archive

November 17, 2011 More than three-quarters of Americans will be overweight or obese by 2020 if current behavior continues, new research days. Rates of diabetes would rise, too. That's bad news for cardiovascular health, despite the fact that people are doing better at avoiding smoking, and other risks.

Summary

November 2, 2011 Even if people used bikes to run short errands than half the time, it could save more than 1,100 lives a year in 11 Midwestern cities, thanks to reduced air pollution and improved health. That's the word from scientists at the University of Wisconsin, who figured people would bike 4 months out of the year.

Summary

October 13, 2011 'Better for you' food products drove more than 70 percent of food company sales growth in the last five years, a new analysis says. Although a food activist suggests that the numbers could be a bit misleading.

Summary

• 'Pet Food': A Legal Loophole For Raw Milk
• Brits And Americans Don't Speak The Same Language In The Kitchen

October 4, 2011 Both women and men eat less when their dining companions are men, according to new research in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Transcript

On Morning EditionPlaylist

October 3, 2011 Denmark's population is not obese in large numbers, especially when compared to the U.S., Mexico, and the United Kingdom. And disgruntled Danes could just skip over to Sweden to buy butter and oil.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

September 20, 2011 At the first United Nations General Assembly session on chronic diseases this week, public health advocates questioned whether food companies should be treated as partners when making policy on chronic disease.

Summary

September 8, 2011 People who joined Weight Watchers lost twice as much weight in a year as people who were advised by their doctors, a new study finds. Paying for diet and exercise programs for baby boomers at risk of diabetes could save Medicare billions of dollars in health care costs, another study reports.

Summary

August 31, 2011 Potatoes may lower blood pressure if they're cooked right, according to new research. Beneficial compounds in potatoes may survive microwaving better than deep-frying. And avoiding the extra fat may make the weight gain linked to potatoes in other studies less likely.

Summary

August 26, 2011 Jogging beats pumping iron when it comes to getting rid of unhealthy belly fat, according to researchers at Duke University. Overweight adults who exercised by lifting weights for eight months got stronger, but the ones who jogged 12 miles a week lost visceral fat linked to diabetes and heart disease.

Summary

August 4, 2011 The government's Dietary Guidelines call for us to eat more fruits and veggies. But these healthful foods can be pricey relative to sugary, fatty options. The guidelines don't really help consumers on a tight budget figure out how to eat right, public health experts say.

Summary

July 28, 2011 Researchers have found that gout, a painful ailment of the joints, increased 44 percent between 1988 and 2008. They suspect it has a lot to do with the obesity epidemic and related health problems like diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Transcript

On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

July 19, 2011 The most worrisome aspect of the latest data is an animated map from the CDC that shows how obesity rates have climbed since 1985. In the mid-'90s, all the states were various shades of blue, meaning none had an obesity rate greater than 19 percent. By 2010, not a single state was blue anymore.

Summary

July 7, 2011 The best state in the current obesity rankings is Colorado, with 19.8 percent of its adults classified as obese. But turn back the clock to 1995, and that same obesity rate would have made Colorado the worst state in the nation.

Summary

June 21, 2011 McDonald's is tops with young fast-food-loving men, according to a social media survey. Of the men who said they are overweight, 21 percent said they ate at fast-food chains more than seven times in the last three months.

Summary

May 19, 2011 A new collaboration with Oxford American magazine spotlights the South, starting with a dispatch from the most obese county in the U.S.

Summary