obesity epidemic – News Stories About obesity epidemic - Page 2

Jul 2, 2013 12:34 PM CDT

Are Americans Giving Up on Diet Pills?

First prescription obesity drug in more than a decade struggles to sell

(Newser) - Just a few years ago, a drug company CEO predicted anti-obesity pills could rival the sales of drugs like Lipitor. Instead, the first prescription diet pill to arrive in 13 years is barely selling, the New York Times reports. Qsymia maker Vivus spent $45 million to promote the drug in...

Obesity Now
Officially a Disease

Jun 19, 2013 7:00 AM CDT

Obesity Now Officially a Disease

AMA hopes designation will help people get treatment

(Newser) - More than a third of adults and nearly a fifth of children in the US are now officially considered to have a disease: obesity. The American Medical Association has now declared obesity to be a disease, a move it hopes will influence policy changes on the same scale that sharply...

11% of American
Calories From
Fast Food

Feb 21, 2013 8:58 AM CST

11% of American Calories From Fast Food

US children consuming fewer calories, too

(Newser) - The average American gets 11% of his or her calories from fast food—and, believe it or not, that's relatively good news, reports the AP . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveyed 11,000 adults from 2007 to 2010, asking what they ate over the previous 24 hours,...

Roads Are Deadlier
for Obese Drivers

STUDY SAYS

Jan 22, 2013 1:33 AM CST

Roads Are Deadlier for Obese Drivers

Risk of crash death soars with driver weight

(Newser) - Obesity can be deadly even behind the wheel, according to a new study. Researchers examined thousands of crashes involving similar-sized vehicles and found that obese people were more likely to die in crashes than people of normal weight, with the risk of death increasing along with one's body mass...

Critics Pile on Coke's
Anti-Obesity Ads

Jan 15, 2013 2:23 AM CST

Critics Pile on Coke's Anti-Obesity Ads

Campaign 'out of Damage Control 101,' critics say

(Newser) - Coca-Cola: Enemy of obesity? The soda giant calls for people to join together to fight obesity and hails its own efforts in a new ad campaign that began airing on major networks last night, the Los Angeles Times reports. "All calories count. No matter where they come from, including...

Childhood
Obesity Drops
in US Cities

Dec 11, 2012 9:05 AM CST

Childhood Obesity Drops in US Cities

Experts stunned, see a big shift in fight against epidemic

(Newser) - For the first time in decades, a number of US cities are reporting a decline in childhood obesity rates—an unexpected shift that had researchers checking and re-checking their data. Big cities have seen dips: Between 2007 and 2011, the rate fell 5.5% in New York, 5% in Philadelphia,...

MRI Machines
Go Super-Size for
Chubbier US

Sep 18, 2012 11:20 AM CDT

MRI Machines Go Super-Size for Chubbier US

Accommodating obesity 'a design requirement'

(Newser) - As the US gets heavier, makers of MRI machines and other medical scanners are rushing to cope—by literally enlarging their equipment. But for some Americans, the process isn't going fast enough. The Wall Street Journal recounts the story of a 630-pound Maryland mechanic who's been out of...

City Residents
Slimmer Than
Rural Ones

study says

Sep 14, 2012 11:10 AM CDT

City Residents Slimmer Than Rural Ones

Manual labor is down, but diets haven't changed, says study

(Newser) - In the US, there's plenty of obesity to go around, but the problem is significantly worse in rural areas compared to urban ones, a new study finds. Some 39% of rural Americans are obese, versus 33% of urbanites, a researcher tells ABC News . Rather than depending on self-reporting, researchers...

Are Antibiotics Making Us Fat?

Aug 23, 2012 1:02 PM CDT

Are Antibiotics Making Us Fat?

Scientists hypothesize that killing stomach bacteria is a bad thing

(Newser) - Antibiotics may make you get well, but are they also making you get fat? Some microbiologists think they might be, by killing off gut bacteria that would otherwise help digest food, Wired reports. In a study published this week, NYU researchers found that infants exposed to antibiotics before they were...

CDC Unveils Latest Fat Map

Aug 14, 2012 2:24 AM CDT

CDC Unveils Latest Fat Map

Obesity tops 20% in every state

(Newser) - More than a fifth of adults in Colorado are fat, but it's still the skinniest state in the nation, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention map that highlights the scale of America's obesity epidemic. The CDC's 2011 map, based on a continuous, wide-ranging...

