Amid the many battles the United States is fighting — in Libya, with Congress, in Afghanistan, to name a few — there’s another costly war going on at home: against Americans’ expanding waistlines.
Obesity
It’s the Ads, Stupid: Why TV Leads to Obesity
How much TV do your kids watch? If you don’t know, you might want to find out, say experts, since the time children spend in front of a TV or computer screen can have a profound effect on their physical and developmental health.
Study: Weight-Loss Surgery Doesn’t Help Older, Sicker Patients Live Longer
Weight-loss surgery may not reduce the risk of death in higher risk patients — older, heavier and sicker men — a new study finds.
Study: For Obese Women, Quality of Life Suffers More
A lot of factors determine your health-related quality of life, including your weight. In general, the heavier you are — that is, the further you veer into overweight territory — the worse your quality of life. But a new …
Study: How a ‘Fat Gene’ Affects Cholesterol and Diabetes
Scientists have long known that obesity is associated with a host of other health conditions, including Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Now a team of researchers at King’s College London and the University of Oxford have shed …
Obese Teens Are More Likely to Smoke, Have Riskier Sex
Want to Sharpen Your Mind? Drop a Few Pounds
Losing weight comes with a host of health benefits — including making your brain sharper.
A Silver Bullet for Weight Loss? Maybe
If there’s one certainty about weight loss, it’s that there is no magic pill that can melt off your excess pounds.
Study of Weight-Loss Surgery Complications Revives a Question: Bypass or Banding?
Many patients who receive gastric banding surgery for weight loss experience major complications 12 years later, and as many as half of patients eventually have their bands removed, a new study reports.
Did Your Doctor Call You Fat? You Should Thank Her For It
If you were overweight or obese, would you know it? You’d think so, but research suggests that people aren’t good at recognizing when they’ve hit an unhealthy weight. That’s why they need an outsider to tell them.
Where BMI Fails, Researchers Suggest A New Measure of Body Fat
It is well documented that body mass index (BMI) — a ratio of height and weight — is not the best measure of a person’s obesity, physical fitness or good health. But coming up with another quick-calculation metric to replace …
Weight-Loss Winner: Gastric Bypass Works Better for Obese Patients
In head-to-head comparisons of the most commonly used weight-loss surgeries in the U.S., researchers found that gastric bypass worked best for weight loss, reduction of diabetes symptoms and quality of life.
Study: The Complicated Link Between Wealth and Obesity
Your socioeconomic background has less impact on your chances of obesity if you’re a man than if you’re woman, according to a new analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics.