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Research by the University of Leeds has shown that very young children appear to reject story book characters who are overweight, but not those who are disabled. Led by Professor Andrew Hill from the Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, the research investigated young children’s ratings of, and choices between, story characters drawn as overweight, normal weight, or disabled.

African smallholder farmers can increase food production and reduce poverty without harming the environment, says a new briefing paper launched today.

Psychologists at the University of Birmingham suggest that 'attentive eating' affects how much people choose to eat.

A new study that analysed the effects of an intervention which succeeded in improving the duration and exclusivity of breastfeeding during infancy - involving nearly 14,000 healthy infants in Belarus, Eastern Europe - found that it did not result in a lower risk of overweight or obesity among the children at age 11.5 years.

At a time when 25% of the adult population is considered to be obese and the annual cost of the national obesity epidemic is estimated at £5 billon, a Plymouth-based research project that introduced young men and older people to sustainable and healthy food activities points to innovative partnership solutions.

Small-scale sustainable agriculture may offer a better route out of poverty as well as a path to food sufficiency.

Soil science will be fundamental in overcoming the growing threat of global food and fuel crop shortages as the world's population continues to rise, according to innovative research by a University of Sheffield expert.

04 Dec 2012 The team from the Universities of Manchester, Delhi, Cape Coast and Arkansas say the large sector of the economy relying on low wages and physically demanding work hinders improvement in nutrition across rural areas.

Food experts at The University of Nottingham have helped Heston Blumenthal scientifically answer a question that has bothered him since childhood — yes, chocolate biscuits do taste better after they've been dunked in tea.

Scientists from the University of Bristol have been awarded a £1.1 million share of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)'s strategic Longer and Larger Awards in Synthetic Biology, announced today.

A touch-screen computer to help detect illness from malnutrition in older adults has been created by researchers from the University of Sheffield.

Experts from around the globe are to gather in Shanghai, China, to discuss the challenges and solutions to the biggest question facing the world - how do we achieve global food security?

The University of Cambridge and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) Gillings School of Global Public Health will pioneer collaborative research in dementia, obesity, tobacco and alcohol, as well as disease progression and treatment.

A quarter of households in refugee camps in Algeria are currently suffering from the double burden of excess weight and under-nutrition.

The Corn Returns - market data from the 19th century and beyond - represent a valuable resource for economic historians looking at the emergence of modern agricultural markets.

Nutritionists at the University of Glasgow have served up a menu showing what a balanced diet over a week looks like.

Katherine's busy summer for bee research Biology undergraduate Katherine Fensome spent the best days of summer sitting on the grassy slopes of the beautiful Sussex Downs - but it was all in the cause of science. Katherine's JRA placement was with the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects at the University of Sussex.

The speed at which we drink alcohol may be influenced by the shape of the glass we drink from, according to new research from the University of Bristol, published in PLoS ONE. This could be a target to help control the problematic levels of drunkenness that are becoming increasingly common in our society.

A YouGov Cambridge poll has revealed widespread affection for agriculture, even though there is a surprising level of ignorance about the sector and its contribution to the economy.

Scientists at The University of Nottingham believe they've found a way of fighting obesity — with a pioneering technique which uses thermal imaging. This heat-seeking technology is being used to trace our reserves of brown fat — the body's 'good fat' — which plays a key role in how quickly our body can burn calories as energy.

Supermarket ready-meals are 'nutritionally chaotic', according to a study by scientists at the University of Glasgow which calls for improvements to be made. Researchers led by Professor Mike Lean, Chair of Nutrition in the School of Medicine, looked at four different ready-meals across four different ranges at the five major UK supermarket chains of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, Morrisons and the Co-op.

A University of Glasgow scientist and an entrepreneur have teamed up to create what they claim is the world's first nutritionally-balanced pizza.

Insufficient progress has been made in most developing countries to meet the United Nations' target of halving the proportion of children who suffer from hunger by 2015 compared with 1990 levels, acc

UK consumers could face dramatically reduced food choices in the future unless much more is done to cut greenhouse gas emissions, a hard-hitting University of Manchester report warns.

