Weight Control

Ask a parent to name the greatest health threat to children and you'll hear about drinking or drugs. Rarely will anyone cite obesity -- even though it can lead to heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes.

The major culprit behind the U.S. decline in physical activity may be our own high-tech and increasingly sedentary lifestyle.

Although their symptoms and effects can be similar, strokes and heart attacks are two different medical problems.

The average American gains several pounds in the six weeks between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. This seemingly inevitable weight gain is avoidable; you can fend off added pounds during the holidays without becoming a dietary Scrooge.

Fat cells store excess energy in the body. People who tend to become overweight aren't very good at burning up calories; instead they store them as fat.

Children whose parents are overweight or obese are at higher risk for becoming obese themselves, studies have shown. One study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that for a child under 10, having an obese parent more than doubled the child's risk for becoming an obese adult.

You can lose weight by dieting, exercising, or a combination of both. Including exercise into your daily routine offers other benefits besides weight control.

Eating healthy can reduce your risk of illness and lengthen your life. Eating a balanced, low-fat, low-cholesterol diet reduces your risk of heart disease, certain cancers, diabetes, stroke and other diseases. Follow these tips to help improve your diet.

As cold weather settles in for the season and the days grow ever shorter, it's tempting to put off any thoughts of becoming active.

Although people generally gain weight when they stop smoking, you can reduce your chances of adding extra pounds by taking steps to prevent it.

When you think of dancing, you probably don't think about how good it is for your heart, your lungs, your joints, your muscles and your stress level -- because it's just fun.

News reports on the role fat should play in your diet can be confusing. Some new studies suggest the type of fat you consume is more important to your health than the amount of fat eaten. Other recent reports contradict these findings.

The majority of dieters regain the weight they lose within five years. But they could avoid doing so by gradually changing their eating and exercise habits. Your approach to weight loss should be to make changes you can keep up for the rest of your life.

If you've tried a dozen diets but the pounds always sneak back, you may be able to lose them for good by making strength-training an integral part of your weight-loss program.

Most medical weight-loss programs first try to help you make the long-term behavioral changes necessary to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. This includes exercising regularly and eating healthy food. If you still remain seriously overweight, you and your doctor might discuss these options.

Whether you have tried to lose weight on your own or with the help of a weight-loss program, the focus is too often on severely restrictive diets and unrealistic goals, nutrition experts say.

You can't walk across a room without huffing and puffing. Your arms get tired unpacking a bag of groceries. You're carrying more and more excess body weight. And you can't remember the last time you got any real exercise.

We've all heard warnings, yet many of us keep gaining weight. More than half of American adults are overweight or obese, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To stay at the same weight you were when you were younger, you just need to keep doing what you've always done—and maybe a bit more.

Youths of all ages from 2 through the teen years snack more often. With 13 to 14 percent of children and adolescents overweight, we can blame eating between meals for part of the trend.

Out of the millions Americans who are overweight and go on a diet each year, many regain all or a part of the weight they lose within five years.

In today's society, there's much confusion over what constitutes a healthy weight. Here are some ways to find out where you stand on the weight issue.

The fact is, you might not care as much about looks as your wife does, but that fat around your abdomen is no laughing matter. A man's potbelly often warns of later problems ranging from heart disease to cancer, diabetes, arthritis, back pain, and sleep apnea.

You can lose a significant amount of weight by making small changes in your eating habits that don't require record keeping or a food scale.

Childhood obesity is more prevalent in the Northeast, followed by the Midwest, South and West. It is also more prevalent in cities than in rural areas.

The latest studies conclude that a successful weight-loss plan is a mind/body undertaking that not only involves monitoring calorie intake and expenditure, but dealing with the psychological side of weight loss and habit change.

Some weight gain is unavoidable, because as the body ages, body fat increases as lean muscle mass and bone mass decrease. Body weight increases until you reach age 60, when it begins to decline.

