In California, big gulps could soon be taxed in a big way.

A bill that would tax sweetened beverages like soda and energy drinks a penny per ounce cleared a hurdle Wednesday in the California Legislature. The state Senate Governance and Finance Committee passed SB-622 by a 5-2 vote, sending the controversial measure on for review by the Senate Health Committee.

“This is the first time this state committee has passed a bill that would place a tax on sugary drinks and the first step toward stemming the epidemic of childhood obesity,” the bill’s lead sponsor, Democratic Sen. Bill Monning said in a news release.

The bill exempts drinks that contain fewer than 25 calories, and the funds raised by the excise tax would go to the state’s newly created Children’s Health Promotion Fund, as well as programs that combat childhood obesity.

“By taxing these products we will be able to implement programs that will assist in preventing disease among children and begin to address a public health crisis whose rising health costs affect all Californians,” Monning said.

Sen. Bill Monning  (D-Monterey) says the tax on soda is “a first step toward stemming the epidemic of childhood obesity.”

Not surprisingly, the idea of taxing sweetened drinks does not sit well with the soda industry, which spent millions to defeat ballot measures in two California towns — Richmond and El Monte — that had proposed similar sweetened drink taxes.

The Center for Consumer Freedom, an industry-backed group, vehemently opposes the tax-by-the-ounce idea.

“Taxes shouldn’t be a tool for social engineering or an instrument to penalize Californians for doing nothing wrong,” J. Justin Wilson, a senior research analyst at the center, told the Los Angeles Times. ”Residents of California don’t need a Ph.D. in nutrition to tell them that eating or drinking too much of anything is unhealthy. It only takes a little common sense and personal responsibility.“

California eyes penny-per-ounce tax on sodas and energy drinks to combat child obesity – NY Daily News

An electronic fork that vibrates when you eat too quickly has hit the marketplace.

It’s called the HAPIfork.

It’s makers say it allows the consumer to quickly monitor and reduce the speed at which they eat.

The French inventors hope it can help combat obesity.

HAPIfork records when the user touches the fork to their mouth, and can tell how long the interval is between each fork serving.

If someone is deemed to be eating too fast, HAPIfork alerts them with a gentle vibration and indicator light to remind them to slow down.

Slowing down and paying attention are important steps towards the goal of creating and maintaining healthier and smarter eating habits, according to the people behind the fork.

HAPIfork monitors:

•The number of “fork servings” taken per minute and per meal

•The specific duration of each “fork serving” interval

•The overall meal duration

•The exact start time and end time of the meal

All of the information can then be uploaded and viewed online.  The user can choose to share the information with family and friends.

Fork vibrates when you eat too quickly – New York News | NYC Breaking News

According to Harvard scientists, women who sat for 10 or more hours during the day had a greater chance of heart attack or stroke, especially if they were also overweight or over the age of 70.

Compared to very active women who sat for 5 or less hours per day, the sedentary women were at 63% greater risk for heart disease.

There were over 70,000 women in the study, which was designed to review a large number of health and lifestyle issues.

Sitting May Increase Heart Attack Risk For Women « CBS Philly

Scientists led by Prof David Ginsburg of the University of Michigan’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute inhibited the action of a gene responsible for transporting a protein that interferes with the ability of the liver to remove cholesterol from the blood in mice. Trapping the destructive protein where it couldn’t harm receptors responsible for removing cholesterol preserved the liver cells’ capacity to clear plasma cholesterol from the blood, but did not appear to otherwise affect the health of the mice.

In the research, scientists found that mice with an inactive SEC24A gene could develop normally. However, their plasma cholesterol levels were reduced by 45 percent because vesicles from liver cells were not able to recruit and transport a critical regulator of blood cholesterol levels called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9).

PCSK9 is a secretory protein that destroys the liver cells’ receptors of low-density lipoprotein (LDL, the so-called ‘bad cholesterol), and prevents the cells from removing the LDL.

