In a naturalistic study, we investigated the influence of gender, group size and gender composition of groups of eaters on food selected for lunch and dinner converted to total calories per meal of 469 individuals 198 groups in three large university cafeterias. In dyads, women observed eating with a male companion chose foods of significantly lower caloric value than those observed eating with another woman. Overall, group size was not a significant predictor of calories, but womens calories were negatively predicted by numbers of men in the group, while the …

BBC News August 7, 2009
Most people get happier as they grow older, studies on people aged up to their mid-90s suggest.
Despite worries about ill health, income, changes in social status and bereavements, later life tends to be a golden age, according to psychologists.
They found older adults generally make the best of the time they have left and have learned to avoid situations that make them feel sad or stressed…
Dr Charles explained: “Based on work by Carstensen and her colleagues, we know that older people are increasingly aware that the time …

4 AUGUST 2009, Cancer Research UK Press Release
Ninety-seven per cent of people dont list being overweight as a cancer risk, according to a Cancer Research UK survey out today Tuesday.
After smoking, being overweight or obese is one of the biggest cancer risks.
But in a survey of nearly 4,000 people, only three per cent mentioned keeping a healthy bodyweight as something people could do to reduce their risk of cancer.
And seven per cent of those surveyed failed to name a single positive change people could make to help to prevent the disease.
Sara …

(The Denver Post, August 2, 2009)
The extra medical costs that severely overweight people add to health care spending are ballooning, a new study shows.
While Congress works with President Obama to reform health care, the question of what to do about the obesity epidemic in our country should be front and center in the debate. As the study by RTI International documents, as much as $147 billion every year is spent on obesity-related ailments and conditions.
Just over 10 years ago, medical spending related to obesity was $78.5 billion. Now that’s super-sizing.
“There …

Ed Blazina
(The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 2, 2009)
Obesity and its impact on health care costs have taken center stage in the debate about national health care reform.
And it seems there may be as many ideas about how to address the problem as there are people who are obese.
The issues converged last week when a national study estimated the cost of obesity at $147 billion annually, nearly double what it was 10 years ago; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention held its first Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, …