Obesity may be contagious

With rates of obesity in Australia only marginally behind the United States and tracking at the same pace, mathematical and social modelling on the projection of obesity rates in America is sobering reading for Australians.

The most recent statistics on the weight and health of the Australian population paints the grim picture of one in four adults classified as obese (defined as a body mass index above 30 kg/m²). When overweight is added to this, 68% of adult Australians are likely carrying more weight than what is good for them. These rates have been consistently rising for the last three decades and do not appear to show any signs of slowing.

A research team from Harvard University has applied complex mathematical modelling, derived from long running diet and health studies, to determine how obesity rates could look like in the United States in the future. As Australia closely matches and tracks the United States for obesity rates, and has a similar standard of living, then forecasts from this modelling would have currency for Australians.

The bottom line is that obesity rates will likely reach a peak of 42% of the population within 40 years. This result on its own is probably not so surprising, but the interesting finding that came from the research was the factors most likely to predict if a person would become obese.

The more friends a person has who are obese, the greater their own chance of becoming obese is. To put some hard numbers to the finding, each adult was found to have a 2% chance of becoming obese in any given year. But for every obese friend a person had, their own risk of becoming obese increased by 0.5 percentage points. So someone with a social circle of six obese friends would have a risk of 5% of becoming obese themselves.

Although another recent study found that a single gene mutation heightened the risk of obesity by up to 67 percent, genetics cannot explain the skyrocketing obesity trend. Lifestyle choices or other features of modern life must be contributing as well. And some researchers have even proposed that infections of gut bacteria account for some cases of obesity.

Christakis and political scientist James Fowler of the University of California, San Diego, analyzed 32 years' worth of recent records from 12,067 participants in the Framingham Heart Study, which has followed the health of residents of a small Massachusetts town and their offspring every four years since 1948.

Aside from listing their spouses and family members at each follow-up, participants gave names of close friends who would likely know their future whereabouts; more than 70 percent of these were also included in the study, creating a dense social network suitable for identifying epidemiclike effects.

When two people each listed the other as a friend and one of them packed on the pounds, the second person was 171 percent more likely to become obese. However, if only one member of the pair considered the other a friend, obesity was more likely to spread only to the person holding that view.

A person whose friends had obese friends carried an added 20 percent risk of obesity, which fell to 10 percent for friends of the third degree. In comparison, a chunky sibling increased the risk by 40 percent and a spouse by 37 percent.

Geographic location had no bearing on the results: A portly neighbor had no effect, but a friend who gained weight and lived far away still appeared to raise the risk of obesity. People of the same sex also had a stronger impact on one another.

So, arn't you lucky to have me as a friend ;)

Gravity

Its that time of the year again. Gravity 12 hour, a fun filled weekend be you a hardcore rider or weekend warrior. Guarantee you will feel pain where you have never felt before; never will you buy a lightweight saddle, Assos feels rather cheap, and you start to contemplate the idea of using butt cream to relieve the pain and minimise the chaffing (and never go there with a new bike).

It was a mud bath. And I only managed 4 laps compared to the 6 I did last year....*sigh*
How can I not mention Cat in this post. Unfortunately, I left my camera in Darwin and the phone doesent take good pictures. Have to thank Joel for picking up the bike and lugging the bike bag all the way from work home ;)
Cat's place always feels like home (away from home). Towels provided, luxurious shower gels, free access to the pantry and books/magazines I like to browse (cookbooks, home decor and the tech stuff from Joel).

Moving House

If you love your house that much, take it with you....
This is probably a walk in the park after watching Monster Moves.

Till next time..

Friends and classmate at Uni. Got me my first job in Darwin, while I was sending applications all over Australia and waiting to hear back. And with the connections I made, I could pretty much walk back into Darwin, when the rest of Aus would be hesitant of hiring someone from overseas. Been housemates ever since... but after close to 4 good years, things unfortunately have to come to an end.

Anthea's decided to move to Queensland.

And with that goes the furniture as well..ha. All that in the picture is due for the removalist soon. It's funny when friends come by and comment, "nice place you got here, nice furniture..." And my reply: other than the 4 walls, nothing in this house belongs to me, not even the plates and cutlery.

Time to get some new ones but thats another post.
While we chatted about works and things, we had our difference in opinion but we couldnt' have been so like minded. We are both fanatic about sports. She's into Circus arts (Tisu, one where you twirl yourself around in midair with a piece of cloth) and the Tri scene and me the road and mountain bikes. We shop at the same bike shop (online). We are both very particular about keeping the house clean (to a certain degree). She does not wear shoes in the house (try telling that to an Aussie). Alas, it'll take a while getting used to someone new.

Will you survive?

Obesity is currently worsening throughout the developed world and becoming the top public health concern.

In Australia, over 60% (aged 25 and over) of adults are overweight of which 20% are obese, making us almost as fat as the Americans.

So why is the world getting more and more obese? It was not that long ago that my clients could recall dipping bread into the dripping on the oven tray and drinking full cream milk straight from the cow, so where did we go wrong?

