Obesity Could Raise Risks of General Anesthesia: MedlinePlus

Obesity Could Raise Risks of General Anesthesia
Serious airway complications 2 to 4 times more likely among heaviest patients, study finds





URL of this page: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_110429.html(*this news item will not be available after 06/28/2011)

By Robert Preidt
Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Related MedlinePlus Pages

Anesthesia
Obesity


WEDNESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) -- Obese patients are twice as likely as non-obese patients to develop serious airway complications while under a general anesthetic, a new study has found.

And severely obese patients were four times more likely to develop such problems, according to the report.

In the study, researchers analyzed all major airway complications that occurred among patients who received general anesthesia in the United Kingdom in 2008-2009. The focus of the study was on events that led to severe consequences, such as the need for a breathing tube to be inserted in the front of the neck, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, brain damage or death.

The study, which was published online March 29 in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, is slated for presentation Wednesday at a meeting of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (RCoA).

"The report is important for patients and anesthetists alike," study co-author Dr. Nick Woodall, a consultant anesthetist at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital in the United Kingdom, said in an RCoA news release.

"The information will enable obese patients to be better informed about the risks of anesthesia and to give informed consent. We hope our findings will encourage anesthetists to recognize these risks and choose anesthetic techniques with a lower risk, such as regional anesthesia, where possible, and also prepare for airway difficulties when anesthetizing obese patients," Woodall said.

The researchers also examined major airway complications in ICU patients and found that obese patients were more likely to die if they experienced airway complications while in the ICU, but use of a breathing monitor called a capnograph can greatly reduce brain damage and deaths caused by airway problems. The absence of a capnograph contributed to 74 percent of these types of events in ICUs during the study.

SOURCE: Royal College of Anaesthetists, news release, March 29, 2011

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Obesity Could Raise Risks of General Anesthesia: MedlinePlus

Elderly heart failure patients who need skilled nursing care often sicker, have poorer outcomes

Elderly heart failure patients who need skilled nursing care often sicker, have poorer outcomes
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report



Study Highlights:

•Elderly patients who are discharged to skilled nursing care after hospitalization for heart failure often have other complications as well and typically are at higher risk for poor outcomes.
•These patients are more likely than other heart failure patients to die or be rehospitalized within one year.
•Skilled nursing facility patients, families and healthcare providers need to be prepared for potential poor outcome, investigators said.


DALLAS, March 29, 2011 ― Elderly patients with heart failure who need skilled nursing care after hospital discharge are often sicker, at higher risk for poor outcomes and are more likely than other patients to die or be rehospitalized within one year, according to research reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, an American Heart Association journal.

“Patients hospitalized with heart failure are high risk to start with,” said Larry A. Allen, M.D., M.H.S., lead author of the study and assistant professor of cardiology at the University of Colorado-Denver School of Medicine in Aurora. “If they have to go to a skilled nursing facility, patients, families and providers shouldn’t be under the impression that life will, necessarily, go back to normal. We should help patients and their families recognize this high risk and adjust their medical decision making appropriately.”

Heart failure affects nearly 6 million Americans, and is the primary cause of hospitalizations among Medicare patients. Although many of these patients are discharged to skilled nursing facilities, the type of treatment they receive often varies.

A skilled nursing facility is similar to a nursing home, but can also provide specialized care, such as physical therapy, for patients unable to resume independent living. Skilled nursing patients may by nature face extra challenges, including less mobility, cognitive impairment or poor in-home support ― all of which are determinants to outcomes.

“We don’t have a lot of data about the quality of care given in these facilities,” Allen said. “This analysis highlights the need to better understand this unique group of patients and the care they receive. Are they and their families getting information they need to make informed decisions on alternatives to care for short- and long-term prognosis?”

Allen and colleagues analyzed data on 15,459 Medicare patients ― enrolled in the American Heart Association’s Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure program at 149 hospitals in 2005 and 2006 ― and discharged from the hospital after three or more days of heart failure treatment. Patients’ average age was 80, most were white and 55 percent were female. The researchers found that:

•About one-fourth of patients were discharged to a skilled nursing facility.
•Thirty days post-discharge, 14 percent of patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities had died of any cause, compared to 4 percent of those who returned home from the hospital.
•At one year, 54 percent of patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities had died of any cause, compared to 29 percent of patients discharged to home.
Furthermore, there was a higher rehospitalization rate among patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities. Thirty days after initial hospital discharge, 27 percent of patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities were rehospitalized for any cause, compared to 24 percent of patients discharged to home. One year after discharge, rehospitalizations were common in both groups, although the difference between them remained steady, with 76 percent of skilled nursing and 72 percent of home patients readmitted to the hospital.

Patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities were more likely than other patients to be older, female, hospitalized longer and to have other complications in addition to heart failure.

“Even after adjusting for patient differences, a strong predictor of mortality in the next year was discharge to a skilled nursing facility,” Allen said. “This has important implications for talking to patients and their families during the initial hospitalization for heart failure. They need to have clear expectations for survival and rehospitalization. Options for advanced therapies and end-of-life care, including hospice and advanced directives, should be discussed for these high-risk patients.”

Skilled nursing use varied by region. The highest rate was in the northeastern United States, where nearly one-third of heart-failure patients left the hospital for skilled nursing facilities. The lowest was in the west, where about one-fourth required this type of care.

Co-authors are: Adrian F. Hernandez, M.D.; Eric D. Peterson, M.D.; Lesley H. Curtis, Ph.D.; David Dai, Ph.D.; Frederick A. Masoudi, M.D.; Deepak L. Bhatt, M.D.; Paul A. Heidenreich, M.D.; and Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D. Author disclosures and funding information are on the manuscript.

Get With The Guidelines®-Heart Failure is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Medtronic, Inc.

###

Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1040 (CircHF/Allen)
Elderly heart failure patients who need skilled nursing care often sicker, have poorer outcomes

Avoiding health risks could prevent more than half of all cases of atrial fibrillation

Avoiding health risks could prevent more than half of all cases of atrial fibrillation
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report



Study Highlights:

•More than half of atrial fibrillation (AF) cases in this study were linked to specific risk factors.
•High blood pressure was the strongest predictor of AF.
•Those with elevated risk factors were three times more likely to have AF.


DALLAS, March 28, 2011 — Reducing cardiovascular risk factors like high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes and being overweight could potentially reduce more than half of all cases of atrial fibrillation, according to research reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

More than 2 million Americans live with atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heart rhythm that occurs when the heart’s two upper chambers beat erratically, causing the chambers to pump blood rapidly, unevenly and inefficiently. Blood can pool and clot in the chambers, increasing the risk of stroke or heart attack. AF affects about 3 percent to 5 percent of people over age 65 and is related to about 15 percent of all strokes.

“We now know that a significant proportion of all cases of atrial fibrillation can be avoided,” said Alvaro Alonso, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., co-author of the study and assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health in Minneapolis. “Ideally, if individuals were able to maintain a normal blood pressure and healthy body weight and didn’t smoke, not only would it reduce their risks for other forms of cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease and stroke, but it also would significantly impact the risk of developing atrial fibrillation in later life.”

In the study, 57 percent of the AF episodes were linked to specific risk factors, including high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, overweight and other heart diseases. Of these risks, high blood pressure was the strongest predictor, accounting for more than one-fifth of all cases.

The researchers also identified gender and racial differences in risk factor prevalence, with more than 80 percent of African Americans having one or more risk factors compared to 60 percent of whites. Only about 2 percent of African-American men and African-American women had optimal risk factors versus 3 percent white men and 10 percent of white women with optimal risk.

“A lot of work needs to be done to try to ensure that African-Americans in particular achieve optimal levels of blood pressure and diabetes control,” said Rachel R. Huxley, D.Phil., lead author and associate professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.

Only 5 percent of participants overall had optimal levels of risk factors for preventing AF. Slightly more than one-fourth were classified as having a borderline risk factor profile and two-thirds of study participants had elevated risk factor levels. Patients with optimal levels of risk factors had one-third of the risk of developing AF compared with those with an elevated risk factor profile.

During the study, 1,520 episodes of AF occurred.

Population risk estimates showed that having one or more elevated risk factor level could explain 50 percent of AF events. In whites, the risk was 50 percent in women and 38.2 percent in men. In African Americans, the risk of AF associated with having one or more elevated risk factors was 94 percent in women and 91 percent in men.

The study comprised 14,598 participants in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (ARIC), a prospective study of heart disease among residents of four communities in North Carolina, Mississippi, Maryland and Minnesota. Their average age was 54 years old, 55 percent were women, 75 percent were white and 25 percent were African-American. The study started in 1987, and follow-up averaged 17 years.

After an initial interview and medical exam, investigators divided participants into one of three groups based on their risk factors for AF: optimal, borderline and elevated. Patients in the optimal-risk group had normal blood pressure and weight, no heart disease or diabetes, and no smoking history. Patients in the other two groups had increased risks in these categories.

