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Americans may be as heavy as they’re going to get — at least for now.

That’s what new government data suggest. While obesity rates climbed sharply in the U.S. in the 1980s and 1990s, their increase has slowed or leveled off in many population groups since then, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published today in two articles in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (See here and here.)

Gut Brain: The health of the gut is tied to more than digestion, with links to processes and conditions including bone formation, learning and memory, Parkinson’s disease and, in lab rats, depression and anxiety, the WSJ reports. Researchers call the enteric nervous system the “gut brain” and note that about 95% of the neurotransmitter serotonin is produced by neurons in the gut.

By John Revill

Forget about corporate fat cats: a new scheme launched by food giant Nestlé is targeting real overweight pets, which could also help their chubby owners battling their own expanding waistlines.

The world’s largest food company has launched a new weight-loss program to help pet owners and their cats, dogs and other household animals get back into shape.

We already know that the night shift may be hazardous to your health. And now, a new study finds that mixing up night shifts with day and evening work hours is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.

Researching Lefties: Experts are studying left-handed people for clues to disorders including ADHD, dyslexia and schizophrenia, the WSJ reports. Those problems are more common in lefties for reasons that aren’t known, though some scientists speculate that the 30% of lefties who rely on their right brains (or a mix of the right and left brains) as their language centers may be more at risk.

Painkiller ODs Rise: New data from the CDC show that prescription painkillers now kill more people each year than heroin and cocaine combined, the WSJ reports. Painkiller overdoses killed 14,800 people in the U.S. in 2008, compared to 4,000 in 1999, the report says. The CDC says the pills have become easier to get, including from storefront “pill mills.”

We often eat what’s convenient. So those who live near fast-food restaurants, you’d think, are more likely to be overweight, or to gain weight, than those who live farther away.

But that conventional wisdom — backed by some previous research — isn’t true, says a study that will be published in the Nov. 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Is it true first-year college students are destined to put on the infamous “freshman 15″?

That’s the question the Health Blog posed to Franca Alphin, director of nutrition services at Duke University. She’s been working with students there for more than a decade. Watch the video below to find out why freshmen — and other people experiencing major life transitions  — might be particularly susceptible to weight gain.