science wire

Poor maternal and child health linked with premature high blood pressure, kidney disease
UAlberta professor leads international research review showing how early development can put people at lifelong risk.

Cocoa may help fight obesity-related inflammation
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - A few cups of hot cocoa may not only fight off the chill of a winter's day, but they could also help obese people better control inflammation-related diseases, such as diabetes, according to Penn State researchers. Mice that were fed cocoa with a high-fat diet experienced less obesity-related inflammation than mice fed the same high-fat diet without the supplement, said Joshua Lambert , associate professor of food science.

Clinical trial aims to prevent type 2 diabetes through medication
Posted under: For UW Employees , Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Science , UW and the Community A clinical trial at the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and the

In a bowl of breakfast cereal, principles of attraction on display
Andong He saw a phenomenon at work in his breakfast bowl that he couldn't explain. It prompted this question: How does cereal shape influence the way cereals floating in the milk join?

Strong standards for school snacks increase lunches and revenue
Schools that implement strong nutrition standards for snacks sold at school increase student meal participation and school revenue, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Whole walnuts and their extracted oil improve cardiovascular disease risk
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Consumption of whole walnuts or their extracted oil can reduce cardiovascular risk through a mechanism other than simply lowering cholesterol, according to a team of Penn State, Tufts University and University of Pennsylvania researchers. "We already know that eating walnuts in a heart-healthy diet can lower blood cholesterol levels," said Penny Kris-Etherton , Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State.

Without adequate funding, deadly wheat disease could threaten global food supplies, U of M scientists say
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (04/15/2013) —Disease-resistant wheat developed over the past half century helped ensure steady world food supplies, but a global team led by researchers from the U

Sugar Triggers Plants to Mature to Adulthood, Penn Biologists Find
Like animals, plants go through several stages of development before they reach maturity. It has long been thought that some of the transitions between these stages are triggered by changes in the nutritional status of the plant. Now, based on experiments with the plant Arabidopsis thaliana , a team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Department of Biology has provided fresh insights into the role of sugar in "vegetative phase change," the transition from the juvenile form of a plant to the adult plant.

Obesity policy strategies win national competition
A team of five students from the UW-Madison La Follette School won first place for their strategies to combat childhood obesity in a national public affairs competition in Washington, D.C., March 22-23.

Mats Sundin promotes children's health at U of T
Hockey legend Mats Sundin built a career around healthy living, good nutrition, exercise and physical fitness. Now, the former Toronto Maple Leafs captain is pairing with the University of Toronto's Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development to stamp out childhood obesity – and all the chronic, lifelong health problems that result from it.

Triple copies of gene make maize tolerant to toxic soil
Rendering some of the world's toxic soils moot, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research and Cornell researchers are learning to grow stress-tolerant crops on formerly non-farmable land.

Mayor Bloomberg focuses on gun violence, obesity during Paulson Institute event
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to the University of Chicago recently for a discussion that explored subjects ranging from gun violence to urban development and his efforts to curtail obesity trends.

Invasive weeds could shed light on climate-coping
In the race to adapt to climate change, weeds may be the winners. Understanding their well-honed coping mechanisms could inform strategies for ecological management, says a Cornell crop and soil researcher.

Green food labels make nutrition-poor food seem healthy
Green calorie labels may lead people to see nutrition-poor foods in a healthier light.

Farmers who commit totally to sell locally can make a profit
Buy Fresh Buy Local is a nationally promoted trademark of the FoodRoutes Network, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) located in Millheim, PA.

Stronger support needed for healthy beverage practices in child care
Support is needed in child care centers to help meet existing water policies and new water requirements included in the 2010 Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, according to a study published by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. The study, published in the March/April 2013 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, is the first to document availability and accessibility of water in compliance with state and federal policy, and accreditation standards in child care centers.

Probing Question: Is being overweight always bad for your health?
Fat. Sugar. Salt. Americans have a love-hate relationship with these ingredients. We know we should consume them in moderation.

Why do we eat what we eat?
When it comes to food choice, Nadia Byrnes is something of a natural. "My friends always joke that when they need a new place to eat they don't Google it, they just ask me," says the Penn State doctoral student.

United States lags behind many developed countries on key health measures
By Rhonda Stewart/ Institute For Health Metrics And Evaluation; Bobbi Nodell/ Global Health Posted under: Health and Medicine , News Releases , Research , Science , Social Science , UW and the Community Americans are living longer, but health in the United States is being severely eroded by poor lifestyle choices such as unhealthy diets, lack of physical activity, smoking, and use of alcohol and drugs.

Reap what you sow? When it comes to exercise, benefits may differ
ANN ARBOR-Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology have received a $1 million grant to study how exercise and other therapies might work differently in lean and obese individuals. Greg Cartee, U-M professor of movement science, and his colleagues at the Muscle Biology Laboratory hope to clarify the link between insulin, exercise and sugar uptake by studying how lean and obese rats respond to exercise.

When it comes to exercise, benefits may differ
ANN ARBOR-Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology have received a $1 million grant to study how exercise and other therapies might work differently in lean and obese individuals. Greg Cartee, U-M professor of movement science, and his colleagues at the Muscle Biology Laboratory hope to clarify the link between insulin, exercise and sugar uptake by studying how lean and obese rats respond to exercise.

After tiny school lunchroom changes, teens consume more fruit, veggies
In attempts to reverse U.S. childhood obesity trends, minimal, inexpensive changes in school lunchrooms yielded a nearly 20 percent increase in fruit consumption and a 25 percent increase in ve

Food banks addressing obesity with nutrition-related policies
Food banks are altering their nutrition-related policies and practices to address concerns about the rise in obesity and diet-related diseases among individuals struggling to afford food, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.

