WEDNESDAY, June 4 (HealthDay News) -- A new molecular signaling pathway in fat cells that suppresses harmful inflammation has been identified by Harvard School of Public Health researchers. The pathway prevents the fat cells -- called adipocytes -- from over-reacting to inflammation-causing stimulants such as fatty acids in the diet.

However, the researchers also found that obesity-related cellular stress can override the protective function and turn the pathway into a trigger of chronic inflammation, leading to increased risk of insulin resistance, diabetes and other metabolic disorders.

TUESDAY, April 1 (HealthDay News) -- Despite appearances to the contrary, more than half of normal-weight Americans have a high percentage of body fat. And, like their overweight contemporaries, this makes them susceptible to heart disease, diabetes and other metabolic disorders, a new study says.

Men whose body fat is greater than 20 percent and women whose body fat is greater than 30 percent are suffering from "normal weight obesity," the study authors said, even though their weight may be normal for their size.