Fifteen obstetrics-gynecology practices out of 105 polled by the Sun Sentinel said they have set weight limits for new patients. Some of the doctors said the main reason was their exam tables or other equipment can’t handle people over a certain weight, but at least six said heavy women run a higher risk of complications.

“People don’t realize the risk we’re taking by taking care of these patients,” the newspaper quoted Dr. Albert Triana of South Miami as saying. “There’s more risk of something going wrong and more risk of getting sued. Everything is more complicated with an obese patient in GYN surgeries and in [pregnancies],” he told the newspaper.

It is not illegal for doctors to refuse overweight patients, but it has medical ethicists worried. So far, the weight cutoffs have been enacted only by South Florida ob-gyns, who have long complained about high numbers of lawsuits after difficult births and high rates for medical-malpractice insurance.

Report: Doctors Refusing to Treat Overweight Patients | CNSnews.com

A gene linked to diabetes and cholesterol has been declared by scientists as a “master switch” that controls other genes found in fat in the body. Researchers say that by studying and targeting the gene, identified as KLF14 should help in the search for treatments for obesity-related diseases.

Could targeting gene reverse the effects of diabetes, obesity? – Health & Wellness – Catholic Online

Obesity is associated with a decreased risk of low-grade and increased risk of high-grade prostate cancer (PCa), according to study data presented at the American Urological Association 2011 annual meeting.

Obesity Raises Risk of Aggressive Prostate Cancer – Renal and Urology News

Canada’s obesity crisis is giving birth to a new problem: an increasing number of caesarean sections among obese mothers-to-be.

A study of nearly 12,000 women who delivered over a 10-year-period at Montreal’s Royal Victoria Hospital found that doctors are far quicker to call for a C-section on women with higher body mass index, or BMI.

It’s not clear why, but researchers say many doctors are scared to deal with obese women. Labour can be slower, and many physicians fear that a heavier woman necessarily means a bigger baby that could get stuck in the birth canal.

C-sections more likely for obese moms

A Bay State lawmaker who has proposed extending Massachusetts’ sales tax to candy and soda compared sugary beverages to cigarettes yesterday as the boss of PepsiCo was in town to address business leaders and told reporters that would be bad policy.

“It’s irresponsible not to look at taxing sugar beverages and candy because of their link to obesity,” said Newton Rep. Kay Khan, whose bill is being reviewed by a House committee. “Companies are making millions by putting this out to people. It’s like cigarettes. It’s not good for people’s health.”

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi’s company boasts 19 billion-dollar brands, including Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Seven-Up and Diet Pepsi.

Nooyi, who was speaking at a Boston College Chief Executives’ Club lunch, called obesity “a broad issue” that involves much more than sweetened beverages

Pepsi CEO takes on sugar tax – BostonHerald.com

“It’s the parents’ responsibility that have obese kids,” state Sen. Shane Cultra, R-Onarga, said Tuesday, when lawmakers took a shot at solving the state’s obesity epidemic. “I think you need to look at a bill to take the tax deduction away for their child if he’s obese.”

He added: “In poorer families, they actually get money for their kids. I’d take that money away.”

The Republican has not introduced legislation to deny parents the $2,000 standard tax deduction. He responded to the story Wednesday, saying in a statement that he was only kidding:

“I certainly regret my choice of words in the recent debate on Senate Bill 396. It was a tongue-in-cheek comment taken out of context – and should not be taken seriously. I am sensitive to the need to reduce childhood obesity. But I don’t believe a new tax one everyone who buys juice, soda and energy drinks will accomplish the goal. Parents have to take some responsibility.”

However, video shot during yesterday’s committee hearing by Illinois Statehouse News Service may indicate otherwise. The video seems to show Cultra being completely serious when he made the comments. No one in the room laughed and other speakers begin talking in response.

Illinois lawmaker getting international reaction to ‘fat tax’ suggestion

According to a new study published in peer-reviewed journal Neurology, being obese or overweight in middle age increases the risk of developing dementia. Being overweight, we are told, raises your risk of developing heart disease, cancer, diabetes and even eye problems. Obesity has also been connected to an increased risk in childbirth. And although this latest research sounds like a brand-new conclusion on an important concern for the overweight, it has in fact been studied before – with conclusions on the link between weight and dementia being reported in both 2005 and 2006.

A great deal of money must have been spent to support these research projects. Significant funding to tell us what we already know: that obesity is a health risk. It is undesirable. It is very bad. As someone who is both middle aged and obese, I am very well aware of the risks associated with my current size (just shy of morbidly obese with a fluctuating BMI of between 38 and 39). I don’t need more research to tell me how dangerous it is. I need to know how to cure it.

Diets don’t work. They may have a short-term effect but, unless you can maintain a celebrity-like iron grip on your eating for the rest of your life (and few can) they are not a permanent solution and can have negative effects. For some people, like me, they don’t work at all, because of complex endocrine deficiencies that are only recently being properly investigated, documented and understood

Obesity is bad, we get that | Catherine Hughes | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

A good billboard is designed to get your attention, but some billboards popping up around Georgia may be getting more than their fair share.

They are part of a new initiative from the Georgia Children’s Health Alliance called “Stop Childhood Obesity.”

The billboards appeared in Macon and Columbus and feature pictures of overweight children alongside messages like “he has his father’s eyes, his laugh and maybe even his diabetes” or “fat kids become fat adults.”

The campaign continues online, with video testimonies from overweight children describing how they are teased by others or get tired easily.

“Nobody’s really paying attention to [child obesity],” says Ron Frieson, who is in charge of the campaign. “So we felt as though it would take some drastic measures.”

Too drastic, some say. The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance says the campaign stigmatizes overweight children and have called for the billboards to come down.

Critics say obesity campaign more harmful than helpful | 11alive.com

A new study has suggested that the bad white fat in the body can be transformed into brown fat to burn off calories and weight, paving the way for a probable new treatment for obesity in humans.

Fat Thanks to Sunita K. for the tip!

Turn bad fat into good, cure obesity – The Times of India

What should expectant mothers avoid? The same thing everyone should avoid: A diet high in carbohydrate (such as sugars) and high saturated fat. What makes the goose fat also makes the gander fat.

The study, which will appear in Diabetes, found that a mother’s diet while pregnant can alter her child’s DNA–called epigenetic change–to make the child more susceptible to obesity. It doesn’t matter whether the mother herself is skinny or fat, simply what she eats during the early stages of pregnancy. It means that we could perhaps spend money and effort more wisely by making sure pregnant women don’t create obese-prone babies to start with. Surely, there are other causes for obesity, and mothers who eat badly during pregnancy might simply feed their kids crap to begin with. But anything that can alter a baby’s DNA should probably be avoided if you’re pregnant–and might be something you want to avoid in your daily life whether you’re expecting or not.

Fat Thanks to Sunita K. for the tip!

Your Mom Is Why You’re Fat | Fast Company