Junk Food News and Research

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Snack-based diet can increase risk of obesity

A high-fat diet can be bad for your health. However, a snack-based "cafeteria"-style diet of highly palatable, energy-dense foods is even worse, according to new research.

17 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Confronting 'giant' Medicare choices; first lady's anti-obesity campaign; Calif. insurance rules

Sometimes life presents you with a basic philosophical choice. Americans are going to have to confront a giant one over the next several years. It starts in the wonky world of Medicare. ... Democrats have much greater faith in centralized expertise. ... [Republicans] have much greater faith in the decentralized discovery process of the market.

8 Jun 2011

Experts urge McDonald’s to stop marketing junk food to kids

McDonald’s has incurred the wrath of over 550 health professionals and organizations who have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.

17 May 2011

Increased automobile usage linked with surging levels of obesity

Junk food, video games and a lack of exercise all have received their fair share of blame for the spiraling epidemic of obesity in the U.S. But according to a University of Illinois researcher, public health enemy No. 1 for our supersized nation may very well be the one staple of modern life most Americans can't seem to live without one (or more) of: the automobile.

12 May 2011

Junk food ads to be banned to slow childhood obesity rates

Health experts and anti-obesity groups have called for a total ban on junk-food advertising during peak children's viewing times. This comes in the wake of the release of the research finding of the Obesity Policy Coalition that conducted a telephone survey of 1,521 adults says that 84 per cent of consumers believe children should be protected from unhealthy food advertising.

8 May 2011

Legislative approaches needed to address obesity epidemic in Canada

With the increase in numbers of overweight children and young adults, Canada and other developed countries are facing an obesity epidemic and legislative approaches are required to address this issue, states an article in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).

28 Apr 2011

New study: Warning labels on junk food more effective than 'fat' tax

Warning labels on junk food would be more effective than a "fat" tax for deterring overweight people from making unhealthy purchases, a new University of Alberta study has found.

8 Apr 2011

Ontario's doctors praise Consumer Protection Amendment Act

Ontario's doctors would like to congratulate NDP MPP Rosario Marchese, Trinity-Spadina, on the introduction of Consumer Protection Amendment Act, which would limit commercial advertising for unhealthy food or drink directed at children under the age or 13.

1 Apr 2011

Target parents to tackle childhood obesity: Study

A new study has shown that educating parents on healthy eating could be more effective at reducing childhood obesity than physical activity. The study came from researchers from the universities of Newcastle and Wollongong who found that targeting parents rather than children is the key to combating childhood obesity. The study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).

30 Mar 2011

Decline of obesity in pre-school kids: Study

According to a new study from the Deakin University, obesity in Victorian pre-school children has dropped. Results have shown that rates of obese and overweight toddlers fell by more than 3 per cent for three-and-a-half year olds, down from 18.5 per cent to 15.4 per cent. For two-year-olds rates have dropped 1 per cent to 12.4 per cent.

27 Mar 2011

High sugar, high fat diets during pregnancy may cause infants to become junk food junkies

A new research report published online in The FASEB Journal suggests that pregnant mothers who eat high sugar and high fat diets have babies who are likely to become junk food junkies themselves. According to the report, which used rats, this happens because the high fat and high sugar diet leads to changes in the fetal brain's reward pathway, altering food preferences.

24 Mar 2011

CPCS to host event on March 21 to explore feeding children in new parenting culture

Members of the University of Kent's Centre for Parenting Culture Studies will host an event on Monday 21 March to explore 'Feeding children in the new parenting culture'.

8 Mar 2011

Australian teenagers could see declines in life expectancy and more heart problems: Study

Experts warn that the present generation of Australian teenagers could be the first with a decline in life expectancy and an increase in heart disease. This comes from the first comprehensive national study of young Australians since 1985 that shows that a quarter are overweight or obese.

8 Feb 2011

NIMH awards two BUSM members with BRAINS grant for innovative research on mental disorders

Two Boston University School of Medicine faculty members, Pietro Cottone, PhD, an assistant professor of pharmacology and psychiatry and Michael Silverstein, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics, were each awarded the prestigious National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Awards for Innovative New Scientisits grant with ten other investigators from around the country.

7 Feb 2011

Eliminating sugary drinks from diet can reduce tooth decay in American Indian children

A study conducted in four American Indian communities in the Pacific Northwest presents an effective strategy to convince mothers to switch young children from drinking sweetened soda to water and shows that eliminating these sugary drinks from the diets of the youngest members of the tribe significantly decreased tooth decay.

24 Jan 2011

Writing habit 'is one of the top predictors of weight loss success'

The first step to reaching your ideal weight in the New Year may be as simple as writing it down.

21 Dec 2010

Monday's opinions: Justice Anthony Kennedy may hold key to health care outlook; Minn.'s Medicaid plans; Improving food choices

Unless someone can drop into Anthony Kennedy's dreamspace and, "Inception"-style, either figure out what he thinks of the individual mandate or simply tell him what to think of the individual mandate, it's not worth spending much time speculating on the ultimate legal fate of the provision. The case will eventually make its way to the Supreme Court, and when it does, Kennedy will decide which side has the majority, and until that happens, the various legal decisions are little different from op-ed columns (Ezra Klein, 12/18).

20 Dec 2010

Moderate consumption of 'energy drinks' can improve people's response time

Moderate consumption of so-called energy drinks can improve people's response time on a lab test measuring behavioral control, but those benefits disappear as people drink more of the beverage, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

3 Dec 2010

Tips to encourage children to eat vegetables, fruits

In a new study, children who ate the most vegetables and fruits had significantly healthier arteries as adults than children who ate the fewest. Here are 10 tips to encourage your children to eat more vegetables and fruits.

30 Nov 2010

Obese teens become obese adults

A new report shows that obese adolescent Americans tend to carry their extra weight into adulthood. The nationally representative study of American youth showed that one in 12 teenagers became severely obese as they entered adulthood with some 100 pounds above their ideal weight. And nearly half the girls and more than a third of the boys who are obese as teenagers grew up to be obese adults with a high risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and certain types of cancers.

10 Nov 2010