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Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21 for short) was a hot prospect in anti-obesity research — and drug companies jumped into the fray, eager to capitalize. But now it appears that, like sticks and stones, FGF21 will break your bones. Here's the story of the hip new weight-loss drug that may never see the light of day. More »
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As if feeding a baby wasn't difficult enough already, new research has come out that can give you a nice complex about whether you are force feeding your children and making them fat. Are you ready for a nice big bite of delicious concern? Open wide. More »
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Today in studies that would've made my eighth-grade self feel vindicated, we learn that kids who feel ostracized when playing games are less likely to exercise. And unsurprisingly, there are way better ways to get kids moving than shaming them. More »
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Look, I love dogs and cats as much as the next guy — probably more, unless he also spends a good chunk of his day watching videos of Corgis on YouTube. But I have to marvel at the inflammatory tone of CNN's report on the U.S. pet obesity epidemic. (Be advised: this story contains sad references to pets dying young and adorable photos of Garfield-sized kitties.) The lede alone is journalistic perfection. More »
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Sugar is delicious. It makes a bad day a little brighter; it makes food taste a little better; it makes cupcakes and pies. Sure, it may not be good for us, but why would we ever want to get rid of it? Well, we wouldn't want to, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't. At least that's what a new commentary published in the most recent issue of Nature argues. It may not be a bad idea, but you can bet there will be a whole nation of sweet-toothed people clutching their candy necklaces and screaming, "Do not fucking touch my dessert!" More »
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Anyone who's ever watched Dr. Oz at work knows that he is a hack of the first order. He'll happily push whatever magical berry or miracle elixir will pay him, passing it off as essential to keep you from dying—or worse, getting fat. He's a women's magazine with a mouth. So we were not shocked when a tipster alerted us to an especially craptastic email that one of her family members got from the production team at The Dr. Oz Show yesterday. More »
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Recently, we learned that junk food in schools may not have much effect on kids' weight. But another study shows that school anti-obesity programs could have some unintended consequences, possibly triggering kids' eating disorders. More »
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Have you ever thought about whether God thinks you're fat? Well, maybe you should start. At least that's what Pastor Rick Warren — bestselling author and pastor at one of the largest megachurches in the nation — thinks. He's got a new diet plan that he's pulled from scripture, and he's poised to lead his whole congregation to the promised land where everyone has a healthy body mass index and no one eats too many carbs. You know, just like in the Bible. More »
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Here's a little something for you from the department of counterintuitive findings: It turns out that selling junk food in schools doesn't actually have anything to do with making kids being obese. Are you fucking kidding me? After the countless hand motions we've all wasted scrolling through articles urging us to purge every last french fry and 4,246-ounce bottle of Mountain Dew from our schools, now just nevermind? Apparently so. More »
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Last year, the state of Georgia started running "Stop Child Obesity" ads featuring real-live kids employed as child actors. But, of course, the part the kids are playing — that of an overweight child — mirrors reality. Chloe McSwain, one of the kids on billboards and in commercials, has fantastic self-esteem: "I'm very pretty," she tells CBS News. She admits that she worried what people would think when she took the job (she's called "Martiza" in the ad), but decided it was important to help kids. A noble goal, but does this fat-shaming campaign work? The negative tone and "stop sugarcoating it" message seem to encourage the other-ing of overweight people. More »
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It's pretty clear that we, as a country, are more overweight than we used to be, but exactly how bad is the problem? Are we in the midst of an unchecked obesity epidemic that is going to cause us to burst at our seams? Or is this whole thing overblown? Luckily, we have some new, high-quality data from the CDC to shed a little bit of light into what's been going on. The data, which comes from 2009-2010 installment of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, shows that obesity, after soaring in the 1980s and 1990s, has finally hit something of a plateau. More »
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MTV featured a regular Romeo in its latest installment of True Life, which was all about "chubby chasers." Tee said: More »
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Pharmaceutical companies have long been jockeying to produce the next awesome weight-loss drug that will make you lose control of your bowels and die. The quest suffered a major setback in 2010 when two drugs were rejected for little things like wiping people's memories and giving rats cancer. But now both drugs are back, and one is emerging as a frontrunner. Let's learn a little more about Qnexa, the drug that could be giving you heart palpitations very soon. More »
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New research could help explain why losing weight is so difficult — obesity may cause inflammation in the brain. And just a single high-fat meal could have the same effect. More »
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Is your fondest holiday wish to permanently alienate one of your nearest and dearest? Are you looking for a way to ensure that your relatives never invite you to another festive family celebration? Well then perhaps you should follow this advice from the BBC: "Tell loved ones they are overweight this Christmas." More »
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A woman who once told a UK tabloid that she wanted to be the "fattest woman in the world" after tipping the scales at 600 lbs has changed her tune in recent months, abandoning her lucrative service where she allowed subscribers to watch her eat on a webcam and losing 80 pounds. She's also experienced a series of pretty profound epiphanies. More »
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You may not immediately understand why an article about the rise of spandex in the past 50 years is framed as a story about the obesity problem in America. After all, the fabric is used in everything from bras to jeans to leggings, and those are hardly items reserved for larger people. However, many people bemoan the prevalence of spandex because it allows fatties to wear comfortable and stylish clothing just like normal people. How will they be shamed into weight loss if they don't hate every outfit they own? More »
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In the ongoing war against childhood obesity, manufacturers of children's cereal are the real heroes. That is, if you're hoping that "obesity" wins— researchers have discovered that some cereal marketed to kids contains more sugar than a candy bar. More »
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New research suggests that black ladies give approximately zero fucks about what you think about their weight, and that attempting to shame them won't do any good in encouraging weight loss. But there's some good news, fat shame aficionados— shame still works on overweight white women, if your aim is to make them feel like crap while staying overweight. More »
