Health, Weight | featured news

There were no diet pills, shakes or detoxes. And no, it wasn't caveman food, grapefruit, Twinkies, Taco Bell or Subway sandwiches.

Twinkies. Nutty bars. Powdered donuts. For 10 weeks, Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University, ate one of these sugary cakelets every three hours, instead of meals. To add variety in his steady stream of Hostess and Little Debbie snacks, Haub munched on Doritos chips, sugary cereals and Oreos, too.

Short people have a 50 percent higher risk of having a heart problem or dying from one, when compared to tall people, a new study says, though weight, blood pressure and smoking habits remain more important factors.

Linda Bacon, Ph.D, dreads swimsuit season, but not because she has anything against the beach.

For most pregnant women, exercise is the last thing on their minds. After all, keeping slim while you're expecting isn't exactly the top priority — rather, it's making sure your baby gets enough nutrients to grow. But in a small new study, researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand report that a mother's regular aerobic exercise may be good for a growing fetus' health — and may even help a baby get a healthier start in life.

Physicians and other medical professionals should screen children age 6 and older for obesity and refer obese kids to comprehensive weight-management programs, an expert panel says in today's Pediatrics online.

A new study finds obese people have 8 percent less brain tissue than normal-weight individuals. Their brains look 16 years older than the brains of lean individuals, researchers said today.

He was enormously obese — a lost soul with no friends and no life who had given up on himself and on life.

If you pigged out at cookouts on July 4th, try these 6 tricks to fight belly bloat fast.

Today is the third week of our annual USA TODAY Weight-Loss Challenge, and this week we’re profiling Ebony Lugo, 23, of New York City. She has lost almost 50 pounds. She goes to the gym to work out, but at...