science wire

In the first study to examine cereal-buying patterns in homes in the United States, researchers at the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity found that minority families with children are most likely to buy the least nutritious cereals that are advertised directly to children. The study appears online in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

West African soil scientists are learning how to make the most out of sub-Saharan African soil during a six-week visit to the University of Sydney.

A new survey of young Australians has found one in two don't know how many servings of fruit and vegetables to eat in a day, and even fewer know the serving sizes of common fruit and vegetables.

Investments in small-scale irrigation and geophysical mapping will help relieve food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa, Stanford researchers say.

Boyce Thompson joins forces with other plant nonprofits to benefit humanity The Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) at Cornell has joined forces with three other U.S. nonprofit plant science research institutions to form the Association of Independent Plant Research Institutes (AIPI) in an effort to target research to meet the profound challenges facing society in a more coordinated and rapid fashion.

Given the obesity epidemic among the nation's young, one might hope that children's hospitals would serve as a role model for healthy eating.

Pests and diseases that attack the Matoke banana, one of Uganda's primary food staples, is the focus of a $7.07 million grant awarded to Cornell by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Berkeley, CA, Nov. 23, 2011 -America's waistline has been expanding at an accelerating rate, prompting both concern about the nation's health and puzzlement over the cause. Now a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has come up with some intriguing new data and a provocative hypothesis: that obesity itself makes people much more susceptible to risk factors that promote weight gain in the first place.

President gives thanks for Penn State community's support A Message from President Rodney Erickson: Moving Forward Penn State Shenango to hold vigil for victims of child abuse Nov.

Increasing yield in poor countries could lower environmental impact Media Note: Embargoed until 2 p.m. Nov. MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/21/2011) —Global food demand could double by 2050, according to a new projection by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology in the University of Minnesota's College of Biological Sciences, and colleagues, including Jason Hill, assistant professor in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences.

Female athletes with low levels of iron in their bodies, yet who are not anemic, may be at a disadvantage even before their competitive season starts, according to a new Cornell study. These athletes could benefit from early screening and monitoring for anemia and low iron reserves at the beginning of the training season, the authors found.

Town Hall Forum video posted Board executive committee reaffirms, ratifies earlier decisions Students host fundraiser to benefit abused children Penn State, PA Coalition Against Rape join to fight child sexual abuse Penn State Town Hall Forum provides open discussion UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

It is widely suspected that the current wave of obesity among children will result in greater rates of cardiovascular disease and diabetes over the next few decades. But a second systematic review of research into childhood obesity and metabolic disease in adult life has shown there is little evidence of a direct link and suggests that treating obesity during childhood will remove any risk of lasting harm.

To eat or not to eat - that would seem to be the question for people who want to lose weight. But a dieter's decision to eat is often determined by powerful environmental cues that he or she is probably not even aware of.

Many of us eat cereals for breakfast, bread in our lunch and foods such as pasta, rice, quinoa, breads, pastry and pizza bases for dinner.

Could your discarded jack-o'-lantern be repurposed.. as a water purifier? That's what one young scientist has come to Cornell to find out.

The 110 metre high clock tower will be one of a number of iconic buildings across the world turning blue as part of the day's events.

A new study released today offers hope that California may finally be getting a handle on its 30-year battle with childhood obesity, but it also showcases a patchwork of progress that leaves the majority of the state's counties still registering increases in obesity rates among school-age children.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (11/07/2011) —Can a single biofuel production system reduce water and nutrient runoff from farm fields, cut down on soil erosion and turn a profit for the farmers who grow it?

It takes 70 million years to grow a crop of fossil fuel but just 70 days to grow a crop of grass pellet fuel.

Cornell nematologist George S. Abawi, Ph.D. '70, is on a mission to help save one of New York's burgeoning agricultural commodities: garlic.

Could persistent pollutants like DDT and PCBs or chemicals found in plastics be making you fat or diabetic? The answer may depend on what sort of bacteria you have churning around in your gut, according to Cornell scientists.

Universities need to work with industry to develop realistic solutions to harmonize food systems with human health, according to panelists at a Morrison Hall symposium on Oct.