Other co-authors are: Faye L. Lopez, M.P.H.; Aaron R. Folsom, M.D., M.P.H.; Sunil K. Agarwal, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.; Laura R. Loehr, M.D., M.S., Ph.D.; Elsayed Z. Soliman, M.D., M.Sc., M.S.; Rich Maclehose, Ph.D.; and Suma Konety, M.D., M.S.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association funded the study. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

###

Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1055 (Circ Alonso)

Additional resources:

•2011 ACCF/AHA/HRS update on management of patients with AF: http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIR.0b013e3181fa3cf4.
•Consumer facts about arrhythmia: www.heart.org/arrhythmia.

Avoiding health risks could prevent more than half of all cases of atrial fibrillation

Not so sweet: increased added sugars intake parallels trends in weight gain

Not so sweet: increased added sugars intake parallels trends in weight gain
American Heart Association Meeting Report - Abstract P309



Study Highlights:

•An upward trend in added sugars intake corresponded to an upward trend in body weight, in a 27-year study of adults in Minnesota.
•Women in the study consumed less added sugars than men.
•Younger adults consumed more added sugars than older adults.


ATLANTA, March 24, 2011 — Weight gain in adults coincided with increased consumption of added sugars, in a study reported today at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions. Added sugars are sugars and syrups added to foods during processing, preparation, or at the table.

Researchers reviewed added sugars intake and patterns of body weight over 27 years using data collected in the Minnesota Heart Survey, a surveillance study of adults ages 25 to 74 living in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Dietary intake was assessed by a 24-hour recall. The heart survey includes six surveys looking at subjects’ diet, height and weight. The surveys were conducted in 1980-82, 1985-87, 1990-92, 1995-97, 2000-02 and 2007-09. "There is limited data available looking at how added sugar intake is related to body mass index (BMI),” said Huifen Wang, M.S., lead author of the study and a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. “With the information provided, we examined the trends for body mass index and dietary intake of foods and beverages with added sugars across the six surveys,” Wang said. “We looked at these trends by gender and by age group.” BMI measures body weight in relation to height.

The researchers found:

•Added sugars intake increased along with BMI levels in men and women.
•Over 27 years, added sugars consumption increased among men and women and in all age groups. But added sugars intake leveled off between 2000-02 and 2007-09 surveys in men and women. Average BMI leveled off in women, which paralleled their added sugars intake; however, BMI in men continued to increase, while calories consumed from added sugars declined by 10.5 percent in the 2007-09 survey compared to the 2000-02 survey.
•In the 2007-09 survey, men consumed about 15.3 percent of their daily calories from added sugars, representing a substantial 37.8 percent increase from 1980-82.
•Among women, added sugars intake changed from 9.9 percent of total calories in 1980-82 to 13.4 percent of total calories in 2007-09.
•Across all survey years, women consumed less added sugars than men, while younger adults consumed more added sugars than older adults.

“Added sugars consumption increased over 20 years,” Wang said. “Although it declined slightly after 2000-02, the consumption of added sugars remained high among the Minnesota residents studied. Although other lifestyle factors should be considered as an explanation for the upward trend of BMI, public health efforts should advise limiting added sugar intake.”

The American Heart Association recommends that no more than half of your daily discretionary calories come from added sugars. Discretionary calories are “left over” or what allowance remains in your daily calorie limit after you’ve eaten the recommended types and amounts of foods that you need to meet nutrient requirements, such as fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, high-fiber whole grains, lean meat, poultry and fish. Added sugars, alcoholic beverages and solid fats — including saturated fat and trans fat — are typically considered foods and nutrients that may be selected as discretionary calories. For example, most American women should consume no more than 100 calories of added sugars per day; most men, no more than 150 calories.

Strong scientific evidence is needed to determine whether added sugars intake is related to or promotes weight gain and other cardiovascular disease risk factors, Wang said.

“According to the 2010 Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, it is also not yet clear whether the relationship between BMI and added sugar intake is due to additional calories or the added sugars, per se,” she said.

Co-authors are: Lyn M. Steffen, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D.; Xia Zhou, M.S.; Lisa Harnack, Dr. P.H., M.P.H., R.D.; and Russell V. Luepker, M.D., M.S. Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the study.

###

Note: Actual presentation time is 5 p.m. ET, Thursday, Mar 24, 2011.

