https://medicalxpress.com/overweight-obesity-news/ en-us Latest health news and information about Weight Management Cancer treatments can take a toll on a person's body. A patient's treatment may cause nausea, changes in appetite, taste and smell, diarrhea, or constipation, making it harder to meet their nutritional needs. Fortunately, there are strategies that patients and caregivers can use to cope with these side effects. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-diet-cancer-treatment.html Sun, 19 Apr 2026 13:00:09 EDT news695572618 Injectable peptides are generating a lot of buzz online. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-retatrutide-weight-shredded.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 21:00:01 EDT news695634876 New research to be presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12–15 May) shows that living with obesity in childhood is associated with lower future levels of education, employment, and earnings. The study is by Dr. Lise Bjerregaard, Dr. Elisabeth Andersen, and research group leader Dr. Jennifer Lyn Baker of the Center for Clinical Research and Prevention, Copenhagen University Hospital—Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-childhood-obesity-shadow-slashing-pay.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 18:00:06 EDT news695625471 A new UNC School of Medicine study of incretin-based medications, including newer medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide that are widely prescribed for type 2 diabetes and obesity, finds they are associated with high rates of muscle loss relative to the amount of weight lost. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-weight-loss-notable-muscle.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:40:04 EDT news695652781 A new approach to weight loss research is challenging one of the biggest assumptions behind popular weight loss drugs: Are GLP-1s actually needed to achieve weight loss? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-weight-loss-glp-drugs.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:00:05 EDT news695650922 The accumulation of fat in the abdominal region, especially visceral fat (fat that accumulates between organs), significantly increases the risk of stress urinary incontinence in women. A study conducted at the Federal University of São Carlos (UFSCar) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, identified this region as the one most strongly associated with involuntary urine leakage, surpassing total body fat. The results are published in the European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology and indicate that body fat distribution may be a more decisive factor than weight itself in explaining the condition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-abdominal-fat-linked-higher-urinary.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:40:03 EDT news695647861 In a new study exploring stigma associated with the use of GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, women who lost weight using GLP-1 medications were judged more harshly than those who lost weight through diet and exercise, with negative reactions driven largely by beliefs that medication-assisted weight loss is a "shortcut." The study also found higher levels of stigma when the women in sample scenarios were portrayed as white rather than Black. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-stigma-women-weight-glp-medications.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 10:20:03 EDT news695639582 A new report, published in Nature Metabolism, is shedding light on the distinct and underappreciated role of fructose in driving disease, separate from its role as a simple source of calories. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-fructose-emerges-key-driver-metabolic.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 05:00:03 EDT news695568601 In new research being presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul, Turkey (12–15 May) and published in The Journal of Nutrition, a 42-year-old theory as to why children's body mass index (BMI) decreases post-infancy before then rising continuously from age 6 years—"the adiposity rebound"—is refuted using new analyses—rather than decreasing body fat, the real reason is proposed as increasing muscle mass. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-decades-obesity-theory-body-composition.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:00:10 EDT news695543570 A new study published in The Journal of Nutrition, offers new insights into a decades-old puzzle in childhood obesity. The study found that while body mass index (BMI) starts to rise in early childhood during a stage known as adiposity rebound, when BMI increases after an initial decline, the waist-to-height ratio, a measure that better reflects body fat, continues to drop. This suggests that the BMI increase at this age mainly reflects growth in lean tissues such as muscle and bone, rather than extra body fat. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-decades-puzzle-childhood-body-fat.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 07:00:01 EDT news695464776 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has told Eli Lilly to study possible heart, liver and other risks tied to its new obesity drug Foundayo, according to an approval letter released Tuesday. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-weight-loss-pill-fda-safety.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:00:03 EDT news695489101 For individuals at risk for knee osteoarthritis, high ultraprocessed food (UPF) consumption is associated with higher muscle fat content, according to a study published online April 14 in Radiology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ultraprocessed-food-linked-thigh-muscle.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:20:03 EDT news695488982 New research published in The European Journal of Endocrinology shows that increased total body fat mass and abdominal fat mass from late adolescence to early 20s, but not from the childhood period before this, predicts progressively worsening cardiac structural and functional outcomes by young adulthood. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-future-heart-health-body-fat.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:00:03 EDT news695476947 While scientific studies about obesity and general health are on the rise, a new analysis has determined that more studies are using animal modeling research than human modeling. Dr. Sarah Purcell, an assistant professor with UBC's Southern Medical Program and UBC Okanagan's School of Health and Exercise Sciences, researches energy metabolism, dietary energy requirements, body composition and obesity. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-obesity-reveals.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:20:01 EDT news695474401 Adolescents who consume more ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have significantly higher odds of being overweight or obese, according to a new systematic review and meta-analysis published in the open-access journal PLOS One by Mekuriaw Nibret Aweke of the University of Gondar, Ethiopia, and colleagues. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ultra-food-intake-sharply-higher.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:00:11 EDT news695466061 If you watched the Super Bowl in 2026, you likely saw Serena Williams share her weight loss journey on GLP-1 medications in a commercial. