In the last three decades, chronic health problems including obesity, asthma and behavioral and learning problems have been steadily increasing among children. To get a hold of the magnitude of the problem, researchers from MassGeneral Hospital for Children analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth-Child Cohort,
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Holding on to the belief that children will shed their “baby fat” as they get older may be perpetuating the childhood obesity epidemic, and laying a foundation for obesity later in life among overweight tots. According to 2006 data from the Centers for Disease Control, 16% of American children were obese, and 32% overweight, with a
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In response to First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative to combat childhood obesity, the American Beverage Association (AmeriBev) announced this week that it will voluntarily add calorie counts to the front of soda cans, bottles, vending machines and soda fountains to better enable consumers to make informed choices. AmeriBev,
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Men feeling self-conscious about the size of their breasts is nothing new—as members of the Seinfeld generation will recall, the episode in which Kramer invents “the Bro,” or the “Mansierre” to tame oversized “man boobs” first aired in 1995. Yet, according to the BBC, in recent years discomfort over what are colloquially known as
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City mandates requiring fast-food and chain restaurants to post calorie counts on menus have had mixed success at actually curbing people’s caloric intake. A study published this past October in the journal Health Affairs for example, found that, while nearly 30% of people said reading calorie counts on menus impacted their choices, when
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When the diet drug Meridia was approved by the Food and Drug Administration more than a decade ago, the American Heart Association was quick to urge caution, stressing that the medication—which works in part by curbing appetite by interacting with serotonin, the neurotransmitter that helps regulate the sensation of fullness—might
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Most antibiotics and antimicrobial medications are prescribed to adults based on broad dosage recommendations that do not take individual body mass into account, a system that is outdated, according to an editorial published in the current issue of the British medical journal The Lancet. Whereas children’s antibiotic dosing is generally
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Girls who begin menstruating at a younger age may have a greater risk for developing heart disease later in life, according to new findings published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The study included 15,807 middle-aged and senior women, whose cardiovascular health and mortality were tracked from 1993 to 1997,
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It may seem obvious that spending less time lounging on the couch may help burn more calories, but a team of researchers from the University of Vermont recently confirmed that cutting back daily TV time increases the amount of calories you burn. The study, published last month in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, included 36
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For obese men who suffer from sleep apnea, losing weight may be an effective cure, according to research published in the British Medical Journal. Sleep apnea—or when you temporarily stop breathing while asleep—is a condition that, when left untreated, can increase the risk for heart disease and stroke, and in serious cases, even
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If current obesity trends continue, life expectancy gains due to decreases in smoking could potentially be canceled out in the future, according to research published this week in the New England Journal of Medicine. By analyzing data from several national health surveys including tens of thousands of respondents, researchers Susan
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With Black Friday and the official kick-off of holiday mania just a week away, Santas are gearing up for the season—and this year, that doesn’t just mean dusting off the red suit and beard. As they prepare to populate the malls, the Associated Press reports, Santas across the country are hoping for a little gift from U.S. public health
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Feeling confident and secure about your body is important, and a critical part of having high self-esteem, and as the health care debate continues, advocates for “fat acceptance” are struggling to have their voices heard by lawmakers. Yet, while it is clearly true that weight isn’t the solitary indicator of health, a problem arises when
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