Weight Management

Crowdsourcing may help dieters stick to healthy foods and lose weight, as participants are as good as trained experts at correctly rating the healthiness of foods and giving feedback on them, indicates research published online in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. Being able to track energy intake and getting personalized feedback on diet have been … [Read more...]

University of Michigan Health System researchers revealed an obesity paradox among older Americans suffering from sepsis. In a study of 1,404 Medicare beneficiaries, heavier patients were more likely to survive sepsis, a life-threatening infection that can lead to a stay in a hospital's intensive care unit. The findings, published in the August issue of Critical Care … [Read more...]

In a study of 1,979 overweight and obese adults in the UK, people who lost 5% or more of their initial body weight over four years showed significant changes in markers of physical health, but were more likely to report depressed mood than those who stayed within 5% of their original weight. The research, published in PLOS ONE, highlights the need to consider mental health … [Read more...]

A Purdue University study shows that Notch signaling, a key biological pathway tied to development and cell communication, also plays an important role in the onset of obesity and Type 2 diabetes, a discovery that offers new targets for treatment. A research team led by Shihuan Kuang, associate professor of animal sciences, found that blocking Notch signaling in the fat … [Read more...]

Positive emotions -- even those viewed through a distorted lens -- may play an exacerbating role in fueling eating disorders like anorexia nervosa, which has a death rate 12 times higher for females between the ages of 15 and 24 than all other causes of death combined, according to a Rutgers study. In research published in Clinical Psychological Science, Edward Selby, an … [Read more...]

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have discovered that women suffering from anorexia nervosa and those who are obese respond differently to taste, a finding that could lead to new treatments for the eating disorders. "Taste is an important driver of food intake and invariably associated with distinct neuronal patters in the insula, the brain's … [Read more...]

High prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are associated with higher Body Mass Index (BMI) in young children in low- and middle-income households, according to American University researchers in the journal Pediatrics. "There is a small, but significant, association between the prices of fruit and vegetables and higher child BMI," said Taryn Morrissey, the study's lead … [Read more...]

Researchers from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that losing even a modest amount of weight can reap significant rewards, including lower blood pressure, lower blood sugar, improved sleep, and fewer aches and pains. But losing weight is difficult and maintaining that loss over years is even harder. The vast majority of those who lose weight gain … [Read more...]

Preventing weight gain, obesity, and ultimately diabetes could be as simple as keeping a nuclear receptor from being activated in a small part of the brain, according to a new study by Yale School of Medicine researchers. Published in the Aug. 1 issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI), the study showed that when the researchers blocked the effects of the nuclear … [Read more...]

People who have their stomach size surgically reduced move around more and easier after weight loss surgery, a study has found. Patients are able to walk further and are more physically active in the first year following the procedure, according to the research. Although patients have an increased step count (they walk further), the intensity of the exertion is lower in … [Read more...]

A new study led by University of Kentucky researchers and published in Nature shows a potential new biological marker for the development of obesity and a possible target for obesity prevention and treatment. Neurotensin (NT), a peptide produced mainly in the gastrointestinal tract and central nervous system, is released with fat ingestion and facilitates fatty acid … [Read more...]

The body has different types of adipose tissue that perform various metabolic tasks: white, beige and brown. For the first time, researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and Harvard Medical School have successfully identified specific surface proteins that can help distinguish between the three types. This discovery makes it possible to develop new treatment options for … [Read more...]

In a study appearing in the May 10, 2016 issue of JAMA, Børge G. Nordestgaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., of Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark and colleagues examined whether the body mass index (BMI) value that is associated with the lowest all-cause mortality has increased in the general population over a period of 3 decades. Previous findings indicate that while average … [Read more...]

After years of increases, the rates of children who are overweight or obese are declining in Canada, according to new research in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) Between 1978 and 2004, there was a significant increase in Canada in the rates of children who are obese or overweight aged 2 to 17 years, from 23.3% to 34.7%, using the World Health Organization's (WHO) … [Read more...]

