine may be urged for obese someone with Physical structure Masses Index of 27 or more.

Sanofi the manufacturer of Acomplia Diet Pills has printed some Acomplia Info which we are discussing below.(buy acomplia)

Checkup name of Acompila is Rimonabant which is a CB 1 cannabinoid receptor opposer.

The drug is available in Acomplia Pharmaceutics UK where the medicine was first acquainted after receiving approving from the European Trades union.

Later the drug was acquainted in Denmark and later distributed gradually in other European states.

However, the medicine is yet to have approving from the Nutrient and Drug Disposal in the USA for which the medicine is not yet available in the CesaOnline.com.

It is heard that if the medicine is acquainted in the CesaOnline.com marketplace after receiving approving from the FDA, the trade name of the medicine will be Zimulti.

European Trades union has given approving to the medicine to be acquainted in the marketplace on the recommendation that the medicine should be applied along with diet and physical exertion for decrease of physical structure weight. Acomplia Diet Pills are prescription drug and before employment a doc must be confer withed.(Purchase Acomplia)

Another miraculous result of Acomplia diet pills is smoking surcease. It is bumped that employment of Acomplia diet pills trim downs the involvement in smoking. This issues to the patients in quitting smoking.

The Cheap Acomplia diet pills are constructed by Sanofi, which should be bought only through Prescription from an experienced doc.

The medicine has been bumped to be effective for weight loss as well as effective against certain metabolic upsets and tie ined cardiovascular peril factors. But if you want to employment the medicine for cosmetic physical structure weight decrease, the medicine may not be much effective. Rather it will create other problems link uped to its side issues.

Also European Trades union has o.k.ed its approving only for physical structure weight decrease intent.

As I stated earlier that the medicine is effective for smoking surcease. But the approving for this has yet been obtained neither from EU nor from FDA.

However, off the label of the medicine can be applied for this intent. A doc should be confer withed before employment for other intent also.

So why do you waffle? Confer with your doc if your physical structure the great unwasheds index is 30 or more and / or you are suffering from weight link uped diseases. Spell to purchase Acomplia if your doc urges and start your weight loss programme with diet and physical exertion and with this miracle medicine. Diminution of craving to smoking will be a bonus for you.
 

April 15, 2005 - Acomplia - Rimonabant. which is still going by its generic name rimonabant, while it awaits FDA approval, has again won accolades for reducing bodyweight, waist circumference, and risk factors for heart disease in obese people, according to results of a randomized trial published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

Luc Van Gaal (University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium) and colleagues undertook a trial (RIOEurope,buy acomplia) involving 1507 obese people from Europe and the USA.

Participants had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m 2or greater, or a BMI greater than 27 kg/m2with abnormal blood fat levels, high blood pressure, or both. They were randomly assigned 5mg or 20mg of a drug called rimonabant, or a placebo once daily in addition to a calorie controlled diet. The treatment groups had similar characteristics. 920 patients (61%) completed the one-year follow-up; 379 in the rimonabant 5mg group, 363 in the rimonabant 20mg group and 178 in the placebo group.(Buy Cheap Acomplia)

Weight loss at 1 year was greater in patients treated with 5 mg or 20 mg of rimonabant compared with placebo. More than 67% of patients who completed treatment with 20mg of rimonabant achieved 5% or more weight loss, and 39% achieved 10 % or more weight loss. Patients on 20 mg of rimonabant had greater improvements than placebo in waist circumference (average reduction of 4 cm), and cardiovascular risk factors including cholesterol, insulin resistance and prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The pattern of weight loss seen with rimonabant was sustained for around 36-40 weeks.

The most common side effects leading to study discontinuation were depressed mood disorders in all treatment groups; withdrawals due to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, and anxiety were more frequent in the rimonabant 20 mg group than in other groups. Serious adverse events did not occur more frequently in patients treated with the drug than in those on placebo.

Professor Van Gaal concludes: “In this study, treatment with rimonabant over 1 year led to sustained, clinically meaningful weight loss, reduction in waist circumference, and associated improvements in several cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors.”

In an accompanying Comment Uberto Pagotto and Renato Pasquali (Buy Discount Acomplia on Sant Orsola-Malpighi General Hospital, Bologna, Italy) state: “These data, and those from the other ongoing clinical trials with rimonabant, might presumably help us to better tackle obesity and related metabolic and cardiovascular disease. When additional drugs are available, we will also have the possibility to individually target the therapeutic strategies according to phenotype characteristics and to the pathophysiological mechanism