Scientists have found 30 genes that control the timing of puberty in girls. Many of the newly identified genes also contribute to body weight and metabolism.
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Study: American Women Aren’t Sure What Overweight Looks Like
Calling Dr. Obvious! American women are confused about what a healthy body is supposed to look like.
Cheers! Could Hypoallergenic Wine Be on the Horizon?
As food allergens go, wine is easier to avoid than, say, wheat. But there are some 500 million people worldwide — that’s about 8% — who will have to sit out toasts this holiday season because of wine allergies.
Guiltless Gluttony: Why We Eat More From ‘Small’ Packages
What does size “small” mean anymore? When it comes to packaged foods, not much. At McDonald’s and KFC, for instance, a small soda holds 16 oz. At Wendy’s, meanwhile, order a small drink, and you’ll get 20 oz.
Food and Sex: Tried and True Ways to Reduce Anxiety
It’s no secret that eating something tasty and having sex are pleasurable, anxiety-reducing activities. But researchers studying stress responses in rats found that sex and food could reduce anxiety even over the long term, for …
Study: Teen Girls More Likely to Have Risky Sex Than Teen Boys
A doctoral candidate at Arizona State University made a surprising discovery during the course of her dissertation research on the impact of early sexual health education.
Study: ‘Hyper-Texting’ Teens More Likely to Have Had Sex, Tried Drugs
Teens who send more than 120 texts a day are more likely to have had sex or used alcohol or illegal drugs than peers who text less, according to a study conducted at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
A Glimmer of Hope in a Bad-News Survey About Bullying
The bad news: half of all high school students, regardless of gender or type of school, say they have bullied someone in the past year, and 47% of students say they have been bullied in a way that seriously upset them. The good …
Debunking the Headlines: Falling in Love in 0.2 Sec.? We Don’t Think So
An assistant professor of psychology at Syracuse University wanted to know what love looked like in the brain. So she analyzed a collection of studies that focused on imaging the brain during romantic moments. What she found was …
Study: Heavy Smoking in Midlife Hikes the Risk of Alzheimer’s
As if anyone needed another reason for quitting: a new study found that heavy cigarette use in middle age more than doubles the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease or dementia down the road.
Were You Born This (Un)Happy, or Did You Marry Into It?
In the burgeoning field of happiness research, most scholars have favored the idea that a person’s level of happiness has a set point, like the float ball in a toilet tank.
Study: Why Child Abuse Investigations Don’t Help Kids
Child welfare agencies have a thankless task: investigate reports of child maltreatment and determine, first, whether they are true or false, then whether more damage will be done by a) leaving children in a potentially harmful …
Study: Overweight People Get Less Pleasure From Food
When addicts talk about their first euphoric experience with their narcotic of choice, very often they describe it as the feeling they spent the duration of their drug-using years attempting to revisit. It turns out, the same …