Health
A Graphic Look at Obesity--Inside and Out
A new detailed picture of the biological consequences of the global weight problem, as visualized by the scientifically tuned illustrations of theVisualMD
Special Report
New Insights into Obesity
As obesity becomes a global health threat, scientists are discovering new details about how this complex affliction affects the body--and about the many factors that bring it on. In a partnership with theVisualMD, here is a look at the fascinating details behind this common condition
Health
Hidden Drivers of Childhood Obesity Operate Behind the Scenes
New research reveals that the obesity epidemic in children has more complex causes than just diet and exercise
How to Fix the Obesity Crisis
Although science has revealed a lot about metabolic processes that influence our weight, the key to success may lie elsewhere
How Obesity Spreads in Social Networks
Shared attitudes might not be the only force shaping women's weight gain in social circles
Mother's Pregnancy Weight Linked to Child's Obesity
As the obesity epidemic accelerates, more researchers are looking to prenatal risk factors
Childhood Obesity Shows Signs of Tapering, but It Remains a Public Health Problem
Defining obesity in children and recalibrating the caloric needs of overweight kids are key steps in shrinking the epidemic, researchers say
Thin Wallets, Thick Waistlines: New USDA Effort Targets Link between Obesity and Food Stamps
Could added incentives and other changes to the federal food stamp program trim rampant obesity rates among low-income groups?
Should "Happy Meals" Aimed at Kids Be Banned to Help Curb Childhood Obesity?
San Francisco may stop restaurants from offering toys as an incentive to buy unhealthy food aimed at kids. One professor of nutrition, food studies and public health says this is a pretty good start, but more can be done
Should Morbid Childhood Obesity Be Considered Child Abuse?
Now that the battle against the bulge in the U.S. has reached the grade school level, plenty of efforts have begun to fight childhood obesity and its dangers.
The Goldilocks Principle of Obesity
For healthy body weight, the brain's reward system may need to be 'just right'
The fattest ape: An evolutionary tale of human obesity
Long before I began stockpiling a rather eclectic collection of curiously homoerotic Men’s Fitness magazines in my closet as a randy teenager, decades still before the global pornification of the 21st -century Internet age, my tender childhood libido found a secret refuge amidst the colorful scenes contained in a handful of old university textbooks placed happily among my parents’ bookshelves in the family room of our home.
Global growth: More than 10 percent of adults worldwide are now obese
It's no secret that along with fast food and other trappings of convenience, unhealthy lifestyles—and their associated health problems—have been spreading across the globe at a rapid clip.
The best body mass indexes for low mortality rates
Want to pencil in a healthy target weight for that New Year's resolution? A new analysis of data from 1.46 million adults has zeroed in on the body mass index (BMI) with the lowest risk of death from any cause—and they aren't the ones that most tilt the scales downward.
Obesity is now just as much of a drag on health as smoking
In case anyone needs a reminder to stick to that New Year's resolution to slim down or kick the cigarette habit, researchers have confirmed that obesity and smoking are still the country's leading contributors to preventable deaths and illnesses.
Genetics in the Gut: Intestinal Microbes Could Drive Obesity and Other Health Issues
The diversity of germs in the human gut suggests microbiota play a greater role in health than previously thought, even driving obesity and other metabolic conditions
Dying to Eat: A Graphical View of U.S. Obesity
Ever-fatter Americans risk much higher rates of disease and death
Nipping Childhood Obesity in the Bud
Mothers' gestational diabetes might later tend to make their kids fatter
Why Calories Taste Delicious: Eating and the Brain
Sugar is still pleasurable even when it isn't sweet—an important clue to the rise of obesity
The World Is Fat: Obesity Now Outweighs Hunger WorldWide
In this episode University of North Carolina Chapel Hill nutrition epidemiologist Barry Popkin discusses the growing problem of obesity, even in developing countries that only recently faced hunger as their primary diet challenge. Popkin is the author of the article The World Is Fat in the September Scientific American. Plus we'll test your knowledge of some recent science in the news. Websites mentioned on this episode include: www.nutrans.org; wwwtheskepticsguide.org