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ads-glp1-drugs-internet-safe.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:20:01 EDT news695476442 New research from the University of Toronto suggests that children who drink whole-fat milk in early childhood may have lower odds of obesity in middle childhood than those who drink reduced-fat milk. The study adds to emerging evidence that lower-fat milk does not reduce child obesity, even though many dietary guidelines in the last three decades have encouraged low-fat dairy, including Canada's dietary guidelines from 2019. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-fat-lowers-child-obesity.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 11:40:01 EDT news695469482 Food calorie labels on menus in cafes and restaurants can be helpful for people with binge eating disorders, even aiding their recovery, finds new research from UCL and King's College London. For the study, published in BMJ Public Health, the researchers surveyed 1,001 people aged 16 or over who lived in England and had experienced disordered eating. Since 2022, all restaurants, take-aways and cafes in England with 250 employees or more have had to display the calories of the food and drink they sell on menus, online menus and take-away platforms as part of measures to curb obesity and encourage healthy eating. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-england-calorie-disorders.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:10:06 EDT news695395682 Bread is a staple that has sustained civilizations over centuries and is intrinsically etched into the very grains of society. However, as obesity rates continue to rise, it may now be time to retire this dependency in modern diets. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-carb-heavy-foods-drove-weight.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 18:00:07 EDT news695384808 New waist-to-height cutoffs to assess fat mass and obesity predicted the risk of hypertension better than body mass index, according to a new study from the University of Eastern Finland and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Rutgers University in the US. The aim of the study was to externally validate new pediatric waist circumference-to-height ratio (WHtR)-estimated fat mass cutoffs for predicting the risk of elevated blood pressure and hypertension among a multiracial population of children and adults in the U.S. The work is published in The Journal of Nutrition. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-waist-height-ratio-hypertension-bmi.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:20:01 EDT news695397601 The brain is the body's command center, and neurons are the workhorses that carry out its commands. They transmit signals that regulate many bodily functions, including key metabolic processes such as appetite, body weight and energy expenditure. But how do neurons power all this activity? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-neurons-dont-sugar-hidden-fat.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 13:00:09 EDT news695390041 Researchers at Toronto's Sinai Health have found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimic the gut hormone GLP-1—acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve organ function and does so independently of weight loss. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about how GLP-1 medicines work in the liver and could reshape how physicians treat metabolic liver disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-glp-medicine-liver-health-independent.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news695311381 Losing teeth might cause you to gain weight, a new study says. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-teeth-weight-gain.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 22:00:01 EDT news695295963 Walk into any grocery store and you'll see it: aisles filled with brightly colored packages containing ready-to-eat meals, quick snacks and flavored drinks—often billed as "healthy." They save time. They're affordable. And they taste great. But they also fall into a category of foods that research consistently links to overeating and weight gain: ultra-processed foods. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ultra-minimally-foods-difference.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 18:00:05 EDT news695295352 In a study involving over 600,000 people, researchers at Lund University in Sweden have investigated how changes in weight between the ages of 17 and 60 are linked to the risk of dying from various diseases. The results show a clear pattern: weight gain early in adulthood has the greatest impact. The work is published in the journal eClinicalMedicine. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-weight-gain-20s-health-impact.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 12:20:08 EDT news695300761 New findings reveal that obesity significantly impaired the quality and longevity of antibody responses to a Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine in a mouse model. The impaired antibody production was due to defects in germinal centers, a transient part of the immune system where specialized immune cells, called B cells, produce antibodies and build memory against pathogens. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-obesity-derail-vaccine-response-lung.html Mon, 13 Apr 2026 09:00:01 EDT news695035117 New research being presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Istanbul, Turkey (May 12–15), reveals distinct patterns of heart, metabolic, and inflammatory health risks between men and women living with obesity, providing an insight into how clinicians may be able to tailor management approaches. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-heart-metabolic-inflammatory-patterns-differ.html Sun, 12 Apr 2026 18:10:01 EDT news695040781 Adding as little as 1,700 to 5,500 steps per day can offset the risk of a list of chronic diseases—including obesity, diabetes and sleep apnea—according to a new study from a corresponding author with Vanderbilt Health. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-adding-day-offsets-chronic-disease.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 13:40:01 EDT news695045821 By using AI to analyze more than 400,000 Reddit posts, Penn researchers have identified patient-reported symptoms associated with GLP-1s, the popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide, that may not be fully captured in clinical trials or regulatory documents. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ai-scans-reddit-flag-overlooked.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 05:00:03 EDT news694973341 Adults with overweight or obesity taking the new generation of weight loss drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide tend to eat significantly less, leaving them vulnerable to nutritional deficiencies, according to one of the first real-world studies to examine dietary behavior in people using glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists and dual GLP-1/glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) dual agonists RAs (collectively referred to as GLP-1 RAs) with the help of an AI-powered nutritional tracking app. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-ai-based-reveals-protein-deficiencies.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:10:01 EDT news694973461