Body Mass Index

The 50-something former college dropout who returned to campus to finish his degree — and play football. The health nut grandmother who spends her time writing and performing rock 'n roll. The nursing coordinator and schoolteacher couple who...

Someone with a lot of belly fat has a higher risk of death than those who are obese, a new study suggests. "We knew from previous research that central obesity is bad, but what is new in this research is that the distribution of the fat is very important...

SAN DIEGO - A novel weight loss program helps motivate people to shed pounds by having them bet money that they will reach their goal. Healthywage.com challenges their customers to drop a percentage of their body weight in a year and rewards them with...

It's ironic that the year we, both new medical students, moved across the street from the nation's best hospital and began learning how to manage the health of others is the same year we stopped taking care of our own. It was a year of ups and downs....

Weight-loss drugs have so far been a complete bust. But they may be verging on a comeback, now that the Food and Drug Administration has approved two new prescription diet pills for the first time in more than a decade. Both weight-loss medications...

In a move that could significantly expand insurance coverage of weight-loss treatments, a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling in an effort to rein in a growing health crisis in America....

The Food and Drug Administration has approved marketing of the weight-loss drug lorcaserin, the first prescription anti-obesity medication to win the FDA's blessing since the agency approved orlistat in 1999. Once it is cleared by the Drug Enforcement...

Medicare, the nation's medical safety net for seniors, on Wednesday announced it would extend its coverage for obesity screening and "intensive behavioral therapy," ensuring that roughly 30% of the 42 million people insured by the program can undertake ...

As part of the multidimensional childhood obesity study, Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo will be given grant money to hire temporary volunteers to perform family intervention in the community, officials said. Community volunteers — promotoras —...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The heavier a woman is, the more trouble she may have getting pregnant and having a baby through in vitro fertilization, or IVF, suggests a large U.S. study. Researchers found that women who were overweight or obese were...

Eating the wrong foods, lack of exercise, too much screen time — it’s no wonder that one-third of U.S. children and teens are classified as overweight or obese. Childhood obesity is one of our nation’s most serious health problems,...

As physicians who treat overweight children in Maryland daily, we strongly support the views expressed by Horizon Foundation CEO Nikki Highsmith Vernick in her recent commentary on childhood obesity ("A healthier way to snack," May 15). We urge parents to...