obesity epidemic

Obese people do not just risk their own health; their health problems cripple the economy. GDP would be given a boost if the number of fat people fell sharply. The Obama administration has not made an attack on obesity part of its stimulus program. Maybe it should.

As part of a plan to increase access to high-quality nutritious foods, First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Wednesday that she is teaming up with several of the country's largest food retailers. From healthier foods to new jobs, see what's in store for big chains like Walmart.

America is getting heavier and less healthy every year, and our increasing consumption of fast food is at least partially to blame. 24/7 Wall St. examined the menus of the top 10 quick service restaurants to find the items that were the highest in calories, carbohydrates, sodium and saturated fat. Here's what they found:

McDonald's got a letter from 550 health experts Wednesday accusing the fast food giant of ignoring the impact its products -- and its marketing -- have on America's children. It's not the first such criticism of McDonald's, but so far, the attacks don't appear to have hurt its sales.

High-fructose corn syrup has gotten such a bad name that the Corn Refiners Association, in a bid to repair its image, has asked the federal government to allow it to drop the label and replace it with "corn sugar." In a petition to the FDA, the lobbying arm of the syrup-making industry argues that...

Orexigen jumped over 25% in premarket trading after announcing an exclusive partnership agreement potentially worth over $1 billion with Japan's Takeda Pharmaceutical to develop and commercialize Contrave, Orexigen's promising obesity drug.

In order to qualify to have lap band surgery, Kim Byrd had to gain weight. "I gained 10 pounds just to have the surgery," she says. Byrd's scale read 239 when she had the surgery. "Now I weigh 159." Her need to pack on even more weight in order to be labeled "obese" or "morbidly obese" has been...

If the waistlines of Americans continue to expand, the U.S. will fork out about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018. That will use up about 21% of health care spending, according to the first analysis that examines just how heavy the price tag of being overweight is. The projections...

Americans are paying billions for what experts call "treatable illnesses." But the exorbitant amount we're paying, a new report says, is growing exponentially. Currently, the U.S. is spending more per capita on health care than any other nation. And much of this excess spending is going to treat...

When the bestselling book French Women Don't Get Fat came out in 2004, it was yet another occasion to begrudge Gallic females, who could always say oui to pâté, brie, and crème brûlée without ever having to get their Hermès skirts altered. It didn't help that...