Americans’ expanding girths are driving down the number of years they live in good health, a study published Tuesday said.

As the percentage of obese adults in the United States shot up by 90 percent in 16 years, from 14 percent in 1993 to 27 percent two years ago, the number of quality-adjusted life years lost because of obesity more than doubled, said the study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

From 1993-2008, obesity meant more men and women from every ethnic group were dying younger or suffering ill health, the study said.

Black women were both the most likely group to be obese and lost the greatest number of quality years of life because of obesity.

They lost 68 percent more quality years of life due to obesity, and the percentage who were obese rose by around 16 percentage points, from around 25 percent in 1993 to around 41 percent of black women in 2008.

Black men were in second place on both counts, but a long way behind the women. Next came both genders of Hispanics and then whites.

Less obese states caught up with more obese states in terms of quality years of life lost during the 16-year study, which found […]

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The fascination with low-carb versus low-fat diet continues; the latest news comes from a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine released Monday that found that people on both diets lost about the same amount of weight over two years. However, the low-carb group had an edge in raising HDL (good) cholesterol and lowering diastolic blood pressure

The study looked at 153 people who were randomly assigned to a low-carb diet, and 154 to a low-fat diet. The low-carb group limited carbohydrate intake to 20 grams per day for the first 12 weeks, then gradually increased fruits, vegetables, whole grains and dairy foods until they reached a desired weight. The low-fat group kept daily calories to 1,200 to 1,500, and fat to 30% of their diet.

Both groups also took part in a two-year behavioral program that focused on how to manage relapses, self-monitoring, and an emphasis on moderate physical activity.

Participants in both groups lost about 11% of their beginning weight at six months and a year after the study started, but gained some of the weight back. After two years, both groups had a 7% weight loss.

Although some health issues didn’t vary between the groups, others did. The low-carb group […]

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WASHINGTON — Religious leaders and scholars are clamoring for more corporate accountability in the wake of what they call the destruction of God’s creation in the Gulf of Mexico, and they may have found a partner in their battle cry: the American business school.

‘Look at the Gulf disaster – no one has questioned the core value system that BP used to cut corners with that rig out in the Gulf; namely, the race to maximize profits at all costs,’ said Mark Wallace, a professor of religious studies at Swarthmore College. ‘That’s the religion of our time . . . the fundamental worldview that animates our common life together.’

Eco-religious scholars such as Wallace aren’t calling for the erosion of capitalism. Rather, they envision a nuanced form in which businesses also consider the well-being of communities and the environment in computing the bottom line. It’s a system known as triple bottom line economics.

Business educators say they see no conflict in the approach – and expect the BP spill will soon be part of their curriculums as well.

‘Without a doubt, it’s feasible for companies to incorporate those values. Anyone who looks at this particular situation in hindsight is going to recognize that prudence […]

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NEW YORK — Unilever’s Omo detergent is adding an unusual ingredient to its two-pound detergent box in Brazil: a GPS device that allows its promotions agency Bullet to track shoppers and follow them to their front doors.

Starting next week, consumers who buy one of the GPS-implanted detergent boxes will be surprised at home, given a pocket video camera as a prize and invited to bring their families to enjoy a day of Unilever-sponsored outdoor fun. The promotion, called Try Something New With Omo, is in keeping with the brand’s international ‘Dirt is Good’ positioning that encourages parents to let their kids have a good time even if they get dirty.

Omo accounts for half of Brazil’s detergent sales and is already found in 80% of homes there, so Unilever’s goal is more to draw attention to a new stain-fighting version of Omo and get it talked about rather than looking for a big increase in sales.

That made the idea of doing a promotion where the prize finds the consumer, rather than the consumer having to look for the prize — and maybe not bothering — appealing.

Fernando Figueiredo, Bullet’s president, said the GPS device is activated when a shopper removes the […]

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