Fitness & Nutrition

Seniors around the country depend on weekly deliveries of nutritionally balanced food from the USDA's supplemental nutrition program.

Shutdown Leaves Some Seniors Worried About Their Next Meal

7:27pm October 11, 2013

by Patrick Center

Some Michigan seniors may be going hungry thanks to the government shutdown. In western Kent County alone, more than 1,300 low-income seniors depend on a government surplus food program. But the USDA has announced that the program is hold until further notice.

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About 40 years ago wheat breeders introduced new varieties of wheat that helped farmers increase their grain yields. But scientists say those varieties aren't linked to the rise in celiac disease.

Doctors Say Changes In Wheat Do Not Explain Rise Of Celiac Disease

12:09pm September 30, 2013

Doctors have other ways to explain why wheat makes some people sick, like the hygiene hypothesis.

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Fourth year Tulane medical school student Neha Solanki (far right) preps a Greek frittata during a class at Johnson & Wales.

Just What The Doctor Ordered: Med Students Team With Chefs

9:26am September 19, 2013

by Kristin Gourlay

Tulane medical students are trading in their scrubs for chefs whites. They've teamed up with culinary students at Johnson & Wales University as part of an innovative new program designed to teach both groups how good nutrition can help stave off lifestyle diseases.

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Johanna Terron, 14, has lost over 20 pounds over the past year. She receives a prescription for fruits and vegetables from her pediatrician at Lincoln Hospital.

No Bitter Pill: Doctors Prescribe Fruits And Veggies

3:21pm September 17, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

An initiative in New York City is designed to nudge the families of overweight kids and teens to change the way they eat with fruit and vegetable prescriptions. The big incentive? Free produce as well as tips on how best to cook and economize.

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Differences in brain chemistry can affect an individual's likelihood of weight gain.

Calling Obesity A Disease May Make It Easier To Get Help

9:04am September 17, 2013

by Patti Neighmond

If obesity were a disease, would you be more likely to seek medical help because insurance would pay for treatment? Or would you feel stigmatized and just give up? That's the debate surrounding increased efforts to classify obesity as a disease.

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Joe Buley owns Screamin' Ridge Farm in Montpelier, Vt. He says the FDA's new food safety rules threaten the viability of small New England farm operations like his. Here, Buley harvests cucumbers.

Small Farmers In New England Fear New Food Safety Rules

6:42am September 04, 2013

by Emily Corwin

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration issued two proposed food safety rules to prevent tainted food from entering the food supply. While many large growers support the proposed regulations, small farmers say the cost of complying with them would stifle their ability to grow.

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The tale of the tape may be told, in part, by the microbes inside you.

Health & Safety

Diverse Gut Microbes, A Trim Waistline And Health Go Together

6:39pm August 28, 2013

by Rob Stein

Lean people tend to have many more kinds of intestinal bacteria than obese people. Having too few species, regardless of your weight, appears to increase the risk for Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

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Julia Child poses with "the chicken sisters" before an episode of The French Chef in which she teaches us how to roast a bird.

Julia Child Was Wrong: Don't Wash Your Raw Chicken, Folks

9:52am August 28, 2013

by Maria Godoy

The doyenne of TV chefs imparted much wisdom to American cooks, but one piece of Child's advice you should ignore is to wash your raw poultry before cooking. It spreads germs. Everywhere. Yet studies suggest 90 percent of Americans do it, so food safety researchers are launching a campaign to squash the habit.

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Donta Jackson's snack of choice is a bag of Skittles.

Health & Safety

Do Parents Really Know What Their Kids Are Eating?

4:09pm August 08, 2013

by Chantell Williams

Most parents think that their kids eat healthfully. But in reality, they may not know much about their kids' eating habits, especially as their children get older. Many kids don't talk to their parents about what they eat, and sneak unhealthy snacks after school.

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This map from the CDC shows decreases (light blue) and increases (gray) in obesity prevalence among low-income, preschool-aged children from 2008-2011.

Health & Safety

Falling Obesity Rates Among Preschoolers Mark Healthful Trend

7:47am August 08, 2013

by Allison Aubrey

Federal officials say obesity rates among low-income preschoolers are declining in 19 states and U.S. territories. Rates are flat in 20 more states. The findings are cause for optimism, the officials say.

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