Parental weight strongly influences thinness in children - Children with thinner parents are three times more likely to be thin than children whose parents are overweight, according to a new study by UCL researchers. [Physorg]

Overweight or obese kids at almost three times greater risk of high blood pressure - Overweight or obese children are at three times greater risk for high blood pressure than children of normal weight, according to researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine. [Physorg]

Interesting results. Going with the previous work of volumetrics, you would assume that we would eat less with a SMALLER fork. Yes, it is only 1 study, but interesting nonetheless.

Diners who use big forks eat less: study - Researchers have found a new way to control the amount we eat: use a bigger fork. While numerous studies have focused on portion sizes and their influence on how much we eat, researchers Arul and Himanshu Mishra and Tamara Masters looked at how bite sizes affect quantities ingested. [Physorg]

Interesting Study? What does everyone think about this?

In treating morbid obesity does it have a place? Or is it a short term approach that isn't worth the high risks?  For those that reduce weight after surgery, are they now 'healthier' or are they just 'skinnier'?

Health risks and financial costs associated with obesity are well documented so putting your personal opinions aside, should bariatric surgery be considered for the mildly obese, morbidly obese, neither or both?

Another great research study. We need more and more of these to show how, and why caffeine drinks should DEFINITELY be restricted to all children and adolescents under 16. The habits they are creating are leading to a life time of poor hydration and sweet cravings that once developed and established for many years, become hard to break

Without doubt food addiction, food habits and the associated rewards are what makes improving or changing your health so difficult for many people. Glad for more studies to be done in this area if that is what it will take to start acknowledging this incredibly important issue. 

Evidence for 'food addiction' in humans - Research to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), the foremost society for research into all aspects of eating and drinking behavior, suggests that people can become dependent on highly palatable foods and engage in a compulsive pattern of consumption, similar to the behaviors we observe in drug addicts and those with alcoholism. [Physorg]

Obesity Epidemic In USA Continues To Spread - A Serious Problem In The South - Despite new initiatives aimed at various sectors of society, including schools and restaurants, obesity rates did not drop in one single US state last year, and rose in 16 of them. Twelve states have 30%+ obesity rates today, compared to just one in 2007, according to "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011"... [Medical News]

I like this line from the attached article.

"On a positive note, the authors conclude that women who never smoke and are not obese have relatively low mortality rates regardless of their social position."  

Obesity is a killer in nonsmoking women - Obesity is an important contributor to premature death in women who have never smoked, especially among women in low income groups, finds research published in the British Medical Journal today. [Physorg]

Another 2 studies showing the lack of benefits of artificial sweeteners in regards to weight loss. Backing up previous studies, the evidence is slowly becoming more ineluctable. (waiting for the counter study, indirectly funded by the soft drink industry)

Two studies point to the illusion of the artificial sweeteners - In the constant battle to lose inches or at least stay the same, we reach for the diet soda. Two studies presented June 25 and 27 at the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions in San Diego suggest this might be self-defeating behavior. [Physorg]

Creating Healthy Behaviors Can Ward Off Obesity In Babies, Children - Often when mother's birth big babies, many feel it is a sign of strength, exceptional health and promises of a long term survival. However, sometimes larger babies never lose the "baby weight" and go on to be quite obese. There are things parents can do by instilling habits that can lead to healthy years coming up for offspring including limiting TV time... [Medical News]