Back in the dark ages, most societies would have known obesity, it is not something new. However, it was seen only at the elite end. Walk into any art museum, open any history book and you will probably see paintings of kings and nobles who could afford to eat what they wanted, tons of meat and pastries washed down with ale and wines.

Unfortunately, what has been limited to the elite, noble class is now available to everyone.

After the World War, there was limited choice with food, in fact food was rationed. But came the 1950s and we saw the birth of some of our most famous fast food giants, companies were also doing their best to convince the "typical" 1950s homemaker to purchase time-saving appliances and serve the family with new convenience/packaged foods. This had little success as traditional homemakers preferred to cook "the old fashioned" way.

As a country gets more developed, foods (both fresh and processed/packaged) become more readily available. The 1970s saw an increased participation of women in the labour force; this coupled with longer working hours meant that time available for traditional meal preparation from raw ingredients shrank as a result of changing working and living conditions. As such, the time saving nature of fast food and convenience foods now grew in popularity as they were available virtually everywhere.

The introduction of the World Wide Web in the 1990s revolutionised the way we work (as we spend more time behind a screen) and even shop. Statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that between 1998 to 2008-09, household access to the internet at home has more than quadrupled from 16% to 72%, while access to computers has increased from 44% to 78%.

These are all factors that, directly or indirectly, contribute to the lifestyle changes which have caused the obesity epidemic.

We certainly cannot go back to the days where there was no choice with food or when food was being rationed. But it’s my role to help people navigate through the supermarket aisles and hopefully make an informed choice about the food they buy.

However, the notion of informed choice relies on the premise that we make rational decisions but we humans are an irrational lot, aren’t we? We thrive on emotions and succumb to temptations and that, oh glorious chocolate cake/macaroon.

I have a dishwasher that came with my apartment that is still in its wrapper as I have never used it (waste too much power and I can do it in 10mins). I have no microwave at home as I feel it erodes people’s cooking skills. I try to cook from scratch and cycle to work whenever I can. These are all decision I made, they are not easy ones, but ones I live by.

Why do people wear seatbelts? Have a think next time you put one on, was it because you felt safe wearing one, or it is because the cops will pull you over and you risk losing points and have to pay a fine. Why do I not see ‘as much’ alcohol related violence and people smoking on the streets in Singapore. Is it for health reasons or is it because alcohol and cigarettes are the 2 most heavily taxed items on top of legislations that ban smoking in air-conditioned places.

On a higher level, governments need to think about how they are going to address this with radical policies that look at prevention rather than cure. Workplace need to place more emphasis on not just occupational health but also the general health and well being of its employees, perhaps incentives for staff who car pool, ride to work or enrol in a health class/program (i.e smoking cessation); only then will we be able to make some in-roads to the obesity problem, if not, we’re just pissing into the wind.

Darwin’s law of natural selection (while not in gene related evolution terms), states that when the environment changes, it’s the species that is able to best to adapt and develop those traits in adapting to the environment that will survive. Law of the jungle, survival of the fittest. Unfortunately in an environment where we are surrounded by cheap calories with high pressure advertising, I don’t think that people are able to make healthy choices – it’s just too difficult. The population as a whole is not going to survive. Its the sub-groups and individuals within who choose to make the hard choices based on those informed choices that will SURVIVE this obese-genic environment.

Who will you be?

Choice

Here are some of the most common client conversations I have:

- Client with elevated cholesterol levels:
But my grandparents used to have bacon, butter and even dripping with bread but they still lived to a ripe old age.
(Well, they didnt have much food then did they?)

- Client with blood pressure:
We used to be given salt tablets cos we live in the tropics and sweat more.
(But the food supply was fairly unprocessed then)

- Obese/Diabetic client:
I only drink no-added sugar juice.

Clients are shocked when I tell them that there is the equivalent of 12-13 teaspoons of sugar in a 600ml bottle of coke. BUt really, their jaw drop when I tell them its the same with that bottle of juice. If you compared the calories and even carbohydrates of juice, most of the time it similar or even higher than coke. So a client trying to lose weight really hasnt achieved anything by switching from coke to juice as the caloric content is still the same.

Which brings me back to the same question: Choice

Back in our grandparents time, food was rationed, there could have been a famine, lots more physical activity but there was LESS FOOD CHOICE (in some cases no choice). You ate what was available and probably worked it off. If you wanted a 600ml bottle of juice, you probably had to cart a 3kg bag of oranges home and juiced it up. All which requires physical activity.

These days, we are spoiled for choices. We have to make decisions about food all the time. Which brand do I get? What to order for entree? Should I go with that low fat variety? Is the lite stuff better? But that says fat/sugar free. Lower GI is better, right?

We can't go back to days of NO CHOICE and thus my job is to hopefully help people make informed choices (whether they take that advice is another story).

But seriously, I dun think eating healthy is rocket science. Here are some of my favourite rules from Michael Pollen's book (and I left out some of the more controversial ones).

- It isnt food if it arrived through the window of your car.
- If its from a plant, eat it. If its made in a plant, reconsider.
- In relation to food additives; Did grandma have foods with all these numbers in it?
- Avoid foods advertised on the TV. (How often do you see an ad for a tomato or apple?)
- It’s not food if it’s called the same thing in every language. (Think Big Mac)
- Don't eat anything your great grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."
- Don't eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk. (eg.gCocopops, fruit loops vs Just Right, Sustain, weetbix, all bran).

