Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Obesity leads to worse prostate cancer in both black and whites equally

A new look at a large database of prostate cancer patients shows that obesity plays no favorites when it comes to increasing the risk of recurrence after surgery: Being way overweight is equally bad for blacks and whites, say researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

13 Aug 2009

Tissue scarring key to link between obesity and diabetes

The team, in collaboration with University Hospital Aintree, the University of Warwick and researchers in Sweden, found that people classified as obese and those with pre-diabetes have raised levels of a protein called SPARC, that can cause tissue scarring.

13 Aug 2009

New nutrition practice guidelines for patients with spinal cord injury

The American Dietetic Association has published new evidence-based nutrition practice guidelines for registered dietitians on nutrition care for patients with spinal cord injury.

12 Aug 2009

High-fat diets just as unhealthy in short term as long term

Short-term memory getting worse? Exercise getting harder? Examine your diet. New research published online in The FASEB Journal showed that in less than 10 days of eating a high-fat diet, rats had a decreased ability to exercise and experienced significant short-term memory loss. These results show an important link between what we eat, how we think, and how our bodies perform.

12 Aug 2009

Meal replacements in a medically supervised weight loss program aid weight loss

Meal replacements in a medically supervised weight loss program are successful in facilitating weight loss, according to a new study conducted at the University of Kentucky. The study appears in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

12 Aug 2009

Transcript: President Obama Town Hall meeting in New Hampshire

President Barack Obama continued his press for public support of health reform initiatives at what the White House called a "Health Insurance Reform Town Hall" meeting at Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

12 Aug 2009

High school PE teachers say health-related fitness is primary focus of their programs

With growing concerns among parents and policymakers about the rise in childhood obesity - heightened by the recent CDC report showing that obesity rose 37% between 1998 and 2006 - approximately two-thirds of middle and high school physical education teachers say that health-related fitness is the primary focus of their programs, according to a new survey conducted by the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) and Polar.

11 Aug 2009

Report: Some U.S. health care spending 'squandered'

CNN Money details a recent report from the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute that found $1.2 trillion, or more than half of the $2.2 trillion the United States spends on health care each year, is wasted: "What counts as waste?

11 Aug 2009

High-fat diet affects physical and memory abilities of rats after 9 days

Rats fed a high-fat diet show a stark reduction in their physical endurance and a decline in their cognitive ability after just nine days, a study by Oxford University researchers has shown.

11 Aug 2009

VIVUS reports Q2 2009 financials

VIVUS, Inc. (Nasdaq: VVUS), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of novel therapeutic products, today reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2009.

11 Aug 2009

The Obesity Society response to recent criticism of Surgeon General Nominee Regina Benjamin

The Obesity Society would like to make known its response to recent criticism regarding President Obama's nomination of Dr. Regina Benjamin, his candidate to serve as the next Surgeon General. Critics have suggested that because Dr. Benjamin is overweight, this sends the wrong message from the person who will be the public face of America's health initiatives.

11 Aug 2009

Discovery of link between over-indebtedness and obesity

Scientists at the University of Mainz have discovered a close correlation between over-indebtedness and obesity. According to the report published in the journal BMC Public Health, over-indebted Germans are more likely to be overweight or obese than the population in general.

11 Aug 2009

Restrictive feeding practices may not always be best solution for childhood obesity

Many clinicians and public health officials view parental involvement as an essential part of solving the current childhood obesity epidemic. However, it’s important for parents to use the right approach when trying to combat childhood obesity. Restrictive feeding practices, or forbidding certain foods, may not always be the best solution.

11 Aug 2009

Insulin and type 2 diabetes - fears are largely unfounded

People diagnosed with type 2 diabetes often resist taking insulin because they fear gaining weight, developing low blood sugar and seeing their quality of life decline.

11 Aug 2009

Canadian health care system may be getting 'bum rap'

Amid the debate about reforming heath care in the United States, it's tough to turn on your television these days without hearing a political ad condemning the Canadian health care system.

11 Aug 2009

Obesity No. 1 concern for children in the United States

Public concern about childhood obesity is on the rise and it continues to outrank all other health problems as the No. 1 concern for children in the United States.

10 Aug 2009

Amazonian tribe sheds light on causes of heart attacks and strokes in developed countries

Heart attacks and strokes — the leading causes of death in the United States and other developed countries — may have been rare for the vast majority of human history, suggests a study to be published in PLoS ONE on Tuesday, August 11.

10 Aug 2009

Discovery of gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes

Scientists at Stanford University have identified a gene that may play a role in the development of type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body's insulin-producing cells. Insulin, a hormone produced by cells of the pancreas, helps the body to absorb sugars found in food and to maintain blood sugar at appropriate levels.

10 Aug 2009

U.S. Food Stamp Program may help contribute to obesity among its users

Researchers found that the average user of food stamps had a Body Mass Index (BMI) 1.15 points higher than non-users. The link between food stamps and higher weight was almost entirely based on women users, who averaged 1.24 points higher BMI than those not in the program, the study found. For an average American woman, this would mean an increase in weight of 5.8 pounds.

10 Aug 2009

Low inhibitory control and restrictive feeding practices predict weight outcomes

Many clinicians and public health officials view parental involvement as an essential part of solving the current childhood obesity epidemic. However, it's important for parents to use the right approach when trying to combat childhood obesity. Restrictive feeding practices, or forbidding certain foods, may not always be the best solution. A child's inhibitory control, a behavior similar to self-control, may be more important than parental restrictions.

10 Aug 2009