To prepare, Dutch 23-year-old beauty Kroes, who says she normally eats what she wants because she exercises often, goes on a strict sugar- and carb-free meal plan and spends many extra minutes a day jumping rope. “For other fashion shows you can be skinny, but for Victoria’s Secret, you need definition,” says Kroes, 23. - By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL, AP

I’m impressed. Like most lingerie models they recognize that they have to be fit. Note that she says that she “exercises often”. Even for models it takes effort to look healthy and fit. Like she says, other fashion models are skinny. They simply don’t eat and they don’t have a shape. I find that look unattractive. The VS models are popular because they are fit, shapely and sexy.

Listen to what Kroes says. She has a fabulous body because she exercises a lot, she goes on a strict healthy diet and she does extra fitness work. If you want to be fit and healthy, there you go.

Participating in physical activities in and out of school more than two times a week protects adolescents from becoming overweight young adults, according to new research.

Basically the study determined that if a kid was active rollerblading or playing basketball or whatever, the chances of being overweight as an adult was reduced by 48 percent. Common sense tells me that the likelihood of a kid being active when they are young, the chances are great that they will continue to want to be active when they get older. Johns Hopkins didn’t need to commission a study and waste their money on that. But I guess somebody had to spend some grant money.

The causes, researchers say, are numerous. These include a diet of calorie-dense but nutrient-deficient food found in grocery and convenience stores, public planning strategies that favor motorists over walkers and cyclists, and simply bad habits.

And while the causes are many, the costs are enormous. Obesity’s associated costs add $93 billion to the nation’s medical bill annually. Each year, 112,000 people die from obesity-related causes, and the condition is responsible for an increased risk of chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

The top 5 fattest cities (ranking the top 50 most populous cities) were 1) Memphis, 2) Birmingham, 3) San Antonio, 4) Riverside and 5) Detroit.

Despite the increase the problem in France is still not as severe as it is in the US. Sounds like both countries need to discover the benefits of proper diet and exercise workout.

The rest of the article can be read here.