Washington, Oct 31 : Refuting earlier claims, researchers from German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care have found that birth control pills does not deserve its reputation for causing weight gain.

Hormonal methods of contraception and intrauterine devices (IUDs) are the most effective long-term ways to avoid unwanted pregnancy.

And weight gain and weight loss were reported to be one of the adverse effects of the Pill.

According to the Institute''s Director, Professor Peter Sawicki, it turns out that many researchers were too quick to jump to the conclusion that the Pill was responsible.

Washington, Oct 31: A simple blood test may soon help predict obesity, say researchers.

A new study from the Monell Center has found that the degree of change in blood triglyceride levels following a fatty meal may indicate susceptibility to diet-induced obesity.

Triglycerides are a form of fat that is transported in the blood and stored in the body’s fat tissues. They are found in foods and also are manufactured by the body.

Washington, Oct 31: Kids who avoid peanut in infancy and early childhood are 10 times as likely to develop peanut allergy as those who are exposed to the groundnut, according to a new study.

The study has been published in the November issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

To reach the conclusion, researchers measured the incidence of peanut allergy in 8,600 Jewish school-age children in the United Kingdom and Israel.

They compared these results with data on peanut consumption collected from mothers of infants age 4 to 24 months.

London, Oct 31 : Little amount of alcohol during pregnancy does not increase kids'' risk of behavioural problems, in fact, it can improve babies'' behaviour and vocabulary, suggests a new study by University College London researchers.

The boffins have defined "light" drinking as up to two drinks a week throughout pregnancy.

The study of 12,500 three-year-olds even found a lower risk of some problems in children of such drinkers.

Washington, Oct 31: Women who gain more than 40 pounds (18 kg) during their pregnancies are nearly twice as likely to have a heavy baby, suggests a new study.

The study was conducted by the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, which included more than 40,000 women and their babies.

The study has been published in the November issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Washington, Oct 31: Vigorous exercise – from running, to chopping firewood or scrubbing floors – can reduce the risk of breast cancer by almost a third, a new study has found.

The study of more than thirty thousand postmenopausal American women, reported in BioMed Central''s open access journal Breast Cancer Research, has revealed that a sedentary lifestyle can be a risk factor for the disease – even in women who are not overweight.