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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: obesity epidemic

obesity epidemic stories: 56 news summaries

21 - 40 of 56 Stories | << Prev 1 2 3 Next >>

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(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 »

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obesity • study • obesity epidemic • life expectancy • overweight • thin

(AP) - 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... More »

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obesity • childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • children • obese

Study: Obesity as Bad as Smoking 

Being extremely overweight can trim a decade from lifespans

Mar 18, 09 2:09 AM CDT
(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—... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • smoking • public health • life expectancy • overweight

New Treatment Resurrects Weight-Loss Drug

Leptin, once written off, could make comeback in combination treatment

Jan 7, 09 2:56 PM CST
(Newser) - Researchers may have found a way to treat obesity with leptin—the appetite-suppressant once hailed, then dismissed, as a cure to America’s bulging belly. An area of brain cells seemingly stressed by obesity allowed the obese to build up resistance to leptin, Reuters reports, but by injecting drugs to... More »

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obesity • leptin • obesity epidemic • overweight • anti obesity drugs • medical study

Diet Trumps Exercise
in Obesity Fight

Physical activity seems not to be 'primary driver' of obesity: researchers

Jan 6, 09 5:17 PM CST
(Newser) - Diet is more important than exercise when it comes to reducing obesity, LiveScience reports. A new study compared African American women living in Chicago, who weighed an average of 184 pounds, with women in rural Nigeria, who weighed 127. Contrary to researchers' expectations, the Nigerians were not any more physically... More »

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obesity • nutrition • Chicago • obesity epidemic • diet • exercise

 Psst, Fat Boy: 
 Uncle Sam Wants You 

Military tells recruits with high BMI that they can sign up now, lose weight later

Jan 5, 09 12:25 PM CST
(Newser) - To reel in more recruits, the US Army is relaxing weight restrictions on would-be soldiers. A waiver program gives outsize volunteers a year after signing up to get in shape, measured by body-mass index, or be booted, the Christian Science Monitor reports. With the youthful population consuming more and exercising... More »

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obesity • obesity epidemic • Army recruiting • recruits • US Army • military recruits • body mass index

 Healthiest US City Gets Moving 

Burlington, Vt., tops list due to active citizens; Huntington, W.Va., is unhealthiest

Nov 17, 08 2:27 PM CST
(Newser) - Burlington, Vt., is America's healthiest city, with 92% of residents reporting that they're in good or great health. A number of factors account for the gap between Burlington and Huntington, W.Va., which brought up the rear in the CDC's healthy-city rankings, the AP reports. Burlington's residents are younger on... More »

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obesity • health • diabetes • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • obesity epidemic • diet • fast food • poverty • Burlington, Vermont • economy • Huntington West Virginia • Lake Champlain • health food

 W.Va. Town 
 Is Nation's 
 Tubbiest 

Economic troubles, lifestyle traditions distract from rampant obesity

Nov 16, 08 2:34 PM CST
(Newser) - Dietary tradition helps make Huntington, W.Va., the nation's most obese and unhealthy city, the AP reports. The five-county area, where poverty rates are high, boasts many pizza and hot dog joints—but Huntington's mayor will not follow the lead of New York City and ban trans fats in restaurants.... More »

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obesity • health • diabetes • obesity epidemic • heart disease • diet • fast food • West Virginia

(Newser) - New research takes an accepted truth about obese people and flips it upside down: They may, in fact, get less pleasure out of eating than people of normal weight, the LA Times reports. Researchers found that people who have weaker reward circuitry in the brain tend to overeat. Thus, while... More »

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obesity • food • obesity epidemic • dopamine • overeating • high calorie diet

(Newser) - The world's biggest bicycle maker is having its best year ever, thanks to high oil prices and concerns about both global warming and obesity, the Economist reports. Taiwan-based Giant sells 7% of the world's bikes—460,000 last month—and can't keep up with demand in some markets. New York... More »

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obesity epidemic • Taiwan • business • gas prices • bicycles

UK Weighs Taking Fat Kids From Parents

Dangerously chubby children may end up in social service system

Aug 16, 08 5:47 AM CDT
(Newser) - Local government leaders in Britain warn that they may need to take drastic action to protect the health of dangerously overweight children—including taking them away from their parents, the Independent reports. They predict that a million British children will be clinically obese within four years, and that the social... More »

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obesity • parenting • childhood obesity • United Kingdom • obesity epidemic • children • child neglect • Britain

Every American Will Be Fat by 2048: Study

And 86% by 2030.
That means you.
And you. And you.

