Schneider doc's study shows Atkins diet good for teens

Dr. Marc Jacobson, a pediatrician at LIJ, believes the Atkins Diet deserves a closer look.

By Alex Ginsberg 05/29/2003

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A recent study conducted by a doctor at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park suggests that teenagers can lose more weight on the so-called Atkins Diet than on a standard low-fat diet.

"We found that the adolescents assigned to the Atkins Diet lost on average twice as much weight as the kids on the low fat diet," said Dr. Marc Jacobson. "And they didn't do any harm to their cholesterol."

Dr. Robert Atkins pioneered the now-popular diet that allows unlimited quantities of meat, fish and poultry while eliminating most carbohydrates. Long challenged by mainstream doctors, the Atkins Diet has only recently begun to be accepted by the medical establishment. Atkins himself died last month after he slipped and fell on an icy sidewalk near his office in Manhattan.

The study, conducted in conjunction with Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan, examined 40 overweight adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. Each was randomly assigned to either the Atkins Diet or the standard diet.

Jacobson said foods were divided into three categories for the subjects. "Green light" foods were permitted without limits, "yellow light" foods only in moderation and "red light" foods never. For example, steak was a "green light" selection for the Atkins group, but a "red light" selection for the standard group.

The subjects were examined every two weeks over a 12-week period. The study's findings were printed in the March 2003 issue of the Journal of Pediatrics.

The results were similar to findings recently published in two others studies, one at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and the other undertaken at St. Louis' Washington University and Denver's University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Those studies, which examined more subjects over a longer period of time, also found the Atkins Diet to be beneficial, but indicated that the greater advantage was in cholesterol reduction and cardiac health, with only marginal improvement in weight loss.

According to Jacobson, one drawback to the Atkins Diet was that subjects found it difficult to give up potato chips, pasta, French fries, rice and other foods rich in carbohydrates. Female subjects, Jacobson said, also had particular trouble adjusting their diets to include large amounts of meat.

The group on the standard diet also saw more improvement in their cholesterol, but no subject in either group was worse off than when he started, Jacobson said.

Although Jacobson believed the results were fairly conclusive, he said there was still some uncertainty as to how the Atkins Diet worked.

"We don't know exactly, but it probably works because reducing the carbohydrates causes a decrease in insulin secretion, which then promotes the burning of fat," Jacobson said.

He added that the study should held lend credence to a regimen that has had difficulty gaining acceptance.

"The findings are important in the sense that many people have vilified the Atkins Diet and I don't think there's any scientific basis for that," said Jacobson. "It may be a valid method of weight loss. It certainly is worthy of scientific study."

Reach reporter Alex Ginsberg by e-mail at Timesledger~aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 157.

a few steps in a long journey

Richwoods senior battles diseases to get diploma

May 29, 2003

By KRIS WERNOWSKY
of the Journal Star

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PEORIA - It was a restless night before graduation for 18-year-old Aaron McKnight.

"I was very nervous. I got up at 4 a.m.," he said. "I couldn't sleep."

Aaron, a Richwoods High School senior, was one of nearly 800 students set to graduate from District 150 high schools. He planned to do something special at Wednesday's ceremony - walk across the stage to get his diploma. He wasn't supposed to do that, but he was going to try.

That walk would be the latest step in a journey that started on Memorial Day in 1992, when a 7-year-old Aaron and his brother, Christopher McKnight, were participating in a karate tournament.

"I just kept holding my head. I had really bad headaches," he said.

His mother, Theresa McKnight, 43, was worried.

"My aunt said, 'You'd better get him to a doctor. That's a sign of a brain tumor,' " she said.

The doctor told the McKnights that Aaron had a migraine and the flu. He went home but began vomiting the next day. His mother took him to the emergency room.

"He had a CAT scan, and the next thing I know, he's in the (intensive care unit) at (OSF) Saint Francis (Medical Center)," she recalled.

Aaron was diagnosed with craniopharyngioma, a cystic growth that developed in his brain. His mother said almost immediately Aaron was in an operating room having surgery to remove the growth.

After two more surgeries, one when he was 8 and another when he was 10, and a series of radiation treatments, Aaron was on the road to recovery.

But after surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids, Aaron became severely dehydrated. He was taken to the hospital again, and doctors discovered his heart was pausing for periods of up to 25 seconds.

"Then I had to get a pacemaker," he said.

That is when Aaron started eating.

"I ate so much because of my medicine," he said.

In fact, Aaron said his weight peaked at 460 pounds. It was difficult for him to walk even small distances without getting short of breath.

Aaron used a wheelchair to stay mobile, but his mother knew that even though he had beaten cancer and a faulty heart, his weight was going to kill him.

Last June, he decided to do something about his obesity.

"They'd been talking about gastric bypass," Aaron said, but another surgery wasn't welcome.

The Atkins Diet was his choice. The high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet helped him lose more than 75 pounds. His goal is to lose 190 more.

Now Aaron can walk around the grocery store with his mother, something that, 75 pounds ago, would make him extremely tired. But there is one place he still wanted to walk.

"Since I lost weight, I decided I am going to walk across that stage," he said.

At the Richwoods ceremony, Aaron took his place at the end of the fifth row of students. He still was in his wheelchair. The counselors began going through the list of more than 250 names.

When it was time for Aaron to get in line, he moved his wheelchair, with his legs, toward the stage. As the list drew closer to Aaron's name, he pushed himself to the edge of the stage and out of his wheelchair.

After a few labored steps, Aaron strolled across the stage. His family and friends clapped and cheered as he grabbed his diploma.

"Ten years ago, who knew if he was going to make it to graduation?" Theresa McKnight said.