Weight Management

Researchers conducted a systematic review of randomized clinical trials comparing the long-term effectiveness of low-fat and higher-fat dietary interventions on weight loss. The effectiveness of low-fat diet on weight-loss has been debated for decades, and hundreds of randomized clinical trials aimed at evaluating this issue have been conducted with mixed results. … [Read more...]

Your job could be having an effect on your waistline, suggests new research published in Social Science & Medicine -- and it could be bad or good news depending on the sort of control you have over your work. The new study, by researchers at the University of Adelaide, Central Queensland University and the University of South Australia, shows that having skills and the … [Read more...]

Danish researchers have found that the ability to produce insulin is pivotal to the success of weight loss surgery in patients with type 2-diabetes. The study provides a better point of departure for advise and determining which patients will benefit from surgery. Type 2-diabetes is a serious complication for people with obesity. Obesity affects the economy as well as the … [Read more...]

A world-first study by QUT's Sleep in Early Childhood Research Group has revealed pre-schoolers exposed to more light earlier in day tend to weigh more. Cassandra Pattinson, a PhD student and her colleagues studied 48 children aged three to five from six Brisbane childcare centres over a two week period, measuring each child's sleep, activity and light exposure along with … [Read more...]

Delivering the hormone leptin directly to the brain through gene therapy aids weight loss without the significant side effect of bone loss, according to new collaborative research from Oregon State University and University of Florida. Rapid or significant weight loss through dieting can trigger bone loss. Loss of bone density, in turn, can lead to increased susceptibility … [Read more...]

In the study, researchers showed a protein called NLRP1 is switched on when increased dietary energy (food) intake triggers the cell to become 'unstable'. Activating the protein sets off a chain of events that instructs cells to use up their energy or fat stores to prevent excess fat accumulating. The research, led by Dr Seth Masters from Melbourne's Walter and Eliza Hall … [Read more...]

Kids who receive antibiotics throughout the course of their childhoods gain weight significantly faster than those who do not, according to new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research. The findings, published online Oct. 21 in the International Journal of Obesity, suggest that antibiotics may have a compounding effect throughout childhood on body mass index … [Read more...]

Being overweight or obese does not lead to improved survival among patients with type 2 diabetes. The large-scale study led by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers refutes previous studies that have suggested that, for people with diabetes, being overweight or obese could lead to lower mortality for people compared with normal-weight persons -- the so-called … [Read more...]

A common weight-loss operation called sleeve gastrectomy can make testosterone levels normal in obese men, according to new findings presented at the 2015 Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons. Surgeons from Stanford University in California reported that after undergoing this bariatric surgical procedure, obese patients with low testosterone levels experienced … [Read more...]

While high levels of the satiety hormone leptin don't help obese individuals lose weight, they do appear to directly contribute to their cardiovascular disease, researchers report. "With obesity, leptin cannot tell our brain to stop eating, but it can still tell our brain to increase the activity of the cardiovascular system," said Dr. Eric Belin de Chantemele, physiologist … [Read more...]

A study of nearly 400 people finds that those who exhibited more 'dispositional mindfulness', or awareness of and attention to their current feelings and thoughts, were less likely to be obese and had less abdominal fat than people who did not exhibit as much of that awareness. Dispositional mindfulness is not the same as mindfulness meditation, in which people make a … [Read more...]

In recent years, Florida State University College of Medicine researchers Angelina R. Sutin and Antonio Terracciano have found that people who experience weight discrimination are more likely to become or remain obese, to develop chronic health problems and to have a lower satisfaction with life. Now they've found that people who report being subjected to weight … [Read more...]

The food on your counter can predict your weight -- especially if it's cereal or soft drinks. Over 200 American kitchens were photographed to determine if the food sitting out on counters could predict the weight of the woman living in each home. The new Cornell study found that women who had breakfast cereal sitting on their counters weighed 20-lbs more than their neighbors … [Read more...]

High levels of total cholesterol are linked to a heightened risk of tendon abnormalities and pain, reveals a pooled analysis of the available evidence published online in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. Chronic low level inflammation, prompted by cholesterol build-up in immune system cells, may have a key role, the findings suggest. Tendons are the tough fibres … [Read more...]

