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Government bans the word 'obese' to describe overweight children Obesity is a growing problem in the UK Parents of primary school children will start getting letters in September telling them how fat their children are. But however much they weigh, no child will ever be described as obese. The Department of Health has found in surveys that the term obese is a turn-off, so instead will use the term “very overweight” for those children whose body mass index exceeds 30, in an attempt to enlist parents’ support. Primary care trusts have been given a detailed set of instructions, and a...

Scientists have made the claim that obese people are more responsible for global warming than thin people. So what's the cure? Uh...ask a fat guy and you may not like the answer! (The author requests that you visit his site and not paste the cartoon within this thread. THANKS!)

Like Owner, Like Dog: One Third Of US Dogs Are Obese, Cats Also SufferDogs and cats that are overweight may be predisposed to develop diabetes mellitus. (Credit: Image courtesy of Virginia Tech) ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2008) — Obesity in pets mirrors that of humans, as do the reasons -- decreased physical activity, age, and an increased caloric intake, even genetic predisposition. Like humans, there are also many health problems associated with being obese, such as diabetes mellitus. It's no secret that obesity is a problem in humans. Reality television makes millions of dollars chronicling the efforts of Americans attempting to...

New bill would make it illegal for restaurants to serve the obese FEBRUARY 1--Mississippi legislators this week introduced a bill that would make it illegal for state-licensed restaurants to serve obese patrons. Bill No. 282, a copy of which you'll find below, is the brainchild of three members of the state's House of Representatives, Republicans W. T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read, and Democrat Bobby Shows. The bill, which is likely dead on arrival, proposes that the state's Department of Health establish weight criteria after consultation with Mississippi's Council on Obesity. It does not detail what penalties an eatery would...

HOUMA, La. (AP) - A 6-foot-3, 265-pound man says a restaurant overcharged him for his trips to the buffet line, then banned him and a relative because they're hearty eaters. A spokesman for the restaurant denies the claim. Ricky Labit, a disabled offshore worker, said he had been a regular for eight months at the Manchuria Restaurant in Houma, eating there as often as three times a week. On his most recent visit, he said, a waitress gave him and his wife's cousin, 44-year-old Michael Borrelli, a bill for $46.40, roughly double the buffet price for two adults. "She says,...

A diet for obese dogs has been developed by veterinary scientists working in the UK and France. Researchers have found that a high protein, high fibre diet is more successful in weight loss programmes for dogs because it helps to create a feeling of fullness. The study, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, was carried out by vets at the University of Liverpool's Small Animal Teaching Hospital, working with the Royal Canine Research Centre in France, and has led to the development of a new diet food for dogs. Most owners who place their...

Parents of 5-year-olds are to be sent official warning letters if their child is found to be obese, as part of a national programme to weigh children in schools. Ministers are bracing themselves for charges that they will stigmatise fat children when they publish proposals next month to tackle rising levels of obesity, The Times has learnt. Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, is understood to have been persuaded that it is in children’s best interest if their weight is brought formally to the attention of their parents. The routine weighing of primary school pupils was reintroduced in England and Wales...

Democratic presidential candidate Bill Richardson called Wednesday for obese Americans to be brought under the protection of the Americans for Disabilities Act. "This is an issue of basic civil rights," said Richardson. "There are no federal laws that protect obese Americans from discrimination in the workplace, school, or anywhere else. This must change."

“And the lady stops and says, ‘Sir, you need to have another ticket.’ And I said what for and she said, ‘because of your size.' I hate to admit it but I was in tears.” VIDEO

DALLAS There's new information today on an overweight father going to extreme measures to adopt a child. Gary Stocklaufer says he's still being treated unfairly by a judge in his home state of Missouri. Despite having weight loss surgery in Dallas, he received notice from a judge overruling his motion for a rehearing to adopt his cousin's son. Back in June, the Stocklaufers petitioned to adopt 4-month-old Max, who had lived with them since he was a week old. Gary was denied the adoption because he was overweight. When news of the court denial spread a hospital in Dallas agreed...

