A TEACHER who once tipped the scales at a massive 30 stone shed a third of her body weight after having a gastric band fitted.

Katrina Lehman, of Spring Close, Barking, lost an incredible 10 stone in just over a year.

She underwent surgery to control her appetite in May 2008 after realising that her weight was putting her health at risk.

Childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past 40 years. More than 30% of children and teens are overweight and 20% are classified as obese. Most parents wait for their child to grow out of it, encouraging them to be proud of who they are. That is certainly noble in theory, but being overweight increases the risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated blood cholesterol levels, and premature heart disease.

We are bombarded nowadays by the concern of childhood obesity. Remember when you were expecting your first child and had the idea of making your own baby food and feeding them a wholesome diet?

Then reality set in and who had time to do that! Single parents are doing the job of two people on one budget and one time frame so it can be difficult to try and put a healthy meal on the table every night. Don’t feel bad even the best of parents have frequented McDonald’s for suppertime.

Seasonal Eating

Eating what grows naturally each season is one of the best ways to allow your body to operate in a way that will sustain your health.

Summer is ideal for stocking up on carbs, fruit and vegetables.  Our ancestors lived off the land in the summer putting on a little more body fat because of it.  

In the autumn months food was more scarce with nuts, berries and occasional meat from hunting being the fare.  The effort burned off some of the body fat.

Weight loss surgery doesn’t cut sleep apnea

A lot of people who are obese suffer from sleep apnea, blocking of the air passages or other disordered breathing that causes them to stop breathing through the night. It had been hoped that the weight loss associated with surgery could cure the problem, but research in the American Journal of Medicine says that’s not the case.

 A South Carolina mother whose 14-year-old son weighs 555 pounds has been charged with criminal neglect, prosecutors said.

Jerri Gray's case could lead to more criminal action against parents of dangerously overweight children, her lawyer, Grant Varner, told USA Today in a story published Tuesday.

If fear of heart disease and diabetes isn't enough reason to slim down, here's another: Being overweight or obese can cause rapid deterioration of the cartilage in the knee, leading to osteoarthritis, researchers report.

It looks like she's had a hot body all her life, but Yvonne McCarthy battled her weight for years. She says, "I was obese for 30 years, and I had gastric bypass, or weight loss surgery in 2001."

Since then, diet and exercise is her main life focus. She says, "Once you get there, it's like, I'm not going back." She came to Champion 4 Fitness because she heard they're the first in the metroplex to carry a brand new body fat tester, The Bod Pod.