A U.S. court has upheld an artist's right to take nude photos of Barbie dolls being menaced with kitchen appliances, despite objections from Mattel.

Thomas Forsythe has taken a series of pictures called "Food Chain Barbie" in what Barbie toy maker Mattel alleges is its doll being photographed in absurd and often sexualized positions, the London Telegraph reports.

Mattel argued the photos infringed on their copyrights and trademarks.

Forsythe says the photos -- one had Barbie wrapped in tortillas and covered in salsa -- were meant to critique the "objectification of woman" and "beauty myth" associated with the doll.

FEW THINK LOSING WEIGHT AIDS SEX LIFE

A Harris Interactive-Weight Watchers survey finds most women believe the greatest payoff to thinness is better and lasting health, more energy and higher esteem.

The survey also finds that general inertia is what keeps many overweight women from having the thinner body they want.

The survey, published in the January issue of Weight Watchers Magazine finds 93 percent of the respondents say they are not at their "dream weight," while 61 percent have negative feelings about their current body weight.

Some 68 percent said losing weight would help them live longer and prevent disease, while relatively few -- only 14 percent -- thought being thin would improve their sex life and 5 percent thought it would advance their career.

VIOLENCE VICTIMS: BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS

Children who observe violence or are victims of it show more behavior problems than other children.

"There is a relationship between the physical proximity of exposure to violence and psychosocial maladjustment among urban school-aged children," says Dr. Oscar H. Purugganan of Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Children's Hospital, in Montefiore, N.Y.

"In the backdrop of high rates of exposure to violence, pediatricians should be vigilant in recognizing maladaptive patterns of behaviors in children exposed to violence."

The study, in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, says those who were direct victims of violence had the most behavioral problems, followed by those who were witnesses.

LOW CAL AND LOW CARB LATTE

Caribou Coffee (NASDAQ:CBOU) Co. is making it a little easier to keep weight loss resolutions with Skinny'Bou, a new line of low carbohydrate and lower calorie lattes in vanilla and caramel flavors.

"Whether you're following a low carbohydrate or reduced calorie diet in 2004, Skinny'Bou lattes allow you to indulge a little," says Caribou Coffee's Vice President of Marketing Chris Toal.

The drinks have about one-third the calories or one- fifth the carbohydrates of regular lattes.

The new coffee drinks are sweetened with the sugar substitute Splenda and have 80 calories, compared to a regular 220-calorie caramel latte.