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Allergan, the makers of the LAP-BAND AP System, have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to make the device available to more Americans. The FDA has announced that its panel of outside advisers will meet on December 3 to discuss whether the qualifications for gastric banding should be modified.

Losing weight and quitting smoking top the list of New Year's resolutions for 2011, reports the AFP.

Forty-four percent of Americans planned to make New Year's resolutions this year, revealed a poll by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. Of those individuals, 16 percent said they planned to lose weight, 17 percent said they wanted to quit smoking, and 13 percent resolved to spend less money.

For many years, avocados have been the subject of debate in terms of whether they have the ability to help or hinder a person’s weight-loss efforts. Now, a relatively new study published in the November 2013 issue of Nutrition Journal shows that consuming one-half of an avocado during meals can lead to long-term satiety — or a greater feeling of fullness — and less snacking between meals.

For decades, medical professionals have recommended that overweight individuals exercise regularly and eat a healthy diet to reduce their body weight. However, a new study published in the journal BMJ suggests that weight-loss surgery could be more effective at reducing body weight than conventional methods of diet and exercise.

For over 20 years, bariatric surgery has been considered a “last resort” weight-loss treatment by physicians and surgeons of patients who have tried to lose weight using conventional methods of diet and exercise. Now, doctors and surgeons across the country are urging the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to change the bariatric surgery guidelines so that more patients can benefit from weight loss and the reversal of comorbidities related to obesity.