ContributorNetwork - COMMENTARY | One of the most serious threats to the welfare and well-being of American youth may not be a terrorist attack, for example. Rather, it’s succumbing to the effects of astutely targeted food advertisement, fast food restaurants marketers, and the video game industry. How so? All of the aforementioned contribute to the ongoing epidemic of childhood obesity. Let’s examine some of the facts related to the growing numbers of overweight and obese children.

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ContributorNetwork - If you’re one of the millions of overweight Americans and has been considering weight-loss surgery, the results of a new study comparing the safety and effectiveness of gastric bypass surgery and lap-band surgery may interest you. The study, titled “Better Weight Loss, Resolution of Diabetes, and Quality of Life for Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass vs. Banding,” written by Guilherme M. Campos, M.D., et al. appeared in the February publication “Archives of Surgery.”

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AP - A proposed kidney transplant that won two Mississippi sisters their freedom from prison can’t take place until one quits smoking and they lose a combined 160 pounds.

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Reuters - Could we all help rein in the obesity epidemic by turning down our thermostats this winter? Maybe or maybe not — but a new study suggests that environmental factors ranging from diet, to sleep to home temperature are related to the risk of becoming obese.

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Reuters - A study of the two most popular weight-loss surgeries found obese diabetics who had gastric bypass surgery lost 64 percent of their excess weight after a year, compared with 36 percent in those treated with Allergan Inc’s Lap-Band device, researchers said on Monday.

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HealthDay - SATURDAY, Feb. 19 (HealthDay News) — Losing weight can help
reduce the amount of pain experienced by obese people with knee
osteoarthritis, researchers say.

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HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 21 (HealthDay News) — When it comes to shedding
pounds and improving or eliminating type 2 diabetes, gastric bypass
surgery may be better than other surgical weight-loss procedures, two new
studies find.

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HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — Obese men face a dramatically
higher risk of dying from a heart attack, regardless of whether or not
they have other known risk factors for cardiovascular disease, a new study
reveals.

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Reuters - Requiring fast-food restaurants in New York City to post calorie counts on menus did little to cut the number of calories children and teens consumed, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

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HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — Obesity may be associated
with reduced risk of the eye disease open-angle glaucoma in women, but not
in men, a new study suggests.

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HealthDay - FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) — Current U.S. guidelines may
overestimate the amount of weight that severely obese women need to gain
during pregnancy, according to a new study.

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Reuters - Overweight older women may be less likely than their thinner peers to develop the potentially blinding eye disease glaucoma, a study published Monday suggests.

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HealthDay - MONDAY, Feb. 14 (HealthDay News) — Obesity and osteoarthritis of
the knee are robbing millions of older Americans of an average of 3.5
years of life in which they might otherwise be feeling healthy and free of
chronic pain, new research finds.

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AP - The Campbell Soup Co. is planning to spend $10 million over the next decade on a new initiative to reduce obesity and hunger among children in Camden, the company’s impoverished hometown.

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ContributorNetwork - Is America getting fatter or fitter?

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HealthDay - FRIDAY, Feb. 11 (HealthDay News) — When overweight, sedentary
kids start to exercise regularly, their ability to think, to plan and even
to do math improves, a new study suggests.

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AFP - Health experts warned that Australia’s life expectancy could be sent into reverse after a new study found alarming levels of obesity among teenagers.

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Reuters - Obese people may be more likely to slim down if they have money riding on their success through financial incentives — but the weight might creep back once the monetary carrot is gone, according to a U.S. study.

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AP - First lady Michelle Obama took her 1-year-old campaign against childhood obesity to the South on Wednesday, munching blueberries with second-graders as she toured an elementary school that has embraced her call for healthy eating.

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ContributorNetwork - Ask a college student what they had for dinner and they’re bound to say pizza and beer. The two have always been synonymous with college students, but studies show their fast food diets are causing health problems.

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