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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: obesity epidemic

obesity epidemic stories: 54 news summaries

1 - 20 of 54 Stories | 1 2 3 Next >>

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 Gut Bacteria Can Make You Fat 

Unhealthy diet encourages efficient micro-organisms

Nov 12, 09 2:33 PM CST
(Newser) - Eating junk food may do a double whammy on your waistline: In addition to the calorie influx, high-fat foods alter intestinal bacteria, actually making it easier to get fat. Obese mice in a new study had significantly more of a specific type of bacteria, Firmicutes, that easily convert food into... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • bacteria • junk food • intestines • weight gain • stomach • digestion • Firmicutes

 Fat America Won't Need Mittens 

Study finds overweight have naturally hot hands

Oct 14, 09 8:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - America’s ever-expanding waistlines may eventually render mittens obsolete, a new study suggests. Researchers for the NIH found that overweight people generate more heat than their lean peers, but don’t retain it any better. Instead, the heat exits from the hands and feet—so an overweight person’s extremities... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • temperature • glove • body temperature

 'Obese' 4-Month-Old 
 Denied Insurance 

Nursing infant outside norms for age; 'absurd,' cry parents

Oct 12, 09 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - A Colorado couple is baffled that their baby has been denied health insurance coverage because of a preexisting condition: obesity. “I could understand if we could control what he's eating,” says the boy’s father. “But he's 4 months old. He's breast-feeding. We can't put him on... More »

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obesity • childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • baby • infant • breast feeding • health care reform • health insurance industry • policy • underwriting • Alex Lange

interview

 Michelle Obama 
 Walks the Walk 
 on Fitness, Health  

First lady joins administration's push for more positive habits

Sep 28, 09 4:40 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration's push for better fitness and nutrition starts at the top, with the gym-rat president and garden-planting first lady setting the bar high for a nation of couch potatoes. It's all about moderation, Michelle Obama tells Prevention magazine. "My message to women: Do what makes you feel... More »

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Barack Obama • nutrition • Michelle Obama • obesity epidemic • fitness • french fries • Obama administration • physical fitness • President Obama • pie • hamburger • White House garden

pop culture

 Why We Love Fat TV 

Zaftig reality stars make us feel better about our bulging waistlines: Dumenco

Sep 27, 09 2:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - America's obsession with "fattertainment" has become a form of catharsis for an obese nation, Simon Dumenco writes for GQ. Shows like The Biggest Loser and Dance Your Ass Off were at least ostensibly about getting their contestants in shape. But on More to Love, “the participants... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • humor • the biggest loser

 Hula-Hooping 
 Comes Around 
 as Workout Craze 

Hooping burns as many calories as running

Sep 25, 09 2:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - The hula-hoop is seeing a revival as a fitness tool, with out-of-shape Americans finding twirling a plastic tube a more enjoyable way to burn calories than running or weight-lifting. Companies like HoopGirl and Hoopnotica have seen sales of weighted hula-hoops and enrollment in hoop fitness classes surge. "I finally... More »

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obesity epidemic • fitness • hula hoop • fitness level • physical fitness • physical activity

(AP) - Being fat could become the leading cause of cancer in women in Western countries in the coming years, say European researchers. Being overweight or obese accounts for up to 8% of cancers in Europe. That figure is poised to increase substantially as the obesity epidemic continues, and as major causes... More »

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cancer • obesity • Europe • women • obesity epidemic • fat • estrogen • hormones • scientific study • medical study

 Health Experts 
 Call for Soda Tax 

Critics say it won't reduce obesity

Sep 17, 09 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - Health experts say a tax on sugary sodas would take a big bite out of the obesity epidemic, ABC News reports. Taxing "sugar-sweetened beverages is really a double-win," said the co-author of a new paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine. "We can raise much-needed... More »

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obesity epidemic • public health • beverages • sugar • healthy eating • soda tax

 Time-Starved Working 
 Parents Eat Poorly: Study 

Low-income work schedules make healthy eating difficult

Sep 10, 09 2:59 PM CDT
(Newser) - The nature of low-income employment promotes unhealthy eating, Time reports. Over half of working parents in low-to-moderate income communities relied on dietary “coping” measures when their schedules couldn’t accommodate a full meal, according to a new Cornell University study. Those strategies included skipping breakfast or family meals,... More »

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obesity • parenting • health • obesity epidemic • public health • diet • unemployment • Cornell University • healthy eating • job • dinner

