Junk Food News and Research

RSS

Sugar intake and tooth decay: an interview with Professor Nigel Pitts

Globally, dental caries (the technical term for tooth decay) is the most prevalent non-communicable disease, affecting 80% of the global population. Healthy teeth support overall well-being, while dental caries can contribute to high levels of pain and anxiety, as well as leading to other medical problems.

18 Feb 2015

Alzheimer's drug may reduce addictive and impulsive behavior associated with binge eating

The Alzheimer's drug memantine may perform double-duty helping binge eaters control their compulsion.

14 Nov 2014

Researchers examine parental availability and kids’ eating habits

The way parents balance their work schedules may affect their adolescent children's eating habits, according to Penn State researchers. Those schedules may be even more important than the number of hours the parents spend at work, said Molly Martin, associate professor of sociology and demography.

20 Aug 2014

Study shows impact of nutrition rating systems on supermarket food sales

Can nutrition rating systems be used in supermarkets to encourage healthier spending habits? A new study by Cornell University researchers sought to answer that very question by tracking the purchasing records in a supermarket chain that uses the Guiding Stars System to rate the nutritional value of foods for sale.

20 Aug 2014

Introducing healthier snacks to vending machines can benefit students

Students do not mind buying healthier snacks from vending machines, according to research published in the International Journal of Food Safety, Nutrition and Public Health. The findings could have implications for campus health initiatives as well as vendor profits.

5 Aug 2014

Parents of obese kids often do not recognize serious health consequences of childhood weight gain

A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine-led study suggests that parents of obese children often do not recognize the potentially serious health consequences of childhood weight gain or the importance of daily physical activity in helping their child reach a healthy weight.

22 Jul 2014

Researchers explore shiatsu to help people with chronic pain fall asleep

There was a time, back in Nancy Cheyne's youth, when she combined the poise and grace of a ballerina with the daring and grit of a barrel racer. When she wasn't pursuing either of those pastimes, she bred sheepdogs, often spending hours on her feet grooming her furry friends at dog shows.

18 Jun 2014

Viewpoints: Michelle Obama and school lunches; more about the VA health system 'scandal'; context and caution on Medicare's physician data release

When we began our Let's Move! initiative four years ago, we set one simple but ambitious goal: to end the epidemic of childhood obesity in a generation so that kids born today will grow up healthy.

30 May 2014

Obesity epidemic strikes all groups of Americans

The nation's obesity epidemic is striking all groups of Americans, affecting those with more education and those with less education, as well as all ethnic groups, according to a new analysis that challenges prevailing assumptions about the reasons why the nation is getting heavier.

23 May 2014

Common explanations for rising obesity rates are simply wrong, say researchers

Everything you think you know about the causes of rising obesity in the U.S. might be wrong, researchers say in a new report.

23 May 2014

Highly stressed people who eat lot of high-fat are more prone to health risks

New research out of UC San Francisco is the first to demonstrate that highly stressed people who eat a lot of high-fat, high-sugar food are more prone to health risks than low-stress people who eat the same amount of unhealthy food.

30 Apr 2014

TV watching leads to excessive snacking, cardiovascular risk in middle school kids

Middle school kids who park themselves in front of the TV for two hours or more each day are more likely to consume junk food and have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, even compared to those who spend an equal amount of time on the computer or playing video games, according to research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.

29 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Obama's budget punts on entitlements; Medicaid debate rankles states

There is a lesson in this unexpected juxtaposition nevertheless: No nation can safely base its tax and spending plans on inflexible commitments. Political life, both domestic and international, is too unpredictable. Yet U.S. government spending is mostly on autopilot. The government is scheduled to lay out $3.8 trillion this fiscal year - 70 percent of which will go to mandatory-spending programs, chiefly Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and interest on the federal debt. Mr. Obama's plan for fiscal 2015 does not change this; it would increase overall spending slightly, paying for it with selected tax increases, while shifting money among priorities here and there. But these tweaks would take place within the same 30 percent of discretionary spending that the current budget contains (3/4).

6 Mar 2014

Healthy living practices is key to longer life and self preservation, say health experts

Health experts have termed healthy living practices as the keep to longer life and self preservation. Although a lot of people spend days looking for wealth, prosperity and self fulfillment, all this means nothing if they can't keep their bodies healthy.

5 Mar 2014

Viewpoints: Health law's forgotten taxes; 'lame documentation' by critics; hospital closing crisis

The Affordable Care Act contains at least two economically distinct taxes on labor market activity. Even the experts on the law have failed to recognize all of them (Casey B. Mulligan, 2/26).

27 Feb 2014

Study: Negative and positive moods may lead to preferences for different kinds of foods

Emotional eating is something we're all familiar with. Maybe you had had a rough week at work and all you want on Friday night is to plop down and watch a movie with a giant bowl of buttery popcorn.

13 Feb 2014

New study provides first contemporary findings on how risk of arrest varies across race, gender

Nearly half of black males and almost 40 percent of white males in the U.S. are arrested by age 23, which can hurt their ability to find work, go to school and participate fully in their communities.

6 Jan 2014

Poor oral hygiene, excess sugar consumption linked to heart disease

The association between poor oral health and increased risk of cardiovascular disease should make the reduction of sugars such as those contained in junk food, particularly fizzy drinks, an important health policy target, say experts writing in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

28 Nov 2013

CVD expert requests Mexican government to carry out mandatory screening for 18-year-olds

A cardiovascular disease expert is calling for mandatory screening of 18 year-old Mexicans to halt the CVD epidemic plaguing the nation. Cardiovascular risk factors will be a key theme at the Mexican Congress of Cardiology, held 23 to 27 November in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. The Congress is organised by the Mexican Society of Cardiology and features a collaborative programme with the European Society of Cardiology.

23 Nov 2013

Obese children could suffer step back in life expectancy by up to 10 years

In Mexico, overweight or obese children could suffer a step back in life expectancy by up to 10 years. According to the National Institute of Geography and Statistics (INEGI), the life expectancy in Mexico is of 73 years for women and 76 years for men.

21 Nov 2013