Aug 3, 08 2:04 PM CDT
(Newser) - The US will face a health disaster by 2030 when 86% of Americans will be overweight, with every single resident tipping the scales by 2048, according to a new study. Skyrocketing metabolic diseases will cost some $950 billion more annually, accounting for $1 in every $6 spent on health care,... More »

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obesity • health • obesity epidemic • overweight

'Obesity Gene' Linked
to Runaway Appetite

Children in study had harder time feeling full

Jul 28, 08 9:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - Children who carry a version of a gene linked to obesity have a more difficult time telling when they're full, researchers have found. Earlier studies discovered that adults with two copies of the higher obesity risk version of the FTO gene were nearly 7 pounds heavier than a control group.... More »

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obesity • childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • genes

 Childhood
 Obesity Rate
 Levels Off 

Researchers report
first 'glimmer of hope'
in decades

May 27, 08 6:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - The rate of childhood obesity appears to have peaked, providing the first "glimmer of hope" on the problem in decades, federal researchers say. About 15% of kids ages 2 to 19 are obese, a slight decrease from the percentage in 1999, the Washington Post reports. It's the first time... More »

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childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • children's health care

Study Finds More Pregnant US Diabetics

Weight gain triggers type-2 'epidemic,' raises health issues

Apr 28, 08 1:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Diabetes among pregnant women has skyrocketed, a study finds, raising concerns for both mothers and children. In 1999-2005, the number of diabetic women giving birth more than doubled, the study found, and the number of diabetic teenage pregnancies rose five-fold. “These are high-risk pregnancies,” one doctor told USA ... More »

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obesity • pregnancy • diabetes • obesity epidemic • type 2 diabetes • teen pregnancy

 Mexico May Overtake 
 US as Fattest Country 

Obesity expands south of the border

Mar 24, 08 11:23 AM CDT
(Newser) - Mexico is the second-fattest nation after the US, and it could top the list within 10 years if waistlines continue to expand at the current rate. Nearly three-quarters of Mexican women and two-thirds of men are overweight, and diabetes is now the main cause of death. Health officials are launching... More »

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obesity • health • Mexico • diabetes • obesity epidemic • Pepsi • junk food • soft drinks

Britain to Pay Citizens to
Lose Flab

Experts say if trends continue, most Brits will be obese by 2050

Jan 24, 08 10:31 AM CST
(Newser) - With British waistlines bulging and no end in sight for the obesity crisis, the government has come up with a plan: offer cash incentives to workers who slim down. Employers will host competitions, with prizes going to those who shed the most, the Daily Telegraph reports. The Well@Work plan includes... More »

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obesity • childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • Britain • incentive plans • Well@Work

Why Am I Fat? One Word for You: Plastics

Chemicals in common items may play role in rising obesity rates

Jan 14, 08 1:30 PM CST
(Newser) - Early exposure to chemicals found in common plastics could predispose a person to obesity, scientists suggest. Studies have shown that animals fed the chemicals, called endocrine disrupters, are fatter later in life than those who were not, the Boston Globe reports. Diet, exercise, and genetics are key factors, but "... More »

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obesity • health • genetics • obesity epidemic • chemicals and obesity • baby bottle • plastic • fat

Parents Blind to Their Fat Kids

Only 13% recognize when their child is obese

Dec 25, 07 3:20 PM CST
(Newser) - Nearly half the parents of severely overweight children ages 6 to 11 said their child was “about the right weight,” and only 13% recognized that their child had a severe problem, says a University of Michigan study. The results indicate parents think children will “grow out” of... More »

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obesity • health • childhood obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • children • obese • overweight • health study

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