Category: Nutrition

MEwens
Researchers are making slow progress in understanding the numerous ailments that a growing number of people suffer after eating foods with gluten, a protein found in wheat.
As the Health Journal column reports, a group of 15 experts from seven countries took a step forward this week, proposing a new classification and diagnosing system […]

MEwens
Tobacco, alcohol … and sugar?
A new commentary published in Nature argues that just as the first two substances are regulated in various ways by government authorities, so should be sugar. While acknowledging that food, unlike alcohol and tobacco, is required for survival, the authors say taxes, zoning ordinances and even age limits for […]

MEwens
Birth-Control Recall: Pfizer has recalled about a million packs of birth-control pills on concerns that incorrect packaging could lead to unplanned pregnancies, but says it believes only 30 packs actually had the troublesome glitches, the WSJ reports. Pfizer has identified three production problems that could permit pills to be placed incorrectly in the […]

Ron Winslow
Simple photos of green beans in cafeteria trays spurred more kids to take them.
The simple act of putting photos of green beans and carrots in cafeteria-tray compartments sparked increased consumption among elementary-school students, according to a small study that suggests one more potential avenue for getting kids to eat their veggies.
A research […]

WSJ Staff
Roche’s Genomics Bet: Roche’s $6 billion hostile bid for DNA-sequencing company Illumina represents a bet that the technology will filter down from academic and government research centers to doctors’ offices and hospitals, the WSJ reports. Roche believes sales of genetic mapping machines will almost double to $2.1 billion by 2015, but some […]

MEwens
Bad Day For European Pharma: European drug makers AstraZeneca and Novartis reported setbacks yesterday, the WSJ reports. AstraZeneca said it would take a $380 million charge to stop development of experimental drugs for depression and ovarian cancer, which means 2011 profits are likely to come in at the low end of its previously […]

MEwens
During our daily subway commute to and from Health Blog HQ, we’ve noticed posters telling us exactly how far we’d have to walk to work off various sugar-sweetened drinks.
Now a study just published online by the American Journal of Public Health makes us think that the NYC Department of Public Health, which is […]

MEwens
McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants have been the target of ordinances on kids’ meals and toy giveaways.
San Francisco’s move last year to put restrictions on fast-food meal packages that include free toys — and restaurants’ attempts to evade those restrictions — has gotten a lot of attention.
But Santa Clara County, also in California, […]

MEwens
It’s no secret that reversing the childhood obesity epidemic in the U.S. will be a long slog. While obesity rates among children and teens appear to have leveled off in recent years, nearly a third remain overweight, and about 17% are obese.
And while many cities and towns have programs and events to attack […]

MEwens
California children’s hospitals aren’t dishing up particularly healthful fare, a new study shows.
Researchers from UCLA and the Rand Corp. report in the journal Academic Pediatrics that of the 16  food venues serving 14 hospitals studied in July 2010, 81% offered unhealthful “impulse items” — think freezers stocked with ice-cream treats — near the […]