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obesity epidemic
Woman Makes Slimming Down Mississippi Town Her Mission [VIDEO]
By not in system - AOL NewsAlthough two-thirds of Mississippi residents are overweight, one woman has made it her mission to encourage her town to lose the weight -- and the bad reputation. ...
Feds: Fat Americans Need More Space on Buses
By David Moye - AOL NewsMichelle Obama's war on obesity is getting some support from the Federal Transit Administration: It wants to beef up bus-testing regulations to account for the increased poundage of its passengers. After studying the fats, er, facts, the FTA is proposing to change the average passenger weight from 150 to 175 pounds and the floor space occupied per standing passenger from 1.5 to 1.75 square feet. Karen Bleier, AFP / Getty Images Americans are getting bigger, so the Federal Transit Administration wants to change bus-testing regulations to reflect this. And because passengers are ...
McDonald's Grows Up: Coffee, Wi-Fi Supplanting Junk Food Image
By Delia Lloyd - Politics DailyWell, it would appear that the New York Times magazine isn't the only iconic American institution undergoing a makeover. McDonald's is changing its menu and ambiance to project a more grown-up image. Over the past few years, the fast-food chain has embraced a whole new look and feel. On the menu end of things, it has begun offering healthier fare like salads, Asian chicken sandwiches and fruit smoothies. And on the appearance end of things, McDonald's has also upgraded its look, offering free Wi-Fi, comfortable seats, funky lighting fixtures and cool wall hangings. Front and center in this ...
Obama Pushes Effort to Protect Public Lands
By not in system - AOL NewsWASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama says a new administration effort to protect public lands will put people back to work in tourism and recreation and help Americans stay healthier by encouraging outdoor activities. The initiative largely incorporates existing programs under a new name, "America's Great Outdoors." Still, it aims to double federal spending on land and water conservation to $900 million. The money would be used to buy private land for public use and provide grants to states. Obama said it is important to conserve public lands, even in tough economic times, and that the new ...
Obamas Pledge School Meals Will Be More Nutritious
By Dana Chivvis - AOL News
(Dec. 13) -- It takes a mere 6 cents per meal to increase the number of fruits and vegetables on the lunch menus of the nation's public schools, according to advocates of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law today at Harriet Tubman Elementary School in Washington, D.C. The legislation will provide that extra money -- amounting to a pledge of $4.5 billion over 10 years -- among other provisions, such as an extension of national nutritional standards to school foods sold outside cafeterias in places like vending machines and school ...
Contrave Hearing: FDA Recommends Approval of Weight-Loss Drug
By J. Richard - AOL News(Dec. 7) -- Is losing weight as simple as taking a pill? The answer may be yes. After a long hearing today, a Food and Drug Administration advisory committee recommended the approval of Contrave, a weight-loss drug developed by La Jolla, Calif.-based pharmaceutical company Orexigen. The FDA is expected to make its final decision on the drug by the end of January, and rulings usually follow the committee's recommendations, The New York Times reported. So what is the drug exactly? Contrave is a combination of two prescription drugs that have been available for years, according to Dawn ...
Rush Limbaugh Weighs In on Twinkie Diet
By Steven Hoffer - AOL News(Nov. 9) -- No doctor is going to tell Rush Limbaugh to lay off the pastries. The conservative radio host may, in fact, treat himself to a double helping of the sweet stuff in light of new research from Kansas State University professor of human nutrition Mark Haub, who lost 27 pounds over two months while dieting on a daily ration of 1,800 calories of Twinkies, Little Debbie snacks and other delectable junk food. On his radio program on Monday, Limbaugh was beside himself while weighing in on the findings, rejoicing over his anti-exercise stance and citing former Indianapolis Colts wide ...
Could Obesity Be Caused by Extra-Small Brain Region?
By Katie Drummond - AOL News(Oct. 28) -- Obese teens and lean ones exhibit a key difference in brain composition that might explain either the cause of obesity, or further illuminate a health risk of carrying extra body weight. In a study of 91 teenagers, 54 of whom were categorized as "obese" according to the body mass index, researchers determined that obesity was related to the size of a brain region implicated in impulsive behavior and self-monitoring. Those regions were relatively bigger among leaner teenagers, and smaller in obese study participants. All the study participants were given questionnaires on their ...
Study: Obese Americans Suffer 'Body Size Misperception'
By Katie Drummond - AOL News(Oct. 21) -- For all the talk about a war on obesity, few battles are being won -- and researchers suspect it might have something to do with self-image and how those warned about their weight see themselves. In an evaluation of 2,056 people, all of them with body mass indexes that exceeded 30 -- the benchmark for obesity -- researchers determined that 8 percent of participants lacked an understanding of healthy body weight. After seeing nine images of different bodies, ranging from thin to obese, participants were asked to choose the image that best reflected an ideal weight and another ...
Study: Quarter of US Military Applicants Are Too Fat to Fight
By Katie Drummond - AOL News(Oct. 15) -- There's no question that America's youth are squeezing into bigger jeans than they did a decade ago. But a new study on military recruits offers a startling reminder that today's young adults are increasingly too fat to fight. Researchers at Cornell crunched the numbers on military applicants and concluded that 25 percent are deemed unfit to serve because they're overweight or obese. Using estimates from a civilian study, the team also estimated that from 2007 to 2008, 5.7 million men and 16.5 million women within recruitment-age range (17 to 39) were ineligible for military ...
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