May 5, 2011 — Kids who regularly use a bottle at age 2 are more likely to be obese by the time they’re ready for kindergarten than those who switch to cups at younger ages, a study shows.
Current guidelines, which were written to help prevent tooth decay, recommend that babies stop bottle feeding around their first birthday.
But many parents don’t appear to be following that advice.
The study, which has tracked nearly 6,750 children across the U.S. from the time… Continue Reading

Jan. 25, 2011 — It’s cold outside, but keeping warm by cranking up the heat may play a role — albeit not a very big one — in the current obesity epidemic, a new study suggests.
“Changes in the way we eat and physical activity levels are the primary factors behind increases in obesity, [but] other aspects of our lifestyle can also make a contribution,” says study researcher Fiona Johnson, a research pschologist in the department of epidemiology and public Health at University College London.
Johnson and colleagues reviewed the… Continue Reading

The International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO), whose goal is to improve global health by promoting the understanding of obesity and weight-related diseases through research,” says obesity, recognized some 60 years ago as a disease, is more prevalent in the world today than “under-nutrition.” and this epidemic is threatening health services around the world, even the United States. In the United States alone, data from 2007-2008 indicate that about 33 per cent of men and 35 per cent of women are obese.
What are the causes of this… Continue Reading

It’s not news that this country is suffering from an epidemic of obesity in all age ranges from children to teens to adults. According to HealthNews columnist Dr. Cary Presant, “Consequences of increasing obesity are very threatening to human health. There is an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, sleep disorders, as well as psychosocial problems such as anxiety and depression.”
It is the psychological aspect of obesity that was addressed in a newly published study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham… Continue Reading

Oct. 11, 2010 — Your genes may influence how you look in your skinny jeans.
Two studies have identified 18 new genes linked to overall obesity and 13 more that influence whether your weight goes to your belly or to your thighs.
The findings come from the Genetic Investigation of Anthropomeric Traits (GIANT) consortium and appear in Nature Genetics; if validated, they may play a role in how obesity is categorized and treated.
In the first study, researchers conducted an analysis of 46 studies of 123,865 people and identified 18… Continue Reading

Nov. 22, 2010 – Eat your veggies and you may live longer, a study suggests.
The study shows that eating foods rich in antioxidants, like vegetables and fruits, fights disease and may prolong life.
Researchers found that people with the highest levels of the antioxidant alpha-carotene in their blood had a 39% lower risk of death from any cause, including heart disease and cancer, than those who had the lowest levels of the antioxidant during the 14-year study.
“These findings support increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as a means of preventing… Continue Reading

Caffeine Intake Among Children Equivalent to Nearly 3 Cans of Soda a Day
Dec. 16, 2010 – Three-quarters of children aged 5 to 12 consume caffeine, and it may be keeping them up at night, according to a new study in the Journal of Pediatrics.
Children aged 5 to 7 took in about 52 milligrams of caffeine per day, and children aged 8 to 12 had about 109 milligrams, the equivalent of nearly three 12-ounce cans of soda per day. That’s much higher than… Continue Reading