Food and Health News, November 18, 2010
You aced that test; now it’s time for a treat.
Sometimes pride in an achievement can lead people to indulge in unhealthy choices, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
“Across four studies in the food consumptions and spending domains, we show that pride is associated with two opposing forces; it promotes a sense of achievement, which increases indulgence, and it promotes self-awareness, which facilitates self control,” write authors Keith Wilcox (Babson College), Thomas Kramer (University of South Carolina), and Sankar Sen (Baruch …

Food and Health News, November 18, 2010
People are easily fooled when it comes to food labels, and will eat more of something if they believe it’s a “small” portion, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Authors Nilufer Z. Ayinoglu (Koç University, Istanbul) and Aradhna Krishna (University of Michigan) found that inconsistent portion sizes contribute to people’s uncertainty about the appropriate amount to eat. “In this context of large portion sizes and consumer uncertainty about appropriate food intake, we show that size labels chosen by food and …

The Huffington Post, November 18, 2010
Research is medicine’s field of dreams from which we harvest new findings about the causes, treatment and prevention of disease. During the 20th century, the triumph of public health and medical interventions as a result of investments in research significantly improved the health and well being of people living in our country. In 1900, the average life expectancy for Americans was just 48 years and the major causes of death then were infectious diseases and, for women, also complications of childbirth. Since then, food …

The Province, November 12, 2010
Overweight children may be more stressed than those of normal weight, a new report suggests.
Among 1,136 kids and teens ages 8-17 surveyed online in August, those of above-normal weight reported more health problems in the previous month. Such problems, experts say, signal stress. Among them:
■ Sleep problems, 48 per cent (compared with 33 per cent of normal-weight kids).
■ Headaches, 43 per cent (vs. 28 per cent).
■ Anger and fighting, 22 per cent (vs. 13 per cent).
“There are some good data out there that show connections between …

BBC News, November 15, 2010
People who are overweight have a greater sense of smell for food, a study has found.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth say their early findings may go towards explaining why some people struggle to stay slim.
Experts already know that part of the brain that processes information about odour is also connected to the feeding centres of the brain.
The latest research is published in the journal Chemical Senses.
In the UK, a quarter of adults are obese and doctors fear that the incidence will only rise in the …