Fat tax: Arizona's Medicaid program looks at charging smokers, diabetics, obese $50 a year (USA)

Arizona's cash-strapped Medicaid program is considering charging patients $50 a year if they smoke, have diabetes or are overweight. A spokeswoman for the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System said that the fee is intended to rein in health care costs by pushing patients to keep themselves healthy. "It engages the consumer to start having a greater awareness of how they fit into the bigger health care puzzle," said Monica Coury, spokeswoman for AHCCCS. "We want to be able to provide health care to people. And we want to stretch our dollars as far as we can. Part of that is engaging people to take better care of themselves." Some private employers and state governments have instituted higher insurance premiums for workers who are overweight or smoke, but Arizona's plan would mark the first time a state-federal health care program for low-income residents has charged people for unhealthy lifestyles. The fee would apply only to certain childless adults. One part of the proposal affects people with diabetes. Coury says diabetics who fail to follow their doctor's orders to lose weight would be subjected to the $50 charge. Democratic state Sen. Kyrsten Sinema said that isn't fair to diabetics

Overweight and obese make up majority in Ontario

New analysis of a landmark health survey by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute (UOHI) shows that 70% of Ontario adults are either overweight or obese, and have a strong prevalence of high blood pressure that could lead to heart attack or stroke. The research, led by Dr. Frans Leenen of the Heart Institute's Hypertension Unit, adds new information to a limited amount of Canadian data on obesity and high blood pressure. The analysis further strengthens the link between high blood pressure and above normal Body Mass Index (BMI), a formula for body composition calculated by height and weight. "Obesity is rapidly increasing in Canada because we are eating far more than our bodies require. We know better than ever that even being overweight creates other problems such as diabetes and high cholesterol levels and thereby endangers cardiovascular health," said Dr. Leenen. "Public health strategies to reduce the growing epidemic of obesity would also reduce the burden of high blood pressure and other negative effects leading to heart disease." Study results were published this week in the American Journal of Hypertension (AM J Hypertens 2010; 23: 1000-1006). They represent the latest analysis from the Ontario Survey on the Prevalence and Control of Hypertension, the first comprehensive assessment of high blood pressure in Canada since 1992

Weight loss improves cardiac structure, function

"Obese patients showed structural improvements in the heart and vasculature and in left ventricular function within three months of starting an effective weight-loss program, researchers said. Among those who lost nearly 10% of body weight in six months on average, their left ventricular mass and carotid intima-media thickness both declined significantly, reported Lisa de las Fuentes, MD, of Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues. She described the results from the 60-patient prospective study at a press briefing here and in the Dec. 15/22 focus issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function also improved significantly with the weight loss, de las Fuentes said" - medpage today

Turning a blind eye to obesity

"A survey suggests the vast majority of those who are obese do not realise they are so. How is this possible amid what some see as saturation coverage of the nation's burgeoning bellies? The poll, carried out by YouGov for Slimming World, found just over a quarter of 2,000 people questioned had measurements which would place them squarely in the obese camp. But only 7% of those asked classified themselves as so. Over half of those deemed morbidly obese believed they ate a healthy diet, while more than a third of the overweight said they had never tried to shed the pounds" - BBC

New diet pill helps obese people lose 15% of their body weight (UK)

"A new pill that tackles obesity has helped overweight people lose up to 15 per cent of their mass - and it could be on sale in Britain in two years. Trials of the breakthrough drug Qnexa have shown it to be more effective than any other weight-loss medication on the market. Experts claim that patients can lose as much weight with Qnexa as they would if they had obesity surgery. Tests showed that patients on a high dose lost almost 15 per cent of their body weight, and even patients on a low dose of the drug achieved weight loss of eight per cent. Dr Kishore Gadde, director of obesity clinical trials at Duke University in North Carolina, who led the study, said: 'The weight loss observed with Qnexa in these trials far exceeds the weight loss observed for other obesity drugs.' The pill is being assessed by the American government's watchdog, the Foods and Drugs Administration, after completing its final trials" - Telegraph

Confessions of a weight-loss cyclist (UK)

For 10 years Frank Kinlan's bike remained unused and gathering dust in his attic. He piled on the pounds and did no exercise, but refused help to lose weight. Then one morning, weighing 21 stones (133kg) Frank decided he had to do something. "One morning I looked in the mirror and thought that I had got to do something, so I picked the phone up and got an assessment with my local health trust." Frank was morbidly obese, with a BMI (body mass index) of 42. "I was massive, with a 46-48 inch waist, and I found it difficult to get clothes to fit," he said. Assessors told Frank, aged 49 who is from the Wirral, that he needed to lose weight and exercise more. They signed him up for their initial 12-week course, which used British Heart Foundation guidelines. But the idea of exercise was an anathema to Frank, who was so worried about the effect of his weight on his health and his extremely high blood pressure, that he was doing nothing. "I had slowed my life down to an absolute nothing and did nothing. The diet was bad and I was probably on the verge of diabetes and some other problems," he said. "I would be out of breath going up the stairs because I was winded carrying the extra weight. "I turned up at the first class and they told me to do 30 minutes of exercise a day, five days a week." So Frank decided to get on his bike and do something about it. "Welcome to the world of overweight cycling," he says. At first he was just doing short runs, but gradually he started to drop the pounds and set up a blog to record his progress, initially just for the others on his course - BBC