"obesity" news and stories

You know that little voice in your head that looks at a big plate of fresh cookies and whispers, "You'd better eat just one?" Turns out, in people who are already obese, it may be a teeny-tiny voice or missing altogether.

That's the finding of brain researcher Dr. Antonio Convit, a professor of psychiatry and medicine at the New York University School of Medicine and the Nathan Kline Institute, reports New Scientist magazine. Convit and others have long been aware that type 2 diabetes is associated with memory difficulties, the result of a diabetic's inability to increase fuel for the brain to conduct the kind of problem solving that will, for instance, allow them to remember where the heck they put their car keys.

Figuring something similar might occur in people who were obese, Convit looked at the brains of 44 middle-aged obese people and 19 lean ones, using MRI's and other tests.

What he found were changes in the obese subjects in two parts of the brain that play major roles in eating. In obese people there was more water in the amygdala, which, among its functions, regulates feeding behavior. He also found that the orbital frontal cortex of the brains of obese people was smaller, which meant it had less ability to perform one of its key functions -- inhibit automatic responses -- such as the impulse to eat that whole plate of cookies.

And we Americans thought we owned the obesity market! Seems our friends in the UK have also been packing on the pounds. One in four Britons is overweight, claims the Daily Mail. After learning of a recent study supporting a tax on junk food, conducted by the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development, and the World Health Organization, the Brits are questioning whether it's a good idea or, as the food industry claims, turning the country into a "Nanny State."

Maybe some of the gals in UK pubs could use a nanny to walk them home, though. According to The Sun, Britain is becoming a nation of fallen women. Says The Publican, an online site for all things pubby in the UK, "The killer combination of our booze culture and the trend towards ever-higher heels means ladies are toppling from their shoes at an alarming rate. A recent poll of 3,000 high-heel wearers revealed that one in three had injured themselves tumbling off their towering footwear."

When will we ever learn that Martinis and Manolos don't mix?

How about this for a thumb in the eye to America's obesity epidemic: the Heart Attack Grill in suburban Phoenix, Arizona. According to its slogan, it's "taste worth dying for."

The over-the-top restaurant features four tiers of death-defying burgers, from the Single Bypass to an unwieldy tower of four thick patties, the Quadruple Bypass. Customers (called "patients" here) are invited to round out their meal with a side of Flatliner Fries and Jolt cola, followed by Lucky Strike unfiltered cigarettes. "Patients" are cared for by "nurses" (at a place like this, everything seems to need ironic quotes), who appear more like Hooters girls than licensed health-care practitioners. Funny, though, how the "nurses" are all thin and curvy. Maybe the grill doesn't give its employees the same encouragement to power-eat that it does its customers.

As owner Jon Basso, decked out in a lab coat and stethoscope, puts it in a video on the restaurant's website: "No dangerous yo-yo syndrome. I personally guarantee a stable, upward progression of body weight while you're enjoying great tasting foods like a Double Bypass burger and Flatliner Fries. Along with a cold beer and cigarettes, it's a diet program you can stick to for life. (Back in February, Slashfood reported on Basso's legal fight that he was the originator of the "unhealthy" diet plan.)

Cleveland is planting seeds to counter the serious problems of obesity, food deserts and urban blight, thanks in part to a $1.1 million pilot program to fund the Cleveland Urban Agriculture Incubator Project, which was announced Wednesday.

According to The Cleveland Plain Dealer, the pilot program will start with six acres of inner-city lots, grown by 20 residents from the Kinsman neighborhood. The urban farming project is being supported by the USDA, the City of Cleveland, the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio State University Extension Service. With approximately 3,300 acres of vacant land in the city, the Cleveland Leader says the project will be the largest urban agriculture district in the country.

Deputy U.S. Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan was on hand for the announcement, and said the administration is also working to address the problem of urban food deserts by testing mobile groceries and food carts, and by working with more grocery stores.

The fledgling urban farmers will receive training and a quarter acre of land. They're expected to begin planting in April. Produce will then be sold to local schools and restaurants, and at area farmers markets. Officials say the soil will be tested both for safety and to determine what crops will grow best. The program is expected to expand to an additional 20 acres in the future.

We're not sure if the folks in the City of Watsonville, California, were fans of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, but we're pretty sure the star-chef would give a high-five to its council members. In a 6-1 vote on Tuesday, members passed a Healthy Eating Options ordinance, requiring all new restaurants (and existing restaurants looking to expand), to offer healthy options on their menus if they want to secure a building permit.

"It's a very attainable requirement," says Marcela Tavantzis, assistant city manager. "We're not trying to dissuade businesses from coming to Wastonville. The threshold is very low, but it's designed to get restaurants to think about their selections."

The ordinance is based on a point system determined by a list of options. Offering whole-grain bread will earn a restaurant one point. Prepare fish, chicken or beef by broiling, baking or poaching? Bingo! Two points. Offer water free of charge to customers? Yup. That's another point. To secure a permit, restaurateurs need a total of six points. Existing restaurants are also encouraged, but not required, to participate. Certificates are given to businesses that earn nine points, while restaurants that reach 13 will be able to proudly display a Golden Carrot Award. (Sounds like hot-dog joints should rethink the new construction in Watsonville.)