Experts say the long-term success at weight loss requires a balance between diet and physical activity.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, one in five children in the United States is overweight or obese. That's twice as many overweight children as 20 years ago.

People who keep lost weight off tend to have several habits in common. Here are strategies that can help you be a successful long-term loser.

Excess childhood weight is placing "an unprecedented burden" on children's health. It's triggering a host of dangerous health problems once seen only in adults.

obesity increases the risk for illness from 30 serious medical conditions, including diabetes, heart disease and several types of cancer.

Extreme obesity plagues more than a million teens and young adults, experts estimate. What's a parent to do?

The not-so-secret secret to weight loss is to burn more calories than you eat. This can be done safely and effectively by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

Midlife weight gain may put you at risk for serious health conditions, such as diabetes.

If you’ve tried everything, yet weight loss continues to elude you, don’t give up. There are ways to up the odds and increase your chance of success.

Here are strategies that can help you troubleshoot and personalize your weight-loss plan to manage common workplace weight-loss roadblocks.

Low-calorie, high-fiber foods such as fruits and vegetables fill you up but don't add that much to your daily calorie total.

Whether you’ve already gained a few extra pounds or have yet to reach perimenopause, here are strategies to help you maintain a healthy weight in midlife and beyond.

Many nutrition experts say that having a healthy snack midmorning or midafternoon can help you maintain your energy and prevent you from eating too much at lunch or dinner.

Keeping a food diary is critical for weight-loss success because it helps you understand and face up to your eating habits.

Making and following a weight-loss plan that includes balanced meals and exercise can help you attain a healthy weight.

When counting calories, don’t forget the ones you drink. For many people, these so-called liquid calories can make or break an effort to lose pounds successfully.

If you’re eating according to outdated or untrue dietary commandments, all your efforts to lose weight could be in vain.

The most common prescription medications to cause weight gain include drugs that treat depression, heartburn, bipolar disorder, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Whether you’re trying to maintain a healthy weight or improve your health, junk food can sabotage a worthy effort.

Even with some basic knowledge about how to accomplish weight-loss goals, 66 percent of us are still overweight.

Obesity is a serious, chronic disease that can inflict substantial harm to a person’s health. Learn about obesity causes and obesity health effects.

Many people hunger for sweets, salty snacks, and other processed foods when they are stressed. One solution: Reach for healthy high-fiber snacks with a bit of the tastes you crave.

Whether you want to run a marathon or just start exercising regularly, having a goal is an important tool.

Most people are serving-size challenged, thanks to today's large portions: mega-muffins, heaping plates of pasta, behemoth burgers and extra-large bagels.

Although sugar-free soft drinks don’t add calories, they don’t provide nutrients either. And one study found that students who had been primed to think about their diets actually ate more when given small bags of potato chips than students who were given large bags.

The benefits of dancing go well beyond heart health and physical fitness. Dancing, especially group dance activities, provides opportunities for people of all ages to be socially and mentally engaged, as well.

Eating together as a family has many benefits not only for you, but also for your children. This lifestyle habit may actually help to fend off childhood obesity.

Emotional eating affects most everyone from time to time, but regularly letting your feelings guide your food intake can affect your health.

Moderately intense activities, such as walking briskly from your parked car to the mall entrance and taking your dog for a quick jog after dinner, won't help you train for a sport. But they can help you achieve and maintain a healthful weight and improve your overall fitness level.

On paper, losing weight is simple math. One pound of fat equals about 3,500 calories. In real life, however, it’s more complex.

Should you skip breakfast if you want to lose weight? Is all fat bad for you? Find out the answers to these and other questions about food.

The “secret” to maintaining a healthy weight is not found in any magic diet or weight loss system. In fact, it’s no secret to it at all. You just need to take in about the same amount of calories that your body uses up.

Most people who follow a vegetarian diet are less likely to be overweight or obese than non-vegetarians. Even so, becoming a vegetarian is no guarantee you will attain or maintain a healthy weight.