A new national poll suggests that a bare majority of Americans support President Obama's health care plan. The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released Wednesday morning indicates that most people worry that their health care costs would go up if the administration's proposals passed and only one in five thinks that his or her families would be better off...

In a study of urban-living mostly African American adolescents, nearly 40 percent were overweight or obese, and 27 percent of these youngsters underestimated their weight, researchers report. Of the 448 students in grades 5 to 8, more than 62 percent of the overweight boys and nearly 31 percent of the overweight girls listed their weight as normal or underw...

The restaurant industry has some serious explaining to do. In spite of a deluge of research that links the consumption of trans-fatty acids to negative health effects, too many of our favorite fast-food and sit-down chains still serve food that's teeming with the junk. They add useless calories, build bad cholesterol (known as LDL), and lower your good chole...

It's lunchtime in a North Side high school, and the cafeteria lines snake into the hall. One line leads to fish nuggets, iceberg lettuce and canned peaches. Another is for burgers and breaded chicken patty sandwiches. But the longest line leads to lunch workers grabbing paper dishes full of yellow corn chips, topping them with a ball of ground meat and then...

President Barack Obama said Friday he looked forward to signing a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco. He said the bill was a "long time coming," and said he was pleased that the House of Representatives and Senate acted "swiftly" in passing it. The Senate passed the bill ...

Why is it that when it comes to bathroom habits, guys seem to turn into a bunch of 12-year-olds ("Just taking the Browns to the Super Bowl!")? But even if potty talk grosses you out, flushing and running isn't the best strategy either. Docs say that what's in the toilet can provide important clues to your health. Yale gastroenterologist Anish Sheth, M.D., th...

As patients are tethered to dialysis machines, and many lay bedridden from obesity-related diseases, the hospitals' fast food joints and cafeterias dispense fried goodies and slick burgers that contributed to such conditions. "With fast food establishments, hospitals are sending a message that food is not important to health," said Jamie Harvey, a food coor...

Walking far and often may be the best exercise prescription for overweight adults with heart disease, a study published Monday suggests. In a clinical trial of 74 overweight heart disease patients, researchers found that a calorie-burning regimen of longer-distance, moderately paced walking improved patients' risk factors to a greater degree than shorter, m...

Massachusetts is expected to unveil the toughest restaurant menu labeling rules in the United States on Wednesday, requiring fast-food chains to list how many calories are in the food they sell in a bid to combat obesity. The state's Public Health Council is expected to vote on Wednesday on regulations making fast-food chains list the calorie counts of thei...

Like so many others, I can pin a gloomy personal number on this atrocious economy. But my data point isn't pulled from a stock portfolio, a credit score or a home budget, although they're pretty much gasping, too. Nope, this bleak figure comes straight from my medical chart. Over the past year - while I was trying to save bucks by eating on the cheap - m...

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Government health officials are announcing the recall of popular weight loss pill Hydroxycut, after reports of liver damage and other health problems. Food and Drug Administration officials said Friday the manufacturer of Hydroxycut has launched a nationwide recall of the dietary supplement, used by people trying to shed pounds and by body builders to sharp...

When it comes to losing weight, what you drink may be more important than what you eat, according to new research, which shows that cutting back on sugar-laden drinks is associated with weight loss and seems to have a bigger impact on weight than cutting back on solid foods. "Consumption of liquid calories from beverages has increased in parallel with the o...

The average American consumes more than a pound of refined sugar a week. It sounds unbelievable until you realize that sugar goes by more than 50 names and is an ingredient in virtually all processed foods, from your morning doughnut to the ketchup on your burger. Eat it (along with excess fat and calories), sit around, and you'll gain weight. It's the a...

Burger lovers beware: People who eat red meat every day have a higher risk of dying over a 10-year period -- mostly because of cardiovascular disease or cancer --than their peers who eat less red or processed meat, according to a new study of about half a million people. "This is the biggest and highest quality study like this," says Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D.,...

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