Study after study shows Americans---and especially Illinoisans---are getting more obese. And there are no shortages of reasons: but two more stepped into the limelight this week. One, a lack of activity, is a no-brainer. The other…well…a Northwestern University study blaming religion is a bit less obvious. more ›

Last week, an agreement between BNSF railroad and a subcontractor used to hire Teamsters union members as hostlers to load the double-stacked shipping containers between trains and trucks expired. in the weeks leading up to the expiration, BNSF had been laying off those employees hired by the subcontractor. Now that there's no agreement in place, BNSF is able to fill these positions directly. Teamsters workers have been invited to reapply for their jobs but are facing a litany of excuses for not being hired, including being overweight. more ›

A report released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Trust for America's Health finds that adult obesity levels in Illinois increased by nearly a full percentage point in the past year. The Land of Lincoln is now the 26th-ranked state in the nation for adult obesity. more ›

Last year researchers at University of Chicago put this theory to the test on eleven healthy men and women. Results showed their subjects consumed more calories after sleeping 5 1/2 hours than they did after sleeping 8 1/2. Another study published in 2005 found that sleeping less than 7 hours per night puts us at greater risk for becoming overweight, and that risk increases with each hour of sleep lost. more ›

Director Robert Kenner spent a sizable portion of the budget for his Academy Award-nominated documentary Food, Inc. on legal fees vetting his findings in order to protect himself from being sued by agribusiness giants in any of the thirteen states that have food libel laws. The film, narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, examines corporate (or "factory") farming in the United States and concludes that much of the meat and produce produced by these farms have costs involved that are unhealthy to the environment and the consumer. In an age where we can catch E. coli just as easily from a tomato purchased at a supermarket as we do from tainted beef, Food, Inc. is a sobering look at how we've come to this point and how large agriculture giants such as Monsanto and Smithfield have gamed a system intended to protect the consumer for their own means and go after critics like Kenner, Pollan and Schlosser in court (Kenner invited Monsanto, Smithfield and other large agribusiness companies to film rebuttals of his findings, but refused). Food, Inc. makes its television debut this evening on PBS. Locally, it airs at 9 p.m. on WTTW-11.1. The film will start streaming on PBS.com tomorrow. more ›

On Friday, Cook County was awarded a two-year, $16 million federal grant to help prevent obesity from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Dr. Stephen Martin Jr., the chief operating officer of the county public health department, said to the Chicago Sun-Times that the money will be used for suburban Cook County programs that intend to battle obesity. Martin noted that almost 40 percent of children and 63 percent of adults in the suburbs of Cook County are either obese or overweight, which is more adults than the entire population of Montana--974,989 in July 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. more ›

Last week, we mentioned the children of the state are getting fatter. Now, another study says that Illinois' adults are, too. According to data released by the CDC, 26.4 percent of Illinois adults are obese. Overall, the Southeast has the highest rates with Mississippi and Alabama coming in at #1 and #2, respectively. (Way to go, SEC country, making me proud of my homeland). But, seriously, the new results show a very troubling trend. As the Trib explains: more ›

In another round of Great News!, it turns out kids in Illinois are getting fatter. In a study just released, based on 2007 data from the National Survey of Children's Health, Illinois children rank fourth in the United States in terms of being overweight or obese with 20.7 percent of the children tipping the scales. more ›