- Recent press releases
-
- Antioxidants may prevent cognitive impairment in diabetes
- Skin inflammation may increase your risk of type-2 diabetes
- Debate - Is the gut or the brain more important in regulating appetite and metabolism?
- Routine vitamin B12 screening may prevent irreversible nerve damage in type-2 diabetes
- Good nutrition could protect children from cognitive difficulties caused by early-life stress
- Women more resilient to extreme physical activity than previously reported
- Oestrogens in cows’ milk are unlikely to pose a threat to adult health
- Diabetic patients are more at risk of death from alcohol, accidents and suicide
- Too much vitamin A may increase risk of bone fractures
- Vitamin D supplements may promote weight loss in obese children
- Vitamin B supplements may protect kidney function in children with diabetes
- Bad habits in childhood may lead to an ‘unhealthy’ balance of gut bacteria and increase health risks in later life
- Lord Robert Winston cautions that advances in infertility therapies may be hindered by over-regulation
- New link identified between inflammation and depression in type-1 diabetes
- Walking a tightrope: universal thyroid testing could reduce pregnancy problems in some cases, but interfere with healthy pregnancies in others
- Brain stimulation may reduce food cravings as obesity treatment
- Larger waistlines are linked to higher risk of vitamin D deficiency
- Transgender brains are more like their desired gender from an early age
- Could intermittent fasting diets increase diabetes risk?
- Minimising exposure to common hormone-disrupting chemicals may reduce obesity rates
- Brain development disorders in children linked to common environmental toxin exposures
- Children born to mothers with low vitamin D levels may develop autism-like behaviours
- Over-the-counter antihistamines linked to impaired fertility in men
- Arthritis drug can lower sugar levels in diabetes
- Potential new target for reducing osteoporosis risk in men
- Successful male infertility treatment does not lower fertility of sons
- Warm temperatures can lead to misdiagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy
- Guidelines for management of recurrent pituitary tumours recommend new drug as first line treatment
- Taking paracetamol during pregnancy may reduce fertility of daughters
- Link found between morning sickness, smoking and healthy pregnancies
- High fat diet during childhood may increase PCOS risk later in life
- Early pregnancy test for cows improves welfare and food production
- International collaboration release revised guideline for improved management of Turner syndrome
- Treating PCOS with a combination of oral contraceptives and spironolactone does not increase the risk of diabetes or heart disease
- Vitamin D supplements could help pain management
- Breast cancer risk is more affected by total body fat than abdominal fat
- New nanotechnology application for difficult-to-treat cancers
- Just six months of frequent exercise improves men’s sperm quality
- Consuming more than two soft drinks a day can double risk of diabetes
- Age-related scarring in ovaries may explain reproductive decline
- Happy cows make more nutritious milk
- Third of pregnant women iron deficient; risk thyroid-related pregnancy complications
- New recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Adrenal Incidentalomas published in the European Journal of Endocrinology
- Sitting down for long periods when pregnant linked to weight gain and depression
- New drug provides safer alternative to conventional IVF treatment
- Enzyme potential target for fight against obesity and diabetes
- Bursts of high-intensity exercise could help diabetes patients manage low blood sugar levels
- Soybean foods may protect menopausal women against osteoporosis
- Vitamin D pill a day may improve exercise performance and lower risk of heart disease
- Diabetes associated with increased risk of serious bacterial blood infection
- Breast cancer risk higher in women with overactive thyroid
- Injection of appetite gene may offer a more effective alternative to dieting
- Hyperthyroidism could be great cost to countries in disability benefits
- Mother’s hormone levels predict child’s ability to do maths
- Mentally tiring work may increase diabetes risk in women
- Obesity risk may be increased by exposure to common environmental chemicals
- Breastfeeding reduces long-term risk of heart disease in mothers
- Environmental toxins can impair sexual development and fertility of future generations
- Setting fair regulations for top female athletes that have naturally higher testosterone levels
- Sleep problems in teenagers reversed in just one week by limiting screen use
- Men ignore serious health risks of steroid abuse in pursuit of the body beautiful
- Protective effect of breastfeeding on childhood obesity risk linked to leptin gene modification
- Smoking during pregnancy may damage daughters’ future fertility
- Probiotic supplements may enhance weight loss in obese children
- Limiting mealtimes may increase your motivation for exercise
- Age is not a barrier to the benefits of weight-loss surgery
- New insights into cause and treatments for aggressive form of breast cancer
- Stress with disrupted body clock increases risk of metabolic disease
- Impaired liver function during pregnancy may increase risk of childhood obesity
