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A test of third-year medical students in North Carolina revealed biases against the obese. The author of the study says these thoughts, often subconscious, could affect how doctors treat their patients and whether those patients trust them.

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May 20, 2013 People diagnosed with ADHD as children may be more apt to be obese in adulthood, scientists say. Differences in brain biology or the impulsiveness typical of ADHD may contribute to lasting, bad eating habits.

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April 23, 2013 Would you eat a double cheeseburger if you knew it took two hours of walking to burn it off? Participants in a new study said, hmm, maybe not. The researchers say that exercise-based labels could do a better job than calorie counts at steering people to healthful choices.

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March 19, 2013 Rebates on healthy foods purchases can influence what put in their grocery carts, a study found. People spent 9 percent more on fruits, vegetables, non-fat dairy and other healthful foods when they got a 25 percent rebate on them.

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March 11, 2013 Less sleep equals more eating, according to a rigorous new study. People who slept just five hours a night burned more energy but also ate more — so much more that they gained almost 2 pounds in less than a week.

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March 5, 2013 People don't mind new laws telling them how to eat, as long as they feel like they're not being coerced. That's the finding of a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health, which took the unusual step of asking people what they thought about government efforts to encourage healthy eating.

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March 1, 2013 A new documentary peels back the curtain on the problem of food insecurity in the U.S. It shows that hunger and obesity are more closely connected than many of us realize.

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February 20, 2013 Scientists say the time-honored calorie is too flawed to give people a good measure of what they're eating. But many nutritionists say calories are still the most useful tool for keeping tabs on food intake and maintaining healthy weight.

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February 15, 2013 The notion that being a little overweight could help people in old age is being challenged. Some of the studies in support of the so-called obesity paradox excluded people who lived in institutions, like nursing homes, or were too sick to participate, a critic says.

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February 7, 2013 Who says healthy doesn't sell? McDonald's, Panera Bread and other restaurant chains that offered more lower-calorie food choices saw a 9 percent jump in food and beverage sales from 2006 to 2011, a new report finds. Restaurants without these options saw sales drop.

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January 28, 2013 A sociologist argues in a new book that framing obesity as a public health crisis takes a heavy social toll. She says big bodies should be embraced as a form of human diversity, and not seen automatically as a sign of sickness.

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January 16, 2013 Adults who upped their intake of sugary foods or drinks gained about a pound a year, a study found. But the researchers say it's impossible to say how much cutting back sugar would reduce obesity because sugar's not the only problem.

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January 2, 2013 An analysis from the Centers For Disease Control and Research finds that being overweight, but not obese, is associated with lower risk of death. But no one is suggesting you ditch your exercise or diet goals.

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December 11, 2012 A new study concludes that a mobile app can help boost weight loss, if it's used as part of a more comprehensive strategy. The findings speak to the importance of blending two successful weight loss strategies: tracking and group support.

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October 17, 2012 Researchers have found that fat cells become less responsive to insulin when sleep is lost. Over the long-term, fat accumulation can set the stage for Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease and weight gain.

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