Statements and conclusions of study authors presented at American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1047(EPI/NPAM/Wang)

Not so sweet: increased added sugars intake parallels trends in weight gain

Mini-stroke doubles risk of heart attack

Mini-stroke doubles risk of heart attack
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report



Study Highlights:

•Patients who have had temporary stroke symptoms known as a transient-ischemic attack (TIA) have twice the risk of heart attack as the general population.
•TIA patients who had a subsequent heart attack were three times more likely to die during the 20-year study than those who did not have a heart attack.
•These findings signify the importance of screening TIA patients for signs of heart disease, researchers say.


DALLAS, March 24, 2011 – Patients who have suffered a “mini stroke” are at twice the risk of heart attack than the general population, according to research reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

These mini-strokes, called transient-ischemic attacks, or TIAs, occur when a blood clot temporarily blocks a blood vessel to the brain. Although the symptoms are similar to a stroke, a TIA is shorter ─ usually lasting only minutes or a few hours ─ and does not cause long-term disability. A TIA, also called a “warning stroke,” signals a high risk of a subsequent, larger stroke.

In this study, the risk of heart attack among TIA patients was about 1 percent per year, double that of people who had never had a TIA. This increased risk persisted for years and was highest among patients under age 60, who were 15 times more likely than non-TIA patients to have a heart attack.

“Physicians and other healthcare providers should be mindful of the increased risk for heart attack after TIA, just as they are about the increased occurrence of stroke,” said Robert D. Brown Jr., M.D., M.P.H., principal investigator and chair of the neurology department at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. “In the same way that we evaluate the patient to determine the cause of TIA and implement strategies to reduce the occurrence of stroke after a TIA, we should step back and consider whether a stress test or some other screening study for coronary-artery disease should also be performed after a TIA, in an attempt to lessen the occurrence of heart attack.”
In the study, the average length of time between a first TIA and a heart attack was five years. Researchers also found that TIA patients who later had a heart attack were three times more likely than those who did not have a heart attack to die during study follow-up.

Factors that independently increased the risk of heart attack after TIA included:

•male gender;
•older age; and
•use of cholesterol-lowering medications (although patients using these drugs may have had more severe heart disease initially).

The study included 456 patients (average age 72, 43 percent men) diagnosed with a TIA between 1985 and 1994. Nearly two-thirds had high blood pressure, more than half smoked, and three-fourths were being treated with medication, such as aspirin, to prevent blood clots. Average follow-up was 10 years.

Investigators used a medical-records database (Rochester Epidemiology Project) to retrospectively identify TIA patients in Rochester, Minn. They then cross-referenced this information with data on heart attacks occurring within this patient group through 2006.
Most heart attacks are caused by coronary-artery disease, which occurs when a blood clot blocks blood and oxygen flow in a blood vessel leading to the heart. Although coronary-artery disease is the primary cause of death among TIA patients, according to the study, limited data exist on the incidence of heart attack after TIA.

“In fact, coronary-artery disease is an even greater cause of death after transient-ischemic attack than stroke is, surprising as that may be,” Brown said. “We should use the TIA event not only to provide a warning sign that patients are at heightened risk of stroke, but are also at increased risk of heart attack, an event that will increase their risk of death after the TIA.”

Co-authors are Joseph D. Burns, M.D.; Alejandro A. Rabinstein, M.D.; Veronique L. Roger, M.D., M.P.H.; Latha G. Stead, M.D.; Teresa J. H. Christianson, B.S.; and Jill M. Killian, B.S. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The Mayo Clinic funded the study.

TIA and stroke warning signs are sudden:

•Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, often on only one side of the body
•Confusion and trouble speaking or understanding others
•Difficulty seeing
•Trouble walking, feelings of dizziness and loss of balance or coordination
• Severe headache of unknown cause
The presence of any of these signs warrants a call to 9-1-1 for immediate medical attention.

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Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1052 (Stroke/Brown)
Mini-stroke doubles risk of heart attack

Non-invasive brain stimulation may improve swallowing after stroke

Non-invasive brain stimulation may improve swallowing after stroke
American Heart Association Rapid Access Journal Report



Study Highlight:

•Non-invasive electrical stimulation to the brain may improve swallowing ability among stroke survivors, which may help avoid life-threatening complications.

DALLAS, March 24, 2011 – Stroke patients who received electrical brain stimulation coupled with swallowing exercises showed greater improvement in swallowing ability than patients who did not receive this stimulation, according to a pilot study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Difficulty swallowing, known as dysphagia, is a common and serious stroke complication. It can lead to aspiration, when food or foreign matter accidentally enters the lungs causing pneumonia. Aspiration and aspiration pneumonia are common complications after stroke and can be deadly.

