The CBS Evening News (7/1, story 4, 0:25, Couric) reported, "From the bottom line to our waist lines, America is apparently losing the battle of the bulge." A recently released study, titled F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America 2009, "shows it is getting worse," according to NBC Nightly News (7/1, story 9, 0:40, Williams). In fact, the "adult obesity rate increased in 23 states last year," ABC World News (7/1, story 2, 2:25, Gibson) pointed out, and "no state showed a decline," despite the fact that officials are "doing things like taxing sugary sodas, putting healthier foods in schools, and requiring longer, tougher gym classes."

        The AP (7/2, Neergaard) notes that "the nation has long been bracing for a surge in Medicare as the boomers start turning 65," but the data compiled by the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation "make clear that fat, not just age, will fuel much of those bills." Why? Because "in every state, the rate of obesity is higher among 55- to 64-year-olds -- the oldest boomers -- than among today's 65-and-beyond." This essentially means that there will be "a jump of obese Medicare patients that ranges from 5.2 percent in New York to a high of 16.3 percent in Alabama."

        Mississippi, however, is the state that is "No. 1 for the fifth year in a row, with an adult obesity rate of 32.5 percent," Jeannine Stein wrote in the Los Angeles Times (7/1) Booster Shots blog. It also "holds the No. 1 spot for obese and overweight children ages 10 to 17, with a rate of 44.4 percent." Overall, "southern states take a hit, accounting for eight out of the top 10 states ranked highest for adult obesity." At the other end of the spectrum is Colorado, with 18.9 percent of its population categorized as obese.

        The Chicago Tribune (7/1, Eng), the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (7/1, Poole), New Jersey's Star Ledger (7/1), the Boston Globe (7/1, Cooney) White Coat Notes blog, the Detroit Free Press (7/1, Satyanarayana), the Indianapolis Star (7/1, Berggoetz), and the Denver Business Journal (7/1) provided various states' takes on the report. BBC News (7/1) and HealthDay (7/1, Reinberg) also covered the story.

HealthDay (6/26, Reinberg) reported, "Fat from red meat and dairy products can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer," according to a new study published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). At present, "pancreatic cancer, which is usually fatal, is the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States." The scientific community has been diligent in their identification of various risk factors, "including smoking, diabetes, and obesity," and "some studies have also linked dietary fat to increased risk, but" the NCI team pointed out that "data had been inconclusive."

        Aiming to further validate the association, investigators "analyzed a cohort of more than 500,000 people from the National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study," according to MedPage Today (6/28, Emery). Study participants "completed a food frequency questionnaire in 1995 and 1996 and were then followed prospectively to track a variety of health outcomes, including pancreatic cancer." During the next six-and-a-half years, "865 men and 472 women were diagnosed with exocrine pancreatic cancer." Yet, among those "who consumed the highest amounts of total fats, the rate of cancer was 53 percent higher for men and 23 percent higher for women, compared to participants with the lowest fat diets." When the data was pooled, the researchers discovered "that total fat consumption was associated with 23 percent higher rates of pancreatic cancer, while high intake of monosaturated fats was associated with 22 percent higher cancer rates."

        WebMD (6/26, Hitti) pointed out, however, that it is important to note that the work "doesn't prove that dietary fat was responsible for that, or that meat or dairy products were particularly to blame," because "observational studies like this one show associations, but they don't prove cause and effect." Still, the authors maintained that their "study is in line with the USDA [US Department of Agriculture] guidelines to be prudent and limit fat intake to between 20 and 35 percent of total calories." Nevertheless, lead investigator Rachael Stolzenberg-Solomon, PhD, RD, conceded that "other studies are needed to confirm the findings," a sentiment mirrored by the authors of an accompanying editorial.

        The editorialists applaud the NCI team, writing that their "study is well performed, provides high-quality data, and is 'a welcome addition to our understanding of a disease that is in great need of new insights,'" Medscape (6/26, Chustecka) reported. "However, the available epidemiologic and laboratory evidence is insufficient to confirm the importance of animal fats, per se, or even that meat is the important factor, as opposed to other dietary or lifestyle preferences associated with meat consumption."

        BBC News (6/26) also covered the study, as did the UK's Guardian (6/28, McKie) and Telegraph (6/26, Devlin).

Bloomberg News (6/9, Chase) reports, "Colorectal cancer rates are rising in adults younger than 50 with the biggest jump, more than five percent, recorded in those ages 20 to 29," according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Investigators "didn't identify a cause for the increase," but Elizabeth Ward, "vice president of surveillance and health policy research at the society, said rising obesity and diabetes rates and diets heavy in red and processed meats are likely culprits." Nonetheless, the "fact that cancer is affecting younger people is worrisome," added Ward. "We want to educate healthcare practitioners and the public that this increase is happening."

        The team first identified the trend after reviewing "data on about 11,000 men and 9,800 women younger than 50 that was gleaned from 13 US cancer registries that tracked information from 1992 through 2005," HealthDay (6/8, Mozes) added. They discovered that during that time, "colorectal cancer rates increased 1.5 percent a year among men younger than 50 and 1.6 percent a year among women younger than 50." Notably, "among non-Hispanic white adults, the research team noted that much of the increase was attributable to a rise in rectal cancer rates." The researchers also found that "incident rate increases for colorectal cancer had edged up in every age category below 50 -- namely, among those 20 to 29, 30 to 39, and 40 to 49." Once again, the largest increase "occurred in the youngest age group, those between 20 and 29 years old. Incident rates in this age range rose 5.2 percent a year in men and 5.6 percent a year in women." The team is unsure, however, about "the underlying cause for the age disparity."