Obesity News

June 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Fitness Trackers Are Failing Millions — This Fix Could Change Everything

June 20, 2025 — Fitness trackers often fail people with obesity by underestimating their energy burn, leading to discouraging results and misguided health data. A scientist's frustrating experience in an exercise class with his mother-in-law where her effort wasn t ...

Self-Esteem Skyrockets 131% After Weight-Loss Surgery, Study Reveals

June 20, 2025 — Self-esteem scores jumped a remarkable 131% within just one year of bariatric surgery, according to a large study presented at ASMBS 2025. Tracking nearly 5,800 patients, researchers found a direct link between weight loss and rising confidence, ...

Brain Food Fight: Rutgers Maps the Hidden Switch That Turns Cravings on and Off

June 14, 2025 — Rutgers scientists have uncovered a tug-of-war inside the brain between hunger and satiety, revealing two newly mapped neural circuits that battle over when to eat and when to stop. These findings ...

The Hunger Switch in Your Nose: How Smells Tell Your Brain to Stop Eating

June 12, 2025 — A team of scientists has discovered a direct link between the smell of food and feelings of fullness at least in lean mice. This brain circuit, located in the medial septum and triggered by food odors, helps animals eat less by making them feel ...

Beyond Ozempic: New Weight Loss Drug Rivals Surgery

June 12, 2025 — Tufts University scientists are aiming to revolutionize the future of weight loss drugs by engineering a new compound that targets four gut hormones instead of the usual one to three. These next-gen tetra-functional peptides may overcome the ...

Scientists Found the Brain Glitch That Makes You Think You’re Still Hungry

June 11, 2025 — A team of scientists has identified specialized neurons in the brain that store "meal memories" detailed recollections of when and what we eat. These engrams, found in the ventral hippocampus, help ...

Why Your Diet Might Be Making You Sad--Especially If You're a Man

June 7, 2025 — New research reveals a surprising downside to calorie-cutting diets: a link to higher levels of depressive symptoms, especially in men and those who are overweight. Despite popular beliefs that healthy eating boosts mental wellness, real-life ...

Newly Identified Group of Nerve Cells in the Brain Regulates Bodyweight

May 30, 2025 — Obesity is a global health problem that affects many people. In recent years, very promising anti-obesity drugs have been developed. Despite these successes, there are patients who do not respond to these drugs or suffer from side effects. ...

Looking to Cut Calories? Try Adding Chilies, Study Suggests

May 22, 2025 — Throwing a little heat on your meal might be an effective strategy for cutting back on calories, according to a new ...

Eating Craved Foods With Meals Lessens Cravings, Boosts Weight Loss

May 20, 2025 — Small clinical study with obese dieters who had chronic health problems found that eating balanced meals and including craved foods with those meals helped dieters manage cravings, even into the yearlong maintenance phase of the ...

Waist-to-Height Ratio Predicts Heart Failure Incidence

May 19, 2025 — Risk of heart failure (HF) has been shown to increase as body mass index (BMI) increases; however, BMI has limitations as an obesity measure. Over median follow-up of 13 years, waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) was found to significantly predict incident ...

A Healthy Diet in Childhood Is Linked to Starting Menstrual Periods Later, Regardless of BMI or Height

May 7, 2025 — Eating a healthy diet as a child is linked to girls having their first menstrual period at an older age than those who consumed a less healthy diet, according to a new study. The findings remained ...

Latest Headlines

updated 11:32am EDT

Early Puberty Increases Risk of Overweight Later in Life for Girls

May 21, 2025 — Unique Danish longitudinal study with over 136,000 measurements reveals the connection between pubertal development and weight throughout ...

United States Sees Disproportionate Increase in Body Mass Index Rates of More Than 60

Apr. 29, 2025 — In the past 20 years, the average rate of obesity among adults in the United States has risen by approximately 30 percent, but the rate of those with ...

Early Mutations and Risk Factors for Stomach Cancer, and Develops a Pre-Cancer Model for Stomach Cancer Prevention

Apr. 16, 2025 — Researchers have made significant advancements in understanding the earliest stages of stomach cancer, a leading cause of cancer-related deaths ...

Carb Restriction Offers Relief from Calorie Counting

Apr. 13, 2025 — The intermittent fasting diet, which involves periods of severe calorie restriction, may be on the way out, as research is suggesting that rather than drastically reducing calories, people can ...

Parents' Metabolic Traits Can Affect the Child's Health Over Time

Apr. 13, 2025 — Research shows that the biological parents' genes affect the child's insulin function and capacity to regulate blood sugar levels and blood lipids in different ways. Such knowledge may be used to to ...

Research Highlights Urgent Need for National Strategy to Combat Rising Eating Disorders

Mar. 28, 2025 — The increasing number of people with eating disorders and a lack of national guidance for support teams has led to researchers calling for a new ...

Biologists Discover Ancient Neurohormone That Controls Appetite

Mar. 28, 2025 — Biologists have discovered that bombesin, a neurohormone controlling appetite in humans, also regulates feeding in starfish, revealing its ancient evolutionary origin dating back over 500 million ...

How Time-Restricted Eating Affects Weight Loss

Mar. 27, 2025 — A new study indicates that when healthy adults pair an eight-hour eating window with regular exercise, they lose more fat -- without sacrificing lean muscle -- compared to exercise ...

Neurons in Brain That Regulate Energy Levels and Body Temperature

Mar. 27, 2025 — Scientists have gained greater clarity in the brain regions and neurons that control metabolism, body temperature and energy use. A team of researchers discovered which chemicals influence the ...