Genes involved in schizophrenia and obesity have been highlighted in a new UCL study, which could lead to a better understanding of the DNA variants which affect risk of these conditions and aid the development of improved strategies for prevention and treatment. The research by the UCL Genetics Institute, published in Annals of Human Genetics, involved analysing over one … [Read more...]

Researchers with the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine (SOM) and the Marshall University Institute for Interdisciplinary Research (MIIR) have identified a mechanism for blocking the signal by which the cellular sodium-potassium pump amplifies oxidants (reactive oxygen species). These oxidants lead to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Their research was … [Read more...]

A group of researchers, led by Professor Richard Holt at the University of Southampton, are to investigate whether people with schizophrenia or first episode psychosis are able to reduce their weight through a structured education program. People with schizophrenia are two to three times more likely to be overweight or obese. As well as a range of adverse physical health … [Read more...]

  While a healthy lifestyle and "good genes" are known to help prevent obesity, new research published on September 15 in Immunity indicates that certain aspects of the immune system may also play an important role. In the new study, scientists observed that mice lacking a particular type of immune cell gained excess weight and developed metabolic abnormalities even … [Read more...]

  A study evaluating the effects of bariatric surgery on obese women most at risk for cancer has found that the weight-loss surgery slashed participants' weight by a third and eliminated precancerous uterine growths in those that had them. Other effects included improving patients' physical quality of life, improving their insulin levels and ability to use glucose -- … [Read more...]

  There's another burst of seat-bouncing, giggling and shouting in researcher Rebecca Hasson's simulated classroom at the University of Michigan as Hasson catches study participant Marcus Patton cheating at Sorry! Marcus isn't having it. "How do you call that cheating?" demands Patton, an 11-year-old cyclone of energy. Patton admits it's tough to sit still. Like … [Read more...]

More than 30-percent of Americans are considered obese.  The extra fat puts them at risk for diabetes, stroke and heart attack. But are all obese people unhealthy? Some could actually be healthier than their skinny friends. Jennifer Boeving told Ivanhoe, “My thinnest, I was probably 115, my biggest, probably 215.” Jennifer was featured in the HBO special The Weight of The … [Read more...]

A direct correlation has been found between more severe forms of obesity in children and related risk factors for developing heart disease and diabetes--particularly in boys. It is estimated that there are more than 3 million children in the United States who are severely obese. More than 3 million children in the United States who are severely obese may be at a higher risk … [Read more...]

Teenagers and adults who go to bed late on weeknights are more likely to gain weight than their peers who hit the hay earlier, according to a new study from the University of California, Berkeley, that has found a correlation between sleep and body mass index. Berkeley researchers analyzed longitudinal data from a nationally representative cohort of more than 3,300 youths … [Read more...]

  A breakthrough study shows that fat tissue is innervated and that direct stimulation of neurons in fat is sufficient to induce fat breakdown. These results set up the stage for developing novel anti-obesity therapies. Weight is controlled by the hormone leptin, which acts in the brain to regulate food intake and metabolism. However, it was largely unknown until … [Read more...]

In rich countries, obesity is more common among the lower educated, whilst in poor countries, obesity is more common among the higher educated. This was shown in a new study from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, which confirms earlier research. Previous studies have shown that the number of people with obesity increases with the gross domestic product (GDP) of a … [Read more...]

Obesity is a leading cause of complications and death in children suffering from Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS), yet there are few effective treatment options for these patients. In a new study published in Surgery for Obesity and Related Disease researchers found that bariatric surgery, specifically laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG), resulted in substantial weight loss with … [Read more...]

Women who are obese have a higher risk and a worse prognosis for breast cancer, but the reasons why remain unclear. A Cornell study published this month in Science Translational Medicine explains how obesity changes the consistency of breast tissue in ways that are similar to tumors, thereby promoting disease. The study of mice and women shows obesity leads to a stiffening … [Read more...]

Young women who play computer games are a new risk group for developing overweight and obesity. This is the finding of a study that includes more than 2,500 Swedes in their twenties. In the current study, around 2,500 young adults between the ages of 20 and 24 responded to a survey on three different occasions: in 2007, 2008 and 2012. Researchers at Sahlgrenska Academy used … [Read more...]

A study of nearly 1,000 teens found that sexually active obese adolescents were significantly less likely to use contraception than normal weight peers, putting them at higher risk of unintended pregnancy. Obese adolescents who did use contraception were also less likely to use it consistently, according to the University of Michigan Health System study that appears in the … [Read more...]