The non-invasive brain stimulation used in this study (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation, or tDCS) uses a weak electrical current. It is transmitted via electrodes placed on the scalp, to increase activity in targeted areas of the brain. Researchers noted:

•Patients who received brain stimulation increased their ability to swallow by more than 2.5 points on a seven-point swallowing scale, compared to slightly more than one point among those who did not receive the treatment. This was statistically significant, so it was not likely due to chance.
•Overall, swallowing ability improved by at least two points in 86 percent of patients receiving stimulation, and in 43 percent of those who did not. While these percentages showed a trend toward improvement, they did not reach statistical significance, likely due to the small study size.
“Further studies are warranted to refine this promising intervention by exploring effects of stimulation parameters, frequency of stimulation, and timing of the intervention in improving swallowing functions in dysphagic-stroke patients,” researchers noted.

The study comprised 14 patients recruited from the inpatient stroke center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. All patients had suffered an ischemic stroke within the previous one to seven days. Participants were randomized so that some received tDCS to the brain regions that control swallowing while others received “sham stimulation.” Those receiving sham stimulation were prepped as if they are going to receive tDCS but did not.

Authors are: Sandeep Kumar, M.D.; Cynthia W. Wagner, M.S., CCC-SLP; Colleen Frayne, M.S., CCC-SLP; Lin Zhu, B.S.; Magdy Selim, M.D., Ph.D.; Wuwei Feng, M.D., M.S.; and Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript.

The National Institutes of Health and the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology funded the study.

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Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association’s policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11– 1053 (Stroke/Kumar)

Non-invasive brain stimulation may improve swallowing after stroke

Obese and overweight women, children underestimate true weight

Obese and overweight women, children underestimate true weight
American Heart Association Meeting Report - Abstract P162



Study highlights:

•Overweight and obese women and children underestimate their body weight.
•Almost half of the mothers with overweight and obese children think that their children’s weight is normal.
•Obese images appear to have become acceptable norms in some families; thereby, increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease.

ATLANTA, March 23, 2011 — Overweight and obese mothers and their children think they weigh less than their actual weight, according to research reported at the American Heart Association’s Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions.

In the study of women and children in an urban, predominantly Hispanic population, most normal weight women and children in the study correctly estimated their body weight, but most obese women and children underestimated theirs.

“Obesity is a well-known risk factor for the development of many diseases, including heart disease and diabetes,” said Nicole E Dumas, M.D., lead author and an internal medicine resident at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. Dumas and colleagues surveyed women and their pre-adolescent children attending an urban, primary care center in New York City. They asked the subjects about their age, income, heart disease risk factors, and perceptions of their body size using silhouette images that corresponded to specific body mass index (BMI) types — for example, underweight, normal and overweight.

The researchers also recorded participants’ height, weight and BMI, which is a measurement of body weight based on height. A BMI of 25-29 is overweight, and a BMI over 30 is obese.

The researchers found:

•65.8 percent of the mothers surveyed were overweight or obese.
•38.9 percent of children surveyed were overweight or obese.
•81.8 percent of obese women underestimated their weight compared to 42.5 percent of overweight and 13.2 percent of normal weight women; similarly, 86 percent of overweight or obese children underestimated their weight compared to 15 percent of normal weight children.
•Of mothers with overweight or obese children, almost half (47.5 percent) thought their children were of normal weight.
•Children selected larger body images than those chosen by their mothers to describe an “ideal” or “healthy” body image for a woman.
•41.4 percent of the children in the study thought their moms should lose weight.
“These findings imply that not only is obesity prevalent in urban America, but that those most affected by it are either unaware or underestimate their true weight,” she said. “In addition, obesity has become an acceptable norm in some families. Strategies to overcome the obesity epidemic will need to address this barrier to weight loss.”

Future research should include interventions that study the effect of increased accuracy of body image perception on weight loss among families.

Co-authors are Robert R Sciacca, Eng.Sc.D.; Jennifer Decolongon, M.D.; Juviza K. Rodriguez, B.A.; and Elsa-Grace V Giardina, M.D.

Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The study was funded by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Arlene and Joseph Taub Foundation.

Note: Actual presentation time is 5 p.m. ET, Wednesday, March 23, 2011.

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Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific meetings are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect association policy or position. The association makes no representation or warranty as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations are available at www.americanheart.org/corporatefunding.

NR11 – 1046 (EPI/NPAM 2011/Dumas)

Additional resources:



•Multimedia resources (animation, audio, video and images) are available in our newsroom at EPI/NPAM 2011 - Multimedia. Downloadable audio and/or video interview clips with AHA experts offering perspective on news releases will be added prior to embargo for use after embargo.
Obese and overweight women, children underestimate true weight