A new childhood obesity prevention program helped kids get healthier, especially minority children, a study published in July 2018 in the American Journal of Public Health finds.
What is the microbiome?
Like it or not, your body is teeming with trillions of bugs — microbial cells, that is. Thinking about these bacteria and other microorganisms that you host both outside and inside your body might leave you feeling queasy, but they’re actually critical to maintaining your health, from your weight to your mood.
Demand for sugar in the United States grew throughout the 20th century. But it skyrocketed when the food industry began mass producing high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in the 1970s. Though HFCS intake has fallen in the new millennium, researchers still struggle to understand how this hotly debated sweetener impacts our health.
Over the past 30 years, childhood obesity in the United States has increased alarmingly. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 1980 just 1 in 14 children ages 6 to 11 was obese, while in 2012 that figure rose to nearly 1 in 5.
School lunches don’t generally get a lot of love. Students often accuse the food of being bland and the portions skimpy, while nutritionists say the levels of fat are too high and real nutrition scarce. School districts don’t have it any easier, as they’re caught between rising costs, federal standards, and the need to keep students happy — a tricky proposition at best, as all parents know.
Americans’ diets are as varied as Americans themselves — from classic meat-and-potatoes to veganism, from the “caveman” regime to fast food in all its cholesterol-charged glory.
