(h/t Matthew Kenwrick, Flickr)

New data from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index found that the lowest paid workers have the highest obesity rates. Workers from transportation, manufacturing, repair and service industries top the list of most obese. Doctors, business owners, teachers and other professionals were least likely to be obese.

Jobs associated with greater obesity rates were poorer paying jobs that required less education. Obese workers were less likely to exercise three or more times per week. They were less likely to have eaten healthfully the day before and reported difficulty affording food. They were more likely to be depressed. But also the least likely to smoke.

Here are more specific findings broken down by industry:

• Service workers were the least likely to have a safe place to exercise, most likely to have been diagnosed with depression and most likely to have struggled to afford food.
• Physicians were the most likely to have a safe place to exercise, the least likely to have been diagnosed with depression and the least likely to have struggled to afford food.
• Sales people were the least likely to eat well.
• Office workers were the least likely to exercise at least 90 minutes per week.
• Farming, fishing and forestry workers had the highest rates of exercise and healthful eating.
• Construction workers were the least likely to visit a dentist.
• Teachers were the most likely to visit a dentist.

Obesity could have an impact on salaries. Obese women earn an average of 6.2 percent less than normal-weighing counterparts.

The researchers write, “Gallup research also finds that engaged employees exercise more frequently and also eat healthier than those who are not engaged or are actively disengaged. Therefore, employers who prioritize employee engagement may see a double benefit of healthier and happier workers.”

(h/t ElHormiguero, Flickr)

Star magazine’s “Most Hated Celebrity” and People’s “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” – Gwyneth Paltrow – is both famous and infamous for her dedication to her strict diet.

A vegetarian, Paltrow avoids red meat and gluten, opting mostly for superfoods like kale and almonds.

But is the diet feasible for normal hard-working women who don’t have an unlimited food budget? Rebecca Harrington, a writer for The Cut, wanted to find out.

Harrington follows the strict diet for ten days, journaling her struggles and breakthroughs along the way. Here are some of the pros and cons she experienced:

PROS:

• Harrington noted that although many of Paltrow’s recipes may sound strange, they are actually tasty. Wet almonds, beet-greens soup and kale smoothies are somehow “weirdly delicious”.
• At the end of the experiment, Harrington reports losing four pounds, toning her arms and clearer eyes. Not bad for only ten days.
• Harrington says she was never hungry during the diet.

CONS:

• Ingredients like raw honey and kale can really impact your grocery bill. Harrington says she spent three times as much as usual for one week’s worth of food.
• Foods like tomatoes, deep sea fish and gluten are entirely eliminated.

Harrington ends her journal saying the morning after she broke the diet, she woke up with a huge rash across her face. It seems like Paltrow’s detox diet worked.

(h/t Diacritical, Flickr)

Chris Christie’s weight loss surgeon, Dr. George Fielding, has been sued for the deaths of eleven patients in Australia. He now faces charges for the deaths of three patients in the United States.

Christie would not comment about whether he knew about the doctor’s past, but he’s already lost 40 lbs. after the procedure and says he feels fine.

“He appeared from my research to be the foremost expert on [bariatric surgery] in the country. He told me he’s done over 5,000 of the surgeries and he had the surgery himself. He kinda sold me in this respect.” Christie tells the Post.

Here are details of some of the lawsuits Fielding faces:

• Shannon Tang, age 21: In 2003, Fielding met with 381-lb Tang only one day before the scheduled procedure. He allegedly failed to carry out a preoperative workup or warn the patient of any risks involved. Tang died that year.
• Rebecca Quatinetz, age 27: Quatinetz suffered from intense pain for six weeks after a lap band procedure performed by Fielding. A family lawyer claims the band was placed too tightly and the problem was not recognized in six follow-up appointments. She was starving because she couldn’t keep food down. She eventually died from a heart condition that showed up in preoperative tests, but was not mentioned by Fielding.

• Anne Marie Harrington, age 45: In Harrington’s case, Fielding is accused of failing to notice an esophageal perforation that would compromise the procedure.

(h/t casey.marshall, Flickr)

People who gain weight are more likely to be both impulsive and deliberate in their actions, according to a new study from the Florida State University College of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

To reach their findings, researchers analyzed the body weight and personality traits of 1,900 participants at the beginning and end of a decade-long time period.

They found a link between a 10% increase in weight tied to impulsiveness (easily tempted) and deliberation (think before acting on decisions).

“If mind and body are intertwined, then if one changes the other should change too. That’s what our findings suggest.” Explains study researcher Angelina Sutin in a statement.

Findings from a 2011 study support this new study. In it, researchers found that Type A personalities are at greater risk of having a higher BMI (Body Mass Index). And people who are impulsive shoppers are more likely to be weight cyclers.

The new study is published in the journal Psychological Science.

(h/t cookbookman17, Flickr)

105-year-old Pearl Cantrell of Texas says her secret to a long life is … bacon.

“I love bacon, I eat it every day. I don’t feel as old as I am, that’s all I can say.” Cantrell told NBC affiliate KRBC.

The mother of seven still loves to dance, and her 105^th birthday party was a three-day event with more than two-hundred guests in attendance!

Hearing about Cantrell’s bacon love, Oscar Mayer sent one of its Wienermobiles to escort her around her Texas town.

But does her claim have any scientific merit? Well, some. A University of Zurich study published in the March journal BMC Medicine suggests that eating little or no red meat can be a risk factor for early death.

