Obese workers with diabetes are less productive than their normal-weight co-workers, says a U.S. study.
Researchers surveyed 7,338 working adults about missed work time, reduced work effectiveness and impairment of daily activities. The results showed that people who were obese and had type 2 diabetes lost 11 percent to 15 percent of work time (about 5.9 hours a week) because of health problems, compared with 9 percent of work time (about 3.6 hours a week) lost by normal-weight people.
The survey also found that obese people with type 2 diabetes reported impairment …

Cheerios…the wonder drug?
That’s what the Food and Drug Administration appears to be wondering.
The FDA has sent a warning letter to General Mills, telling the company that its claims about the health benefits of eating Cheerios “would cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation and treatment of disease.”
The problem: Cheerios are a food not a drug, the FDA notes in the letter, which was sent May 5 but was posted on the agency’s website today. Thus, claims that the 68-year-old whole-grain oat cereal …

If you exercise to improve your metabolism and prevent diabetes, you may want to avoid antioxidants like vitamins C and E.
>> The original study can be found at PNAS
That is the message of a surprising new look at the body’s reaction to exercise, reported on Monday by researchers in Germany and Boston.
Exercise is known to have many beneficial effects on health, including on the body’s sensitivity to insulin. “Get more exercise” is often among the first recommendations given by doctors to people at risk of diabetes.
But exercise makes the muscle cells metabolize glucose, by …

Almost 19,000 people a year in the UK are diagnosed with cancer that could have been prevented if they were a healthy weight, an expert says.
Professor Martin Wiseman said if everyone had a body mass index (BMI) under 25 it would make a big dent in the incidence of cancer.
Cancers of the breast, bowel, kidney, pancreas, oesophagus and womb lining are among those linked to obesity.
Professor Wiseman is an adviser for the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF).
The WCRF recommends that people try to be as lean as possible without becoming …

In its effort to overhaul health care, Congress is planning to give employers sweeping new authority to reward employees for healthy behavior, including better diet, more exercise, weight loss and smoking cessation.
A web of federal rules limits what employers and insurers can do now.
Congress is seriously considering proposals to provide tax credits or other subsidies to employers who offer wellness programs that meet federal criteria. In addition, lawmakers said they would make it easier for employers to use financial rewards or penalties to promote healthy behavior among employees.
Two Democratic senators working on …

Folic acid is one of those great public health success stories. In the decade that followed the fortification of cereal grains and other foods, along with educational campaigns, the rate of certain birth defects dropped dramatically. 
As studies beginning in the 1980s started showing that folic acid could also help prevent some cancers, it started to seem like a wonder-vitamin. Now, however, folic acid’s heyday may be over. New studies suggest that getting too much folic acid might fuel certain cancers in some people. 
And with the vitamin showing up in ready-to-eat cereals, bread, snack …

Over-eating, not a lack of exercise, is to blame for the American obesity epidemic, a new study claimed Friday, warning that physical activity could not fully compensate for excess calories.
“There is no evidence that a marked reduction in physical activity has been a contributor to this epidemic in the United States,” study leader Boyd Swinburn told AFP on the sidelines of an international obesity conference in Amsterdam, where the research was unveiled.
“The increase in energy intake… virtually explained all of the weight gain.”
Swinburn, a professor at the health faculty of Australia’s Deakin …

The trend for bottle feeding since the 1970s has meant babies have put on weight too fast and increased the likelihood of them becoming overweight as children and adults.
Britain is battling an obesity crisis with one in three adults classed as overweight or obese along with one in four children.
Breastfeeding mothers often became anxious that their child was not growing in line with the old charts, based on average growth of bottle fed babies, and many were pressured into supplementing their child’s diet with formula or solid food.
However a major …

Morbid obesity rates in Counties Manukau are likely to be even higher than the record high shown in a recent survey of the nation’s women.
The New Zealand Health Survey released by the Ministry of Health shows 5.6 percent of the female population is tipping the body size scales into the “very severe risk” category.
Counties Manukau District Health Board public health physician Gary Jackson says the rate is a concern and is likely to be higher in south Auckland because of the susceptibility of Pacific people to obesity.
The number of people …

Many teenage girls are not getting the nutrients they need to ensure healthy development, putting them at risk for weight-related problems and cardiovascular disease.
Female adolescence is an important time for setting up adult health, as nutritional needs change because of increased growth and the beginning of menstruation, said Andy Bellatti, who runs the popular nutrition blog Small Bites. But studies have shown that on average, teenage girls are not getting enough fiber, calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium or vitamins A, E and B in their diets, and are eating too much …