Canada's first stomach corset procedure to help obesity, weight loss

"Five years ago, Morgan Ward went about as far as you can go to lose weight: bariatric surgery, essentially a procedure to reduce the volume of her stomach. It didn't take. Her stomach, stapled and banded to reduce its size, slowly began to stretch back to its old dimensions, and she began to re-gain some of the weight she lost. On Wednesday, Ward, 29, goes back into surgery to undergo a non-invasive procedure that's new to Canada: the endoluminal pouch reduction, essentially an interior corset. She'll become one of the first Canadians to undergo the procedure as part of a clinical trial to see if the new surgery can help obese patients who have regained their weight after traditional stomach-reducing surgery." - Star Phoenix

Obesity on the job (Canada)

"Obesity in the workplace is a growing phenomenon, with repercussions for both workers and their employers. International studies have found that the combination of a sedentary job and poor eating habits often leads to obesity, which can put the heart at risk and pave the way for a litany of other diseases. Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gall bladder disease, and some cancers. As well, obese workers have a substantially higher prevalence of metabolic, circulatory, musculoskeletal, and respiratory disorders" - Statistics Canada

ECO 2009 - The 17th European Congress on obesity

The 17th European Congress on Obesity (ECO) will take place at the RAI Exhibition and Congress Centre in Amsterdam, the Netherlands from Wednesday 6 May to Saturday 9 May 2009. Excess body weight is a major risk factor for several chronic diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke and cancer, making obesity one of the leading preventable causes of death worldwide. With global rates in adults and children on the rise, the condition is considered one of the most significant public health challenges of the 21st century. ECO 2009 provides a unique European forum for presentations of exciting new research from scientists, clinicians, epidemiologists and public health specialists. About 2,500 scientists, doctors, nurses and public health policy experts are expected to attend. The European Association for the Study of Obesity welcomes the interest of the media in obesity issues and is happy to provide full assistance to journalists attending ECO 2009. A media centre with computing, fax, photocopying and free international phone and Internet connections will be available. English-speaking press officers will be on hand to assist you. NB: the official language of ECO 2009 is English and all press materials will be in English

Obese mothers 'risk spina bifida'

"Mothers-to-be who are obese increase their odds of having a baby with abnormalities including spina bifida, researchers say. Their analysis of data from 39 studies found obese women were more than twice as likely to have a baby with spina bifida or another neural tube defect. The risk of heart defects and cleft lip was also raised, the Journal of the American Medical Association says. Up to a fifth of pregnant mothers in the UK are classed as obese" - BBC