Body Weight

New York City's Diabetes Death Rate Has Hit an All-Time High

Someone dies a diabetes-related death every 90 minutes in New York City, according to a disturbing new report out from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. That's 11 percent of citywide deaths in 2011, or nearly double the proportion it was in 1990, when 6 percent of citywide deaths had diab ... More >>

Wait, So What Happened With Bloomberg's Soda Ban? Welp...

Yesterday afternoon, we were seriously busy writing up a post entitled "The Basics To Today's Soda Ban" a la the one we wrote for the recent MetroCard hike. It was meant to be a symbolic post, an end to the drama revolving around this damn ban and a settlement on its intended enactment this fateful ... More >>

Ed Koch: The Ever-Quotable Former NYC Mayor on Dieting

Ed Koch was a notorious trencherman. He spent a good part of his life living in Greenwich Village and would often go to Chinatown to eat. Until he grew old, he often had to worry about his weight. In fact, one of his most famous quotes has to do with losing weight: "The best way to lose weight is t ... More >>

Lose 20 Pounds In Only Six Weeks! If You Want To!

Dr. Ian K. Smith is a regular on the Rachael Ray Show, was the doc on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club for six seasons, and was personally asked by President Obama to serve on the President's Council of Fitness. And while his waistline is very small, his resume is getting even bulkier. Dr. Smith--not to be ... More >>

Big and Happy: Being Fatter May Increase Your Life Expectancy

Perfectly timed to correlate with healthy resolutions, The New York Times reports that a new study suggests certain overweight individuals may have a lower mortality rate than their thinner counterparts.

Q&A: Jami Attenberg on Her New Novel, The Middlesteins -- and What Is or Isn't Feminist Writing

Plus, a few words about Brooklyn

Science Says Most Americans Will Be Obese in Two Decades

Another reason why that super-size soda ban might actually be a good thing. A hefty new study about obesity was released yesterday. America is getting fatter, and bulging waistlines will be racking up huge health care expenditures in the next two decades. Roughly 44 percent of all adults will be o ... More >>

Big-Gulp Ban Passes; Soda Fans "Exploring Legal Options"

*Update: in an act of civil disobedience, we just drank 100 ounces of Mt. Dew in 90 minutes.As expected, Mayor Mike Bloomberg's proposed "Big-Gulp Ban" has been approved by a city health council, but opponents of the new ban say the fight to not let Hizzonor treat us like children isn't over."This i ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg's Breakfast Bullying: Yay Or Nay?

Of all the things for Mayor Mike Bloomberg to oppose, we didn't think breakfast for hungry kids would be one of them. But it is.In fairness, it's not the mayor's desire to keep hungry kids from eating breakfast that's led to his opposition to a City Council-backed plan to provide "the most important ... More >>

Mike Bloomberg: Fat Kids Eating Two Breakfasts Is Riskier Than Kids Not Eating At All

A few months ago, we told you about how Mayor Mike Bloomberg's office was enforcing a ban on donating food to homeless shelters because the city wouldn't be able to monitor the sodium content of the food -- hungry homeless people (who don't care how much sodium is in their food) be damned.At the tim ... More >>

Does Dan Savage Think It's OK To Reward Weight Loss With Sex?

In this week's Savage Love, which you can read here, Dan answers a couple of questions ranging from disabled "devotee" trust issues to polyamorous relationships to spousal weight gain. Let's talk about that last one because, boy, it's a doozy! A woman writes in to Savage, explaining that after t ... More >>

Michael Bloomberg's Supersized Soda Ban: Can It Battle Obesity in The First Place?

The Times has a story today about Mayor Mike Bloomberg's battle with supersized sodas and how his fight is playing out in New York's poorest borough, the Bronx. Part of Bloomberg's move, the article explains, stems from the persistence of obesity in the Bronx. Though anti-obesity measures have bee ... More >>

Should Michael Bloomberg Treat Obesity Like Smoking?

An article in London's Evening Standard, "Smoking is so last century: the new stigma is obesity," got us thinking: would Mayor Mike Bloomberg do a better job fighting fat-making foods, such as super-sized sodas, by treating them like cigarettes -- taxing them rather than banning them, that is? To ... More >>

Oprah Gets Raked Over By Joan Rivers

In her new book about hating absolutely everyone including herself, Joanie naturally puts Oprah Winfrey on the grill. Writes the comic: "And don't say 'Oprah, who?' "Stedman's beard, that's who.

