Bariatric weight loss surgery is on the rise every year in America. Between 200,000 and 250,000 adults receive bariatric surgery annually. A smaller statistic that seems to carry more weight is the fact that about 1,000 American teenagers received some sort of weight loss surgery last year and the number is increasing every day.
The most common types of bariactric procedures are gastric bypass, gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy, and all involve surgery which is very risky, especially for teenagers.
While some of the risks for post-op teenagers come from the surgery itself, other risks come from the ability of the patient to follow rules. Since the procedures limit the amount of food one can eat, malnutrition is a very serious threat, made worse for teenagers who are still developing and need those nutrients for proper growth. Because of the risk of malnutrition, most patients are required to be on a strict vitamin regimen for the rest of their lives to ensure the body receives the vital elements it can no longer obtain from food.
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America is the home of the free and the… unhealthy? Although Americans have earned this reputation recently due to our many fast food restaurants, hectic lifestyles, and lack of focus on balance in our everyday lives, we should not automatically be assumed to be an unhealthy nation.
Minneapolis, MN is America's Healthiest City
There are plenty of Americans – including you, if you are reading this article and visiting this website – who really do care about maintaining healthy lives by eating nutritious and balanced diets while also exercising on a regular basis. Now, the American College of Sports Medicine has compiled much data and researched statistics that prove that many American cities are actually very healthy. The 50 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the USA were evaluated on the personal health of their citizens, community data, and environmental data, and assigned a score from 1-100.
According to this report, Minneapolis, MN was the healthiest city in the USA with a score of 77.2. The unhealthiest city was Oklahoma City, OK with a score of 24.6.
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Tune in to Good Morning America tomorrow, Thursday, March 3rd to see Matt Bean of Men’s Health share some good advice for breaking bad habits.
According to the health experts at Men’s Health, bad habits set up neural pathways in the brain, which is part of what makes them so hard to break. Once a prompt arrives, the brain can easily shift into autopilot after that pathway is established. Bean, a senior contributing editor, will share some quick to tips to overcoming these bad habits for good.
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Most people want to live long, healthy, and personally fulfilling lives. Unfortunately, there’s not a Fountain of Youth that will magically give you these things. If there was, I bet we would all be waiting in line for a glass of water from that spring. However, there are some things you can do to improve the quality and length of your life.
Get Physical. Physical fitness is a great way to keep yourself healthy and in shape. All you need to do is add 20 minutes of fitness to your day. Try something that is fun for you, whether it is dancing, walking, yoga, or something else entirely.
Milk It. You need calcium in your diet to prevent osteoporosis. Try eating at least one food that contains high levels of natural calcium, such as dairy products, salmon, and leafy greens.
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One of my favorite things to do when I’m sick is take a long, hot shower without the bathroom fan on. A hot shower can loosen muscles, relax the mind and clear congestion. New research is suggesting that steam inhalation may do more than loosen mucous and congested sinuses, it could actually provide a cure for the common cold.
Most colds are caused by the rhinovirus which is rendered inactive at temperatures above 109 degrees Fahrenheit. Logically, one can assume that steam treatments, which raise the temperature in the nose to the required 109 degrees, would kill any rhinovirus that is present. There are some studies that back up that logic but, unfortunately, the results are mixed. Only three out of six studies showed supporting evidence that steam inhalation can cure colds. According to The New York Times, the remaining three studies ”found either a worsening of symptoms or no change at all in antibody levels or shedding of viruses.”
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