In clinical trials, weekly injections of semaglutide — or Wegovy, as it’s been branded — helped people drop an average of 15% of their body weight. That’s an average of about 34 pounds over 16 months, before their weight plateaued — roughly triple what’s achieved with other drugs on the market. At least as important, Wegovy raised none of the alarm bells with the FDA or obesity doctors that it might trigger serious side effects of the sort some people experienced by taking fen-phen or other previous medical

Source: Wegovy’s Promise As An Effective Treatment For Obesity Now Depends On Insurers : Shots – Health News : NPR

An increasing percentage of young people face that same problem. Across all segments of the military, 31% of young adults ages 17 to 24 cannot enlist because they’re too heavy, according to the Department of Defense. The Army, the military’s largest branch, needs to recruit about 130,000 people a year to carry out its missions, and therefore faces the brunt of the recruitment challenge that childhood obesity presents.

Source: Army Recruiters Help Overweight Applicants Lose Pounds : Shots – Health News : NPR

While BMI isn’t a foolproof standard by which to assess potential health risk factors, obesity medicine physician Dr. Fatima Stanford told NPR, “overall, it’s a good measure” in this case. It would be dangerous for people with obesity to not get vaccinated, she said, given that obesity is a risk factor for both severe illness and hospitalization from COVID-19. “We’re talking about two inflammatory conditions. We have chronic inflammation associated with obesity, the disease, not playing well with the acut

Source: Obesity Specialist Says BMI Is A ‘Good Measure’ For Vaccine Priority Group : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

The study by the University of Sussex examines 120 people, giving them low or high-calorie drinks while completing various perceptually-demanding tasks. The British team reveals activities which require lots of attention trick many participants into overeating, even if their drink was more filling.

Source: Snack with caution: Watching TV while eating prevents us from realizing when we’re full – Study Finds

A restaurant in China has apologised for its controversial policy of asking diners to weigh themselves before entry in an overzealous response to a new national campaign against food waste.

The beef restaurant in the central city of Changsha was heavily criticised on Chinese social media as soon as it unveiled the policy on Friday.

Customers were asked to stand on scales and scan their data into an app that recommended food choices based on their weight and the dishes’ calorific value, according to a repo

Source: China restaurant apologises for weighing customers – France 24

Scientists have found a protein that prevents fat buildup and reduces blood sugar levels, which could cut soaring obesity rates worldwide. The protein, named BAM15, acts as an ‘energy uncoupler’ and could be an effective drug for treating obesity and related diseases, US researchers say. BAM15 makes the mitochondria, the ‘power plants’ of living cells, less efficient, meaning they burn more energy and therefore more fat.

Source: Protein pill could prevent fat buildup and reduce blood sugar | Daily Mail Online

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle, exercise regimen, and diet is difficult in the best of times, and it’s become that much harder in the wake of COVID-19. With gyms shut down, many Americans have turned to junk food and late night snacks to calm their viral nerves over the past few months. While college students have long fought to keep off the infamous “freshman 15,” adults of all ages are now swearing off the newly-dubbed “COVID-15.” In fact, according to a new survey of 2,000 U.S. citizens, one in two (49%

Source: Battling The ‘COVID-15’: Half Of Americans Fear They’ll Never Get Their Pre-Coronavirus Body Back – Study Finds

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have successfully disabled a gene in specific mouse cells, preventing mice from becoming obese even after being fed a high-fat diet.

Macrophages, vital inflammatory cells which are responsible for detecting, engulfing and destroying pathogens, were blocked by scientists. Since obesity is correlated with chronic low-grade inflammation, the researchers tested if reducing inflammation could help control weight gain and obesity.

Source: Scientists Found A Way to Disable a Gene Responsible For Obesity: Worry About Getting Too Fat No More? | Science Times

For months, scientists have been poring over data about cases and deaths to understand why it is that COVID-19 manifests itself in different ways around the globe, with certain factors such as the age of the population repeatedly popping up as among the most significant determinants. Now, one of the largest studies conducted of COVID-19 infection in the US has found that obesity of patients was the single biggest factor, after age, in whether those with COVID-19 had to be admitted to a hospital.

Source: NYU scientists: Largest US study of COVID-19 finds obesity the single biggest ‘chronic’ factor in New York City’s hospitalizations | ZDNet

Four of the six people who have died from coronavirus in Mexico so far had diabetes, raising alarm bells that a country with one of the world’s highest rates of the condition may be more vulnerable than its relatively young average age might suggest. The World Health Organization has said people with diabetes and its related health complications are among those most vulnerable to severe cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly illness caused by the new coronavirus, along with the elderly. Mexic

Source: With obesity and diabetes epidemic, Mexico braces for …