Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

A child's risk of becoming obese may begin before birth and continue throughout infancy

A child's risk of becoming obese may begin before birth and continue throughout infancy and early childhood - critical periods for cellular growth and development, according to research results discussed during a national conference and outlined in the October supplement to Pediatrics.

4 Oct 2004

New national resource for medical researchers to be known as the Center on Proteolytic Pathways

The National Institutes of Health (“NIH”) has selected The Burnham Institute to develop a national resource for medical researchers to be known as the “Center on Proteolytic Pathways”.

4 Oct 2004

Genetic abnormalities have a major impact on obesity

Abnormalities in the gene that regulates body weight have a "major" impact on the tendency to obesity, bumping up the body mass index (BMI) score, reveals research in the Journal of Medical Genetics.

29 Sep 2004

Parents' injury fears stop kids playing sports

More than a quarter of parents of primary school-aged children stop or discourage their children playing sports because of injury fears, new research has found.

29 Sep 2004

Charles Darwin University is responding to claims that Australians are now among the fattest people on earth

Australia's Charles Darwin University is responding to claims that Australians are now among the fattest people on earth with a health program targeting childhood obesity.

29 Sep 2004

Marijuana use may increase the risk of ectopic (tubal) pregnancies

It is not known whether drugs that block or, in the case of marijuana, over-stimulate the CB1 receptor can cause ectopic pregnancy in humans. However, "our results raise caution for women of reproductive ages regarding the chronic use of marijuana for recreation or pain alleviation," the researchers concluded.

27 Sep 2004

Low paid civil servants were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes

London civil servants at the lower end of the employment scale and with lower social position were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those at higher employment levels, according to an article in the September 27 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

26 Sep 2004

Females are predisposed to succumb to the temptation to overeat

It is well known that obesity has reached epidemic proportions. As waistbands expand, so do the number of health gurus heralding the benefits of portion control and exercise to keep obesity at bay.

23 Sep 2004

Research to halt the progress of chronic liver disease

A University of Queensland researcher is working to halt the progress of chronic liver disease, which affects a quarter of million Australians.

22 Sep 2004

Abused or neglected children are more likely to develop heart disease as adults

The study is the first to suggest that ischemic heart disease in adulthood may be a possible long-term consequence of childhood trauma.

22 Sep 2004

Walking helps elderly men stave off dementia and Alzheimer's disease

Elderly men who are sedentary or walk less than a quarter of a mile per day are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimer's disease compared to men who walk more than two miles per day, according to a study of over 2,200 Japanese-American men in Hawaii.

21 Sep 2004

Obesity makes surgery more difficult and risky

Critically injured obese trauma patients have higher rates of death than nonobese trauma patients, according to an article in the September issue of The Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

21 Sep 2004

Salt Association hits back at “Sid the Slug” campaign

The Salt Manufacturers Association has lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over the use of a cartoon slug to front a new £4 million salt restriction campaign.

20 Sep 2004

Overweight children up to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke before age of 65

Overweight children are three to five times more likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke before they reach the age of 65 warns the World Heart Federation, an NGO dedicated to the prevention of heart disease and stroke, on World Heart Day, Sunday 26th September 2004.

20 Sep 2004

Link between elevated blood sugar levels in diabetics and increased risk of life-threatening forms of cardiovascular disease

A Johns Hopkins study suggests that people with type I and type II diabetes would be well advised to monitor their blood sugar levels more than the usual twice daily to make sure that levels are not elevated over 150 milligrams per deciliter for sustained periods.

20 Sep 2004

Project to find out how European governments could fight obesity

In response to the alarming rise in obesity across the developed world, a University of Sussex food policy researcher is leading a project to find out how European governments could fight the flab.

20 Sep 2004

Research findings may help stave off full-blown diabetes

A new study by researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center sheds light on the key mechanisms by which new pancreatic beta cells normally form in response to insulin resistance. These findings may some day help researchers devise ways of staving off full-blown diabetes.

18 Sep 2004