People who are lean for life have the lowest mortality, while those with a heavy body shape from childhood up to middle age have the highest mortality, reveal findings of a large study published in The BMJ. Obesity has become a public health crisis in most countries worldwide. While high body mass index in adulthood has been linked to increased mortality risk, uncertainty … [Read more...]

A new link has been identified between obesity in childhood and the lowering of the age of puberty. The research which discovered the link, carried out at Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. The study focuses on a protein called sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), the … [Read more...]

The findings of a new study suggest two ways to effectively address the problem that birth control pills may not work as well in obese women, compared to women of a normal body mass index. Birth control pills are a one-size-fits-all method, researchers say, but as the population has increased in weight, concern has grown about how well the pill works for obese women. Studies … [Read more...]

Primary care treatment of overweight and obese preschoolers works better when treatment targets both parent and child compared to when only the child is targeted, according to research published this week in Pediatrics and conducted at the University at Buffalo and Women and Children's Hospital of Buffalo. Children enrolled in this study were overweight or obese and had one … [Read more...]

A probiotic that prevents obesity could be on the horizon. Bacteria that produce a therapeutic compound in the gut inhibit weight gain, insulin resistance and other adverse effects of a high-fat diet in mice, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered. "Of course it's hard to speculate from mouse to human," said senior investigator Sean Davies, Ph.D., assistant … [Read more...]

Unlocking the secrets to better treating the pernicious disorders of obesity and dementia reside in the brain, according to a paper from American University's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience. In the paper, researchers make the case for treating obesity with therapies aimed at areas of the brain responsible for memory and learning. Furthermore, treatments that focus on the … [Read more...]

Scientists funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute have identified strategies that might help young adults (aged 18 to 35 years) avoid weight gain. Their study, published May 2 in JAMA Internal Medicine, could help prevent obesity during this period, when individuals typically gain the most excess weight of their lifetimes. As many in this age group are … [Read more...]

A new study has identified two self-regulation strategies effective in preventing weight gain among young adults. At the end of the three-year study, researchers showed that young adults taught self-regulation strategies were more successful at preventing weight gain than those in the control group and 50 percent fewer had become obese. By age group, young adults are gaining … [Read more...]

A 25 percent calorie restriction over two years by adults who were not obese was linked to better health-related quality of life, according to the results of a randomized clinical trial published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. Calorie restriction can increase longevity in many species but concerns remain about potential negative effects of calorie restriction in … [Read more...]

Researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital have developed nanoparticles that can deliver antiobesity drugs directly to fat tissue. Overweight mice treated with these nanoparticles lost 10 percent of their body weight over 25 days, without showing any negative side effects. The drugs work by transforming white adipose tissue, which is made of fat-storing cells, into … [Read more...]

Among the multiple factors that can cause obesity is an abnormal neurocognitive or behavioral response to food cues. The brain becomes wired to seek -- and expect -- greater rewards from food, which leads to unhealthful overeating. Attention modification programs, which train a person to ignore or disregard specific, problematic cues or triggers, have been used effectively … [Read more...]

The South Pacific archipelago of Samoa and American Samoa harbors a global health mystery that may seem both remote and extreme but could foretell trends in obesity and related conditions across much of the developing world. About three-quarters of the U.S. territory's adult population is obese, the highest rate in the world with independent Samoa quickly catching up. Rates … [Read more...]

A heartier appetite is linked to more rapid infant growth and to genetic predisposition to obesity, according to two papers published in JAMA Pediatrics. The studies investigated how weight gain is linked to two key aspects of appetite, namely lower satiety responsiveness (a reduced urge to eat in response to internal 'fullness' signals) and higher food responsiveness (an … [Read more...]

A University of California, San Diego School of Medicine-led study suggests that parents of obese children often do not recognize the potentially serious health consequences of childhood weight gain or the importance of daily physical activity in helping their child reach a healthy weight. The study is published online in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and … [Read more...]

In a cost-effectiveness analysis of commercial diet programs and pills, the Weight Watchers program and the drug Qsymia showed the best value for the money. The Jenny Craig regimen generated the greatest weight loss, but was also the most expensive option tested, according to researchers at Duke-National University of Singapore (NUS) Graduate Medical School. The findings, … [Read more...]