Obesity in the news

Overweight and obesity are significant health issues in the United States which has increased significantly over the last 20 years. This epidemic is a major health issue for the country that needs to be addressed. The Obesity pandemic is not isolated to the US only. It is a symptom of the fast pace lifestyle that is today’s modern society. The solution is education and there are many articles in Newsfitness.com as well as many other online sites that provide the answers. The solution is simply regular exercise and the changing of dietary habits. Obesity can be reversed for a large proportion of those afflicted; it’s the will or want to change the lifestyle that needs changing.

Here are the latest Obesity news items

Arena files for FDA approval of obesity drug

 NEW YORK — The first of a new class of obesity drugs moved one step closer to the market Tuesday, as Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it filed for approval of its drug candidate lorcaserin.

The San Diego company reported data from two successful late stage trials of lorcaserin this year, and its shares edged higher in morning trading.

If approved, lorcaserin will probably compete against Vivus Inc.'s Qnexa and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc.'s Contrave32, both of which are still in development. Vivus expects to file for FDA approval in early 2010, and Orexigen plans to make its filing by the end of 2010... Read More

New study sharpens focus on problems of obesity

PARIS — Cardiovascular disease linked to obesity may be worse than thought while health problems associated with being underweight may have been overstated, according to a study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Wednesday.

The paper, written by doctors in Britain and Sweden, seeks to finetune a well-known tool -- the body mass index (BMI) -- which is used to measure obesity and ill-health.
BMI entails taking one's weight in kilos and dividing it by the square of one's height, in metres. A BMI of 25-30 is generally considered overweight. while a figure of above 30 indicates obesity.

Previous studies have already found a big link between BMI and higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some cancers.

In contrast, a low BMI -- in other words, people who are very skinny -- is associated with increased mortality from respiratory disease and lung cancer.... Read More

Obesity heart risk underestimated: study

The risk of dying from heart disease because of excess weight may be higher than thought.
A study published in Wednesday's issue of the British Medical Journal measured body mass index (BMI) and mortality among more than one million pairs of Swedish sons and their parents over 50 years.

The team from Bristol University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden focused on offspring because the BMI of parents could be linked to illnesses they suffer rather than the extra weight itself.

The researchers found strong links between offspring BMI and parental mortality. For example, the risk of coronary heart disease for mothers increased by 1.15 times and 1.10 times for fathers depending on offspring BMI.

The link to heart-related deaths was much stronger than suggested by previous studies.
Using the father's BMI measurements alone, the risk of heart deaths increased by 45 per cent for every three-point increase in BMI level. But using a measurement based on the child's BMI, the risk increased by 82 per cent... Read More