Lead researcher Dr. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer told Reuters Health that other studies have found that regular weight checks may help adults who are trying to shed pounds -- but what's true of adults is not necessarily true of teenagers, she said.

For one, adolescents are still developing and their weight will necessarily change, whereas adults' weight should remain relatively stable.

Besides that, teenagers who focus on a number on the scale can develop the wrong mindset about weight and health, according to Neumark-Sztainer, a professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and the author of the book "I'm, Like, So Fat!: Helping Your Teen Make Healthy Choices About Eating and Exercise in a Weight Obsessed World".

She suggested that parents of overweight teens avoid talking about weight and instead do things that make it easier for their children to follow a healthy lifestyle -- like stocking the kitchen with fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other healthful foods, and encouraging regular exercise.

"Parents should talk less and do more," Neumark-Sztainer said.

She and her colleagues based their findings on survey responses from 2,516 Minnesota teenagers who were followed for five years. In the first survey, more than one-third of girls said they "often" weighed themselves, as did one-quarter of boys.

Five years later, these girls were more likely than their peers to report binge-eating and unhealthy weight-control measures.

It's not clear that the frequent weigh-ins actually caused the girls' eating problems. "But we know that self-weighing is preceding these behaviors," Neumark-Sztainer said.

Therefore, she said, it's better to steer children away from focusing on "outcomes" like the number on the scale, and toward maintaining a healthy lifestyle for the long term.

SOURCE: Journal of Adolescent Health, December 2006.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

Greater height loss tied to higher death risk

Last Updated: 2006-12-13 9:18:10 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The amount of height men lose as they age is related to their odds of dying as they reach 60s and 70s, a new study shows.

Compared to men who lost 1 centimeter in height over a 20-year period, those who lost 3 centimeters or more were 64 percent more likely to die within six years, Dr. S. Goya Wannamethee of the University College Medical School in London and colleagues found.

Most of the increased risk was due to deaths from heart disease or respiratory illness, but the reasons for the link between height loss and mortality remain unclear, the researchers say. "Height loss may be another marker of decline in health rather than height loss per se predisposing to mortality," Wannamethee told Reuters Health.

While height loss with aging is widely recognized, there has been little research on how it affects health, Wannamethee and colleagues note in their report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. To investigate, they looked at 4,213 men whose heights had been measured when they were between 40 and 59 years old, and again 20 years later. The men were then followed for six years, during which time 760 died.

About 15 percent of the men lost at least 3 centimeters in stature over the 20-year period. These men were at greater risk of dying from any cause, and were 42 percent more likely to die of heart disease.

Men who lost the most height were in worse health and were more likely to have poor lung function; they also showed greater weight loss and were more sedentary, the researchers found. However, adjustment for these factors did not completely remove the relationship between height loss and death risk, suggesting that other mechanisms are involved.

One possible mechanism, they add, could be the loss of muscle strength and mass that occurs with aging and has been linked to a greater mortality risk.

"While a minor degree of height loss with aging is normal and is unlikely to be associated with health problems, significant height loss may be a marker for ... frailty in older people," Wannamethee concluded.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, Dec. 11/25, 2006.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.