ContributorNetwork - Northeast Elementary Magnet School, in Danville, Ill., won a gold medal for fighting childhood obesity with a “no cupcakes” policy, active learning, classroom fitness and improved school nutrition. Northeast is the first elementary school to win the Alliance for a Healthier Generation award. Here’s a look at AHG, Northeast’s anti-obesity initiatives and how parents are responding.

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HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 25 (HealthDay News) — The various health risks
associated with being overweight or obese are well known, but a new study
now suggests that this extra weight may also make your annual flu shot
less effective.

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HealthDay - SUNDAY, Oct. 16 (HealthDay News) — Children are more apt to
dislike obese peers and others with an “undesirable trait” if they believe
it’s the child’s own fault, according to new research.

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HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) — Obese children need special
attention when they undergo anesthesia, two new studies suggest.

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HealthDay - WEDNESDAY, Oct. 19 (HealthDay News) — Women living in poor
neighborhoods are more likely to be obese and have type 2 diabetes than
those who move into more advantaged areas, new research suggests.

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Reuters - People who’ve had gastric bypass surgery might make healthier eating choices than those who opt for the weight loss procedure known as gastric banding, say UK researchers who found bypass patients less tempted by sweets and other fattening foods.

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HealthDay - SATURDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) — Many overweight and obese
patients seen in hospital emergency departments don’t believe their weight
poses a risk to their health, and many say doctors have never told them
otherwise, a new study finds.

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Reuters - People who have weight loss surgery aren’t alone in slimming down after the procedure — family members do so, too, a study in the Archives of Surgery shows.

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HealthDay - TUESDAY, Oct. 18 (HealthDay News) — When one member of a family
has bariatric surgery to lose weight, other family members may be more
likely to shed a few pounds, a new study finds.

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Reuters - Full-time U.S. workers who have chronic health troubles or are overweight cost more than $153 billion in lost productivity each year from absenteeism, according to a Gallup-Healthways study released on Monday.

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AP - Back in the 1990s, the federal government tried an unusual social experiment: It offered thousands of poor women in big-city public housing a chance to live in more affluent neighborhoods.

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ContributorNetwork - A Swedish study shows that pregnant women who are obese or overweight have an increased risk of giving birth to a baby with asthma. With more than one-third of women obese, and with asthma the most common childhood illness, this is an alarming link. Here is a by-the-numbers look at obesity in pregnancy, asthma in children and the connections between them.

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AP - Five-year-olds dance hip-hop to the alphabet. Third-graders learn math by twisting into geometric shapes, fifth-graders by calculating calories. And everyone goes to the gym — every day.

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AP - British health officials say the country’s obesity epidemic has an easy fix: people should just eat less.

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Reuters - Weight loss surgery lowers patients’ risks for heart disease, according to a new review of the medical literature.

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ContributorNetwork - The CDC has awarded $6 million in grant money to San Diego State University to study childhood obesity. The Massachusetts DHS also received $1.7 million to explore treatment options for overweight kids in New Bedford, Mass., and Fitchburg, Mass. Here is a Q-and-A about juvenile obesity and how those grants will be used.

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Reuters - The percentage of Americans of “normal weight” has slightly increased in the past year, but overweight and obese people still command a solid majority, according to a new study.

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Reuters - Pregnant women who are obese put their children at higher risk of developing asthma compared to mothers of normal weight, a large study in Sweden has found.

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Reuters - Researchers this week said there’s not much evidence to support a common theory behind weight-loss programs known as the “stages of change” model.

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Reuters - The percentage of Americans of “normal weight” has slightly increased in the past year, but overweight and obese people still command a solid majority, according to a new study.

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