A COVID-19 patient is connected to life-sustaining devices at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, New York on April 14, 2020.
Jeffrey Basinger/Newsday via Getty Images
The long-term effects of obesity have been well documented, but immediate effects have not been as evident. The coronavirus is changing all that, as those with obesity seem particularly vulnerable.
Doctors have told people who are overweight to exercise more and eat less, when in fact their overweight may be due to genetic or other factors that exercise won’t change.
UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity
Youth sports are a great way for kids to be active, but a recent study showed that after-sports snacks, on average, had 43 more calories than the amount burned during the activity.
Policymakers are responding to a growing recognition of food as medicine.
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Diet-related illnesses cost more than US$1 trillion and immeasurable human suffering and pain. Policymakers are beginning to understand that it makes sense to support food-as-medicine initiatives.
A mix of fats, such as those found in nuts, avocados, salmon and olives, could be healthy and more satisfying.
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When did eating become so confusing? In the 1960s, studies began to show a link between heart disease and dietary fat, and fat was demonized. As it turns out, fat is nuanced and may not be so bad.
Natural supplements may be popular, but they can have dangerous side effects when they include prescription drugs.
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Men who can’t take drugs for erectile dysfunction and overweight people who can’t lose weight sometimes turn to natural supplements, thinking they are safe. Many times, they are not.
Increasing the amount of exercise is one way to use the energy stored in fat cells, or to ‘burn’ fat.
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Trainers and fitness gurus often tell their charges how to ‘burn fat.’ But what does that actually involve? Here’s a Speed Read on something that actually takes a fairly long time.
The drive to overeat may be rooted in survival brain circuits.
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Laurel Mellin, University of California, San Francisco
New weight loss approaches seek to switch off the brain patterns that drive overeating and weight regain. Here’s how that works, and how it could help you.
A woman exercising on a stationary bike. Exercise is an important component of weight loss, most experts agree.
The success rate for weight loss is small, suggesting that a new approach is needed. Here are three things to consider, one of which you may be overlooking.
A Happy Meal with chocolate milk and cheeseburger at a Brandon, Miss., McDonald’s.
AP Photo/Rogello V. Solis
McDonald’s recently announced it will make its Happy Meal, which accounts of about 15 percent of all sales, healthier. Will it make kids healthier? That’s unclear, but it could lower parents’ guilt.
Woman in a doctor’s office. Overweight people often turn to doctors for help, but doctors often do not know how to help.
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We turn to doctors to treat cancer, addiction and high blood pressure. And, they have a lot of training and tools to help us. Why is that not so with obesity?
The Wizard of Oz promised results he could not deliver but was convincing in his presentation. Diet wizards have done the same for decades.
Insomnia Cured Here/Flickr.com
Dieting fads have been around for more than a century, but none of them has been shown to curb obesity long-term. The good news is that scientific evidence is revealing treatments that do work.
Pet obesity often says more about an owner’s relationship with their pet than the animal itself.
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More than half of dogs and cats around the globe are overweight. Are well-intentioned owners to blame?
A woman exercising. Thousands of people will be doing the same this week in an effort to lose weight, a perennial resolution.
UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Despite the efforts of millions of Americans, obesity rates continue to climb. Why is it so hard to lose weight and to keep it off? It’s a lot more complicated than just pushing back the plate.
A man who is overweight walking alone in a park. Walking with a doctor could be helpful for overweight patients.
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity
Health care providers often recommend exercise to overweight people as a way to lose weight, but that often does not work. Injuries can occur, and frustration can mount. Can walking with them work?
A plate of fattening food is harder for some people to resist than others.
Milan Gordic/Shutterstock.com
Dieting is a setup. The act of dieting causes physiological changes that make it hard to continue dieting successfully. Here’s how the body fights back when some people try to lose weight.