Reuters, Kate Kelland, October 10, 2010
Scientists have found more than 30 new gene variations linked to obesity and fat in research they say could help explain why some people get so overweight, and why some are apple shaped and some shaped like pears.

An international team of more than 400 scientists from 280 research institutions said their results give more insight into the biological processes that can lead to obesity and may in future help in developing new ways to treat or prevent it.
But they said that while genes do …

Foodconsumer.org, David Liu, October 2, 2010
In October – National Breast Cancer Awareness month, many people nationwide in the United States wear something pink to show their support for survivors, and help raise awareness of the disease, which is diagnosed in more than 175,000 women and kills 50,000 each year in the country.
The campaign has been around for 25 years and AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation says on its website “the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month” organization is a partnership of national public service organizations, professional medical associations, and government agencies working together …

The New York Times, September 23, 2010
Until 1980, fewer than one in 10 people in industrialized countries like the United States were obese.
Today, these rates have doubled or tripled. In almost half of developed countries, one out of every two people is overweight or obese. These populations are expected to get even heavier in the near future, and in some countries two out of three people are projected to be obese within 10 years.
Those are some of the disturbing statistics from a new report released today by the Organization for …

Reuters, September 23, 2010
Overweight youngsters may face discrimination at school and in relationships but a U.S. study has found they can also receive harsher treatment at home — from their own parents.
Studies have shown parents are less likely to help overweight or obese offspring pay for college but researchers from the University of North Texas in Denton have also found parents may be less willing to help their overweight child buy a car.
“No one is going to be surprised that society discriminates against the overweight, but I think it is …

The Huffington Post, Craig Cooper, September 22, 2010
Approximately 1.6 billion adults are now considered overweight by the World Health Organization with at least 400 million considered obese (1). Most of these adults live in the United States with 30 percent of Americans now considered obese. Blacks have a 51 percent higher prevalence of obesity, and Hispanics have a 21 percent higher obesity prevalence compared with whites (2). That’s an enormous number any way you look at it.
And with excess weight comes an excess of problems which have a snowball …

Reuters, Anne Harding, September 17, 2010
Eating family meals may help fight obesity in white children, but it doesn’t seem to benefit black children much, and could even raise Hispanic boys’ obesity risk, new research shows.
The study, in nearly 17,000 U.S. children, didn’t look at what children were eating or how much they consumed. “I think that’s a topic for future research, to figure out just what’s going on at the dinner table,” Brandi Y. Rollins of The Pennsylvania State University in University Park, who helped conduct the research, told …

The Washington Post, Sandra g. Boodman, September 21, 2010
Although obesity is a major public health problem – two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese — “there’s relatively little coverage” for treatment of the condition, said Jeffrey Levi, executive director of Trust for America’s Health, a nonprofit Washington-based research group with expertise in obesity policy.
Lee and her colleagues reported in a recent study that many states allow insurers to charge obese patients higher premiums or deny coverage of the condition altogether. They also found that only a handful mandate coverage for any of the …

The New York Times, Jane E. Brody, September 6, 2010
You may think you know why Americans continue to get fatter and develop obesity-related diseases. But the explanation may start long before people have an opportunity to eat too much of the wrong foods and exercise too little.
Increasing evidence indicates that the trouble often starts in the womb, when women gain more weight than is needed to produce a healthy, full-size baby. Excessive weight gain inpregnancy, recent findings show, can result in bigger-than-average babies who are prenatally programmed to become overweight …

Boston Globe, Stephen Smith,  September 9, 2010
More than one-third of Massachusetts students evaluated during the 2008-2009 school year were overweight or obese, according to a report released yesterday that revealed stark differences in how the obesity epidemic has touched cities and towns.
The study, which reflects weight and height measurements for about 110,000 students, for the first time provides data on separate school districts and underscores the role of poverty and affluence in determining weight.
Lawrence, one of the state’s poorest cities, had the highest rate of students with excessive weight, about …

The Harvard Crimson, Helen Yang, September 13, 2010
A low-carbohydrate diet with protein and fats primarily from meats may increase susceptibility to heart disease or cancer more so than a high-carbohydrate diet, according to a study published last week by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health.
“The bottom line is that not all low-carbohydrate diets are created equal,” said Frank B. Hu, a professor of nutrition at the School of Public Health and the study’s principal investigator. “The original Atkins diet, which was loaded with animal fats, is certainly not …