Study Finds New Way to Clear Cholesterol from Blood | Medicine | Sci-News.com

People complaining of a killer commute may be closer to the truth than they realise.

Research has found that workers with long commutes of over 30 miles die younger than those who live closer to their work.

Social geographer Erika Sandow from Sweden’s Umeå University presented her worrying findings which showed that travelling workers were likely to suffer higher blood pressure, stress and heart disease.

Health trouble: Unfortunate commuters suffer a range of afflictions including higher blood pressure and weight gain

Commuters also take more sick leave and gain more weight over their working lives.

Sandow’s earlier studies also showed the toll that commuting takes on relationships.

People with long commutes die sooner | Mail Online

With some of America’s tastiest, yet unhealthiest food, it’s no wonder that for years, many have deemed people from the South to be amongst the fattest in the nation.

Whether its because so much of the food is fried or simply because access to healthy food and vegetables is hard to come by, or because southerners don’t do much exercise – the stereotype seems to have stuck.

But a new study from the University of Alabama in Birmingham says that the South is not as fat as the rest of the world would have us believe.

Epidemic: Rising levels of obesity is a major problem sweeping the United States

The journal Obesity, says that there’s a higher concentration of obese people in the Midwestern states of Minnesota, Kansas and North and South Dakota.

The northern region of the country appears to have about 41 per cent obesity compared to 31 per cent in the southern states of Alabama and Mississippi.

Just two years ago, the Center for Disease control claimed the two states were the fattest in the USA.

Southerners definitely enjoy their fried chicken (not to mention fried steak, fried onions, fried green tomatoes, fried pickles and fried corn bread) but the northerners of states like Wisconsin and Illinois enjoy their fried cheese curds and deep dish pizzas.

The region famous for its biscuits, barbecue and pecan pies has been struggling with its weight for years.

So what are the reasons for this gut-busting turnaround? The journal believes that truth-telling has something to do with it.

The Obesity journal believes those who took part in the CDC telephone survey in the South were simply more honest about their weight than those in the North.

The University of Alabama conducted their survey in-person using actual recorded weights.

Scales don’t lie: people in the south are NOT the fattest in the country and apparently they’re more truthful | Mail Online

Many of us reach for a biscuit or chocolate bar when we’re feeling a little fed-up.

So small wonder that Sunday evening with its pre-Monday blues is the time we’re most likely to comfort eat.

Nearly half of us (48 per cent) said we’re most prone to munching on unhealthy snacks such as crisps and cake between 7pm and 10pm on Sundays. A further 29 per cent said they were most likely to fall off their diet plans between 3pm and 5pm the same day.

Danger time: You may have been good all week but Sunday evening and the thought of starting another working week may have you turning to the sweet treats

Monday, meanwhile, was the most likely weekday when people reach for foods with high fat and sugar. According to the survey of 750 people, most over-eating happens at or after dinner time.

Fat o’clock? 7pm on Sunday is revealed as the time we are most likely give in to comfort eating | Mail Online

Today’s adults are so unhealthy they are 15 years ‘older’ than their parents and grandparents at the same age, researchers say.

They are more likely to suffer from high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity than previous generations because of poor health, according to a study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Looking at 6,000 adults aged 20, 30, 40, 50 over a 25 year period, researchers found younger generations had poorer ‘metabolic’ health – a range of issues including blood pressure and weight.

Today’s adults are so unhealthy they are 15 years ‘older’ than their parents and grandparents at the same age

The study revealed men in their 30s were 20 per cent more likely to be overweight than in previous generations, while women in their 20s are twice as likely to be obese than those 10 years ago.

Blood pressure also increased among the younger generation of both men and women, while younger blokes are more likely to have diabetes than their dads and granddads were.

Author Gerben Hulsegge, from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, said the younger generation are ’15 years ahead’ in terms of ‘metabolic’ health.

He said: ‘The more recently born adult generations are doing far worse than their predecessors.

Why 30 is the new 45: We’re so unhealthy that we’re 15 years OLDER than our parents were at the same age | Mail Online