“Today, the state with the lowest obesity rate would have had the highest rate in 1995.” -- Jeff Levi, Ph.D., executive director of Trust for America's Health, in 7 July 2011 press release. Yes, America, you are getting fatter, and sicker, too. So says F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future 2011, the latest in a series of annual reports on American weight-gain and fitness by the Trust for America's Health (TFAH). In the past year, obesity rates increased in 16 states and didn't … [Read more...]
Snack-filled diet dangerous for rats — and us
Rodent health has never been a major concern of mine, but it seems to worry scientists a lot. For example, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill published a study in the journal Obesity that examines what happens to rats who are fed a snack-filled diet similar to that consumed by millions of Americans. The study makes an important point about modeling human metabolic syndrome in lab rats, but it suggests even more. The snack or "cafeteria" diet consisted … [Read more...]