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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: junk food

junk food stories: 21 news summaries

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 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 »

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

OPINION

 'Fat Tax' Is Really 
 a Poor Tax 


Sep 22, 09 1:17 PM CDT
(Newser) - With Congress contemplating a trillion dollar health care bill, the idea of the “fat tax” has come back into vogue as a way to slim down Americans. Supporters say junk food is every bit the addictive drug that cigarettes are, designed by food scientists to be “hyperpalatable,”... More »

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junk food • healthy eating • food science • soda tax • fat tax

'Functional Foods' Worry Health Experts

'Nutritious' junk food grabs growing
US market share

Aug 21, 09 8:15 PM CDT
(Newser) - Once dubbed junk, certain snacks are enjoying a second life as so-called “functional foods”—candy bars or sugary cereals spruced up with added nutrients, the AP reports. Despite warnings by health experts, functional foods now account for $27 billion in sales, or 5% of the US food market,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • nutrition • VitaminWater • soda • junk food • health food • functional foods

(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 »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • obesity epidemic • fat • children • junk food • obese • overweight • best friend

 Teen Couch 
 Potatoes Eat 
 Poorly Later: 
 Docs 

TV ads may play a role in the trend

Feb 11, 09 3:07 PM CST
(Newser) - Teenage couch potatoes grow into adults who consume more junk food than their peers, Reuters reports. Kids who reported watching 5 or more hours of TV daily later ate more fast food and fewer fruits and veggies than teens who tuned in for 2 hours or less. The lead researcher... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • diet • junk food • snack foods • high school students • teenager

 Naked Chef 
 on Obesity: 
 No One Knows 
 How to Cook 




Jamie Oliver, grilled on epidemic, rips lack of cooking skills

Nov 6, 08 4:50 AM CST
(Newser) - Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, widely known as the "Naked Chef" after his hit TV series, blames the obesity crisis on schools for failing to teach students how to cook. Oliver told a British government panel exploring the growing crisis that the inability to cook has driven families to turn... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • education • diet • fast food • junk food • cooking class • Jamie Oliver • School Food Trust • school lunches

 Anti-Bubba:
 Is Obama's Bod
 Un-American?

Maybe the typical American will have trouble identifying with a 'beanpole'

Aug 1, 08 4:42 PM CDT
(Newser) - No matter how long the 2008 campaign drags on, we'll never see Barack Obama as we did Bill Clinton in 1992: drenched in sweat and jogging into a McDonald's. Obama's fit—skinny, even—and a bit of a gym rat. The Wall Street Journal takes a look at the notion... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • Barack Obama • John McCain • health • McDonald's • Bill Clinton • junk food • Dunkin' Donuts • ice cream • sweet tooth

Opinion

We Live in a Time of Bacon—
Resistance Is Futile

Spray-on variety a bit much, but writer thinks meat can't ever get too full of itself

Jul 10, 08 8:33 PM CDT
(Newser) - Everywhere Peter Meehan looks, he sees bacon. Fatty, salty, bombastic, and blissfully delicious bacon. The Salon writer tries to figure out "where we are in the bacon bonanza"—he cites bacon spray, scented candles, trendy recipes, even a bacon-of-the-month club—and reaches out to experts "to see... More »

MORE ABOUT:
junk food • fast food industry • salt • cocktails • food industry • pork • bacon

Pringles Aren't Potato Chips, British Court Rules 

Maker of the chip—sorry, snack—wins case, avoids tax

Jul 4, 08 2:43 PM CDT
(Newser) - It’s official: Pringles are legally no longer considered potato chips in England—and manufacturer Procter & Gamble couldn’t be happier, Reuters reports. In an effort to avoid the UK's tax on chips, P&G went to court to argue the tube-dwelling snacks were actually more like cakes or... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Kingdom • court • junk food • snack foods • Pringles • Procter & Gamble

 We Are What Our Moms Ate 

Health problems may stem from mom's junk food diet, study says

Jul 1, 08 9:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - Long-term health problems such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease may begin in the womb with mothers who eat junk food during pregnancy, the Guardian reports. A new study suggests expectant mothers who eat unhealthy diets not only risk the health of their newborns, but may set the child up... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • pregnancy • diabetes • diet • mothers • baby • junk food • breast feeding • Stephanie Bayol • fetal health

 For Inventor, RIP:
 Rest in Pringles Can  

Children honor food scientist's wishes to be buried in chip container he developed

Jun 2, 08 3:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - The man who invented the Pringles can is taking the chips' "Once you pop, you can't stop" slogan to eternity, the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Dr. Fredric J. Baur patented the iconic container in 1970 while working for Procter & Gamble, and had long wished to be buried in one;... More »

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cremation • Proctor • junk food • snack foods • burial • Pringles • Fredric J. Baur

Indiana Jones
& Raiders of
the Fat Fridge

Pediatrician slams
Indy film's
junk food tie-ins

May 21, 08 5:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - Indiana Jones has a new enemy. Pediatrician Rahul Parikh is irritated about Indy's marketing tie-ins to high-calorie foods like Burger King's "Indy Double Whopper" and Snicker's "Adventure Bar." Parikh has been enjoying the films of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for decades, but he's also watching kids... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • Indiana Jones • Steven Spielberg • childhood obesity • marketing • George Lucas • junk food

 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 »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • health • Mexico • diabetes • obesity epidemic • Pepsi • junk food • soft drinks

UK Teachers Blame Parents for Bratty Kids

Pupils poor at behaving, good at manipulating adults

Mar 22, 08 3:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - UK teachers complain that classrooms are getting tougher to control because kids throw more tantrums—and parents are to blame, the Daily Telegraph reports. A Cambridge University study says that parents are letting children indulge in video games, junk food, and TV. "Teachers described highly permissive parents who admitted... More »

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education • parenting • children • parents • junk food • elementary school • teachers' unions • teacher • video games

Women's Stroke Rates Triple

Alarming rise linked to wider waistlines

Feb 21, 08 7:41 AM CST
(Newser) - Strokes have tripled among middle-aged American women in an alarming development experts attribute to obesity. Despite the increased use of blood pressure and cholesterol medication, 2% of women aged 35 to 54 suffered a stroke between 1999 and 2004. That's a three-fold increase over earlier studies. More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • women's health • women • diet • cholesterol • blood pressure • junk food • blood sugar • stroke • middle age • federal health survey • body mass index • International Stroke Conference • belly fat • stroke risk

Conn. Grade School Kills Dessert

Cafeteria replaces
ice cream with fruit,
to mixed reviews

Jan 11, 08 11:55 AM CST
(Newser) - Hoping to curb the trend toward obesity and diabetes in children, one Connecticut school has taken a drastic measure: It no longer serves sweets. The ice cream and cookies that drew huge cafeteria crowds twice a week have been replaced with fruit and yogurt, reports CBS 2 New York. The... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • children • Connecticut • raising children • junk food • school food

Country Life Often Opposite of Healthy

Poverty, limited grocery options have rural America in diet 'deserts'

Dec 13, 07 11:23 AM CST
(Newser) - Rural America isn’t all hearty farmland, Newsweek writes: Many country areas are “food deserts,” supplied mainly by convenience stores. With supermarkets distant and healthy food more expensive than junk, impoverished residents often become unhealthy—hungry and fat. “A nutritionist will just say, 'Buy more fruits and... More »

MORE ABOUT:
nutrition • health • diet • junk food • healthy eating • rural area

Brits Plotting Battle of Bulge on Plumpies

Europe's fattest nation could rack up millions in health care

Oct 25, 07 3:49 AM CDT
(Newser) - Two sobering reports have frantic Brits casting about for ways to combat their obesity epidemic, reports the Christian Science Monitor. England is the fattest country in Europe and half of its population could be obese by 2050, the reports warn. Now the country is looking into everything from regulating junk... More »

MORE ABOUT:
obesity • obesity epidemic • England • public health • junk food • exercise • healthy eating

Additives Do Make Kids Hyper

British study links chemicals to disruptive behavior; government issues warning 

Sep 6, 07 6:39 AM CDT
(Newser) - Adding fuel to a long-simmering debate, a British study has found that additives in sweets and soft drinks can indeed produce hyperactivity and disruptive behavior in children. The findings were so dramatic that the British government is issuing guidelines warning parents of kids with behavioral problems to avoid foods containing... More »

MORE ABOUT:
food • health • science • children • behavior • soda • junk food • candy

10 Sweet Spots to Visit

Willy Wonka may be a fictional persona, but these ten real-life fun-food factories will bring out the kid in anyone.

Aug 26, 07 5:10 PM CDT
(Newser) - Travel & Leisure takes you on a tour of a fun-food factories, where delights range from twisting your own pretzel to sampling donuts hot off the line.  Some factory tours can even be experienced from home.
  1. Twinkie: Twinkies.com
  2. Tootsie Pop:  Tootsie.com
  3. Ben and Jerry's: 
... More »

MORE ABOUT:
travel • Coca Cola • Hershey • list • junk food • vacation • Ben and Jerry's • Twinkie • Tootsie pop • Sturgis Pretzel • Kellog's • Hammond's candies • Jelly Belly • Krisy Kreme • candy • trips • tour

1 - 20 of 21 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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