A weight loss pill currently in development in Canada uses a natural protein to tell the brain when it’s time to set down the fork. Read the full story

Obesity created hormone imbalances may not go away even after losing the weight, a new study claims.  After losing a few pounds, the body may produce fewer hunger suppressing hormones, preventing some from losing more weight. Read the full story

A high fat diet, particularly a diet high in saturated fat, can increase resistance to the hunger hormone leptin — leaving you hungry even after a hearty meal. Get the details in this report from WLS News. Read the full story

Obesity may have a cure — new studies are attempting to isolate leptin, a hunger hormone, to control the over indulgent appetite. Watch on this week’s WLS News. Read the full story

View this week’s WLS News to learn how pistachios may curb hunger; see how a high-fat diet among pregnant women can be bad for a baby’s liver; and discover how researchers are tackling diabetes and obesity by studying a hunger hormone. Also, learn the latest about a recent survey showing that some obese children don’t want weight loss surgery, even if it would benefit their health. And, get the details on a new study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition indicating that willpower is a brain function we can actually measure. Read the full story

Arthritis may be triggered by an obesity hormone that can aggravate joints. Read the full story

Tune into this week’s WLS News to get the latest on the long-term health risk for obese middle-aged women, learn about new study that shows how a bad diet can affect the genes that help burn fat, and discover the connection between obesity and joint problems. Plus, find out about a Japanese study that linked weight loss to self-awareness. And, see what Arizona is doing to promote healthy eating through its state food assistance program. Read the full story

A lack of sleep during childhood may be the cause of adult weight gain.

A study conducted by New Zealand’s University of Otago says children who do not get enough sleep each night during childhood face a greater risk of obesity as they mature.

The study involved more than 1000 children born in New Zealand between 1972 and 1973, who were monitored until they were 32 years old. The children’s parents kept careful records of the kids’ bedtimes at ages 5, 7, 9 and 11 years. Researchers then used these numbers to estimate the amount of sleep the children were getting each night as they grew up.

When the study concluded in 2005, the experts crunched together the sleep statistics with the Body Mass Index – or BMI – numbers of the now-adult study subjects. Then, they averaged in or factored out important familial and lifestyle predictors of adult BMI, such as inherited build, physical activity, television viewing, and smoking.
The results were eye-opening: The kids who had shorter sleep times had significantly HIGHER adult BMI values as adults.

Although the researchers could not find a mechanism among the data for the association between short sleep time and the raised risk of obesity, some believe that elevated levels of ghrelin [GREH-lin], an appetite-related hormone, and decreased levels of leptin, which is a natural appetite depressant produced by the body, may be responsible.

Shorter sleep times may also reduce a child’s physical activity levels and alter their dietary habits, causing them to crave more high-calorie foods to compensate for their low energy levels. In other words, a kid who is tired from lack of sleep is more likely than not to grab a Twinkie for a quick sugar rush!

The doctors involved in the study say that more research on the connection between lack of sleep and obesity needs to be done. Until the causes of weight gain are clearer, however, they say it’s up to parents and caregivers to make sure that children get plenty of restful sleep.