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6A Daily News – Monday, December 26, 2011 Vitality & health (MCT) — After long days discussing America's obesity problem, Melinda Sothern has had enough of windowless conference rooms. "I need to exercise," she says, pausing to review her plans in the San Diego Con- vention Center lobby. She plans to rent a bicycle in Coronado, Calif., and ride, fast and far. Sothern, 55, is a woman who practices what she preaches. And one of her messages about obesity is aimed at women like her- self: mothers. Fat mothers. Thin moth- ers. And especially mothers- to-be. A leading fitness and nutrition expert at Louisiana State University, she has a theory that the tide of obesi- ty that has swept the nation in the last two decades had its roots in what young mothers did, or didn't do, in the postwar, suburban- sprouting 1950s. If she's right — and evi- dence is stacking up on her side — reproductive-age women may become the central focus of efforts to reverse America's fat prob- lem. The obesity epidemic has multiple causes, Sothern acknowledges. Food has changed in the last five decades. Americans have become much more seden- MCT photo Nicole Neimeyer, of Riverside, holding a picture of herself, joined Weight Watchers in March 2009 and began to reshape not only her own health but that of her family. tary. But she thinks that obe- sity rates soared just when they did — in the 1980s — because a generation of young women decades ear- lier smoked, spurned breast- feeding and restricted their weight during numerous, closely spaced pregnancies. "It was the evil '50s. A perfect recipe for obesity," she says. Sothern calls her theory "the obesity trinity." And she thinks the key to getting Americans to slim down lies in studying those lessons from the past. Among her prescriptions for change: Women who are significant- ly overweight should be dis- couraged from having babies until they shed some pounds. A central part of Soth- ern's theory — that obesity starts in the womb — is gaining currency with a growing number of doctors and researchers who say that '50s women may have triggered obesity epidemic reversing the epidemic, with its attendant cases of weight- related illnesses such as dia- betes, should begin by addressing nutrition in preg- nancy and early-life feeding practices. "We don't completely understand how people become obese, when people become obese and why chil- dren become obese," says Michael L. Power, a senior research associate at the American College of Obste- tricians and Gynecologists and a coauthor of the book "The Evolution of Obesity." "But children of parents in the '50s and '60s may have started this off." Sothern points to her own family as an example of the obesity trinity in action. Her mother was told by the obstetrician in the 1950s to gain less than 20 pounds during pregnancy. Smoking a pack of cigarettes a day was a good way to keep the weight down, the doctor said. Breast-feeding was not in vogue, so Sothern and her two siblings were bottle-fed formula. The kids were born within a span of four years. All three children — Sothern thinks it's no coinci- dence — battled with their weight as adults: Her broth- er is diabetic and her sister is obese. Sothern, at a healthy- looking 5 feet 3 and 129 pounds, has spent her adult life beating down a tendency to pack on weight by stick- ing to a diet rich in fruit, veg- etables and fish and a regi- men of dancing, biking, housework, gardening, sail- ing and strength training. Her story, she says, is nothing unusual. Women in the 1950s and 1960s — think Betty Draper on the hit TV show "Mad Men" — were generally advised to restrict weight gain in pregnancy to as little as 10 pounds. Inadequate nutrition in some of these women could easily have programmed their babies to catch up on growth during infancy — and studies sug- gest such growth spurts increase the risk of later obe- sity. Women smoked with abandon, unaware of the health risks. Smoking dur- ing pregnancy is thought to contribute to obesity risk in offspring because nicotine disrupts mechanisms in the body that control appetite, metabolic rate and fat stor- age. By the mid-1970s, breast-feeding in the U.S. had hit an all-time low of 25 percent. Studies show that formula-fed babies have a higher risk for obesity than breast-fed babies, perhaps because of metabolic changes or because drink- ing formula from a bottle is passive and easy and gener- ally done till a bottle is empty. And since breast-feeding can prevent ovulation, women using formulas were more apt to experience mul- tiple pregnancies over a shorter period of time. Babies born close together can have inferior nutrition during gestation, which can permanently program their metabolism toward becom- ing overweight. Things only worsened with subsequent generations, according to Sothern's theory. fitness Blushing begins in your brain DEAR DOC- TOR K: I seem to blush more than most people, and I find it a little embarrassing. Why am I more prone to blushing than others? Is there anything I can do about it? DEAR READ- ER: Let's start with what blushing is and why your face gets red. Blushing occurs when the tiniest blood vessels in your face — the capillar- ies — suddenly get wider. When they widen, more blood flows through them, which gives your skin a reddened, rosy appear- ance. Your blood vessels widen in response to sig- nals sent by the brain through the nerves. Emo- tions such as embarrass- ment or anger can cause blushing. Spicy foods and alcohol can also trigger blushing in some people. Occasionally, blushing may be a sign of illness. For example, people with a fever — especially chil- dren — may have bright red cheeks. Blushing easi- ly is also a symptom of a common skin condition, rosacea. In addition to these conditions, blushing can be a symptom of some- thing called carcinoid syndrome. It is a rare dis- ease in which a tumor releases chemicals into the body that dilate your blood vessels. The chem- icals also cause other symptoms. So if you blush sud- denly, when you aren't feeling embarrassed or angry, eating spicy foods or drinking alcohol, I'd ask a few red-flag ques- tions about other symp- toms caused by carcinoid syndrome. When you sud- denly blush, do you also have wheezing, diarrhea or hives? If your blushing is accompanied by any of these, talk to your doctor. Typical blushing, how- ever, is rarely due to any significant medical ill- ness. The widening and narrowing of blood ves- sels are not under your Dr. K by Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D. conscious control. That means you can't make your- self blush or make yourself stop blushing. (I once had a patient who was an actress who claimed that she could make herself blush on cue. I never asked her to demon- strate that, however, so I just have to take her word for it.) Blushing tends to occur only on the face, because there are more capillaries below the skin of the face than elsewhere and they're closer to the surface. So any signal to all the capillaries in your body to widen will make itself visible most often in your face. That may explain why people blush only in their faces. However, it doesn't explain why some people blush more easily; such people don't have more capillaries under the skin of their faces than people who rarely blush. It's possible that "blushers" have capillar- ies that dilate more in response to emotion com- pared with people who blush less often. And blushing may be more obvious in some people, like those with fair skin, than in others. Cognitive behavioral therapy can help people be less bothered by their blushing. There is also a surgery used to treat excessive blushing, but its safety and effectiveness are not proven. Although it bothers you, it may help if I remind you that blushing is often associated with positive things like youth and attractiveness. It can also project modesty and charm. Why else would millions of women apply blush to their cheeks each day? Dr. Komaroff is a physician and professor at Harvard Medical School. Go to his website to send questions and get additional information: www.AskDoctorK.com. James W. Tysinger, Jr. M.D. Eye Physician & Surgeon Fellow American Academy of Ophthalmology We accept Medical, Medicare & most Insurances Office Hours: Tues-Wed-Thurs 8am-4:30pm Mon & Fri 1pm-4:30pm For Emergencies, After Hours, Week-ends, Call 530-567-5001 345 Hickory St. Red Bluff Tel: (530) 529-4733 Fax: (530) 529-1114