On the other hand, that same study also found that eating too much bacon increases the risk of bowel cancer. So, moderation is important.

(h/t jess g., Flickr)

If you’re trying to get pregnant, then you probably want to know what kind of diet can improve your chances.

A new study suggests that women who eat a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates while undergoing in vitro fertilization have higher pregnancy rates than women who eat high carb, low protein diets.

Specifically, women whose protein intake was 25% or more of their daily diet and carbohydrate intake was 40% or less, had pregnancy rates four times higher than women who ate less protein and more carbs. To gather their data, researchers asked 120 women undergoing in vitro fertilization to keep a three-day nutritional journal before they had an embryo transfer.

“Protein is essential for good quality embryos and better egg quality, it turns out,” says study researcher Dr. Jeffrey Russell, director of the Delaware Institute for Reproductive Medicine.

It’s important to note these findings are highly preliminary and the link between nutrition and fertility are still not well understood.

The research was released at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ annual clinical meeting in New Orleans.

(h/t DonkeyHotey, Flickr)

At the urging of his wife and kids, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie underwent gastric bypass surgery last February to aggressively slim down.

“I’ve struggled with this issue for 20 years,” Christie tells the New York Post, “For me, this is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them.”

The decision was not a light one. In 2006, Christie told an interviewer he never considered bariatric surgery because it’s “too risky”.

But after consulting Jet coach Rex Ryan, who lost about 100 pounds after he had the procedure in 2010, Christie changed his mind. Christie even hired the same bariatric surgeon as Ryan – Dr. George Fielding, head of NYU Medical Center’s Weight Management Program.

Sources report the governor has already shed 40 pounds. But he’s kept the surgery under wraps for nearly three months now. How did he keep it so secretive?

He never visited the surgeon in his office – the doctor went to the governor’s house.

As he loses the extra weight, doctors will inject more saline solution into the lap band, forcing him to eat even less.

Political fund-raisers have suggested Christie might be slimming down with hopes of a 2016 presidential bid. Insiders have said his weight is the only thing keeping Christie from higher office. But Christie denies losing weight to run for president.

“I know it sounds crazy to say that running for president is minor, but in the grand scheme of things, it was looking at Mary Pat and the kids and going, ‘I have to do this for them, even if I don’t give a crap about myself,” he tells the New York Post.

(h/t grobery, Flickr)

A Mediterranean diet might help men lower their cholesterol levels even if they don’t lose any weight, says a small new study.

A Mediterranean-style diet – rich with produce, whole grains, olive oil and moderate amounts of wine – is associated with lower levels of LDL cholesterol (the “bad” kind).

The study observed nineteen men between ages 24 and 62 who suffered from metabolic syndrome (conditions such as high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high body mass index and high cholesterol that put one at risk for heart disease and diabetes). Over the course of thirty-five weeks, the researchers put the men on four diets:

1. The participants followed a Standard American Diet – high in red meat, sugar, carbs and fat – for five weeks.
2. Then they followed a Mediterranean diet for five weeks.
3. They then went on a twenty-week weight loss plan.
4. They finished off on a five-week Mediterranean diet.

The researchers found that even if the men didn’t lose weight, the Mediterranean diet was linked with 9% lower LDL cholesterol levels.

Considering how small the study was, these findings should be considered preliminary. But there have been many prior studies praising the Mediterranean diet for its heart-healthy benefits.

The research was presented at the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology 2013 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association.

(h/t tudedude, Flickr)

Why does one person lose up to 60% of their body weight after gastric bypass surgery, whereas another person only loses 15%? Scientists say they’ve pin-pointed a genetic variation that may help explain the weight loss difference.

The discovery of this genetic variation could help create a gene test that allows patients to predict how many pounds they might lose after the surgery. This is an incredibly important step, because many patients who seem like great candidates for the surgery don’t lose as much weight as expected.

“This is heartbreaking for those folks who have been brave enough and struggled enough to get to the point of having surgery and then experience failure in terms of weight loss,” explains Molly Bray, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

To locate the genetic variation, researchers looked at the genome of over 1,000 patients who underwent gastric bypass surgery. They found one location that turned out to be greatly linked to weight loss after surgery.

Doctors used to believe that patients lost weight after the surgery because their stomachs were smaller. But new research suggests the surgery also changes hormones, gut microbes and gene activity. It might be all of these factors combined that explain the surgery’s effectiveness.

The findings are published in the May 2 American Journal of Human Genetics.       

Young women are becoming dangerously set on achieving the “thigh gap” – a visible gap between the thighs – idolized by the fashion industry.

(h/t Grozz, Flickr)

Social media sites are flooded with fan groups and images dedicated to thin thighs. Incredibly, Facebook and Twitter accounts praising the thigh gap have 700,000+ followers.

University of Miami body consultant, Tammy Sifre, voices her concern, “It’s sending the message the body is objectified. The body is something that needs to be changed, that needs to be fixed and it’s not good enough the way it is.”

A Berkeley licensed clinical social worker Debra Milinsky of the Feminist Therapy Connection adds, “Girls are at a developmental stage where their bodies are changing, and when it comes to what they’re supposed to look like, they’re most likely to listen to their peers. That’s what the Internet is all about. Seeking community.”

To fight this troubling trend, experts recommend parents remind their young girls that pictures of models in the media are digitally altered and real women can’t look like that.

Also, in response to the growing online trend, an anti-thigh gap group has emerged. Tumblr pages like Touching Thighs and No Thigh Gap fight back.