- Vitamin B12 deficiency linked to obesity during pregnancy
- Common anti-inflammatory may increase risk of diabetes
- Mindfulness helps obese children lose weight
- Larger thighs associated with lower risk of heart disease in obesity
- COVID-19 severity is increased in patients with mild obesity
- Thyroid inflammation linked to anxiety disorders
- Evaluating hormone-related targets & risks associated with COVID-19
- Ghrelin may be an effective treatment for age-related muscle loss
- Probiotics may help manage childhood obesity
- Skin lightening products linked to altered steroid hormone levels
- Vitamin D levels in the blood can predict future health risks & death
- COVID-19 infection may impair fertility in men
- Obesity is linked to heavy periods and impaired womb repair
- New app helps parents identify treatable childhood growth disorders earlier
- Web of Science announces 2022 Journal Impact Factors
- More news
Mindfulness helps obese children lose weight
Oct 2019
Mindfulness-based therapy may help reduce stress, appetite and body weight in children with obesity and anxiety, according to a study published in Endocrine Connections. They reported that obese children on a calorie-restricted diet alongside mindfulness therapy lose more weight and are less stressed and hungry, than children on a calorie-restricted diet alone. These findings suggest that mindfulness has potential to help obese children lose more weight through dieting and may reduce their risk of serious health issues, such as high blood pressure or stroke, although further research is needed to confirm this.
Childhood obesity increases the risk of a number of detrimental medical conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, and can also be associated with stress and anxiety. Despite this common association, most treatment strategies don’t address psychological factors and focus solely on diet and exercise. Previous studies suggest many eating disorders associated with obesity, such as binge eating, can be driven by elevated stress levels that make it more difficult to stick to dietary regimes.
Mindfulness is a psychological technique that uses meditation to increase personal awareness, and has successfully helped reduce stress associated with other diseases, such as cancer and anorexia nervosa. Therefore, combining both diet and mindfulness treatment strategies may lead to improved weight loss results in obese children, than a restricted diet alone.
In this study, Dr Mardia López-Alarcón investigated the effect of mindfulness-based therapy on stress, appetite and body weight of children with obesity and anxiety. Children selected for the study completed a self-report questionnaire to measure levels of anxiety and their body mass index was recorded. A group of 33 children were taught mindfulness skills in 2-hour guided sessions, once a week, for eight weeks, alongside a typical calorie-restricted diet. Another group of 12 children completed an eight week calorie-restricted diet only. The combined therapy led to significantly greater reductions in weight, anxiety and in the levels of two hormones related to stress and appetite, cortisol and ghrelin. Whereas an increase in anxiety and a smaller weight reduction was observed in the group on a calorie-restricted diet alone.
“Our results suggest that restricted diets may in fact increase anxiety in obese children. However, practicing mindfulness, as well dieting, may counteract this and promote more efficient weight loss,” Dr López-Alarcón comments.
These findings provide evidence that mindfulness may have potential for managing anxiety and weight in obese children on calorie-restricted diets, by reducing appetite and stress hormones. The increased levels of anxiety observed in the calorie-restricted only group, suggest that current weight loss strategies should consider psychological factors, as well as physical and lifestyle factors, in order to achieve better results.
Dr López-Alarcón recommends, “The potential counter effect anxiety may have on weight loss should be considered when children are undergoing dietary restriction. Our research supports the inclusion of mindfulness as a strategy to reduce anxiety and increase the chance of successful weight loss.”
However, this preliminary data compared just 33 children on the combined therapy with 12 dieting alone. Dr López-Alarcón and her team now plan to assess the potential benefits of this technique in larger groups of children.
--------ENDS--------
The study “Mindfulness affects stress, ghrelin and BMI of obese children. A clinical trial” will be published in Endocrine Connections on 8 February 2020.
The Society for Endocrinology is a UK-based membership organisation representing a global community of scientists, clinicians and nurses who work with hormones. Together we aim to improve public health by advancing endocrine education and research, and engaging wider audiences with the science of hormones. www.endocrinology.org
Recent Press Releases
Web of Science announces 2022 Journal Impact Factors
Mother’s hormone levels predict child’s ability to do maths
Hyperthyroidism could be great cost to countries in disability benefits
Injection of appetite gene may offer a more effective alternative to dieting
Soybean foods may protect menopausal women against osteoporosis