Food pesticide shown to affect fat cell gene activity at extremely low concentrations.
Aibs.org - Tributyltin, a ubiquitous pollutant that has a potent effect on gene activity, could be promoting obesity, according to an article in the December 2008 issue of BioScience. The chemical is used in antifouling paints for boats, as a wood and textile [...]

Studies have linked prenatal smoking to a higher risk of childhood obesity, but new findings suggest that effect may vary based on race and ethnicity.

PSU.edu - Obesity gradually numbs the taste sensation of rats to sweet foods and drives them to consume larger and ever-sweeter meals, according to neuroscientists. Findings from the Penn State study could uncover a critical link between taste and body weight, and reveal how flab hooks the brain on sugary food.
“When you have a reduced [...]

Bio-engineers have created a purple tomato that has the food community buzzing. By inserting genes from a purple snapdragon flower into the tomatoes, they grow with a deep purple hue. The purple pigment is rich in powerful anti-inflammatory antioxidants known as anthocyanins. Anthocyanins from other foods that contain them naturally have been shown to slow [...]

Pregnant women who routinely consume fatty foods could be predisposing their children to a lifetime of overeating and obesity, according to a surprising study.

Obesity can wreck a person’s health for many reasons. But for women, too much weight tacks on an additional danger: Studies have linked obesity and breast cancer in a variety of ways.

KU.dk - According to trials, a new anti-obesity weight loss drug, Tesofensine, which may be launched on the world market in a few years, can produce weight loss twice that of currently approved obesity drugs. The Danish company Neurosearch and a number of researchers at the Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen are [...]

Older African-American, Native American and non-white Hispanic women are more likely to develop arthritis than their white counterparts, and the larger prevalence of obesity among these ethnic groups may help explain why

Many women don’t know that obesity increases their risk of several types of cancer, a new survey published in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology shows.

WISC.edu - For the first time researchers have found a messaging system in the brain - NF-κB, or nuclear factor-kappa B - that directly affects food intake and body weight.
Reported in the October 3, 2008 issue of Cell, the findings (from a study in mice) point to a completely new approach to treating and preventing [...]