Counting calories in photos, PlateMate proves the wisdom of the (well-managed) crowd Americans spend upwards of $40 billion a year on dieting advice and self-help books, but the first step in any healthy eating strategy is basic awareness-what's on the plate. If keeping a food diary seems like too much effort, despair not: computer scientists at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) have devised a tool that lets you snap a photo of your meal and let the crowd do the rest.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences have been awarded a $2.3 million grant by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to investigate how certain cover crops and rotations can improve production of organic commodities.

Young people are being exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugary drinks, such as full-calorie soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, and fruit drinks, according to a new study from the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity.

28 Oct 2011 Obese people may regain weight after dieting due to hormonal changes, a University of Melbourne and Austin Health study has shown. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Worldwide, there are more than 1.5 billion overweight adults, including 400 million who are obese.

To enhance the market value of such organically grown grains such as heritage wheat, emmer, spelt and einkorn, Cornell has received $2.3 million over four years from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

November is around the corner, but have you heard about Movember ? Movember —the "mo” stands for moustache—is an international month-long event aimed at increasing awareness of the cancers that men face.

The honeybee has hogged the pollination spotlight for centuries, but native bees are now getting their fair share of buzz: They are two to three times better pollinators than honeybees, are more plen

Research into sustainable agricultural science has been given a huge boost with the announcement of a major bequest to the University of Sydney.

Activation and testing work will begin on Monday, Oct. 24 on the university's new Campus Wide Emergency Alert System.

As Sunday 16 October marked World Food Day , Alana Mann from the Department of Media and at the University of Sydney reflected on a global social movement struggling to assert rights over food.

A new hobo pest - the brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) - is pigging out on many of North America's most important crops, posing an unprecedented threat to U.S. agriculture, say experts. "There's been nothing like this in several decades," says Peter Jentsch, a researcher at Cornell's Hudson Valley Laboratory and one of 10 Cornell scientists and 70 others, including some as far afield as Oregon and Florida, looking for ways the curb the pest, which caused catastrophic damage in 2010.

A Cornell economist in collaboration with Oz of TV fame finds that using peer mentors in high schools is an effective way to get teens to make better food choices and get more exercise. The study's most striking finding: The mentoring program prompted high school students to cut their consumption of soda pop by 13 percent - 26 percent among girls.

Mention the idea of a government-imposed pop tax at your next dinner party and there's a good chance you'll spark a lively debate.

U of M-led researchers create a recipe for globally sustainable agriculture MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (10/12/2011) —Can we feed the more than 9 billion people anticipated to live on this planet in 2050 without destroying Earth's life support systems?

International team of researchers designs global plan for sustainable agriculture The problem is stark: One billion people on earth don't have enough food right now.

Ten years of meticulous mouse breeding, screening and record-keeping have finally paid off for Alan Attie and his lab members. The University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers' efforts, published today (Oct. 6) at in the journal PLoS Genetics , pinpointed a gene that confers diabetes susceptibility in obese mice.

The University of Sydney's Suzie Ferrie has been named runner-up in the Trans-Tasman Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, overcoming 41 other students from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji to take home the $2000 prize.

New research, led by psychologists at the University of Bristol, has found that children who are familiar with a snack food will expect it to be more filling. This finding , published (online ahead of print) in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition , is important because it reveals one way in which children over-consume snack foods and increase their risk of becoming overweight.

As one of Australia's oldest agricultural institutes is poised to celebrate 50 years of grains research, its scientists are perfecting new wheat grains that could produce healthier and more nutritious bread.

UCLA researchers have demonstrated that an over-the-counter dietary supplement may help inhibit insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, conditions that are involved in the development of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome, which affect millions worldwide.

Many people just accept the fact that they will probably gain weight during the holidays. After all, delicious food and drink are everywhere, from school and office parties to candy bowls on the coffee table.

Despite technological advances in agriculture, nearly a billion people around the world still suffer from hunger and poor nutrition.

Download video (mp4) Explaining your research thesis can be challenging at the best of times, so imagine having to do it in just 180 seconds to an audience who know nothing about your field.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/20/2011) —Children and adolescents aren't eating enough whole grains, but new research from the University of Minnesota offers some insight into how parents and school lunch professionals can improve kids' whole grain intake. Fewer than 1 percent of Americans between the ages of 9 and 18 currently eat the recommended daily 3 to 5 servings of whole grains.