The poorest societies may be more able to adapt to the threat that climate change poses to food supplies than their slightly richer peers. A new study involving experts in the School of Geography at The University of Nottingham found that the very poor and the relatively wealthy countries are less vulnerable — it was the group in the middle that was most at risk.

Experts at Oxford University are calling for the introduction of taxes on sugary drinks as one measure that would encourage healthier diets and help tackle the obesity crisis in the UK.

Population-based interventions for tackling unhealthy diet and physical inactivity could save millions of lives. An ambitious research programme is providing evidence for how best to deliver the goal. It might be that the biggest influences on the population's diet and activity won't just come from simply urging people to change.

The University is leading a £6milllion European project to develop and test new food products with satiating qualities to help control appetite, manage weight and combat obesity.

Oxford University researchers have helped create a new index designed to help empower women working in agriculture in developing countries. The 'Women's Empowerment in Agriculture Index' (WEAI) is the first measure to directly capture women's empowerment and inclusion in the agricultural sector.

There are two very commonly performed operations to treat morbid obesity in the UK but it is unclear which is the most effective and provides the greatest benefit for patients and the NHS.

More than 100 scientists attended the Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease's (IACD) Annual Away Day, reflecting an impressive period of growth.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that overweight dogs that lose weight have an improved quality of life compared to those that don't. It is estimated that approximately a third of the UK dog population is obese. Obesity is a serious disease and can lead to many other health disorders including diabetes, heart disease and arthritis.

Pioneering research will assess the effects of obesity on bone development Researchers from the University of Sheffield are conducting ground-breaking research to determine how body weight and hormones affect bone health from childhood to adulthood. The innovative study involves using revolutionary bone scanning equipment to look at the internal structure of bones in detail to assess whether body weight and hormones affect bone development during growth.

The genuine scientific benefits that have emerged from the modern Olympic Games have often been lost in the hype surrounding these high profile international events.

Newly discovered family of genes could help us breed grasses with improved properties for food and fuel. Unlike starchy grains, the energy stored in the woody parts of plants is locked away and difficult to get at.

Weight loss surgery is not a cure for type 2 diabetes, but it can improve blood sugar control, according to a new study published in the British Journal of Surgery. Whereas some previous studies have claimed that up to 80 per cent of diabetes patients have been cured following gastric bypass surgery, researchers at Imperial College London found that only 41 per cent of patients achieve remission using more stringent criteria.

Intensive agriculture practices developed during the past century have helped improve food security for many people but have also added to nitrate pollution in surface and groundwaters. New research has looked at water quality measurement over the last 140 years to track this problem in the Thames River basin.

It is widely suspected that the current wave of obesity among children will result in greater rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next few decades. But a second systematic review of research into childhood obesity and metabolic disease in adult life has shown there is little evidence of a direct link and suggests that treating obesity during childhood will remove any risk of lasting harm.

The 110 metre high clock tower will be one of a number of iconic buildings across the world turning blue as part of the day's events.

New research, led by psychologists at the University of Bristol, has found that children who are familiar with a snack food will expect it to be more filling. This finding , published (online ahead of print) in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , is important because it reveals one way in which children over-consume snack foods and increase their risk of becoming overweight.

Breeding crops with roots a metre deeper in the ground could lower atmospheric CO2 levels dramatically, with significant environmental benefits, according to research by a leading University of Manchester scientist.

Seventy per cent of eight-month-old babies have a salt (sodium chloride) intake higher than the recommended UK maximum level, due to being fed salty and processed foods like yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti.

Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be victimised by bullying when compared to children who are not overweight.

There is new hope for a solution to Britain's ballooning obesity epidemic with the launch of Europe's most advanced metabolic research facility in the West Midlands, a region recently identified as the 'obesity capital of Europe' according to the most recent figures from the Association of Public Health Observatories.