Moms’ ‘Baby Fat’ Can Last Well Beyond Pregnancy

For some women, weight gained during pregnancy is the beginning of a persistent battle of the bulge. Now researchers have found that women who gain too much weight before delivery--regardless of their starting weight--are more likely to be overweight years later.

But the first long-term study of weight problems in a large group of women following pregnancy also had an encouraging finding: Women who manage to lose the fat within six months of delivery are, on average, only about 5 pounds heavier later in life. In contrast, those who hold on to their pregnancy weight are about 18 pounds heavier on average.

Breast-feeding and aerobic dance or exercise classes can help the weight loss process, according to the Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center researchers in La Crosse, Wis. Among the 540 women studied an average of 8 1/2 years after delivery, those who nursed their babies for at least three months had a significantly lower weight gain over time. And though the women didn’t see an immediate weight loss from aerobic exercise, over the years there were significant benefits. Neither subsequent pregnancies, age nor recreational physical activity such as running, cycling or swimming made any difference.

Obstetrics & Gynecology 100(2): 245-252

Forcing a Food on Children

May Create Lifelong Aversion

If you’ve ever told your child to eat her spinach before she could leave the table, you could be setting her up for a lifelong avoidance of greens. A new study has found that the feelings of helplessness that are aroused when a child is forced to eat a disliked or new food can trigger a permanent food aversion.

A survey of about 400 Southern Methodist University undergraduates found that, as children, 69% of them had at least one episode in which they were forced to eat a food. This was a much higher incidence than had been reported in past studies.

Vegetables were the food most often forced upon the students as children, followed at some distance by red meat and seafood. The most common form of coercion was threat, usually involving some kind of punishment: “You cannot leave the table until you finish.” And 26% said they were punished. Some were forced to stay at the table or go to bed without dinner.

The clash of wills between the child and the authority figure had lasting consequences. In this study, 72% of those who had battled over food would still not eat the food, and it made 37% of them extremely uncomfortable.

“It’s more important to win the war of a lifetime of healthy eating than a single battle over any specific food,” says W. Robert Batsell Jr., a coauthor of the study and associate professor of psychology at Kalamazoo College in Michigan. “Parents should not insist that a new or disliked food is eaten. If the child voluntarily samples the food, they will probably come to like it over time. If not ... don’t make a big deal about it, and try again another time,” he says.

Appetite 38 (3): 211-219

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Vitamin E Shown to Boost

Brain Function in the Elderly

Vitamin E has been touted for its anti-aging and anti-cancer benefits because, as an antioxidant, it counters the destructive action of molecules called free radicals. Now a study has shown vitamin E may also help the memory loss and impaired thinking that occurs in the elderly.

Researchers at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging in Chicago conducted a three-year study involving nearly 3,000 people older than 65 to investigate the cognitive effects of vitamin E in food and supplements. By comparing the average scores of four different tests of memory and perception, the researchers were able to track change in cognitive function with age. The participants also completed dietary questionnaires periodically, which enabled the researchers to determine their vitamin E intake.

The study found that the higher the intake of total vitamin E, the less change there was in the people’s average test scores each year. And those men and women who consumed the most vitamin E had a 36% lower rate of decline in their average test scores than those who consumed the least vitamin E. Other antioxidants, such as vitamin A, carotene and vitamin C, had little effect on the results.

Those who took supplements but got little vitamin E from food appeared to have the same protective benefit from the vitamin as those who consumed high amounts of E in their diets, says Martha Clare Morris, an assistant professor at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center. Several clinical trials are underway to compare protection from cognitive decline in people taking a supplement or a placebo, she says. In this study, the majority who took a supplement reported taking 400 IU a day.

Archives of Neurology 59: 1125-1131

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Teens Need Not Fear Weight

Gain From Birth-Control Pills

The most common reason that women stop taking birth-control pills is that they think the contraceptive is making them gain weight. Several studies have proved this is a misperception in adult women, and now a study has found that teenage girls don’t need to worry about it either.

An ongoing study at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey has been tracking a group of 112 healthy young women for nine years, since they were about 12 years old. This report from the ongoing research evaluated body weight, percentage of body fat and levels of various fats in the blood of 66 girls, 39 of whom had been taking the pill for at least six months and until they were 21 years old.

The researchers found that the changes in body weight and percentage of body fat among the pill users over time was no different on average than that of girls not taking the pill. The gains were the same even when the researchers took physical activity into account.

The pill takers had, on average, higher levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the unhealthful kind) and triglycerides than those girls not taking the low-dose oral contraceptives. However, the researchers noted that although elevated, the cholesterol levels of the pill takers were within the normal range.

Obstetrics & Gynecology 100 (2): 235-239

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Viagra May Be Safe for Men

With Congestive Heart Failure

Men with heart failure and impotence often think they have to choose between Viagra and their heart medication. But many don’t have to make the trade-off, according to a study from Sao Paulo University Medical School in Brazil.

Among 23 men with moderate to severe heart failure and impotence, Viagra (sildenafil) caused no harmful effects and actually improved the men’s ability to exercise, which affects the heart in a way similar to sex, researchers found. There has been some concern about sildenafil because it inhibits an enzyme that affects heart and blood vessel function.

In the study, the men took sildenafil or a placebo and had an exercise stress test about an hour later. On another day they returned, took whichever drug they hadn’t taken the first time, and repeated the stress test. In the second part of the study, the patients took 50 to 150 milligrams of sildenafil at home two hours before they expected to have sex.

Nineteen men were able to complete the study. All but two were able to have sex after taking sildenafil, and there were no more side effects in those taking the drug than in those taking the placebo. The men’s heart rates did not increase significantly during the exercise stress test; the researchers say this indicates that blood flow to the heart was adequate and that it reduced the chances of chest pain or heart attack.

The authors suggest that physicians caring for men with congestive heart failure and impotence give those patients an exercise stress test after they’ve taken sildenafil to see if the drug is safe for them.

Circulation 106 (6): 1097-1103

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Dianne Partie Lange can be reached at dianne lange@cs.com.