Childhood Obesity News and Research

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Gene sequence that can make half of us fatter is discovered

A gene sequence linked to an expanding waist line, weight gain and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes has been discovered as part of a study published today in the journal Nature Genetics.

6 May 2008

Strange barriers to physical activity may exist at child-care centers

At a time when over half of US children (aged 3-6) are in child care centers, and growing concern over childhood obesity has led physicians to focus on whether children are getting enough physical activity, a new study of outdoor physical activity at child care centers, conducted by researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, has identified some surprising reasons why the kids may be staying inside.

5 May 2008

Report shows improvement in U.S. children's wellbeing

The overall wellbeing of U.S. children has increased by nearly 10% from 1994 to 2006 despite increased rates of childhood obesity and low-birthweight babies, according to a study released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.

24 Apr 2008

Scots get serious about childhood obesity

Childhood obesity in Scotland has been a growing problem in recent years and research last year revealed that 21 per cent of all Primary 1 children were overweight: 8.8 per cent were classed as obese and 4.3 per cent as severely obese and the figures were were higher still in deprived areas.

15 Apr 2008

Infant feeding and the development of obesity: what does the science tell us?

On Wednesday, April 9, 2008, a symposium at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting at Experimental Biology was held in which noted scientists discussed new infant feeding studies that used methodology such as randomized clinical trials (involving breastfeeding promotion) as well as sibling pairs analysis.

11 Apr 2008

School-based intervention help curb weight gain in children

Small changes in schools lead to big results when it comes to preventing childhood obesity, according to a study published in the April issue of Pediatrics.

7 Apr 2008

Pregnant teens don't get no smoking message

According to a new study pregnant teenagers don't get the no smoking message and almost half of all Australian teenage prospective mothers continue to smoke during pregnancy.

7 Apr 2008

Answer to troublesome question of why some genetic assoc. studies have failed replication attempts

A team of researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), and elsewhere have described a possible reason why some studies have been unable to replicate associations between genes and traits -- namely that the strength of a gene/trait association might vary with age and that current study designs typically fail to take that into account.

4 Apr 2008

Why don't kids walk to school anymore?

Maybe when we were their age, we walked five miles to school, rain or shine. So why don't most children today walk or bike to school?

28 Mar 2008

Call to restrict the marketing of junk food to children

Louise Baur, Professor of the Discipline of Paediatrics & Child Health at the University of Sydney and Consultant Paediatrician at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, says that parents are struggling to be heard over the bombardment of marketing aimed at their children.

17 Mar 2008

Genomics researchers fine-tune marker for common obesity gene

Genomics researchers, seeking to replicate another group's discovery of an important gene associated with obesity, have further refined the signal to a particular variant in DNA that may be more helpful in identifying this gene's role in obesity in various human populations worldwide.

13 Mar 2008

Few docs to care for kids with diabetes

The rate of childhood obesity in the United States has more than doubled in the past 20 years, bringing with it more children at risk for developing type 1 and even type 2 diabetes.

10 Mar 2008

Childhood obesity leads to higher rate of problems during surgery

Add this to the growing list of health challenges faced by obese children: A new study from the University of Michigan Health System finds that obese children are much more likely than normal-weight children to have problems with airway obstruction and other breathing-related functions during surgery.

25 Feb 2008

Reducing kids' salt intake may lower soft drink consumption

Children who eat less salt drink fewer sugar-sweetened soft drinks and may significantly lower their risks for obesity, elevated blood pressure and later-in-life heart attack and stroke, researchers reported in the print and online issue of Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association.

21 Feb 2008

Turn off the TV to beat childhood obesity!

The National Heart Foundation of Australia has launched a new campaign aimed at tackling overweight and obesity in children.

19 Feb 2008

Obese teens need more help and U.S. expert says surgical solutions should not be dismissed

A recent report which has found Victorian hospitals are having to treat hundreds of obese children each year, has highlighted the seriousness of the obesity epidemic and how ill equipped and under-resourced services treating childhood obesity are.

18 Feb 2008

Penn childhood obesity researchers panelists at AAAS event

Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, MPH, Professor of Epidemiology and Associate Dean for Health Promotion and Health Prevention, at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and Virginia A. Stallings, MD, PhD, the Jean A. Cortner Endowed Chair in Pediatric Gastroenterology at Penn and Professor of Pediatrics at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, will be part of a panel at a special public session, Understanding Obesity and Childhood at the 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Boston.

12 Feb 2008