obesity

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Obesity Costs Swell to 10% of Health Spending

(Newser) - The medical cost of obesity has almost doubled over the last decade to $147 billion annually, a new study finds. Treating obesity-related disorders now accounts for almost 10% of the total spending on health care, reports Bloomberg. Each obese person costs the government or insurers an average of $1,429—...

Let's Do to Big Food What We Did to Big Tobacco
Let's Do to Big Food
What We Did to Big Tobacco
OPINION
Jul 24, 2009 11:30 AM CDT

Let's Do to Big Food What We Did to Big Tobacco

'Big Food' and 'Big Tobacco' have a lot in common

(Newser) - After decades of anti-smoking campaigns, Big Tobacco has been brought low and ashtrays have “gone the way of spittoons,” writes Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe. It’s high time we gave Big Food the same treatment. “Now that two-thirds of Americans are overweight, the lethal effects...

Fat TV Is Ratings Heavyweight
 Fat TV Is Ratings Heavyweight 
Jul 22, 2009 2:57 PM CDT

Fat TV Is Ratings Heavyweight

Dance Your Ass Off is latest weight-centric hit

(Newser) - As American waistlines continue to expand, a crop of fat-centric TV shows has emerged to cater to viewers who struggle with their weight, CNN reports. From NBC’s The Biggest Loser, to Lifetime’s Drop Dead Diva, Style’s Ruby, and Fox’s upcoming More to Love, networks have embraced...

I Think, Therefore I Overeat
 I Think, 
 Therefore 
 I Overeat 
GLOSSIES
Jul 18, 2009 8:09 PM CDT

I Think, Therefore I Overeat

New fleet of books tries to explain American obesity

(Newser) - As the waistlines of Americans continue to expand, so is the genre of literature seeking to explain why, Elizabeth Kolbert writes in the New Yorker, profiling no fewer than seven books on the subject—including one that endorses “fat power.” The Fat Studies Reader argues that the real...

Can a Size 18 Surgeon General Inspire a Fat Nation?

No: Benjamin can inspire those of above-average weight

(Newser) - Regina Benjamin is supremely qualified to be surgeon general—except on one count, argue some: “The anti-fat brigade wonder if a country plagued by obesity should have an above average-weight woman speaking to public health,” writes Frances Kissling in Salon. Yes, we should, Kissling says. Countless Americans are...

Fat Kids Dupe Docs, Rig Pedometers

(Newser) - Researchers couldn't understand why the pedometers they had attached to obese children showed they got plenty of exercise—until they realized they were counting dog steps, reports the BBC. Several of the London 11- and 12-year-olds taking part in the study simply attached the devices to their pets' collars.

Poverty, Heat, Infrastructure Make Southerners Fat

(Newser) - The American South is the most obese region in the country because of a “perfect storm” of factors, Claire Suddath writes for Time. Mississippi, whose 33% adult obesity rate makes it the fattest state, is also the poorest, with 21% of people living under the poverty line. That means...

Mississippi Still Porkiest, but Alabama Closing In

Obesity up in 23 states: report

(Newser) - Mississippi's still king of cellulite, but an ominous tide is rolling toward the Medicare doctors in neighboring Alabama: obese baby boomers. It's time for the nation's annual obesity rankings and, outside of fairly lean Colorado, there's little good news. Obesity rates among adults rose in 23 states over the past...

Marriage Makes You Fat: Study
 Marriage Makes You Fat: Study 
Jun 29, 2009 1:41 PM CDT

Marriage Makes You Fat: Study

(Newser) - As couples grow more committed to each other, their waistlines often grow as well, Time reports. During their first few years of matrimony, couples are twice as likely to become obese as their dating peers, according to a new study being published next month. If they merely move in with...

Overweight People Live Longer: Study

(Newser) - A few extra pounds can actually be good for you, the Globe and Mail reports. A recent long-term study of Canadian health records shows that people classified as overweight—with a Body Mass Index of 25 to 30—are 17% less likely to die than those with “normal” BMI,...

Add a Little Weight, Gain 6-7 Years: Study

(Newser) - Being a touch on the heavy side could help you live an extra few years, Japanese researchers say. People who were a little overweight at 40 lived 6 to 7 years longer than those who were very thin at that age, AFP reports. The very thin had a life expectancy...

Wider Fliers Call for Wider Seats

(Newser) - So-called “passengers of size” have been irritating fellow airline passengers for decades, but lately the scales have tipped decisively against them, the Wall Street Journal reports. Many airlines now require wider travelers to buy two seats, a solution that pleases the skinny, but miffs advocates for the obese. Why,...

Gain Less Pregnancy Weight If Obese: Docs

New guidelines say rising obesity puts mom, baby at risk

(Newser) - Obese women should gain between 11-20 pounds when pregnant, new guidelines urge; the figure is about half what’s recommended for women of normal weight, HealthDay News reports, and reflect concerns about the effect of rising obesity rates on mother and child.

Heart and Gum Disease Linked by Gene: Study

Periodontitis patients should cut out risk factors, scientists say

(Newser) - Scientists have identified a link between gum disease and heart disease, the BBC reports, finding the same genetic variation in a group of patients with heart disease and a group with severe periodontitis. “Now we know for sure that there is a strong genetic link, patients with periodontitis should...

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense
 Soda Tax Makes Good Sense 
OPINION
May 20, 2009 10:49 AM CDT

Soda Tax Makes Good Sense

(Newser) - The soda tax is a great idea, and its probable death at the hands of lobbyists serves to highlight all the problems with our tax system, writes David Leonhardt in the New York Times. The current system doesn’t raise enough money, and it’s “complex in all the...

Obese People Have More Flu Complications

In H1N1 patients, fat had same effects as diabetes, heart disease

(Newser) - Scientists at the CDC have noticed a new trend in cases of swine flu: "We were surprised by the frequency of obesity among the severe cases that we've been tracking," says an epidemiologist, adding that it might be cause to make obese people a priority for a...

Vogue Editor Tells Oprah: Lose 20 Lbs!

(Newser) - Vogue's editor-in-chief gave Oprah Winfrey some advice before she graced the mag's cover in 1998: Lose some weight, babe. Like 20 pounds. "It was a very gentle suggestion," said Anna Wintour in an unaired portion of her 60 Minutes segment last night, Us reports. "I said...

Taller Workers Top Pay Ladder
Taller Workers Top Pay Ladder
May 17, 2009 7:52 PM CDT

Taller Workers Top Pay Ladder

Extra 4 inches adds 2%-3% in hourly wages for women and men, Aussie study says

(Newser) - Taller workers have a leg up when it comes to paychecks, AFP reports. An Australian study has found that every additional 4 inches of height adds 3% to a man's hourly wage and 2% to a woman's. Five inches of extra height earns a man the salary of a worker...

Saudi Crackdown Sends Female Gym Rats to Sidelines

Religious leaders say sports are unfeminine

(Newser) - Though obesity and diabetes are on the rise in Saudi Arabia, officials there are cracking down on women-only sports clubs because they lack licenses—which no government body will actually issue. Leaders say their opposition is based on Islam, but, Caryle Murphy writes for GlobalPost, it stems as much from...

Congress Weighs Soda Tax
 Congress Weighs Soda Tax 

May 12, 2009 7:41 AM CDT

Congress Weighs Soda Tax

A few cents on every can could improve health

(Newser) - With health care reform expected to run the government around $1.2 trillion, Congress is looking for ways to pay for it. A new idea bouncing around Capitol Hill is a soda tax, reports the Wall Street Journal. “Soda is clearly one of the most harmful products in the...

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