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Cash incentives work, for awhile

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that giving people financial incentives to lose weight helped them lose more weight than people who didn’t get cash, at least in the short term. Fifty-seven participants were put into a program with either no incentives, a matching pot or a lottery system that gave them a chance to win if they met their weight loss goal of 16 pounds in 16 weeks. Just over 10 percent of those with no incentives met the goal, while 52 percent in the matching program did and 47 percent in the lottery group did. When the incentives went away all participants regained weight, but those in the incentive groups kept a larger net loss.

Overweight and underweight associated with headaches

Both people who are overweight or obese and those who are underweight seem to have more headaches and migraines, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a study of more than 7,000 people, being overweight or obese increased the likelihood of having headaches from 1.2 to 1.4 times the rate of people of normal weight. Underweight people seemed to have a two-fold increased rate of headaches, but since there were so few underweight people in the study they weren’t really researched. Experts say weight management might be a good tool in treating headaches and that more research is needed to determine if weight gain causes people to have more headaches.

Scottish kids to be held at school during lunch

A pilot program starting next August in eight schools in Glasgow will keep kids in school during lunch to see if they can cut levels of childhood obesity by limiting access to junk food and fast food. Some kids may be allowed to go home for lunch, but most would be required to either eat what the school offers or bring something from home. Officials say there’s no point in offering healthy foods at school if kids aren’t staying to eat. If the program is successful it could expand to all schools and more grade levels through the city.

Dioxin now found in Irish beef

Sales of Irish pork have been stopped thanks to feed that was tainted with dioxin, and now three cattle ranches have been found to be using the same feed, but the government says it won’t shut down beef sales because the dioxin levels are much lower in the beef and should not pose a health risk. The levels are two to three times higher than European Union safety guidelines, as opposed to the 80 to 200 times higher the levels were in the pork. The government didn’t say if any of the contaminated beef was exported, but noted most of it was still in the aging process, not on the market.

Burger King takes the Whopper worldwide

It may be difficult to imagine it as an American, but there actually are people in the world who’ve never eaten hamburgers before. Burger King wanted to change all that, and said sour economy be damned, let’s go around the world and feed people burgers. Not only that, they did a truly blind taste test between the Big Mac and the Whopper (in “remote” places within 15 minutes of fast food outlets). Then they took a portable Whopper grill out into the wilds of Thailand, Greenland and Romania to feed more people and share in their cultures. At first I thought it was horrible exploitation of native people who couldn’t care less about American food (and maybe it is that), but the film is still kind of neat.

Food banks stock more fresh foods

Finally, the New York Times reports that food banks are dealing with increasingly picky clients who don’t want your cast-off canned goods. Some are immigrants who didn’t grow up with cans, while others just want more choice when it comes to what they’re taking. Some food pantries are stocking more fresh produce and freshly prepared foods, while others use a point system to let people pick out exactly what they need. As has been said before, food banks all over are having trouble filling the need as people who once donated are now needing help themselves.

(By Sarah E. White for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 10th, 2008 and is filed under Fast food and restaurants, Food miscellaneous, Food safety, Foreign stories (non-U.S.), Nibbles: diet news shorts, Obesity health dangers, Obesity research and studies, School lunches and junk food. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. Permalink.