Health briefs: Men and sexy thoughts

A new study is challenging the widely held notion that men's minds are preoccupied with one topic: sex. The research in college-age participants suggests that while men do think about sex more often than women, the subject crosses their mind an average of only about 19 times a day, compared to 10 times a day for women. The results seem to disprove the popular notion that men think about sex every seven seconds, which would total more than 8,000 thoughts about sex in 16 waking hours, the Ohio State University researchers said. The study also found that men spend more time than women thinking about other biological needs, such as food and sleep.

Best to skip mid-morning snacks

In a 12-month study of 123 overweight or obese women, those who snacked between breakfast and lunch lost less weight than those who didn't. The finding may not relate to time of day as much as the short interval between breakfast and lunch, said study author Dr. Anne McTiernan, director of the Prevention Center at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. "Snacking, per se, isn't bad, it's more what you eat and when you are snacking," she said. "If you start snacking in the morning, you might be eating more throughout the day and taking more food in." The study is published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

-- HealthDay