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Lots of recent research has downplayed the effect of exercise on weight loss. But now one study says getting active could turn off an "obesity gene." More »
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Spurred by concern over childhood obesity, for the first time in 15 years the federal government has proposed changes to the school-lunch program that would make cafeteria food less gruel-like. As evidenced by their notorious love of kissing babies, politicians are extremely concerned about the well-being of American children — that is, until giving them healthy food starts threatening their constituents' wallets. More »
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A growing body of evidence indicates that there's a reason it's so hard for so many people to just stop eating junk food— it's just as addictive as illegal drugs. This changes everything. Chocoholism is real, and it's no laughing matter, Cathy cartoons. All those songs you thought were coded odes to heroin and cocaine? Actually about cake and potato chips. There cheese goes. There cheese goes again. More »
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We've heard that a little red wine is good for the heart. But now researchers have found that vino is beneficial to human metabolism. Apparently an ingredient in red wine — resveratrol (which sounds like "reverse it all," as in "fountain of youth!") — has some amazing effects on the body. More »
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Fights over which parent will get custody of a child after a divorce can turn nasty for any number of reasons—some fair, some just plain crazy—but there's one point of contention that's quickly finding its way into custody battles across the country: obesity. Legal experts are saying, according to the Wall Street Journal, that fingers are increasingly being pointed by one parent claiming that the other parent is allowing a child to become obese or is not providing the child with proper nutrition. Douglas Gardner, a family lawyer in Arizona, said this: More »
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As a society, the word "fat" is one of the last few acceptable slurs we can use in public. Rarely do we flinch or say anything when we hear somebody comment, with intentional negativity, on another person as "fat." And we don't think twice about making a comment about our own bodies in front of others. I often hear people making statements with an angry inflection like, "My ass is fat," or "I feel fat." More »
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All food packaging is covered in figures that tell us everything from how many grams are in the suggested serving size to the percentage of our daily recommended amount of Riboflavin, but they aren't much good if no one understands what the hell they mean. Now, at the request of Congress, the Institute of Medicine has come up with a food labeling system that's only slightly more complicated than stamping the box with a smiley face or a frowney face. The labels could be a huge help for Americans who want to eat healthy but don't have time to spend hours anyalyzing nutritional labels. Of course, food manufacturers aren't going for it. More »
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Every year, about 200,000 people undergo gastric bypass surgery. But in many cases, patients show up for follow-up visits and doctors find that their spouses and family members have lost weight, too. When dealing with obesity, should we treat not the individual, but the entire family? Is obesity a "family disease"? More »
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Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie dashed the hopes of many a frustrated golf playing white guy when he announced yesterday that now is not the time for him to vie for the Republican Presidential nomination. In the weeks leading up to his announcement, speculation swirled about his policy positions and viability as a candidate, but also we spent a lot of time talking about how fat he is. More »
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A new study suggests a link between blood sugar and food cravings — but in some obese people, this link may be broken. More »
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Until very recently, Donna Simpson — the Guinness World Record holder for "World's Heaviest Mother" — made $90,000 a year from her members-only website, where fans paid $20 a month to look at pictures of her half-dressed and watch her eat. But now, Donna has broken up with her fiancé of five years. And she's decided that she needs to lose weight. More »
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Are you concerned that you child has yet to develop any body image issues and still remains blissfully unaware that society wants her to be as thin as possible? Luckily, there's now a kids book to initiate her into the world of dieting. More »
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We're sorry to report that a tragedy has occurred in France, leaving dieters across the globe shaken and confused. French women, whose inability to gain an ounce has been studied by hundreds of diet books, are gaining weight. And as you might expect, Americans are partially to blame. More »
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Kirstie Alley was on David Letterman's show last night, and asked, "Do you love me still?" Dave answered, "Of course I love you. What do you mean do I love you still?" Kirstie produced a piece paper she'd hidden in her décolletage. Upon it were jokes Dave had told, on-air, about Kirstie. And her weight. More »
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A Harvard-based specialist on childhood obesity thinks that super heavy children should be temporarily removed from the custody of their parents to promote the child's best interests. And maybe he's not totally wrong. More »
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A recent study by Dr. Kristine A. Madsen of the University of California, San Francisco found that school policies allowing officials to let parents know whether or not their children are overweight or obese seem to have little effect on the "problem" itself. More »
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In case you weren't confused enough about what you should be putting in your body, a new study shows that eating candy may prevent obesity and heart disease. More »
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Rob McElhenney of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia has gained 50 pounds in the past six months. On purpose. His character's name is Mac, so now the show can have "Big Mac" jokes. His costar Charlie Day explains: More »
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Earlier this week, a post appeared on the blog Disney Kicks Ass, informing readers that some rides at the original Anaheim Disneyland had to be re-engineered. Oh boy. More »
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A New York City woman — let's call her Ms. G, because she signed a non-disclosure agreement — went to Google's local offices to take a test for an administrative position. She'd already had a phone interview, and now there was a test. Afterwards, at lunch, Ms. G says seven of the roughly 20 people there were politely escorted out. All seven were overweight women; everyone who stayed was thin. More »
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As you may know, Ross Mathews, the late night TV comedian from Chelsea Lately (also known as Intern Ross from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno), lost 40 lbs. And Gwyneth Paltrow had a hand in motivating him. More »
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