news 2012

Cutting down on fat, without dieting, will result in a slimmer figure - according to new research co-authored by Durham University Findings published today in the British Medical Journal show that exchanging fatty foods for lower fat alternatives will help people shift around three-and-a-half pounds - without dieting.

A new study indicates that large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener found in national food supplies across the world, may be a contributory factor to the rising global epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The study by researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Southern California reports that countries that use HFCS in their food supply had a 20 per cent higher prevalence of diabetes than countries that did not use HFCS.

A simple formula can predict at birth a baby's likelihood of becoming obese in childhood, according to a study published today in the open access journal PLOS ONE . The formula, which is available as an online calculator , estimates the child's obesity risk based on its birth weight, the body mass index of the parents, the number of people in the household, the mother's professional status and whether she smoked during pregnancy.

University Home Obese dogs at risk of same health condition experienced by humans Veterinary scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that, like humans, obese dogs can experience metabolic syndrome, a condition that describes multiple health issues that occur in the body at the same time.

PA 298/12 High birth weight, rapid weight gain and having an overweight mother who smokes can all increase the risk of a baby becoming obese later in childhood, research by experts at The University of Nottingham has found. The study, published in the latest edition of the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood , also discovered that children who were breastfed and were introduced to solid food later had a slightly reduced chance of becoming overweight.

Obesity in school-age children may be having a significant effect on the health of their hearts, an Oxford University study suggests. The researchers show that obese children and adolescents have several risk factors for heart disease - including raised blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, and a thickening of the heart muscle - compared with normal weight children.

Adolescents with a body mass index (BMI) rating of obese experience knee pain more often and to a greater severity than adolescents with a healthy weight, a new study shows. The Arthritis Research UK funded study explored the relationship between obesity and pain around the body in young adults. Although previous epidemiological studies have identified obesity as a risk factor for general musculoskeletal pain in adults, this is the first study to investigate the link in adolescents.

New research by the University of Oxford has found that the National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) programme has increased real agricultural wages rates by 5.3% across India since its introduction in 2006. The study, led by Oxford, also involved researchers from the Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore, India.

Overweight women may never escape the painful stigma of obesity – even after they have shed the pounds, new research suggests. The study, by the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, The University of Manchester, and Monash University, examined whether anti-fat prejudice against women persisted even after they had lost significant weight and were now thin.

A new study dispels the myth that in general the homeless are starving and underweight. New research by Oxford University and Harvard Medical School has found that obesity is just as common among the homeless as it is among the general non-homeless population. The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Urban Health , suggests this could be because cheap foods that are instantly satisfying often contain high leveld of fats and sugars.

The agriculture industry could be forced to undergo sweeping changes because warmer winters could be confusing their crops, scientists have warned. It follows a detailed study showing hundreds of plant species, that appear to not be affected by warmer Spring temperatures, are in fact responding as much to warmer winters and getting ‘messed up’ in the process.

Milk poured down Britain's kitchen sinks each year creates a carbon footprint equivalent to that of thousands of cars, research shows. University scientists say the 360,000 tonnes of milk wasted in the UK each year creates greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of CO2. This is the same as is emitted by about 20,000 cars annually.

Low levels of testosterone in men could increase their risk of developing diabetes. University scientists have found that low testosterone levels are linked to a resistance to insulin, the hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Low testosterone We know that men with low testosterone levels are more likely to become obese, and as a develop diabetes.

Obese women are more likely to be discriminated against when applying for jobs and receive lower starting salaries than their non-overweight colleagues, a new study has found. The study, led by The University of Manchester and Monash University, Melbourne, and published in the International Journal of Obesity , examined whether a recently developed measure of anti-fat prejudice, the universal measure of bias (UMB), predicted actual obesity job discrimination.

Women who fall pregnant while dieting are more likely to have a child that could become obese or diabetic in later life, new research suggests. While the study was carried out in sheep, University of Manchester scientists suspect the findings may hold true for humans as well. The research, carried out with colleagues in New Zealand and Canada, may also have found a reason why human twins are more likely to develop type-2 diabetes in adulthood after the team studied twin lambs.

Excavation of 19,000-year-old hunter-gatherer remains, including a vast camp site, is fuelling a reinterpretation of the greatest fundamental shift in human civilisation - the origins of agriculture.

PA 70/12 When new evidence published last year in the Journal of Physiology revealed the dramatic benefits of taking L-carnitine and carbohydrate in combination with exercise, researchers at The University of Nottingham did not stop there. They created a supplement for elite athletes, a nimble spin-out company to arrange manufacture and marketing, and began talking to UK Sport, the English Institute of Sport, and leading coaches and sports nutritionists to make it available to start contributing to athletes' training and performance.

Scientists find that micronutrients affect methylation, which has been associated with changes in the immune system.

Imperial College London Media Release Defects in a protein led by researchers at Imperial College London. The findings highlight a promising target for new drugs to treat obesity and metabolic disorders. The protein GPR120 is found on the surface of cells in the gut, liver and fat tissue and allows cells to detect and respond to unsaturated fatty acids from the diet, especially the omega-3 fatty acids which are believed to have a beneficial impact on health.

  Scientists at the University of Liverpool have found that women who own dogs are more physically active during pregnancy than those who don't. The study of more than 11,000 pregnant women, in partnership with Mars Petcare, showed that those who owned dogs were approximately 50% more likely to achieve the recommended 30 minutes of exercise a day through high levels of brisk walking than those without dogs.