The federal school lunch program, which subsidizes meals for 30 million low-income children, was created more than half a century ago to combat malnutrition. A breakfast program was added during the 1960s, and both were retooled a decade ago in an attempt to improve the nutritional value of food served at school.

More must now be done to fight the childhood obesity epidemic, which has triggered a frightening spike in weight-related disorders like diabetes, high-blood pressure and heart disease among young people. And the place to start is the schools, where …

The researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine say overweight people cause excess greenhouse gas emissions because they eat more than thin people and are more likely to travel by car.
Phil Edwards and Ian Roberts compared lean and obese populations in a study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.
They calculate that a fatter population needs 19 per cent more food energy for its energy requirements. The production of that extra food requires machinery that emits greenhouse gases, as well as transport systems that emit pollution.
What’s more, …

Some research has suggested that consumption of high-fructose corn syrup, used as a sweetener in a wide variety of foods, may increase the risk of obesity and heart disease. Now, a controlled and randomized study has found that drinks sweetened with fructose led to higher blood levels of L.D.L, or “bad” cholesterol, and triglycerides in overweight test subjects, while drinks sweetened with another sugar, glucose, did not. Both L.D.L. and triglycerides have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
The study was published online on Monday in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.
Researchers at the …

Food hijacked Dr. David Kessler’s brain. Not apples or carrots. The scientist who once led the government’s attack on addictive cigarettes can’t wander through part of San Francisco without craving a local shop’s chocolate-covered pretzels. Stop at one cookie? Rarely.
It’s not an addiction but it’s similar, and he’s far from alone. Kessler’s research suggests millions share what he calls “conditioned hypereating” — a willpower-sapping drive to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods even when they’re not hungry.
In a book being published next week, the former Food and Drug Administration chief brings to consumers the disturbing conclusion …

A large new study has provided added evidence that larger waist size alone, even in people of normal weight, significantly raises the risk for heart disease.
Researchers used data on 80,360 Swedish men and women ages 45 to 83 who were enrolled in two long-term health studies over a seven-year period ending in 2004. During those years, 1,100 of them were either hospitalized for heart disease or died from it.
The researchers measured waist size, waist-to-hip ratio, waist-to-height ratio, and B.M.I., or body mass index, a weight-to-height ratio. All four measures were …

Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping an abstemious diet; engaging in regular exercise; and, if you’re an unusual Frenchwoman, smoking cigarettes until you are 117 years old.
But what effect does your personality have on your longevity? Do some kinds of temperaments lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality traits of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100. (The study …

Getting back to the relatively slim, trim days of the 1970s would help to tackle climate change, researchers say.
The rising numbers of people who are overweight and obese in the UK means the nation uses 19% more food than 40 years ago, a study suggests.
That could equate to an extra 60 mega tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, the team calculated.
Transport costs of a fatter population were also included in the International Journal of Epidemiology study.
Dr Phil Edwards, study leader and researcher at the London School of Hygiene and …

New research from the University of Illinois suggests that weight-loss campaigns that promote exercise may actually cause people to eat more.People who viewed posters suggesting that they “join a gym” or “take a walk” ate more food after looking at the posters than people who saw similarly designed posters prompting them to “make friends” or “be in a group,” the researchers found.
Subliminal words about being active had a similar effect on study participants, said psychology professor Dolores Albarracín, who led the research. “Viewers of the exercise messages ate significantly more …

THE Great Downturn may have its first real status symbol.
NEW AMSTERDAM — Can the arrival of Dutch bicycles in New York free men to pedal to work in a Gucci suit?
It has plenty in common with recent extravagances. Like the Range Rover or the Sub-Zero fridge, it has a solid frame designed for function. Like a Louis Vuitton trunk, it has a chic design and a patina of history stretching back to the 19th century. And like a bottle of San Pellegrino, it evokes that genteel way of life that …

Denny’s, one of the many casual-dining chains whose sales are suffering in the recession, needs a few thousand customers like Cory McGrath. On April 7, McGrath, 20, saw a television ad for a Denny’s promotion that was taking place the next day. The deal: buy one of its famous $5.99 “Grand Slam”breakfasts, and get a free “Grand Slamwich,” a tasty heart attack consisting of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, shaved ham, mayonnaise and American cheese on potato bread, for a pal (or, if you are into wolfing down a ghastly amount of …