OPINION

 To Cut Health Costs,  
 Fix the Food Industry 

Obesity 'accounts for nearly a tenth' of health-care spending

Sep 10, 09 1:32 PM CDT
(Newser) - There’s an “elephant in the room” when it comes to health care reform: American health care costs a bundle in large part because we’re so fat, writes Michael Pollan for the New York Times. President Obama has touched on the issue, but the country hasn’t, and... More »

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obesity • food • health care costs • health insurance • diabetes • obesity epidemic • public health • health care reform • Michael Pollan • food industry

(Newser) - Warning: Just reading this article may clog your arteries. The man who brought the world such delicacies as "Texas Fried Cookie Dough" and "Fried Coke" has devised an even more over-the-top, uh, food: deep-fried butter. It’s making its debut at the State Fair of Texas as part... More »

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Texas • obesity epidemic • butter • cardiology • heart health • fried food • state fair

(Newser) - Americans eat more than twice as much added sugar as doctors recommend, and they should cut back to battle obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, researchers say. Added calories from processed sugar should total no more than 150 for men and 100 for women, the American Heart Association said today.... More »

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obesity • nutrition • hypertension • diabetes • obesity epidemic • heart disease • diet • sugar • American Heart Association • high blood pressure • women's issues • Sugar Association

Surgeon General Nominee Consults for Burger King

Benjamin served on fast-food company's nutritional advisory panel

Aug 13, 09 2:49 PM CDT
(Newser) - Burger King has paid Regina Benjamin, President Obama’s pick for surgeon general, $10,000 this year for serving on an advisory panel to the fast-food giant, the Washington Times reports. Administration reps say the Alabama physician used her position on Burger King’s nutritional advisory board to advocate for... More »

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nutrition • obesity epidemic • public health • fast food • Surgeon General • NYU • consulting • Burger King • Whopper • Regina Benjamin • Marion Nestle

(Newser) - Overweight kids eat more when they eat with their overweight friends, Newsweek reports. A new study tested a child's consumption of healthy snacks and junk food while in the company of a friend or stranger who was either fat or lean. Overweight kids eating with a chubby buddy ate more... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • children • junk food • obese • overweight • best friend

analysis

 Why Congress Won't 
 Face the Fat Problem 

Lawmakers fear giving US 'bad news'—especially while munching Doritos

Jul 30, 09 11:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Congress is “in denial” on one key health issue: obesity, writes Lisa Lerer for Politico. Obesity-related illnesses reportedly cost $147 billion, or 10% of medical spending, last year—and lawmakers say they’re focused on cost-cutting. But, experts say, “no one wants to tell Americans the bad news.... More »

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obesity • health care • Congress • health care costs • obesity epidemic • Senate Finance Committee • health care reform • Doritos • beef jerky • potato chips • personal responsibility

OPINION

Let's Do to Big Food
What We Did to Big Tobacco

'Big Food' and 'Big Tobacco' have a lot in common

Jul 24, 09 11:30 AM CDT
(Newser) - After decades of anti-smoking campaigns, Big Tobacco has been brought low and ashtrays have “gone the way of spittoons,” writes Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe. It’s high time we gave Big Food the same treatment. “Now that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, the lethal... More »

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obesity • food • obesity epidemic • cigarettes • fast food industry • food industry • Big Tobacco

GLOSSIES

 I Think, 
 Therefore 
 I Overeat 

New fleet of books tries to explain American obesity

Jul 18, 09 8:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - As the waistlines of Americans continue to expand, so is the genre of literature seeking to explain why, Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker, profiling no fewer than seven books on the subject—including one that endorses “fat power.” The Fat Studies Reader argues that the real... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • overweight • book • weight gain

 Mississippi Still Porkiest, 
 but Alabama Closing In 

Obesity up in 23 states: report

Jul 1, 09 12:17 PM CDT
(AP) - Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past... More »

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obesity • baby boomer • obesity epidemic • Medicare • fat • Alabama • Mississippi • Colorado

(Newser) - As couples grow more committed to each other, their waistlines often grow as well, Time reports. During their first few years of matrimony, couples are twice as likely to become obese as their dating peers, according to a new study being published next month. If they merely move in... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • marriage • dating • relationship • women's issues

(Newser) - Being a touch on the heavy side could help you live an extra few years, Japanese researchers say. People who were a little overweight at 40 lived 6 to 7 years longer than those who were very thin at that age, AFP reports. The very thin had a life expectancy... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • study • obesity epidemic • life expectancy • overweight • thin

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