Obesity News and Research

Latest Obesity News and Research

Gene "CGI-58" linked to rare disease activates fat breakdown

A gene earlier linked to a rare disease plays a critical role in the body's "finely tuned balance" of fat storage and break down, new evidence reported in the May Cell Metabolism reveals.

10 May 2006

Social stress prompts hamsters to overeat

Put a mouse or a rat under stress and what does it do? It stops eating. Humans should be so lucky. When people suffer nontraumatic stress they often head for the refrigerator, producing unhealthy extra pounds.

9 May 2006

US infant mortality rates show no significant improvements

Nearly 28,000 babies died before their first birthday, according to new infant mortality statistics for 2003 released by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).

8 May 2006

Development of 'puppy fat' in adolescence

The idea that 'puppy fat' in children disappears as they progress to adolescence is a myth which may put the future health of children at risk, says a paper published on bmj.com.

8 May 2006

Discovery of gene that appears to play an important role in the onset of type 2 diabetes

In a painstaking set of experiments in overweight mice, scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered a gene that appears to play an important role in the onset of type 2 diabetes.

8 May 2006

Bill Clinton takes the fizz out of schools

Bill Clinton has managed to persuade the giants of the U.S. beverage industry to agree to take an active part in the fight against childhood obesity.

3 May 2006

Underage and abusive drinkers very profitable for the alcohol industry

According to new research in the U.S. the underage drinking market is making the alcohol industry a neat $23 billion a year and that figure represents 17.5 percent of all money spent on alcohol in the U.S. annually.

3 May 2006

Endocannabinoid system shows promise in combating obesity

As the obesity epidemic grows in the United States, the medical community is faced with the significant challenge of properly treating patients before complications such as heart disease arise.

3 May 2006

Link between perceived neighborhood safety and BMI

Mothers of young children are more likely to be obese when they perceive their neighborhoods as unsafe, according to a new study in the journal Obesity.

3 May 2006

Elevated serum alanine aminotransferase activity and calculated risk of coronary heart disease in the U.S.

A new study on the relationship between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and heart disease found that patients with an elevated level of the enzyme associated with NAFLD had an increased risk of coronary heart disease, which appears to be related to insulin resistance, obesity and central fat distribution.

3 May 2006

Identification of CPT1c gene that the brain needs to manage body weight

Working with genetically engineered mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have interfered with the brain's ability to control an animal's response to a high-fat diet.

3 May 2006

Obesity in the U.S. greatly underestimated

Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) analyzed data from health surveys, which are used to estimate obesity levels in states. Because people tend to provide incorrect information about their weight and height, especially in telephone surveys, the researchers concluded that estimates of obesity in individual states have been too low, by more than 50%.

3 May 2006

Study highlights the benefits of a clinic that specializes in the needs of obese patients with metabolic syndrome

Obesity researchers at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee found that a multidisciplinary clinical approach to caring for obese patients with metabolic syndrome could swiftly and significantly lower their risk for heart disease.

3 May 2006

Dimensional analysis of the concept of obesity

Health professionals need to use more than tape measures and scales to define and tackle obesity, according to a paper in the latest Journal of Advanced Nursing.

3 May 2006

Vacuum-assisted closure device may be beneficial in penile skin graft reconstruction

Skin defects of the penile shaft pose a significant reconstructive problem.

2 May 2006

British healthier than Americans in middle-age

According to a large international study middle-aged Americans are not as healthy as their British cousins.

2 May 2006

Significant number of women believe their children are normal weight when they are actually overweight

Latina mothers of preschool-aged children frequently have inaccurate perceptions of their children's body mass index and believe they are healthy when they are overweight, according to a new study from the University of California, San Francisco.

2 May 2006

Protein mutated in cancer found to be linked to diabetes

A study published by Nature has defined the function of p110 alpha, the flag-ship molecule of the eight member PI3K family, which is one of the most frequently activated pathways in cancer. The function of p110 alpha in the body has eluded researchers for over a decade but a new approach to generating mouse models, has allowed investigators to solve the mystery and yield important information for planned clinical trials with PI3K inhibitors.

25 Apr 2006

Doctors show concern over rising preterm births

Doctors in the BMJ have expressed concern over the apparent increase in preterm births. The concerns are based on research showing that preterm deliveries increased by 22% from 1995 to 2004. Even among low risk women aged 20-40, there was a 51% increase in early delivery.

25 Apr 2006

Direct link between childhood obesity and junk food advertising

A team of researchers from the Harvard School of Public health (HSPH) and the Children's Hospital in Boston have found that children who spend more time watching TV were more likely to eat more of the calorie-dense, low nutrient foods advertised on television.

24 Apr 2006