In the largest study of childhood obesity ever conducted in the city, 40% of kindergartners through eighth-graders – more than 250,000 kids – were found to be too heavy.

Big study of childhood obesity shows 40% of New York City students are too heavy

Teenagers who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to eat fatty foods, increasing their risk of obesity, according to new research.

Lack of sleep increases risk of teenage obesity

With childhood obesity on the rise, parents are looking for new ways to keep their kids active. Now, more kids are getting some one-on-one fitness time from personal trainers to get in shape and get their weight under control.

Parents Turn to Personal Trainers to Help Kids Fight Childhood Obesity – Eye on Parenting – CBS News

Many Americans have skewed perceptions when it comes to their weight, often believing they are thinner than they really are, even when the scales are shouting otherwise, a new poll finds.

Thirty percent of those in the “overweight” class believed they were actually normal size, while 70 percent of those classified as obese felt they were simply overweight. Among the heaviest group, the morbidly obese, almost 60 percent pegged themselves as obese, while another 39 percent considered themselves merely overweight.

Many Americans Don’t Even Know They’re Fat

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. signed a North American partnership for its experimental obesity drug Contrave with Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. for $50 million and the potential for later payments that could exceed $1 billion.

Orexigen Signs Obesity-Drug Pact With Takeda – WSJ.com

Some families, alas, are fatter than others. But for dieters continually at war with their genes, there’s good news in a study published in this week’s PLoS Medicine: they can burn off 40% of their genetic predisposition to obesity by exercising.

Exercise Can Counteract Obesity Genes, Says Study – TIME

Here is a finding that won’t surprise you: childhood obesity in Canada has risen dramatically in the last generation.

Obesity is a particularly pernicious illness. Children who are obese have higher risks of being obese adults. Children with obesity-related illnesses such as Type 2 (“adult form”) diabetes and high blood pressure are becoming increasingly common.

CBC News – Health – Poor and fat: The link between poverty and obesity in Canadian children

Exercise can reduce a person’s genetic predisposition to obesity by 40 percent, finds a new English study.

Active Lifestyle May Help Counter Obesity Genes

In California, approximately three in five adults, one in three teens and one in nine children are overweight or obese. That translates to obesity affecting a majority of all the adults and almost 1,000,000 children living in the state, a state full of sunshine, hiking paths, and city parks; a state with a robust agricultural industry producing a bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables; a state that glorifies the thin and rich of Hollywood.

California Obesity Epidemic on the Rise

UnitedHealth is awarding grants to encourage young people to create programs to fight childhood obesity.

UnitedHealth offers grants to fight childhood obesity | Deseret News