Topic description and stories

Woman with obesity washing food

Scientists identify rare gene variants that confer up to 6-fold increase in risk of obesity

04 Apr 2024

Cambridge researchers have identified genetic variants in two genes that have some of the largest impacts on obesity risk discovered to date.

Read more
Woman using a food delivery app on her mobile phone

AI predicts healthiness of food menus

08 Mar 2024

Cambridge researchers have used artificial intelligence to predict the healthiness of café, takeaway and restaurant menus at outlets across Britain...

Read more
Brown labrador retriever dog looks at food treat

Genetic mutation in a quarter of all Labradors hard-wires them for obesity

06 Mar 2024

New research finds around a quarter of Labrador retriever dogs face a double-whammy of feeling hungry all the time and burning fewer calories due to...

Read more

Intermittent fasting conceptual image, showing a plate of food to represent a clock.

Scientists identify how fasting may protect against inflammation

30 Jan 2024

Cambridge scientists may have discovered a new way in which fasting helps reduce inflammation – a potentially damaging side-effect of the body’s...

Read more
Person standing on white digital bathroom scale

Feeling depressed linked to short-term increase in bodyweight among people with overweight or obesity

10 Jan 2024

Increases in symptoms of depression are associated with a subsequent increase in bodyweight when measured one month later, new research from the...

Read more
Overweight man playing basketball

Brain’s ‘appetite control centre’ different in people who are overweight or living with obesity

08 Aug 2023

Cambridge scientists have shown that the hypothalamus, a key region of the brain involved in controlling appetite, is different in the brains of...

Read more

Brown mouse

Unborn babies use ‘greedy’ gene from dads to ‘remote-control’ mums into feeding them extra food

11 Jul 2023

A study in mice has found that fetuses use a copy of a gene inherited from their dad to force their mum to release as much nutrition as possible...

Read more
Patient receiving a COVID-19 vaccination

Obesity accelerates loss of COVID-19 vaccination immunity, study finds

11 May 2023

The protection offered by COVID-19 vaccination declines more rapidly in people with severe obesity than in those with normal weight, scientists at...

Read more
Child's hands pouring a drink into a glass

Sugary drinks tax may have prevented over 5,000 cases of obesity a year in year six girls alone

26 Jan 2023

The introduction of the soft drinks industry levy – the ‘sugary drinks tax’ – in England was followed by a drop in the number of cases of obesity...

Read more

PACE labels alongside menus

No evidence that physical activity calorie-equivalent labelling changes food purchasing – study

09 Nov 2022

An experiment carried out across ten workplace cafeterias found no significant change in the overall number of calories purchased when food and drink...

Read more
Young girl

Scientists discover how our brain uses nutritional state to regulate growth and age at puberty

03 Nov 2021

Cambridge scientists have discovered how a receptor in the brain, called MC3R, detects the nutritional state of the body and regulates the timing of...

Read more

Changes to workplace cafeteria menus nudge workers to consume fewer calories

14 Sep 2021

A study carried out at 19 workplace cafeterias has shown that reducing portion sizes and replacing higher calorie food and drinks with lower calorie...

Read more

Pages