Master's program combines eating disorders, obesity
   In what appears to be the first program anywhere to combine these disciplines, the George Washington University Medical Center in  ashington, DC, is now offering a master's program that focuses on exercise, nutrition, and eating behavior and integrates all types of eating and weight-related issues, including eating disorders and obesity. The program is innovative in its multidisciplinary approach. Emphasis is on providing an in-depth understanding of exercise physiology and  utrition and applying it in a way that will help people make permanent behavior
changes. Training is provided in assessment, counseling, and  communication techniques. Graduate assistantships and internships are offered, both on and off campus, in active research programs, management of healthy weight, and the treatment of obesity and eating disorders.
  The program coordinator is Wayne C. Miller, PhD, who specializes in exercise physiology, nutrition, obesity, and eating behavior. Miller has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of Healthy Weight Journal since 1987. Contact: Exercise Science Programs, George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services, 817 23rd St., NW,  ashington, DC 20052 (tel: 202-994-6280; fax: 202-994-1420). 
 

Thin diabetic
   Being thin provides no benefit for diabetic men and women -- it is better to be of average weight -- according to a California study. A total of 373 adults (age 40 to 79) with a history of diabetes or a fasting plasma glucose level higher than 7.7 mmol/L were identified in a community population of 4,483 and monitored for 14 years. Men and women were grouped separately into four weight categories: thin (BMI <21.2 for women and <22.7 for men), overweight (>27.3 to <32.2 for women and >27.8 to <31.0 for men), obese (>32.2 for women and >31.0 for men), and average in the range between thin and overweight.
   A J-shaped relative risk curve emerged, with a poorer survival rate for those who were thin, overweight, and obese. Diabetic men and women in the average weight category had the lowest mortality rate. This effect was not explained by smoking or early mortality. (Ross C, et al. Given diabetes, is fat better than thin? Diabetes Care 1997;20:650-652; Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:6;82).

Healthy Weight Week nominations sought
   Healthy Weight Journal requests nominations for two awards to be given during Healthy Weight Week, January 17-23, 1999. The first is for the Slim Chance Awards, the worst weight loss products of the year, to be presented on Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day, Tuesday. The second award honors businesses and media that portray respect and appreciation for size diversity in women, to be presented on Women's Healthy Weight Day, Thursday. For more information visit the website:www.healthyweight.net/hww.htm , or contact the editorial offices of Healthy Weight Journal in Hettinger, ND. (Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:5;66).

Is obesity catching?
   Can it be possible that obesity, or some part of it, might be caused by a virus? Perhaps through an infection by which the virus changes metabolism, fat storage mechanisms, or appetite? Researchers at the University of Wisconsin Medical School are intrigued by this possibility. 
   They observed that when chickens were inoculated with a new type of adenovirus, which normally affects birds, they became obese. Subsequently, they screened several human adenoviruses that can cause upper respiratory infections, and found a particular type (AD-36) that could cause obesity when injected into chickens and mice. Next, they tested 154 obese and 45 average-weight men and women for the presence of AD-36 antibodies in the blood, and found 15 percent of the obese sujects carried antibodies, but none in the control group. The same scientists are looking at another avian virus, SMAM-1, that causes an unusual amount of intra-abdominal fat deposit in chickens. Of 52 obese people, 19 percent had antibodies for this virus -- and they had higher body mass index than the other obese subjects. In reviewing this reserach in the International Jounral of Obesity, two obesity experts advise skeptics to keep in mind the analogy with gastric ulcers, in which the infectious aspect was only discovered in 1983, fundamentally changing treatment. (Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:4;50 / Astruip A, et al. Is obesity contagious? Int J Obes 1998;22:375-376).

Intermittent exercise helps
   Who responds best to moderate, intermittent exercise? Maybe the people who need it most. 
   The advice to accumulate 30 minutes of moderate exercise 5 days a week was tested for its effect on aerobic capacity, body composition and blood lipids, insulin, and glucose in a University of Nebraska study. Of the 13 sedentary, moderately obese women (mean BMI, 32.7; body fat, 40.6 percent) who exercised at this level for 32 weeks, 7 showed improvement, 6 did not. However, those who succeeded best in losing fat and increasing their aerobic capacity were the ones who probably needed it most; they were significantly older, had greater body fat and lower aerobic capacity at baseline.
   The researchers say intermittent exercise can provide flexibility for busy people, citing research that showed compliance increased for women who exercised intermittently through the day compared with those who exercised continuously. However, they caution that their research shows the response varies considerably between individuals, as does other research. (Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:3;35 / Snyder KA, et al. Effects of long-term, moderate intensity, intermittent exercise on aerobic capacity, body composition, lipids and insulin in overweight females. Int J Obes 1997;21:1180-1189).

'Metabolic fitness' concept
 The concept of "metabolic fitness" as a medically based goal for obesity treatment, replacing weight loss, is being proposed by L. Arthur Campfield, PhD, a veteran obesity researcher with Hoffmann-LaRoche. 
 The metabolic fitness approach recognizes the good general health of many obese persons. Metabolic fitness, defined as the absence of any metabolic or biochemical risk factor for diseases associated with obesity, returns the focus to health. It views weight loss as a modality which can improve metabolic health, rather than an end in itself. However, goals are reachable independent of weight loss, says Campfield. 
 Improving metabolic fitness focuses on treatment that will reduce abnormal biochemical and behavioral risk factors, and restore them to normal ranges. Interventions will recognize that family history plays a role. They may range from mild to very aggressive. (Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:1;2 / Campfield LA, role of pharmacological agents in the treatment of obesity, 1997;471-473. Overweight and weight management, S Dalton, edit. Aspen Publ., Gaithersburg, MD.)

Women lead the way in fitness
  Women account for about 56% of all health club members and 53% of frequent exercisers, according to a national survey conducted by American Sports Data. 
 However, the main reason women exercise is to burn fat, says Gregg Hartley, executive director of the Fitness Products Council, sponsor of the studies. Weight loss was cited as the number one reason they exercise by 87.5% of female fitness center members. Muscle toning came first with men, cited by 84.7%. Men still dominate the weight room: 24.7 million lifted weights at least once in 1995. But the number of women who work with free weights doubled in one decade to 15 million by 1995. (Healthy Weight Journal 1998:12:1;2 / Fitness Products Council, N Palm Beach, Fla. April 1, 1997)