(CNN) -- Americans are already among the fattest people in the world and they just keep packing on the pounds. A new report finds that obesity rates have swelled during the last year in 31 states with not one state reporting that its obesity rate shrank. And, for the first time, more than 30 percent of residents in one state -- Mississippi -- are classified as obese. Two-thirds of U.S. adults are obese or overweight, according to the Trust for America's Health. Nationwide, two-thirds of U.S. adults are obese or overweight, according to the fourth annual report from the Trust...

AN EPIDEMIC of obesity could have serious consequences for America's economy and its ability to defend itself, according to a leading politician. Self-confessed "recovering foodaholic" Mike Huckabee, a Republican Party presidential candidate, told a group of governors from the American South that the increasing numbers of people who were either over-weight or obese meant more and more people were having to take time off work for health reasons. And Mr Huckabee, who lost 110lb - nearly 8st - several years ago when he was governor of Arkansas, said he was concerned by reports that nearly two-thirds of American military personnel...

LONDON: Overweight people are often bullied and discriminated against because ancient fears that fat humans may be diseased causes their thinner counterparts to dislike them, say scientists. In a study, reported in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, the researchers have found that the mere sight of someone who is overweight can trigger feelings of disgust and nausea similar to encountering rotten food. Since bacteria and viruses are invisible, human brains have evolved to react to outward signs of disease like rashes and wounds, and these signs also include excessive body fat, suggests the study. "Antipathy towards obese people is...

Study Shows More Iowans Go Hungry A new study shows more Iowans are going hungry. The study by Drake University found that more than one of every ten households are reporting limited or recurrent lack of access to nutritional and safe food. It also connects a lack of healthy food options to obesity in low-income households. The 2007 Hunger in Iowa Report indicates that more Iowans are skipping meals or eating cheaper and less healthy food because of their inability to get nutritional food in a social acceptable way. Other reports were released in 2001 and 2003. The reports are...

Huntington, WV businesses told to stop selling junk food to fat people The Asssociated Press HUNTINGTON, WV -- Ten Huntington businesses have been put on notice: Do not sell junk food to 19,000 grossly obese Huntington citizens or you could be fined. Attached to the warning letters mailed earlier this month are photos of the 19,000 fat people targeted by city officials. Assistant City Attorney Lora Mayonaise said the Huntington Police Department identified people who have body fat contents of 30% or more. "These people have rights as well, but it's not OK for them to lounge around the downtown...

A US woman weighing 318 kilograms has been rescued from her second-storey bathroom by firefighters, who cut away part of an exterior wall and removed a window before lowering her to the ground.

Junk food and lack of exercise are largely to blame A survey on obesity has shown that the South Pacific is the world's most overweight region. The tiny republic of Nauru is the fattest nation on earth. About 94% of its adult population is overweight. The WHO has warned that poor diet and a lack of exercise increase the risk of illness and premature death. Doctors say obesity can lead to heart disease and arthritis, and fat children are increasingly being condemned to a lifetime of ill health and disability. Junk food In a list of the world's 10...

Until she came to Houston's Renaissance Hospital two weeks ago, Renee Williams hadn't left her bed in three years. It took eight people to get her in and out of the ambulance. At her first weigh-in at the hospital, she tipped 850 pounds. Williams this week became what's thought to be the largest female patient to undergo laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery, the increasingly popular solution to morbid obesity. Her doctor said he's optimistic her weight may drop to as low as 200 pounds in two years.

The statistics about childhood obesity are well known. About 25 million American children have been labeled overweight and are at greater risk of developing diabetes, high cholesterol and other ailments linked their poor nutrition and sloth. These data, of course, negatively spin reality. The U.S. surgeon general says 82 percent of America's children are in very good or excellent health; infant mortality is at an all-time low; childhood immunization is at an all-time high; children are less likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to give birth as teens. But that hasn't stopped the food police from demanding the government...

Obese men are more likely to be infertile than their slimmer peers, according to the first study to look at whether a man's weight influences a couple's fertility. Every excess 10 kilograms may cut a man's fertility by 10 per cent, Dr Markku Sallmen of the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health in Helsinki and colleagues at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, write in the September issue of Epidemiology. Sallmen was a post-doc at NIEHS when he conducted the study. The researchers looked at couples