Study: Stigmatizing Obesity Campaigns Not More Effective than Others

hw-drink02-300x250The health problems stemming from obesity have inspired campaigns nationwide, all trying to encourage the two-thirds of Americans who are overweight or obese to achieve a healthy weight, which would help reduce the risk of seven cancers.

But getting people to modify eating and activity behaviors can be tricky.

Last week, one of the first studies to systematically look at what kind of messaging works best found that campaigns recognized for stigmatizing or blaming obese people are perceived as no more effective than more positive or neutral campaigns. In fact, the advice of negative campaigns was deemed to be less achievable.

The study was published online in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine

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12 Challenges for a Leaner, Healthier You

NAP-Logo-2-ColorCould you meet the New American Plate (NAP) challenge?

So far over 1,500 people from around the US (and the world) are ready to start. Beginning next week, these Challengers are stepping up to the NAP-PlateNew American Plate Challenge to lose weight healthfully and lower their cancer risk through healthier eating and increased physical activity.

Here’s how it works:

Every Monday for 12 weeks, you’ll get a specific challenge (diet or physical activity) that helps you move towards the NAP way of eating or to the AICR recommendation to get at least 30 minutes daily of moderate physical activity.

  1. Every Friday, you will receive a teaser email to prepare for the upcoming weekly challenge, describing what you need to buy at the grocery store or ways to prepare for moving more.
  2. The Monday morning email will reveal that week’s challenge and you’ll find more specifics, including tips, tools and recipes on the NAP Challenge website to help you meet the week’s goals. Continue reading


New Analysis: Lifting Weights Helps Survivors

Dumbbell-SP005620_7_300wWhen you read about the health benefits of exercise for cancer survivors it’s common to lump all exercise together. After all, there’s no bad form of exercise.

A new review of the research now suggests that lifting weights, sit-ups and other forms of resistance exercises can help survivors both during and after treatment gain muscle strength, reduce body fat, and improve fatigue.

The improved effects seen with arm strength and body fat were most pronounced in survivors who engaged in low to moderate intensity exercises compared to those of higher intensity.

Doing resistance exercises at least two times per week led to survivors able to increase the amount of weight lifted, on average, 34 pounds (15.5 kilograms) for legs and 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms) for arms.

The study was published in the early online issue of Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. Continue reading