Public elementary and middle schools would be prohibited from selling soda and junk food under a package of measures approved Monday by a state Senate panel action against a growing epidemic of childhood obesity.

The bills aim to restrict the amount of sugar, fat and salt children consume, at least during the school day

Hong Kong health department officials are planning to enact laws to make sure children are provided with healthy lunch as increase in obesity among kids is posing a threat. AFP reported quoting a report published in the Sunday Morning Post th

t the law would regulate lunches offered to youngsters at school canteens. The law will be enacted by 2007. A recently conducted study showed that "the rate of obesity has gone up to almost one in five and that the mean weight of 18-year old boys had increased 16 percent in five years and for girls the figure was 11 percent,"

Tuesday, Canadian researchers said moms pregnant with boys may be less forgetful than those carrying girls.

Researchers found evidence that women who gave birth to boys outperformed moms of girls in tests taxing memory in areas of listening, computational and visualization skills

A Brigham Young University study found that meanness in girls can start as toddlers - girls as young as 3 or 4 will use manipulation and peer pressure to get what they want.

According to Craig Hart, study co-author with David Nelson and Clyde Robinson and professor of marriage, family and human development at BYU, "It could range from leaving someone out to telling their friends not to play with someone to saying, 'I'm not going to invite you to my birthday party.' Some kids are really adept at being mean and nasty

Scientists believe that insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes, might stem from the habits of a child's grandmother.

Animal studies suggest that children may be at increased risk of diabetes if their grandmother maintained a poor diet while pregnant and breast feeding