Scientists Find New
Obesity Clue in Tanzania

Jul 26, 2012 11:31 AM CDT

Scientists Find New Obesity Clue in Tanzania

It turns out Westerners and hunter-gatherers have same metabolic rate

(Newser) - Scientists have long thought our hunter-gatherer ancestors burned through many more calories than the TV-watching, desk-sitting people of today, but a new study suggests that may not be the case—and the finding could inform our very modern-day battle against obesity. Researchers studied 30 members of the still-hunter-gatherer Hadza tribe...

Obesity as
Bad for Planet
as Overpopulation

study says

Jun 18, 2012 8:37 AM CDT

Obesity as Bad for Planet as Overpopulation

And North America is the biggest culprit

(Newser) - We may worry that too many people are draining the planet's resources—but in fact, "it's not how many mouths there are to feed, it's how much flesh there is," a researcher says. His study shows that if every country in the world were as...

1 in 3 Homeless Are Obese

study says

Jun 5, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

1 in 3 Homeless Are Obese

Malnutrition might be expected, but Boston study found just 1.6% underweight

(Newser) - If you imagine the homeless as emaciated waifs, think again: In today's America, even the destitute are fat. A new study of Boston's homeless population found that 65.7% were overweight, and half of those—or about 1 in 3 overall—were obese, Wired reports. "This study...

Culprit for Epidemics of Autism, Obesity: Fungicide?

study says

May 22, 2012 12:14 PM CDT

Culprit for Epidemics of Autism, Obesity: Fungicide?

New study suggests chemicals' effects linger for generations

(Newser) - Can the recent increase in autism, obesity, and anxiety disorders be traced back to chemical exposure? That's what a new study involving pregnant rats suggests, AFP reports. Pregnant rats who were exposed to the common fungicide vinclozolin had descendants who, three generations later, weighed more, were less sociable, and...

Why Food Must
Be Regulated
Like Tobacco

OPINION

May 15, 2012 3:21 PM CDT

Why Food Must Be Regulated Like Tobacco

David Lazarus: It's time to stop the obesity epidemic

(Newser) - The obesity news just keeps getting worse, the latest example being the study warning that 4 in 10 American adults could be obese in less than 20 years. "Americans eat too damn much," writes David Lazarus in the Los Angeles Times . And though it may be distasteful to...

42% of Americans Will Be Obese by 2030

STUDY SAYS

May 8, 2012 1:01 AM CDT

42% of Americans Will Be Obese by 2030

But growth in obesity rate has slowed down significantly

(Newser) - The once-explosive growth in the proportion of Americans who are obese has slowed, but it's still expected to grow to 42% by 2030, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control study. The study found that if the obesity rate stays at the current level—34%—then some $550...

Black Women:
Fat Because
We Want
to Be

opinion

May 6, 2012 2:20 PM CDT

Black Women: Fat Because We Want to Be

Alice Randall: 80% of black women 'seriously overweight'

(Newser) - Most Americans need discipline in order to battle today's obesity epidemic—but in black America, "what we need is a body-culture revolution," writes Alice Randall in the New York Times . Even experts "don’t understand something crucial about black women and fat: many black women are...

Why We're Losing
the Obesity Fight

OPINION

Apr 17, 2012 1:01 PM CDT

Why We're Losing the Obesity Fight

Frank Bruni says we're not appreciating the gravity of our weight problem

(Newser) - It's time to stop sneering at the morbidly obese as "the undisciplined miscreants of modern American life," writes Frank Bruni in the New York Times ; they're just doing what comes naturally. Bruni, riffing off the upcoming book and HBO documentary The Weight of the Nation, argues...

America's Fattest City Is ...

Mar 31, 2012 10:00 AM CDT

America's Fattest City Is ...

McAllen, Texas, has No. 1 obesity rate

(Newser) - America is the fattest country in the world , and Mississippi the fattest state . But where are the most overweight cities? Surprisingly, none of the top 10 are in Mississippi. Instead, the metro area of McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas, close to the border with Mexico, tips the scales at No. 1 with...

First Diet Drug in 13 Years? FDA to Start Review

Feb 17, 2012 1:32 PM CST

First Diet Drug in 13 Years? FDA to Start Review

Qnexa will be reviewed by the agency next week

(Newser) - If the FDA gives its blessing, a drug named Qnexa could become a very big deal. A preliminary review begins next week on the pill, which could become the first diet drug approved in 13 years, reports the New York Times . It's nowhere near a sure thing: Two years...