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Waist-to-height ratio reliably detects chronic liver disease risk in children

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is now the most common chronic liver disease in children and adolescents, closely mirroring the global rise in childhood obesity.

22 Sep 2026

Brain Health WA resource aims to reduce dementia risk

With Western Australia projected to record the nation's fastest growth in dementia cases, a new Curtin University-led resource aims to help people protect their brain health and reduce their risk.

22 Sep 2026

Children who ate healthier plant foods had slightly lower blood pressure later

Researchers followed 3,990 Dutch children for an average of 1.6 years and found that higher healthful plant-based diet scores were associated with modestly lower blood pressure and total cholesterol. Children with higher unhealthful plant-based diet scores had lower estimated food costs and distinct metabolite profiles, while healthful scores showed no clear cost association.

22 Sep 2026

Several cups of coffee a day showed no clear diabetes link over 10 years

Researchers followed 1,158 adults in Italy for 10 years, comparing those who drank at least two to three cups of coffee daily with those who drank none. They found no statistically significant difference in new cases of impaired fasting glucose or type 2 diabetes, but the small non-consumer group limits how confidently the study can rule out a difference in risk.

21 Sep 2026

Stalled gut microbiome development triples risk for type 1 diabetes in children

Type 1 diabetes affects more than 9 million people worldwide, including 1.8 million children and adolescents.

21 Sep 2026

Study identifies brain mechanism behind pregnancy-related food cravings

Why do food cravings become so strong during pregnancy? Researchers at LSU's Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in collaboration with colleagues, have identified a brain mechanism that may help explain how pregnancy changes the motivation to seek certain highly palatable foods.

18 Sep 2026

Some food manufacturers could capture major nutrition and environmental gains by changing surprisingly few products

Researchers assessed the nutritional quality and environmental impacts of product portfolios from 44 major UK food and beverage manufacturers, covering 51.5% of the retail market. Their modelling showed that targeted changes to existing product lines could capture a substantial share of the potential nutrition and environmental gains for some manufacturers, although broader food-system changes would still be required to meet national and societal targets.

18 Sep 2026

New funding boosts data archive that tracks healthy aging environments

With an $11 million award from the National Institute on Aging, University of Michigan researchers will build and share national data that track how neighborhood conditions change over time, helping scientists study how local environments affect older adults' health.

17 Sep 2026

Experts call for eating-disorder screening before GLP-1 treatment

An international multidisciplinary panel developed consensus-based recommendations for GLP-1 receptor agonist use in people with eating disorders, calling for screening, individualized monitoring, patient education, and further research into safety and potential therapeutic effects. The experts cautioned that current evidence remains limited and inconsistent, particularly outside binge eating disorder, and identified major gaps in understanding the risk of new or recurrent eating disorders during treatment.

16 Sep 2026

Shatavari may affect more than hormones, and the gut could help explain why

A review in Nutrients examined how bioactive compounds in Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) may influence cognitive health through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, estrogen-related signaling, neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter regulation. Evidence from computational, cellular, animal, and limited human studies suggests several plausible biological pathways, but key questions remain about bioavailability, brain exposure, dosing, and clinical efficacy.

16 Sep 2026

Fermented dairy was linked to lower mortality, but the pattern shifted at higher intakes

Analysis of 37,366 US adults found that fermented dairy consumption was associated with lower all-cause and cardiovascular mortality, with consumers showing adjusted hazards 18% and 20% lower, respectively, than non-consumers. Dose-response analyses indicated that the inverse association was concentrated at intakes below about 150 grams per day, while the observational study could not establish causality.

16 Sep 2026

Campus dining halls fail to provide appealing protein choices for college students

A new University of Maine study has identified what researchers describe as a campus protein challenge. Although students generally consumed adequate amounts of protein, many reported that campus dining halls failed to provide protein choices they considered flavorful, appealing or prepared in ways they viewed as healthful.

16 Sep 2026

New ADA grant funds AI mobile tool to prevent teen diabetes

It's well-known that obesity and the cardiometabolic diseases that it can lead to continues to be a major concern among the nation's teens, affecting more than 1 in 5.

16 Sep 2026

Study: Multiple dietary patterns linked to slower biological aging

A study by DZNE finds that healthy eating is associated with slower biological aging-and that there is more than one way to eat healthily.

16 Sep 2026

Could a daily glass of orange juice support heart health? Study finds citrus compounds influence genes linked to blood vessel function

Naturally occurring compounds in orange juice regulated genes involved in the control of cardiovascular and blood vessel function, according to a new clinical trial.

16 Sep 2026

Finnish adults eat too little of some foods and too much of others, study finds

Analysis of dietary data from 1,655 Finnish adults found that usual food intake often differed substantially from the quantitative targets later set by the Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2023. Plant-based foods were generally underconsumed, while red and processed meat and dairy intake frequently exceeded study targets, with adherence varying by sex, education, physical activity, age, and energy intake.

16 Sep 2026

Why frailty and heart health may be more closely connected than we thought

A narrative review proposes cardiovascular frailty as a distinct phenotype that brings together blood pressure regulation, vascular aging, oxi-inflammaging, and clinical frailty deficits. The authors argue that a validated cardiovascular frailty index could support earlier detection and personalized care, although longitudinal studies are needed before the concept can be used clinically.

15 Sep 2026

What children eat may leave a measurable signature in their blood

Researchers analyzed 236 blood metabolites in 421 children to examine metabolic signatures associated with three dietary patterns characterized by core foods, animal protein sources, or poor-quality fats and sugars. The results identified distinct, biologically plausible metabolite patterns across dietary exposures, although most individual associations did not survive multiple-testing correction and require validation in independent cohorts.

15 Sep 2026

Cardiovascular disease surpasses cancer as top killer of Hispanic populations in the U.S.

Cardiovascular disease has surpassed cancer as the leading cause of death among Hispanic adults in the U.S., driven by rising rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and other risk factors that often begin earlier in life for Hispanic people.

15 Sep 2026

Ultra-processed foods enter babies’ diets early. What comes with them?

In a Denver cohort of 114 healthy infants, higher ultra-processed food intake during complementary feeding was associated with greater added sugar and sodium intake at 9 and 12 months. UPF intake showed no consistent relationship with growth through 12 months, while dietary diversity was not reduced among infants consuming more UPFs.

14 Sep 2026