Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Scientists have identified a gene associated with both childhood and adult obesity

According to research published today in Nature Genetics, the team from Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, London, and the CNRS Lille, France, have identified a gene (ENPP1), with strong links to childhood obesity in 3,147 in a sample of 4,886 French Caucasian individuals.

18 Jul 2005

Growing body of evidence indicating that childhood obesity is linked to a lack of exercise

A study published by the medical journal The Lancet dealt another blow to the "food police" and the trial lawyers seeking to blame food for the nation's expanding waistline.

15 Jul 2005

Video games can be useful in health care and research

One innovative application of video games in health care is their use in pain management as the degree of attention needed to play such a game can distract the player from the sensation of pain, writes Mark Griffiths, Professor of gambling studies at Nottingham Trent University.

14 Jul 2005

Consumer group wants health warnings on soft drinks

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a U.S. consumer group, are petitioning the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for warnings to be placed on soft drinks in order to alert consumers of the dangers of too much sugar.

14 Jul 2005

Decline in activity in the transition from childhood to adulthood could be responsible for increased weight gain in US girls

Obesity is either caused by an increase in energy intake, or reduced energy expenditure, or both. However, it is difficult to state with certainty the cause of obesity.

13 Jul 2005

A new study shows that the number of Americans who had weight-loss surgery quadrupled between 1998 and 2002

A new study shows that the number of Americans who had weight-loss surgery quadrupled between 1998 and 2002.

13 Jul 2005

Sirna Therapeutics granted new UK patents

Sirna Therapeutics has announced that the United Kingdom (UK) Patent Office has granted the Company two additional short interfering RNA (siRNA) target patents. The first patent covers any siRNA with one or more chemical modifications targeting Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).

12 Jul 2005

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women, a condition that can, ultimately, lead to a decrease in fitness level and the development of metabolic disorders.

12 Jul 2005

Giving oxygen may do more harm than good

Doctors and paramedics who give their patients oxygen - the most commonly administered "drug" in the world - may be doing more harm than good, a Queen's University researcher contends.

11 Jul 2005

Obese men may not process carbohydrates as efficiently as obese women

A new study published in the July issue of CHEST, the peer-reviewed journal of the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), showed that severely obese men were more carbohydrate intolerant and had less physical endurance than severely obese women, leading researchers to believe that gender plays a strong role in physical fitness and a person's ability to metabolize carbohydrates.

11 Jul 2005

True validity of prostate cancer tests questioned

According to the American cancer society, more than 232,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and about 30,000 will die of it.

11 Jul 2005

Link between weight loss and wealth gains was particularly strong among white women

Overweight Americans who lose a lot of weight also tend to build more wealth as they drop the pounds, according to new research.

6 Jul 2005

If you want that child to do well at school take the TV out of their bedroom

In what will appear to be blatantly obvious to many grandparents and many of the babyboom generation, when children have TV sets in their bedroom they don't do so well at school tests.

6 Jul 2005

Obese older women may be more prone to frailty

Obesity is associated with frailty in obese older women, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

6 Jul 2005

British men refuse to recognise they are fat

A new survey by Cancer Research UK, released to launch their Man Alive Campaign, is suggesting that 25% of British men are "in denial" about their waist measurement, and most men, when questioned were unaware that being overweight, obese, or inactive, increases the risk of cancer.

4 Jul 2005