Obesity is increasing at alarming rates in our society. While excessive attention to thinness carries its own physical and mental health problems, increasing overweight is a much larger problem in our society and currently affects over two thirds of the population.

Many Americans may be feeling the need to make a fat-fighting New Year's resolution after holiday bingeing. Obesity affects many more aspects of health than is commonly recognized, as described in a new book by the American Council on Science and Health, Obesity and Its Health Effects. In seventeen chapters, each reviewed by an expert in the pertinent medical field, the publication describes how obesity impairs the function of virtually every body system.

Shortly after Merck's HPV vaccine Gardasil was made available in the U.S. in 2006, Texas and Virginia decided to make the shots mandatory for all girls entering the sixth grade. The requirement didn't last long in either state -- the Texas legislature voted to overturn the executive order mandating the vaccine, while Virginia provided broad "opt-out" provisions for parents. But the debate rages on: should Gardasil be mandatory?

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Many pharmaceutical companies continue to research obesity drugs, despite recent issues regarding side effects and halted experiments. "There's a lot of good research in this area going on behind closed doors, but it's not going to show its face for years," ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross says.

In an effort to defend itself against the prevailing opinion that its food is unhealthy, McDonald's began inviting mothers from across the country to get an inside look at how its food is made. Touring everything from a bun factory to the kitchen of a McDonald's restaurant, the moms saw that fast food is, indeed, real food.

According to a new study, Finland's national screening program for colon cancer has been successful -- to some extent. Doctors screened 106,000 people between the ages of sixty and sixty-four for the disease by analyzing fecal samples for blood and were able to identify four out of ten cases of colon cancer.

With food allergies receiving more attention, more children are being prescribed EpiPens, single-use shots of epinephrine that can counter severe allergic reactions resulting in anaphylaxis.

A new study shows that obese women who become pregnant after losing weight with the help of bariatric surgery have easier pregnancies and healthier babies than women who remain obese during pregnancy. But ACSH's Dr.

Yesterday was World Toilet Day , inspiring the Los Angeles Times to pose an interesting question: "If you had to live without toilets or electricity, which would you choose?" While ACSH staffers find the idea of life without electricity to be a dim prospect, we would certainly forgo its convenience in favor of all the public health benefits of toilets.