Mike Bloomberg Wants To Make 40 Ounces Of Pepsi More Illegal Than 40 Ounces Of Malt Liquor

Sugar bully/New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg cares about you soooo much that he's proposed something that's never been done anywhere else in the entire country in his latest effort to protect you from yourself: banning "sugar drinks" like soda to be sold in cups larger than 16 ounces.In a twist, t ... More >>

New Yorkers Think Skinny People Are Happier And More Successful Than Fatsos, Poll Shows

Bad news, fatsos: according to the vast majority of New Yorkers, you are more miserable and less successful than non-fatsos. That's according to a recently released Marist/NY1 poll, anyway, which shows that more than 70 percent of New Yorkers think fat people are more unhappy and less successful tha ... More >>

Parents Now Pushing Unneeded Surgeries on Obese Kids

We're guessing that Dr. Ben Spock wouldn't suggest this... The New York Times reports that parents of obese kids are increasingly treating gallbladder ailments by having their children undergo invasive operations to remove the organ. Here's the thing: Most of the time, the kids don't need surgery ... More >>

Hey, Ladies: Biking Might Make Your Crotch Numb!

Bicycling is fun, but going numb in your ladyparts is not fun. Like, at all. As has been recently reported, spending time in certain cycling positions doesn't just cause erectile dysfunction in men: It might mess up ladies' sex lives, too. Anyway, here's what's up: if you have ever been on a bik ... More >>

Did Paula Deen's Diet Cause Her Diabetes?

This article delves into the possibilities, wondering, "How can bacon-doughnut egg burgers possibly be good for you?"

More Fast Food, More Fat People: Study

​Time for more health research that basically states the obvious. In a study published in December's Critical Public Health, officials looked at the International Monetary Fund's listing of the 26 richest countries to track the relationship between eating habits and weight. Then, using Subway ... More >>

Snacks Make Women Fat: Study

Hey, ladies: Scientists have found another thing that might make us fat -- mid-morning snacks.

Pot Smokers are Less Likely to be Fat than Non-Smokers, Pretty Chill Study Says

​A study conducted by French scientists says that people who don't smoke marijuana are more likely to be obese than their stoned counterparts. The Daily News reports the researchers found that "between 22% to 25% of participants who didn't smoke pot were obese." Only 14% to 17% of people who s ... More >>

New Yorkers Cannot Escape the Creeping Fatification of America

​New Yorkers are known for many things, some true, some not. Like, being rude (even though, really, on a one-on-one basis we're quite friendly, as long as you don't stop us on our way to work with some idiotic question). And, being skinny (because we walk so much, and so fast, that we don't ha ... More >>

New York City Considers Fast-Food Toy Ban, Cites Happy Fat Kids

Ladies and gentlemen, a photo of the world's only Filet-O-Fish Happy Meal.​Gather round, children, and listen to a tale of the evil New York City Council attempting to take your Happy Meal toys away. Yahoo reports that the dastardly City Council Deputy Majority Leader Leroy Comrie, who comes f ... More >>

New York Times Covers Worst Diet Ever

​Happy International Women's Day! Count your blessings that we have advanced to a stage in which women who hope to lose weight can now pay money to inject themselves with a pregnancy hormone and subsist on 500 calories a day (the average person eats from 1,800 to 3,000), because that is sane a ... More >>

Obese Monkeys Extraordinarily Depressing

Leah Nash/NYT​There are more rhesus monkeys than you'd think out there getting fat. Getting really fat. And it's not their fault; it's because they're being used as research subjects in studies about obesity and diabetes. At the Oregon National Primate Research Center, scientists are keeping a col ... More >>

Big Mommas: Martin Lawrence’s Sky-High BMI Equals More Malnourished Jokes

Jessica Simpson Is The New Aretha Franklin

​That's pretty much what a friend told me the other day, and before you reach for the straitjacket, let me inform you that he's an educated and quite savvy person who does leave the house a lot. "I am blown away by the Jessica Simpson Xmas special on PBS," he texted me, ecstatic and totally s ... More >>

D'Agostino's Gets Carpeted; Pinkberry Gets Pumpkin

​Four D'Agostino supermarkets in the city have covered their store floors with carpet in order to create a more enjoyable shopping experience. [NY Times] A new study suggests that obesity in America can't be blamed on fast-food restaurants because obese people "also eat more when they eat at ... More >>

