Mothers who are overweight or obese tend to underestimate the weights of their obese children, according to a new study from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.

New research from the School of Medicine suggests that mothers who eat high-fat, high-sugar diets can predispose multiple generations to metabolic problems, even if their offspring consume healthy diets.

As young people reach adulthood, preferences for sweet foods typically decline. But for people with obesity, research from the School of Medicine suggests that the drop-off may not be as steep and that the brain’s reward system operates differently in obese people than in thinner people. The findings are published in the journal Diabetes.

For patients with obesity trying to lose weight, the greatest health benefits come from losing just 5 percent of their body weight, according to a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Following patients from childhood into young adulthood, a study led by Robert Strunk, MD, at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis shows the progression toward worse lung function in those who become obese as they grow into young adulthood.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is a recipient of the 2015 Keio Medical Science Prize.

Women who have gastric bypass surgery to lose weight should keep a close eye on their alcohol consumption, according to a study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers found that changes in how alcohol is metabolized after surgery can speed its delivery into the bloodstream, resulting in earlier and higher peaks in blood-alcohol levels.

Obesity and excess weight, and their negative impact on health, have become a significant focus for health-care experts in recent years. But new research at Washington University School of Medicine shows that an escalation in the number of those considered obese or overweight in the U.S. continues, signaling an ongoing upward swing in chronic health conditions as well.

Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, director of the Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine.

Inflammatory bowel diseases are associated with a decrease in the diversity of bacteria in the gut, but a new study led by researchers at the School of Medicine has linked these same illnesses to an increase in the diversity of viruses.