health.am

For years doctors have used the body mass index (BMI), a ratio of height and weight, to characterize the clinical weight status of their patients.

The lower the number, the presumption goes,…

Four of every 10 obesity surgery patients develop a complication, such as a hernia, within 6 months of leaving the hospital, according to a new study by HHS’…

A diet rich in carbohydrates with a low glycemic index appears to be more effective in reducing fat mass and lowering the chances of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) than…

Sisters Lorena Garcia, 39, and Alma Garcia, 41, were well aware of the toll that morbid obesity had taken on their health. Alma was suffering from high blood pressure, diabetes and thyroid disease…

Glow in the dark yoghurt. Fruit strips that are mostly sugar. For parents facing the back-to-school lunch crunch, it’s hard to decide what to buy. And food manufacturers aren’t making…

As students who dieted and gained 20-20 hindsight, a class of third-year Tennessee Tech University students studying nutrition under the guidance of Cathy Cunningham, a human ecology professor, came up…

A study led by a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher sheds light on how the brain chemical serotonin, when spurred by diet drugs such as Fen-phen, works…

The weight-loss drug Meridia may be a safe, effective treatment for severely overweight children as young as 12, researchers reported Monday.

In a study of nearly 500 obese 12- to 16-year-olds,…

Although technically more challenging, laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, a common type of stomach bypass operation, provides greater weight loss in severely obese patients than does placing a plastic band around…

The weight loss medication sibutramine, when combined with behavior therapy, allowed hundreds of very obese adolescents to lose an average of 14 pounds over a year, according to…

Researchers in the U.S. are suggesting that women who are overweight at the age of 18 have a higher risk of…

The heavier a woman is at the age of 18, the greater is her risk of dying prematurely, according to a large study published Monday.

Harvard researchers found…

Overweight women who are breastfeeding and want to lose weight can do so safely by decreasing the amount of sweetened drinks, snack foods, sweets and desserts in their diet and…

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that women who develop dementia experience a decline in weight as many as 10 years prior to the onset of memory loss, compared to peers…

When researchers use percent of body fat data to assess obesity rather than body mass index (BMI), the huge gap in obesity rates between African-American and white women,…

According to Canadian scientists the secret to a long active life is to eat less.

University of Calgary researchers say good old-fashioned calorie counting is the…

Experts say that obesity is a disease that now affects nearly one-third of the adult American population, approximately 60 million people, and the latest study on the condition…

Complications of pregnancy in obese women with asthma may have more to do with obesity than with asthma, researchers report in the medical journal Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Lead investigator Dr.…

A few years ago public health researchers linked big-city attributes - like safety concerns and too few recreational facilities - to obesity. But residents of rural communities say their small towns…

Fifty percent of adults with high blood pressure were overweight as children, according to a new study by Tulane University epidemiologist Sathanur Srinivasan. The study links childhood obesity to…

Obesity is grabbing more headlines, but not necessarily crowding out media coverage of the dangers of tobacco use, according to a new study sponsored by a drug company. However…

The health risks for women who are extremely obese may be underestimated as a new study indicates they have a higher prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol…

Obesity is associated with a 25 percent increase in the risk of developing mood and anxiety disorders and a 25 percent decrease in likeliness for substance abuse,…

Obese people prone to binge eating may be less likely to have a successful outcome after weight-loss surgery, research suggests. Exercise habits, however, had relatively little effect.

In a study of…

Think you’ve got your diet under control? You may be gulping down hundreds of unwanted calories without even knowing it.

“Believe it or not, more than 20 percent of…