Scientists Discover Why Obesity Takes Away the Pleasure of Eating

Mar. 26, 2025 — Many obese people report losing pleasure in eating rich foods -- something also seen in obese mice. Scientists have now discovered the reason. Long-term high-fat diets lower levels of neurotensin in ...

99 Trials Later, Fasting Ties Traditional Diets in Weight-Loss Showdown

June 19, 2025 — Intermittent fasting might not be a miracle solution, but it stands shoulder to shoulder with traditional calorie-cutting when it comes to shedding pounds and improving metabolic health. A major new ...

Slowing Down to Eat Less: Towards Simple Strategies for Obesity Prevention

Mar. 25, 2025 — Obesity prevention strategies often focus on diet, but eating behaviors also play a key role. In a recent study, researchers from Japan investigated factors influencing meal duration, including sex ...

Earliest Stages and Possible New Cause of Stomach Cancer Revealed

Mar. 19, 2025 — Scientists have systematically analyzed somatic mutations in stomach lining tissue to unpick mutational processes, some of which can lead to cancer. The team also uncovered hints of a potential new ...

Maternal Depression Can Lead to Children's Emotional Overeating, Study Shows

Mar. 17, 2025 — Up to 25% of new mothers suffer from postpartum depression, which can significantly impact their parenting behavior and the wellbeing of their children. A new study looks at long-term effects of ...

Depressing Findings for Those Suffering from Eating Disorders

Mar. 13, 2025 — New research shows that people with eating disorders are more harshly judged than those suffering from depression, making it much harder for them to seek ...

An Easy-to-Apply Gel Prevents Abdominal Adhesions in Animals

Mar. 12, 2025 — Up to 90% of abdominal surgeries result in adhesions -- abnormal scarring that ties together organs and tissues. A gel has now been shown to prevented adhesions in mice and ...

Two-Thirds of Children Classified BMI-Overweight Had Normal Fat Estimated With Waist-to-Height Ratio

Mar. 12, 2025 — Body mass index (BMI) was almost three times more likely to classify children as overweight than waist circumference-to-height ratio, according to a new ...

Memory Is Impaired in Aged Rats After 3 Days of High-Fat Eating

Mar. 6, 2025 — Just a few days of eating a diet high in saturated fat could be enough to cause memory problems and related brain inflammation in older adults, a new study in rats ...

Scientists Identify Genes That Make Humans and Labradors More Likely to Become Obese

Mar. 6, 2025 — Researchers have discovered genes linked to obesity in both Labradors and humans. They say the effects can be over-ridden with a strict diet and exercise ...

Exercise and Healthy Eating Behavior Together Provide the Best Protection Against Cardiovascular Diseases

Mar. 5, 2025 — Researchers have found that women who exhibit disturbed eating behaviors and engage in low physical activity tend to have more central body fat and a higher risk of metabolic low-grade inflammation. ...

Obesity: Researchers Discover a Cause of Leptin Resistance -- And How to Reverse It

Mar. 4, 2025 — Most obese patients grow resistant to satiety signals from the hormone leptin. A new study shows that leptin sensitivity can be restored in mice, leading to weight ...

Strong Link Between Western Diet During Pregnancy and ADHD

Mar. 3, 2025 — New research reveals that a mother's diet during pregnancy -- characterized by a Western dietary pattern high in fat and sugar and low in fresh ingredients -- may increase the risk of ...

How a Low-Carb Diet Can Drive Colorectal Cancer Development

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers have shown how a low carbohydrate diet can worsen the DNA-damaging effects of some gut microbes to cause colorectal cancer. The study compared the effects of three different diets in ...

How to Trick the Body's Metabolism

Mar. 3, 2025 — Researchers have discovered a new way in which the liver regulates its consumption of sugar and fat. This could potentially increase the effectiveness of weight-loss and diabetes ...

Obesity Starts in the Brain

Feb. 28, 2025 — A study has provided new insights into the role of the brain as a crucial control center and the origin of obesity and type 2 diabetes. The hormone insulin plays a key role in the development of ...

Bacteria 'Leaking Across Stomach Lining' Could Indicate Risk of Gastric Cancer

Feb. 26, 2025 — A pioneering study has revealed new insights into the role of gastric bacteria in stomach cancer development that could pave the way for a more effective treatment of ...

Genetic Evidence That Diabetes Drug GLP-1 Receptor Agonists Achieve Weight Loss Primarily by Reducing Fat Mass More Than Muscle

Feb. 24, 2025 — Diabetes and obesity have become pressing health issues worldwide. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, a class of medications widely used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2D), ...

Disordered Eating and Certain Foods Linked to Higher Risk for Urinary Incontinence in Middle-Aged Women

Feb. 13, 2025 — Eating behavior is associated with symptoms of pelvic floor disorders in middle-aged women. For example, higher consumption of highly processed ready-made foods and fast food increased the risk for ...

Putting Least Calorific Meals First on Menu Makes Teenagers More Likely to Order Them

Feb. 11, 2025 — New research has found that putting lower-calorie meal choices at the top of a restaurant menu, and reducing the availability of high-calorie options, makes teenagers more likely to order the ...

Decoding Fat Tissue

Feb. 7, 2025 — Research has uncovered key differences in gene expression linked to inflammation, metabolism and cardioprotection. These findings could help inform the development of targeted therapies for ...