Junk Food News and Research

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Just one junk food snack is enough to trigger signs of metabolic disease

We hate to ruin Thanksgiving, but a new report appearing in the Nov. 2015 issue of The FASEB Journal suggests that for some people, overindulgence at the dinner table or at snack time is enough to trigger signs of metabolic disease.

3 Nov 2015

Cost effectiveness, health benefits of implementing rebate program for low-income households

Providing low-income households that receive federal food assistance benefits with financial incentives to buy fruits and vegetables would encourage them to purchase and consume more healthy food, and slightly increase their longevity, a new study suggests.

6 Oct 2015

Watching TV linked to subsequent obesity for young adults

The more hours young adults spend watching television each day, the greater the likelihood that they'll have a higher body mass index and bigger waist circumference, a 15-year analysis by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health revealed.

1 Sep 2015

Helping fight summer obesity spike among children

In the fight against childhood obesity, summer is one of the most challenging times of the year.

22 Jul 2015

Diabetes and poor diet can trigger Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, warns BUAP researcher

For several years a researcher was dedicated to feed rodents in his laboratory with a high caloric content and glucose concentrations, which caused them diabetes, and by scientifically assessing what occurred in animals he observed that "diabetes and poor diet is a risk factor for developing Alzheimer's or Parkinson's," warns Samuel Treviño Mora from the Meritorious University of Puebla in Mexico.

28 May 2015

Research reveals two critical windows to turn around junk food addiction

University of Adelaide researchers have shown there are two critical windows during the developmental pathway to adulthood when exposure to junk food is most harmful, particularly for female offspring.

3 Apr 2015

Discovery can help stop emergence of age-related neurodegenerative diseases

As medicine has improved, increasing our ability to treat disease, so our longevity. The deterioration of the body with age, though, is a whole other matter.

23 Mar 2015

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