obesity

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Congress Weighs Soda Tax
 Congress Weighs Soda Tax 

Congress Weighs Soda Tax

A few cents on every can could improve health

(Newser) - With health care reform expected to run the government around $1.2 trillion, Congress is looking for ways to pay for it. A new idea bouncing around Capitol Hill is a soda tax, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Soda is clearly one of the most harmful products in the...

French Do World's Most Sleeping, Eating: Survey

(Newser) - It seems the French excel at more than kissing—they spend more time eating and sleeping than citizens of other developed countries, a new report finds. The survey of 18 nations, released today, says the French average nearly 9 hours a day in bed and spend 2 full hours eating...

Why Our Brains Want What's Bad for Us
 Why Our Brains Want 
 What's Bad for Us 
INTERVIEW

Why Our Brains Want What's Bad for Us

(Newser) - Former Food and Drug Administration chief David Kessler thinks Americans are victims of “conditioned hyper-eating,” and he’s written a book about it: The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite. The Wall Street Journal poked him for some answers about how food can “...

Weight a Minute! Fatties Hurt Earth

Heavier people weigh on planet by excess eating, driving

(Newser) - People's carbon footprints grow as their weight increases, Reuters reports. By eating and tending to drive more than average, the world's billion overweight people each create an extra ton of carbon emissions annually,  a recent study has calculated. "When it comes to food consumption, moving about in a...

United Forces 'Seatmates of Size' to Buy Extra Ticket

(Newser) - United Airlines is coming down hard on its chubbier passengers with a new rule requiring those who can’t fit into one seat to buy another ticket, MSNBC reports. “Seatmates of size” are defined as the unlucky passengers who can’t buckle their seatbelts—even with an extension—or...

Body's Own 'Brown Fat' May Help Shed Weight

(Newser) - Scientists have found a potential new tool to help people lose weight—an unusual form of fat found inside the body. A new batch of studies shows that adults have stores of so-called brown fat, which actually burns calories and generates heat, the New York Times reports. Scientists have...

20% of 4-Year-Olds Already Obese: Study

(Newser) - A striking new study says almost 1 in 5 American 4-year-olds is obese, and the rate is alarmingly higher among American Indian children, with nearly a third of them obese. Researchers were surprised to see differences by race at so early an age. Obesity is more common in Hispanic and...

Coke Must Run Corrected Ads in Australia

(Newser) - Coke has to run a series of we-goofed ads in Australia after asserting in a recent campaign that the soft drink doesn’t rot teeth, make you fat, or contain much caffeine, the Australian reports. “The moment we saw the ad our eyebrows were raised and that turned to...

Student Obesity Jumps in Schools Near Fast-Food Joints

Rate 5% higher when kids can walk to outlet

(Newser) - Students are more likely to be obese when their schools are located within a tenth of a mile of fast-food restaurants, researchers found. In a study of more than a million California ninth-graders over 8 years, they found that the incidence of obesity at schools near the restaurants was 5....

Gene Discovery Lets Mice Gorge on Carbs, Stay Thin

Tweaked mice can munch carbs without getting fat

(Newser) - Yet another breakthrough for mice: Genetic researchers have found a way to allow them to eat all the carbs they want and not get fat, reports the Los Angeles Times. The scientists turned off a gene in the liver that plays a role in turning excess glucose into fatty acids....

Sugar Makes Comeback on Corn Syrup's Bad Rep

Nutritionists slam food makers' efforts to sell sugar as the healthy choice

(Newser) - Sugar, once a nutritional outcast, is back in fashion as American consumers start to turn away from high-fructose corn syrup, the New York Times reports. Manufacturers are rushing to replace the syrup—used in everything from soft drinks to spaghetti sauces—with sugar, and selling the switch as a move...

Study: Obesity as Bad as Smoking
Study: Obesity as Bad as Smoking 

Study: Obesity as Bad as Smoking

Being extremely overweight can trim a decade from lifespans

(Newser) - Obesity can take years off a life, and in some cases is as dangerous to health as smoking, reports USA Today. Researchers analyzing studies involving almost a million people found that obese adults died an average of three years earlier than people with a healthy body-mass index. Extremely obese adults—...

Mauritanian Girls Force-Fed for Marriage

'Torture' returns as ideal of large women makes a comeback

(Newser) - A military coup in Mauritania has erased years of advances in women's rights, bringing a resurgence of the practice of force-fattening young girls to prepare them for marriage, the Guardian reports. "A woman's size indicates the amount of space she occupies in her husband's heart," explains an activist,...

Low-Carb or Low-Fat? Doesn't Matter
Low-Carb
or Low-Fat? Doesn't Matter

Low-Carb or Low-Fat? Doesn't Matter

When it comes to diet, only calories count, says federal study

(Newser) - Low-fat, low-carb, high-protein—the kind of diet doesn't matter, scientists say. All that counts is cutting calories and sticking with it, says a federal study that followed hundreds of people for two years. Millions have turned to popular diets such as Atkins, Zone, and Ornish that tout the benefits of...

Joy of Cooking a Fatty Read
 Joy of Cooking a Fatty Read  

Joy of Cooking a Fatty Read

(Newser) - The venerable Joy of Cooking has kept up with America's expanding waistlines by porking out itself, reports the LA Times. A look at 18 classic recipes from seven editions found calories per serving swelled 63% in all but one recipe between 1936 and 2006. Example: beef stroganoff required 3 tablespoons...

Website Knows Why You're Fat
 Website Knows Why You're Fat 

Website Knows Why You're Fat

(Newser) - Subtle hints from the media about America’s growing obesity problem—shots of pudgy citizens, from the head down—just aren’t cutting it, Time reports. Enter “This is why you’re fat,” a website that displays in shocking detail the indulgent worst of American eating. An Oreo...

Don't Tell Me I'm Not Fat
 Don't Tell Me I'm Not Fat 
OPINION

Don't Tell Me I'm Not Fat

The 'f' word is just another adjective

(Newser) - People are constantly trying to tell Kate Harding she’s not fat, and it “drives me up a goddamn wall,” she writes in Salon. She is, by any reasonable definition, fat. It's simply another word that describes her. The problem is, everyone associates being fat with being lazy,...

Women Hard-Wired to Eat More
 Women Hard-Wired to Eat More 

Women Hard-Wired to Eat More

Brain scans reveal that men may be better able to resist food

(Newser) - Women may be hard-wired to overeat, according to a new study of why men diet more successfully than women. A little-understood mechanism in the brain appears to give women less self control when it comes to dieting. Researchers speculate that women have evolved to crave food for pregnancy and lactation....

Nutritionists Fear We'll Pack On 'Recession Pounds'

Obesity rate linked to poverty

(Newser) - Health professionals fear that Americans' lighter wallets will lead to bigger bellies. During tight times, consumers tend to pick cheap, high-calorie foods over healthy items such as lean meats and fresh produce, Reuters reports. "Obesity is a toxic result of a failing economic environment," said one nutritionist. When...

Obese Americans Now Outnumber Overweight

Over a third of adults classed as one step up the scale from overweight

(Newser) - Americans who are merely overweight are now outnumbered by the obese, Reuters reports. New government statistics reveal that 34% of adults are obese and almost 6% extremely so, whereas 32.7% are classed as overweight. The proportion of Americans who are overweight has stayed much the same since 1980—but...

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