Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Promising new strategy for Swedish medical research

Research scientists at Karolinska Institutet are planning an international initiative to map out the relationships between health, genes and lifestyle. Discussion partners include world-leading researchers from the USA, Britain, Singapore and Norway.

27 Feb 2005

Balance between potassium and sodium is very important for proper body function

Important, interrelated factors leading to hypertension include obesity, stress, and the genetic vulnerability of American consumers, in addition to their sodium intake. The balance between potassium and sodium is very important for proper body function, and more attention should be given to ways for improving potassium intake.

27 Feb 2005

Childhood obesity is a serious health problem in Australia

Professor Michael Booth, co-director of the University of Sydney's Centre for Overweight and Obesity, said teenagers were already showing signs of serious illness caused by their weight.

24 Feb 2005

Is it exercise or dieting that helps prevent cancer?

Scientists and health professionals have long believed that maintaining a healthy - or "ideal" - weight makes a difference in decreasing an individual's risk for cancer. But one lingering question is whether or not it's better, in terms of cancer prevention, if that weight is reached and maintained by dieting or by exercising.

23 Feb 2005

Don’t believe everything you read on diets

In a society increasingly fixated with body image, we are bombarded with so-called scientific evidence promoting the use of a myriad of diets.

22 Feb 2005

Elderly patients can safely undergo gastric bypass surgery

Elderly patients can safely undergo gastric bypass surgery and can be expected to experience similar benefits from the operation as younger patients, according to background information in an article in the current issue of Archives of Surgery.

21 Feb 2005

82 percent of women have at least one factor that puts them at risk for a future heart attack

In the second year of a Northern California-based survey conducted by Sutter Health on women and heart disease, results show that more women are aware of heart attack warning signs and the need to take action quickly.

21 Feb 2005

Young adults can be motivated to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables

Young adults can be motivated to eat more servings of fruits and vegetables if they are exposed to tailored, practical messages about nutrition, a University of Wisconsin-Madison nutritional scientist announced at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, D.C.

20 Feb 2005

Exercise and dietary changes vital in taking and keeping off weight that is associated with many chronic health problems

When the National Academy of Science’s Institute of Medicine recently announced that Americans should exercise an hour a day to fight the country’s growing obesity epidemic, collective groans could be heard in big cities and small towns everywhere.

20 Feb 2005

Green tea protects livers

A new study investigating the effects of the major flavonoid component of green tea on hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) found that it significantly protected livers that suffered ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury in mice. I/R injury, which is caused by decreased blood flow, can lead to complications after liver transplantation.

20 Feb 2005

Prozac, Xenical and Meridia may help type 2 diabetes patients lose weight

Three commonly used drugs - Prozac, Xenical and Meridia - may help type 2 diabetes patients lose small amounts of weight, although long-term benefits are not clear, a new review of 22 studies suggests.

20 Feb 2005

Ground-breaking trial to test best program for obese children

More than 100 overweight young children from the New South Wales, Illawarra region are being sought to participate in one of the first randomised controlled trials of its kind in Australia that will help determine how best to tackle their obesity problem.

17 Feb 2005