Eating less protein, combined with consuming extra calories, may lead to fat gain that won’t show up on the bathroom scale. How can that be? The findings from recently published research may be surprising to some.

A study conducted by researchers at Louisiana State University’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center followed 25 young adults, ages 18 to 35 with BMIs ranging from 19 to 30, who agreed to live in the university’s metabolic unit for three months. After working with researchers to find a daily calorie intake that would maintain their current weight and eating a weight-stabilizing diet for 13 to 25 days, the volunteers began a diet consisting of an extra 954 calories per day with varying amounts of protein, and had their every bite monitored to assure they ate every morsel of food.

Why the Obesity Epidemic Could Be Much Worse Than We Think – Beth Fontenot – Health – The Atlantic

The rising rate of obesity in the U.S. began to level off over the last decade, even as some groups, such as boys from ages 6 to 19, saw substantial increases, according to government data.

Obesity rates in adults rose slightly to 35.7 percent from 30.5 percent between 1999 and 2010, compared with rates that nearly doubled in the two previous decades, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. The rate among boys climbed 29 percent, surpassing girls for the first time, according to the Atlanta-based health agency.

Increase in U.S. obesity rates has been slowing since 2000 | Health News – The News Tribune

The revamped school lunches at Los Angeles Unified School District have won awards, commending them for improving the menu at the second largest school district in the nation. Too bad the students don’t agree.

Rejecting healthful alternatives like vegetarian curries and tamales, quinoa salads and pad Thai noodles, students are throwing them in the trash by the thousands, bringing junk food from home and buying instant noodles and other decidedly unhealthy fare from the “black markets” that have begun to thrive at campuses across the district, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The wholesale rejection to its healthy menu comes about a year after a very public food fight with TV chef Jamie Oliver.

LAUSD Students Roundly Reject Healthier School Lunch Menu « CBS Los Angeles

First responders had to cut through the side of a house on Long Island to rescue a man who had become trapped inside on Thursday, Newsday reported.

The man, who was trapped in a second-floor bathroom, was very “overweight,” according to officials.

The Center Moriches home was so cluttered with debris that responders could not get medical equipment to the man in the bathroom, Suffolk County police said.

Man Rescued from Cluttered Home on Long Island

Man Rescued from Cluttered Home on Long Island: MyFoxNY.com

A new study of nearly 20,000 middle schoolers has found that kids who attend schools that sell junk food such as soda and doughnuts do not gain more weight than students who attend schools where that type of food isn’t available.

The study, published in this month’s issue of Sociology of Education, contradicts earlier research with smaller sample sizes that showed the availability of junk food correlated with rates of childhood obesity. The new study’s author, Pennsylvania State Professor Jennifer Hook, said in a statement that the results surprised her. Hook hypothesizes that kids don’t actually have that much time to eat at school, so their out-of-school eating habits are a more important factor in determining their weight.

Study: Junk food doesn’t cause obesity in middle schools | The Lookout – Yahoo! News

Fat Thanks to Sunita K. for the tip!

One in three American adults is obese, a national level that has stayed the same in recent years, said US data released on Tuesday.

About one in six children and teenagers are also obese, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association report which showed that obesity remains a significant problem in US society despite efforts to combat it.

“Obesity prevalence shows little change over the past 12 years, although the data are consistent with the possibility of slight increases,” said the article.

One in three US adults is obese: study

Fat Thanks to Sunita K. for the tip!

Big Brother is joining the battle of the bulge.

A group of Long Island students will soon be wearing controversial electronic monitors that allow school officials to track their physical activity around the clock.

The athletics chair for the Bay Shore schools ordered 10 Polar Active monitors, at $90 a pop, for use starting this spring. The wristwatchlike devices count heartbeats, detect motion and even track students’ sleeping habits in a bid to combat obesity.

The information is displayed on a color-coded screen and gets transmitted to a password-protected Web site that students and educators can access.ANGEL CHEVRESTTTOO FAR, TOO FAST? School aide records a student’s heart rate.

The devices are already in use in school districts in St. Louis and South Orange, NJ — and have raised privacy concerns among some parents and observers.

But Ted Nagengast, the Bay Shore athletics chair, said, “It’s a great reinforcement in fighting the obesity epidemic. It tells kids, in real time, ‘Am I active? Am I not active?’ We want to give kids the opportunity to become active.”

Polar Active activity monitor for schoolkids raises privacy concerns among parents – NYPOST.com

New York Citys health department has used startling imagery for its anti-obesity ads in the past, including the guy who drank the tall glass of pure fat. Its latest effort is no different. It pairs an image of a man who lost a leg to Type 2 diabetes with a warning about increased soda-portion sizes at fast-food places. Critics say the ad is overly sensational, and some have called it “ineffectual” and “misleading.” Mayor Bloomberg, in a moment that was equal parts hilarious and awkward, defended the ads while simultaneously endorsing a Brooklyn restaurants fried chicken, and admitting that his own diet was “not great for [his] waistline, but thats okay.”

Cut Back on Junk Food If You Like Having Legs, Says NYC | Adweek

Fat Thanks to Anant P. for the tip!

Car owners with a television are 27 percent more likely to suffer heart attacks than people who have neither, according to a global study on physical exercise and heart disease published Wednesday.

More broadly, the study — covering more than 29,000 people in 52 countries — showed that working up a light sweat may be the best preventative medicine against heart failure.

Until now, surprisingly little research has focused on how physical exertion at work and play influences the incidence of heart attacks, and even less has directly compared this data across nations at all income levels.

Owning car, TV linked to heart attacks: study

There’s a report that Hostess Brands, the maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, is preparing to refile for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection just two years after emerging.

A spokesman for the privately held company declined to comment on the Wall Street Journal report.

The newspaper says people familiar with the matter said the company is facing a cash crunch with more than $860 million in debt, high labor expenses and rising ingredient costs.

When the company, then called Interstate Bakeries, filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004, it blamed low sales and high fixed costs. It emerged in February 2009.

Hostess Brands, Maker of Wonder Bread and Twinkies, Prepping Bankruptcy Report