Obesity

Are you trying to lose weight, but don't like keeping track of your food intake? Well, there may or may not be an app for that, but there is a button. An eButton, to be precise. That's the name of a wearable device developed at the University of Pittsburgh, that incorporates a camera, accelerometer, GPS, and other sensors. These all work together to maintain a profile of not only what the user is eating, but also how much exercise they're getting, how much time they spend sitting around, and other factors that can affect weight gain. Read More

There are definitely two schools of thought as to whether or not humans should have meat in their diet, but even many non-vegetarians claim that the production and consumption of animal protein could definitely stand to at least be scaled back, both for environmental and health reasons. It has been estimated that it takes 40 square meters (48 sq. yards) of land to produce one kilogram (2.2 lbs) of meat, while 120 kilograms (265 lbs) of carrots or 80 kilograms (176 lbs) of apples could be raised within that same space. Obesity and cardiovascular disease, meanwhile, have been linked to high-fat diets – diets which often include things like sausages and hamburgers. With concerns like these in mind, researchers from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging have developed food ingredients derived from lupin seed proteins, that can reportedly stand in quite convincingly for both milk and animal fat. Read More

Currently, if healthcare practitioners are trying to determine how overweight a patient is, they use the Body Mass Index, or BMI. Invented in the mid-1800s, the BMI is an international standard formula for establishing ideal body weight which involves dividing a person’s weight by the square of their height. A group of international researchers, however, are proposing that the BMI be replaced with a more detailed system, the Body Volume Index, or BVI. Using a 3D white-light scanner, the BVI identifies where the fat is distributed on a patient’s body, and how that compares to what’s normal. Read More

Medical device company ZELTIQ has developed a safe procedure to deliver clinically proven results that could potentially say goodbye to “love handles”. Developed at the Wellman Center of Photomedecine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Coolsculpting is a method that freezes unwanted fat cells and removes them permanently without invasive surgery. After a series of clinical trials and evidence from ultrasound and histological results, Coolsculpting has recently been approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is targeted for those who are not considered to be clinically overweight but may carry pockets of unwanted fat in areas of their body which have not responded to diet or exercise. Read More

Laparoscopic gastric banding is a common surgical treatment for morbid obesity and the most critical factor in the success of the operation lies in the hands of the surgeon - who needs the proficiency and skill to insert slender, handheld tools into the body of the patient. A team of interdisciplinary researchers, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has recently won a US$2.3 million federal grant to develop a touch-sensitive virtual reality simulator that will realistically replicate how performing a gastric band operation feels - making it ideal for developing and teaching fundamental surgical skills and for assessing physicians wanting to be certified as a laparoscopic surgeon. Read More

Obesity rates are on the rise in most western countries where sitting at a computer all day (and sometimes into the night) is commonplace. Low activity levels, in many cases, combined with poor diets, have been blamed for almost two-thirds of Americans being overweight or obese. To help address the problem, health researchers have developed an iPhone app designed to monitor your physical activity and motivate you to do that little bit more. Read More

September 10, 2008 A program to reduce weight and improve health risk factors in obese employees produces a short-term return on investment (ROI) of $1.17 per dollar spent, according to a University of Georgia study. Just as important, the ROI model used in the study provides a relatively simple and inexpensive tool to help companies estimate the dollar benefits of investing in employee wellness programs. The ability to simulate the cost savings associated with reducing employee health risks could help in building a "credible and defensible case" for investment in employee wellness.This story really got us thinking that it might also pay for individuals to begin considering what the ROI for investing in their health would be – if there’s a short term benefit measured in dollars for your employer to pay for you to get healthy, what’s the long term ROI for investing in your optimum health with all those other personal gains to be considered – such as happiness, a feeling of well-being and a few extra years of painless mobility. Read More