October 26, New York Times, Gina Kolata
For years, studies of obesity have found that soon after fat people lost weight, their metabolism slowed and they experienced hormonal changes that increased their appetites. Scientists hypothesized that these biological changes could explain why most obese dieters quickly gained back much of what they had so painfully lost.
But now a group of Australian researchers have taken those investigations a step further to see if the changes persist over a longer time frame. They recruited healthy people who were either overweight or obese and …

18 October, 2011, Huffinton Post, Abdulrahman El-Sayed
Its well known that Americans pay more for less when it comes to healthcare than just about any other country in the world. In 2009, we spent nearly $8,000 per person to provide medical care to just over 80% of our population — that compares, for example, to just under $3,500 spent per person in the UK to provide care for the entire population. To add injury to insult: our counterparts across the pond get an extra year of life for their $3,500 than we …

BBC News, October 1, 2011
Denmark has introduced what is believed to be the world’s first fat tax – a surcharge on foods that are high in saturated fat.
Butter, milk, cheese, pizza, meat, oil and processed food are now subject to the tax if they contain more than 2.3% saturated fat.
Some consumers began hoarding to beat the price rise, while some producers call the tax a bureaucratic nightmare.
Others suggest that many Danes will simply start shopping abroad.
Read more at   BBC News – Denmark introduces world’s first food fat tax.

ABC News, September 15, 2011
Although the United States Department of Agriculture unveiled MyPlate, the replacement for the food pyramid, just a few months ago, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health say MyPlate doesn’t offer enough about good nutrition, and they’ve offered their own version.
Harvard unveiled its modified version of the USDA plate, called the Healthy Eating Plate. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard, says it addresses the shortcomings of MyPlate.
“The main thing is that MyPlate isn’t specific enough to really give enough guidance,” Willett said.
MyPlate …

September 6, 2011, Boston Globe, Kay Lazar
Hoping to blunt the pervasive reach of sugary drinks, Boston officials today unveiled a public awareness campaign that urges residents to reduce their consumption of the beverages , which public health specialists link to rising obesity rates and higher health care costs.
The campaign, which will include a media blitz of the city, comes a month before an executive order by Mayor Thomas M. Menino takes effect, phasing out the sale, advertising, and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages in all municipal buildings.
“We are in the midst …

Vending Times, Emily Jed, September 2011.
New rules that dictate what beverages can be sold or served on Boston city property will go into effect on Oct. 1. They apply to vending machines, in addition to cafeterias, concession stands, meetings and events where food is purchased with city dollars.
Mayor Thomas Menino’s executive order establishes color-coded standards for determining what beverages can be allowed on city property. Beverages coded “red” — banned from city properties — include such sugar-sweetened beverages as presweetened teas and juices with added sugars, and refrigerated coffee, energy, …

August 31, 2011, USA Today, Nancy Hellmich
Teens who drink soda, energy drinks and other sugary beverages are guzzling about 327 calories a day from them, which is equal to about 2½ cans of cola, new government data shows.
And people ages 20-39 who drink sugary beverages consume 336 calories a day from them.
Some people are getting a lot of their daily calories from these drinks, says Cynthia Ogden, an epidemiologist with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which conducted this survey.
The latest …

CNN, August 25, 2011
The problem of obesity is spreading around the world and poses serious health threats. The finding is part of a new special report on obesity, and how to combat it in the medical journal the Lancet. The editor, Dr. Richard Horton, calls obesity a pandemic, and said it is one of the “huge threats facing governments which are likely to derail all their best attempts to improve the health of their nations while at the same time controlling costs.”
Obesity Around the World
The first study says nearly 1.5 …

August 23, 2011, Washington Post, Jennifer LaRue Huget
In an ideal world, no one would need dietary supplements. Our balanced diets would provide all the vitamins, minerals and other nutrients our bodies need.
Alas, the world of American eating is far from ideal. And that, some nutrition experts and supplement advocates argue, is why we need dietary supplements.
The latest federal data show that more than half of U.S. adults use dietary supplements, mostly multivitamins. But do we really need all those pills?
Depends on whom you ask. The latest version of the federal …

August 10, 2011, Yale University
Nutrition-related health claims on children’s cereals are often misinterpreted by parents, causing them to infer that products with health claims are more nutritious overall despite actual nutrient quality, finds a study from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University. The study, published in the journal Public Health Nutrition, shows that additional government regulation of front-of-package labeling is needed to protect consumers.
Through an online survey, researchers asked parents with children between the ages of 2 and 11 to view images of actual box …