Scientists help shed light on key component of China’s pollution problem
Stanford Report, February 25, 2013 Study reveals scale of nitrogen's effect on people and ecosystems. It's no secret that China is faced with some of the world's worst pollution. Until now, however, information on the magnitude, scope and impacts of a major contributor to that pollution – human-caused nitrogen emissions – was lacking.

Cornell nets $7 million NSF grant for corn study
Hoping to gain a better understanding of the world's largest staple crop, the National Science Foundation has awarded a five-year, $7 million grant to Michael J. Scanlon, Cornell professor of plant biology.

New video gallery helps broadcast media promote unbiased coverage of obesity
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has launched a new, free resource to aid members of broadcast media in the creation and delivery of fair, unbiased video coverage of obesity and weight-related topics on television, video, and online.

International Programs celebrates its 50th anniversary

Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment grants final round of renewable energy research funds
News Release MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/13/2013) —Sustainable bioenergy, microgrids, energy storage and more are among the peer-reviewed investments in clean energy advances being fund

Iron in new maize strain gets absorbed more readily
Researchers at Cornell have developed a strain of maize with a high iron bioavailability, meaning more of the iron that is present naturally in these maize lines can be absorbed. The researchers, all from the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service's Robert Holley Center on the Cornell campus, tested more than 100 maize strains for differences in iron bioavailability.

Entomologist earns recognition for biocontrol of beetle
Entomologist Elson Shields, who spearheaded the development of a biocontrol practice for controlling alfalfa snout beetle (ASB), will receive the Entomological Foundation Award for Excellence in IPM in March at the Entomological Society of America meeting.

Contest harvests names for new wine grapes
After a naming challenge drew 1,100 suggestions from around the world, a Cornell breeder has revealed the secret identities of two new wine grapes: Arandell and Aromella.

Preserving biodiversity can be compatible with intensive agriculture
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

Social media abuzz about how to breed super queen bees
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - While honey bee populations dwindle across the globe, Penn State researchers aim to use communication technologies to spread revolutionary beekeeping techniques that will help offset the effects of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Are ’food addicts’ stigmatized?
In the first studies to examine what the public thinks about people with an addiction to food, researchers at the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale found that while this addiction is less vulnerable to public stigma than others, it could increase the stigma already associated with obesity.

Old Age Offers No Protection From Obesity Risks
Obesity kills, giving rise to a host of fatal diseases. This much is well known. But when it comes to seniors, a slew of prominent research has reported an "obesity paradox" that says, at age 65 and older, having an elevated BMI won't shorten your lifespan, and may even extend it. A new study takes another look at the numbers, finding the earlier research flawed.

New U of M-funded projects target healthy eating behaviors
News Release Media Note: Details about individual projects are available from the researchers and on the HFHL website: http://www.hfhl.umn.edu.

Second Science Café focuses on future fuels
The new Science Café series being held in the Town Center at the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building devotes its second installment to the future of fuels.

Food science expert: Genetically modified crops are overregulated
CHAMPAIGN, lll. - It has been almost 20 years since the first genetically modified foods showed up in produce aisles throughout the United States and the rest of the world, but controversy continues to surround the products and their regulation. Bruce Chassy , a professor emeritus of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, believes that after thousands of research studies and worldwide planting, “genetically modified foods pose no special risks to consumers or the environment” and are overregulated.

Dietary shifts driving up phosphorus use
Dietary changes since the early 1960s have fueled a sharp increase in the amount of mined phosphorus used to produce the food consumed by the average person over the course of a year, according to a new study led by researchers at McGill University.

After Six Decades, Penn Archaeologists Carry on a Tradition of Research and Discovery at Gordion, Turkey
In 1950, the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology sent scholars to a site in central Turkey, about 50 miles southwest of Ankara. There they began an effort to uncover - literally and figuratively - details about the societies and cultures of the people who lived there hundreds to thousands of years before.

Promise for East Coast broccoli industry
Chefs and home cooks in the eastern U.S. could soon have easier access to a local "super food," thanks to a Cornell-led team of researchers working to expand broccoli's availability at farms, farmer's markets and grocery stores from Maine to Florida.

Weight counseling decreases despite rise in obesity
HERSHEY, Pa. - While the number of overweight and obese Americans has increased, the amount of weight counseling offered by primary care physicians has decreased - especially for patients with high blood pressure and diabetes - according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. More than 145 million adult Americans are overweight or obese.

What is the Best Way to Measure Obesity?
Weight divided by height squared. The simple formula known as body mass index, or BMI, is used every day by doctors, researchers and others to determine who among us is obese, and therefore at risk for a host of health problems. But what if BMI isn't the best way to measure obesity? In recent years, a chorus of voices has expressed doubts.

How to keep your weight-loss resolutions real
With the start of a new year, many of us make resolutions to lose weight and exercise more often. But why don't our New Year's resolutions have staying power?

Beliefs on best way to lose weight can torpedo New Year’s resolutions
ANN ARBOR-People setting a goal to lose weight in 2013 may want to first ask themselves if diet or exercise is more important to success.

Fruit in your holiday stocking can help keep bones strong
ANN ARBOR-We know high-fat, high-sugar foods cause obesity and promote heart disease, but most people don't realize that sugar and fat also contribute to conditions like osteoporosis by weakening bones.