What do crime shows have to do with your waistline? Possibly a lot -- a recent study titled "Sweet Escape" showed that people who watched shows like Law & Order, The Closer, CSI, and other crime TV shows were likely to spend more on groceries and, subsequently, chow down more.

But why? It comes down to people facing their own mortality -- when they think about dying one day (not right away, but some day in the future), they tend to overspend, on food and on other items too.

This was slightly heartbreaking to me, because I'm a total Law & Order addict. However, I'm definitely going to be paying a little more attention to the way my eating habits are affected by my Tivo.

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It comes as no surprise to me that men and women tend to gravitate toward different foods. However, you might be surprised by some of the findings shown in a recent post over at Diet-blog based on a study of 14,000 Americans.

Predictably, men tended to eat more meat and poultry, and women ate more vegetables. However, men ate more Brussels sprouts and asparagus, and women ate more fresh hamburger while men leaned toward frozen. Several "risky" behaviors were also recorded, showing that men ate more pink hamburger and runny eggs while women ate more alfalfa sprouts.

Do you think our eating habits are predetermined, or are you influenced as you grow up by what those around you choose to eat?

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My son is very athletically inclined. He does well at every team sport he plays and he invariably picks active play over anything else. He's constantly riding his bike, roller-blading, or running around the neighborhood. So, needless to say, my son is in good shape. But lately, he's been complaining that his legs feel "weak."

I didn't know what was going on at first. In fact, I thought maybe his baseball practices were wearing him out. So I had suggested he start jogging to build up his leg muscles. But then I noticed that his eating habits have changed a bit and his sleep patterns are a bit off-kilter, too. So it finally hit me. Growing pains.

I'll admit that it took me longer to catch on than it should have. But I'm new to this parenting gig. My 10-year-old son is adopted and has only lived with me since last June. So, though he's likely experienced growing pains several times now, this is my first experience with them as a parent.

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With hidden cameras, invisible wires, and scales disguised as floor panels, the Restaurant of the Future really lives up to its name. Located in the Netherlands it's not intended as a crazy tourist attraction or themed restaurant experience, but instead a very serious way of collecting research data. On the campus of Wageningen University, the restaurant is all rigged up with technology from a James Bond movie in the hopes of finding the answer to one question: Why do people eat and drink the way they do? Students and researchers run all kinds of experiments with things like lighting, scents, and even the shapes and colors of the dishes, to see how and why it affects human eating behaviors.

I think this is really cool! I would love to go there all the time if I could see what they changed each time and how it affected what I ate.

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According to a new U.S. study released this last week, the development of type 2 diabetes in adults can be predicted in childhood.

Somehow, that's comforting, since recognizing problems in childhood would appear to make it much easier to design and integrate treatments into the lifestyles of those who need it.

In the study, it was found that a parental history of diabetes, as well as the presence of metabolic syndrome in childhood were major predictors of type 2 diabetes in adulthood.

Those are two areas that are easily checked in kids (and their parental histories), although the presence of metabolic syndrome in any child is disconcerting. Metabolic syndrome sounds like a collapsing of good health: high blood pressure; high triglycerides; high body mass; high blood glucose; and low levels of "good" high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. You must have three of the five to qualify.

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Remember when you were young and could basically eat anything? Well, let's face it ... those days are over.

Now, the main reason most adults (and children for that matter) gain weight is quite simple: they eat more calories than they burn. So it goes without saying that your diet is an essential part of your weight loss program.

There are a few ways ways to control your diet, but the two most popular are: calorie counting and portion control.

I suggest trying to control your portions. It's much easier and by doing so, you'll naturally start to reduce your caloric intake. We've all heard the old adage 'all things in moderation.' That theory is all it takes to arrive at and maintain your natural weight. Understanding the serving size on the Nutrition Facts Label is important for controlling your portions. When you serving size goes up, so do the calories, fat, sugar, and salt. Remember to stay away from processed food. Keep it real and stick to the foods that your great-grandmother had available to her.

Here are some tips to estimate portion sizes:

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