Marriage and divorce 'up weight', says study

The study found getting a wedding ring on your finger - and losing it - could cause people's weight to rise

Both marriage and divorce can trigger weight gain, according to research being presented at the American Sociological Association.

There is an increased risk of piling on the pounds in the two years after a marriage starts or ends, according to their study of 10,071 people.

Newly-married women were at greatest risk of "large" weight gains.

Some gains may "pose a health risk", say the authors from Ohio State University.

The study followed people from 1986 to 2008 and monitored changes in body mass index (BMI) - a weight/height ratio measurement - and marital status.

The researchers compared the BMI of people who married or divorced with those who were already married or stayed single.
 
Life-changing
Even after adjusting the data for each person's health, education, employment, poverty and pregnancy - there was still an increased risk of weight gain associated with marriage and divorce.

“These are significant changes in someone's life. It can change their living situation and the types of food they eat” 

- Helen Riley British Nutrition Foundation-

In women, marriage increased the risk of a small increase in weight (up to a three point increase in BMI) by 33%. There was a 48% higher risk of large weight gains (more than a three point BMI increase).

Newly-divorced women had a 22% increased risk of small weight gain.

Men were 28% more likely to have small increases in weight after marriage and 21% after divorce.
The report concludes: "All marital transitions act as a weight shock, encouraging small weight gains regardless of the destination marital state."

Lead author, Dmitry Tumin, said: "To some extent, marriages for women promote weight gains that may be large enough to pose a health risk."

Helen Riley at the British Nutrition Foundation charity said: "These are significant changes in someone's life. It can change their living situation and the types of food they eat.

"But different people deal with it in different ways and it can be positive for some people."
BBC News HEALTH 

U.S. Teen Births down, early Drug Use UP

Image Courtesy of fui

New statistics from the annual report on America’s children and their well-being point to some good news and bad news when it comes to the health of our kids.

The report, which is a compilation of statistics from numerous organizations, found that births to adolescents declined for the second consecutive year in the U.S. A drop in the adolescent birth rate, from 21.7 per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 17 (2008) to 20.1 per 1,000 (2009, preliminary data) was reported.

And the preterm births declined for the third consecutive year, with a drop in the proportion of infants born before 37 weeks, from 12.3 percent (2008) to 12.2 percent (2009, preliminary data).

“It is reassuring to see continued declines in the preterm birth rate and adolescent birth rate,” said Dr. Alan E. Guttmacher, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Guttmacher noted although the numbers were promising, the federal government did not identify reasons for the declines.

The report also noted that adolescent injury deaths have also declined, with a drop in injury-related deaths among teens ages 15-19 from 44 per 100,000 (2008, preliminary data) to 39 per 100,000 (2009, preliminary data). That number includes teenage driving deaths. When asked if new state teenage driving laws had anything to do with these numbers, Guttmacher could not speculate. “I think it’s a number of things, “he said. “We’ve also seen fewer 12th-graders binge drinking. It could be a number of factors.”

The report, known as America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being 2011, looks at statistics ranging from cases of asthma in children to their test scores in math. It was compiled by the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, a working group of 22 federal agencies that collect, analyze, and convey data on issues pertaining to children birth to 18 and their families. The report uses the most recently available major federal statistics on children and youth to measure family and social environment, economic circumstances, health care, physical environment and safety, behavior, education, and health.

But there was a flip side to the positive numbers. The report also found a rise in the proportion of eighth-graders who reported using illicit drugs in the past 30 days, from 8 percent (2009) to 10 percent (2010) And more children were likely to live in poverty, and fewer children were likely to live with at least one parent working year round, full time.

“This report documents some significant changes in several key areas,” said Edward Sondik, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics “This annual report is an important tool to monitor the well being of our nation’s children,” said Sondik. "Each area we report on is critical to our youth."

This year’s report also included a section on adoption. According to the data, adoption is preferred by parents to alternatives such as long-term foster care, group homes, emergency shelters, or orphanages. The report also noted that although most adopted children thrive, children who are adopted, particularly those adopted beyond the first months of life, experience disruptions in parenting that can have long-standing implications for their development and well-being.

CNN Health

Post by: Val Willingham - CNN Medical Producer Filed under: Adolescent Health • CDC • Families

Text messages 'help smokers quit' - by James Gallagher: Health reporter, BBC News

Two-thirds of UK smokers say they want to stop

Supportive text messages can double the chance of someone successfully quitting smoking, according to UK researchers.

Just over 10% of 2,900 smokers who received encouraging texts such as "you can do it" had quit after six months, but only 4.9% of a similar number who did not have the same support gave up.

The study, published in The Lancet, called for texts to be included in services to help people kick the habit.
Other scientists said a text service could be offered globally.

According to government statistics two-thirds of UK smokers say they want to stop.

This study looked at 5,800 of them. Supportive texts were sent to 2,915 of the smokers for six months. The rest received only messages thanking them for taking part.

They were sent five texts a day for the first five weeks and then three a week for the next 26 weeks.

Participants could also text back for specific advice when they had cravings or had lapsed back into smoking.

Sample text messages

"To make things easier for yourself, try having some distractions ready for cravings and think up some personal strategies to help in stressful situations"

"This is it! - QUIT DAY, throw away all your fags. TODAY is the start of being QUIT forever, you can do it!"

"Quick result! Carbon monoxide has now left your body!"

"Day4=Big day - cravings still strong? Don't worry tomorrow will be easier! Keep your mind & hands busy."

"Cravings last less than 5 minutes on average. To help distract yourself, try sipping a drink slowly until the craving is over."

"Don't feel bad or guilty if you've slipped. You've achieved a lot by stopping for a while. Slip-ups can be a normal part of the quitting process. Keep going, you can do it!"

Saliva tests for cotinine, which is made when nicotine is broken down by the body, were taken to determine if people had really given up.

After six months, 10.7% of those receiving texts had quit - double the proportion among those doing it on their own.

Dr Caroline Free, who led the txt2stop trial at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said: "Text messages are a very convenient way for smokers to receive support to quit.

"People described txt2stop as being like having a friend encouraging them or an angel on their shoulder.

"It helped people resist the temptation to smoke."

The World Health Organization says nearly six million die each year because of smoking, mostly in low and middle-income countries.

Dr Derrick Bennett and Dr Jonathan Emberson, both from the University of Oxford, said text messages could be used to help people around the world.

"The lessons learned from the txt2stop trial could... not only provide a new approach to cessation in high-income and middle-income countries, but could also provide a useful starting point for implementing behavioural change in resource-poor settings."

It has also been suggested similar text messages could be used to help people modify other behaviour.
BBC News HEALTH