Not all BMW's are the same?

I am already thinking of my 6 months long service leave. What to do, where to go and see..
Maybe a round trip of Aus. I dun think I can afford a 4Wd and I have always viewed them as abit of a petrol guzzler and really, how often do I go off-road.
Perhaps an offroad touring bike might fit the bill. And if its good enough for the Dakar Race, a similar bike wil be good enough for me. Unlike Singapore, its $95 for a 3 day course and you get your learner's, so why not.

Anyway, here I am at the BMW dealers; as the sales person was serving another customer:

Overheard conversation to a customer:
Salesperson: "Its normall $118k, but as its a 09' plated car, you can have it for $98k. $20k off is a really good deal......."

My turn:
Salesperson:"What can I do for you today?"

Me: "So that was a pretty good deal there for that car. Do you think I can get $20k off this bike" (the RRP is $14,500)

Salesperson: "I'll give you $500 off".

I dun think it helped when I went in there with flipflops, shorts and t-shirt.

The Man himself and the 160k

Not many people can attain such a cult following. It happened with the Victoria government paying Tiger Woods to come to Melbourne to play a game of golf and the deal paid off handsomely.

Lance Armstrong twittered " who wants to come for a ride in Glenelg with him and Robbie McEwen and close to 7000 cyclist turned up".

The guy has won 7 Tour De France. In an interview, a reported asked "Lance, what are you on?" (trying to instigate that he was on drugs). His reply "I'm on my freaking bike 6-7 hours a day".
The Tour De France is the pinnacle of cycling. Basically, it involves cycling anywhere from 120-200+km per day, everyday, for close to 3 weeks.

SO I asked myself, what could it be like cycling a stage of the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. We started at 6.30am and the professional racers will ride the same course but starting at 10.30 (so we got a 4 hrs head start). 8000+ riders signed up, and we got the SA police closing most roads for us out of the city, you could not ask for more.
160km...with a hill thrown in. It reached 12-13% gradient at some parts.


Australia's version of the devil girl greeting you as you get past the final climb.

This guys obviously did it on a MTB.

8000 riders, so you need plenty of rails for bikes.
I finished in 5.5hrs. Frankly, I dun think I couls do it again the next day. The legs were actually pretty good but the neck was stiff as!
No picture of me after the race. Mate said, I looked like 'shit'. U get cramps in places you never thought possible.

Here's me in the final stage race in the City itself.
Saxo in the lead


Lance, the man himself in the pack.

HTC protecting Griepel
Australia's Cadel Evans
And Mike, the Guy flys in, in his private Jet Stream, he flew out the same night. Its pretty hard to get close to him.

PS: Cat, there was actually study whereby a client with kidney failure decided to eat heaps of bananas and died from the potassium overload! His heart could not take it.

I ate 6 bananas that day!!

The Killer: Ride to Stirling

When you got no car, the bike's the next best transport but defintely not on a 40c day.
For people who remember Glen Osmond and the freeway up to Mount Lofty and then Stirling, basically that was where the race was gonna be ending that day. So we RODE up it and boy, I almost died when I got there. Unlike rolling hills whereby there is up and downs, its just up, up and more up, no chance for you to catch your breath.

The Peloton rolling past.
Skoda, the official Tour cars. Rather than the cars, the point I was trying to make was that those people driving them must all by qualified to drive in car rallies. The corners they take; lets just say I would stay ON the footpath.

What is priceless: On the way back, I had the Astana, BMC, French Team riders flying past me back to the city. I was coasting down from Stirling at 60-70km/hr holding on to dear life (and the brakes) and these guys are just zooming past me!
Now I know why bike riders break collarbones so easily, even a guy on a motorbike has more padding than me!

Eye Candy

Team Sky's Chris Sutton winning the last day of the race in the heart of Adelaide.

The new Pinarello Dogma 60.1 running Shimano's Di2. And the Prototype C50.
Spesh's new Tarmac SL3.

Feels like home...

Its hard to describe but when you've been away from Adelaide for that long, it somehow still feels like you're coming back home. Maybe its cos my good friend and hsemate for 4 years is still there. Or maybe its cos you look down a street or turn your head and you can tell exactly (or most of the time) whats round the corner, where are the good cafes.
Mate, Mihkel and me after touching down in the early hours of the morning having breaky in the city.
Adiemus and wife, Debbie. Stayed a few days at their newly built house in Adelaide.

Occupation Hazard: I pry into people's pantry when they are not looking. I wake up pretty early even without the alarm clock and was roaming through the house. (Cup-a-soups; what I like to refer to as just a bigger packet of salt sachet)
Trust me, Cat. I go through yours as well ;)
Well, if I'm going through your pantry, it also means I consider you a pretty close friend.
Team cars packed in Victoria Square, near the central markets
Nothing has changed too much. KY CHow is still there, but changed location, still on Gouger. Went to some of the cafes on King William street. Had lunch at Hong Fatt.
Glenlg, unfortunately is now lined with high rise apartments.