Imagine if you bequeathed your children not just your genetic material, but also the consequences of your own eating habits. A study published on Dec. 23 in the journal Cell demonstrates that your diet can indeed make a …
weight
Study: Soda Taxes May Not Be Enough to Curb Obesity
Money talks, but according to a new study analyzing the potential effect of a tax on soda, it might not speak loud enough to help people lose weight.
For Women Who Want to Stay Slim, a Heavy Roommate Might Help
The myth of the dreaded “freshman 15,” it seems, is greatly exaggerated. That’s the average amount of weight that college freshmen supposedly gain after moving into dorms where beer and pizza are more plentiful than fresh …
Experts Split on Safety of Diet Drug Meridia
Two months after a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended stronger restrictions on the use of a popular diabetes drug, the same panel voted to impose similar limitations on the use of the diet drug Meridia.
Study: too few places to exercise
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may provide some explanation for why the obesity rate among youngsters continues to climb.
According to the report, released by the government agency, most Americans don’t live in communities where they are encouraged — by parks, sidewalks and playgrounds — to become …
For kids, small soda taxes don’t make a big difference
Small scale increases in the cost of soda likely have little impact on childhood obesity, according to a study published in the journal Health Affairs. Soda taxes have been proposed as a means for fighting obesity by several prominent health researchers, and some public health officials have sparked controversy by advocating for steep
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Too little sleep linked to increased belly fat
Sleeping too much or too little is associated with a higher prevalence of belly fat, according to a new study published this week in the journal SLEEP. The analysis of more than 1,000 blacks and Hispanics between the ages of 18 and 81 found that, in participants ages 40 and younger, sleeping fewer than five hours per night or more than
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Should weight factor into antibiotic dosage?
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to adults based on broad dosage recommendations that do not take individual body mass into account, a system that is outdated, according to an editorial published in the current issue of the British medical journal The Lancet.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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Cut back TV time, burn more calories
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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Downward Dog Fights Eating Disorders
Yoga for teens could be more than a spiritual and physical boost—a new randomized controlled trial suggests that it may help those with anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders.
The study included 50 adolescents aged 11-16, the vast majority of whom were girls. They were seriously ill. Nearly half had previously been …