Children frequently pressure parents to buy unhealthy foods during shopping

A study using a nationally representative survey of parents in England, to be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12-15 May), reveals that over half (58%) of parents are frequently pestered by their children or teens to purchase products high in fats, salts and/or sugar (HFSS) when food shopping in stores or online, and almost three-quarters (72%) reported often buying the requested item.

Walking 8,500 steps daily may help prevent weight regain

New research being presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026) in Istanbul, Turkey (12-15 May) and published in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health shows that doing around 8,500 steps a day can help people keep weight off after dieting.

Non-invasive swab test offers fast, accurate tuberculosis detection worldwide

A portable molecular test, MiniDock MTB, detected pulmonary tuberculosis rapidly and accurately across seven high-burden countries, using sputum or tongue swab samples. The study suggests the low-cost, battery-operated platform could expand near-point-of-care TB diagnosis in low-resource settings, although real-world implementation and drug-resistance integration still need evaluation.

Patients at risk for ASCVD, kidney failure may not get referral

NEW ORLEANS — Patients with elevated atherosclerotic CVD and kidney failure risks may never have received a nephrology referral, according to data presented at the National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meetings.
Patients with CV complications and kidney failure may not receive timely nephrology referrals due to various barriers and prioritizing patients with more advanced chronic kidney disease, according to Sharlene Shirali, a medical student at University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues.
“At the systems level, barriers to nephrology referrals include increased wait times and