Steve Cuozzo Has a Weight Loss System of His Own

Caitlin Thorne HerseySteve Cuozzo, crap-free.​A couple weeks after Our Man Sietsema published his 10 easy diet rules, the Post's Steve Cuozzo has followed suit with a column detailing the weight loss that followed his diagnosis with Type 2 diabetes. Basically, he cut all of the crap out of h ... More >>

Mika Brzezinski's Deprivation Diet Attracts 60 Comments on Grub Street

Grub Street, Melissa Hom​We always look forward to Grub Street's New York Diets, in which a celeb or cultural figure recounts a week's worth of eating. And commenters always have a lot to say about these posts, whether that person eats a lot, a little, dully, or extravagantly. But Morning Joe' ... More >>

Dieting, Twitter, and Accountability: or, How to Tweet Yourself Skinny

Traditionally, trying to lose weight involves dieting and exercise. But what about Tweeting the entire process, including your weight and how much you ate on a given day? New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter is doing just that. And it's a far cry from the old days, when dieting was something ... More >>

Half of American Women Would Give Up Sex to Avoid Gaining 10 Lbs.

​A survey by Nutrisystem reiterated what we already know -- that many Americans are unhealthy and unhappy with their weight -- and upped the ante with what's essentially a weight-related game of "Would You Rather" transferred into a study. They found some surprising and downright horrifying sacrif ... More >>

Americans Getting Fatter, More Honest

​Surprise, surprise: Americans have not conquered that unfortunate weight problem that doctors are always harassing us about. According to a government study released today that surveyed adults about their weight by telephone (great way to encourage exercise!), the obesity rate is at nearly 27 ... More >>

Americans Getting Too Fat for Theater Seats

Obesity again takes center stage.​Oh, America: not only are we getting too fat to fight, we're getting too fat to go to the theater.

Soda Tax Dies As Beverage Industry Outspends Health Groups

Don't make him angry!​When New York lawmakers finally passed the budget on Wednesday, Governor Paterson's tax on sodas and other sugary drinks was not included. The proposal would have taxed sweetened beverages--not diet sodas--at a penny per ounce, or 12 cents on a can of soda. The governor a ... More >>

Today in 'Duh': A List of 40 Desserts That Are Really, Really Fattening

Applebee's chocolate chip sundae: not recommended for weight loss.​Taking a page from Men's Health, The Daily Beast has thoughtfully published a list of the 40 restaurant desserts most likely to cause death among those who consume them.

Whoa, Kids Are Getting, Like, Orca Fat

​The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine has released a new study analyzing the respective fatness of the nation's progeny in 2003 and 2007, and the results aren't pretty, at least if you consider thin to be "pretty." (Personally, who wants a skinny baby? Have you seen one of those? T ... More >>

The Juice Press Will Open Thursday, With Weight Control and Raw Dessert Classes to Follow

The Juice Press details its plans for liquid domination.​A stroll this morning by the Juice Press turned up this sign in the window informing passers-by that the incipient 1st Street juice bar will open on Thursday, May 6. But that's just the first phase of its opening.

New First Street Juice Bar Is Called the Juice Press; Will Be an Orthorexic's Paradise

A one-stop weight loss shop?​Here's some more information about the juice bar on 1st Street between First and Second Avenues that's supposedly opening on May 15.

Oh, America: Military Recruiting Hampered by Obesity

This we'll defend?​It looks like deep-fried butter and McDonald's Extra-Value Meals are doing what anti-war protesters in the '60s could have scarcely dared to dream would one day be possible: They are making people too fat to serve in the military.

Apotheke Shakes Up Master Cleanse Potion for $10

​Imagine my surprise when, reading over the menu at Apotheke last night, I came upon a drink called the Master Cleanse, referencing that starvation regimen of water, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne that makes you lose weight because, well, you're starving. It must be a take-off, I thought ... More >>

Bake Sale Crackdown

The Department of Education says its bake sale policies will help combat obesity, but students worry they'll be left starved for funds

Antony & the Johnsons

Big Girls, Don't Cry

The fight for the right to be fat, queer, and proud

Exercise, You Lazy Shit

Diet books to get you—or frighten you off—your New Year's resolution

No Sex, Please. We're Eating

Feds say teens are screwing less but gaining more weight. Is there a link?

The F-Word

Today's special: Diet-guru crash course—with a side of celeb-chef comfort food

XXL

Weigh of All Flesh

Monica Lewinsky's the New Jenny Craig Spokeswoman. Motivated?