January 15, 2013 — Coca-Cola, parent company of Coke, Diet Coke, and a host of other beverages, released a two-minute ad yesterday, aimed at policy-makers, touting the positive changes it has made in reducing the average number of calories consumed by people drinking its offerings. Sugary beverages are often attacked as one of the leading causes of obesity in […]
January 15, 2013 — New York Times aging and wellness columnist Jane Brody recently wrote about some nutrition myths and mistakes. She points out that some health concerns are exaggerated — which is not to say concern is unnecessary, only that our concern may be misdirected. Cured meats, for example, are often reviled for their nitrites, which bind with […]
January 14, 2013 — McDonald’s is everywhere, right? Yes, but not so much in hospitals anymore. The McDonald’s in the Truman Medical Centers’ main campus in Kansas City, Missouri, recently ended its 20-year-old arrangement with the fast food chain. That makes the fifth hospital to sever its connection with McDonald’s in the past few years. It seems hospitals have […]
January 13, 2013 — To mark the publication of his memoir, Today Show weatherman, Al Roker, opened up to USA Today about his yo-yoing weight, his gastric bypass surgery, and his feelings about weight bias. According to Roker, who at times in his life has lost and gained back up to 100 pounds but who now lives a healthier […]
January 12, 2013 — A study of mammography outcomes in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrates how emotion and rationalization can defeat the evidence about medical outcomes. The study created great controversy and media attention because it provided further evidence that mammograms do not affect outcomes (death rates) from breast cancer. Such a bold conclusion challenges established cancer screening practices. […]
January 11, 2013 — A new analysis shows that exposure to BPA in children has declined since 2003, while other research is stirring debate about the link of BPA (bisphenol A) in plastics to obesity. Coincidentally, recent reports have also shown a leveling or decline in obesity rates for young children thought to be most susceptible to the metabolic […]
January 10, 2013 — Health economist Michael Grossman suggests that eliminating tax deductions for fast food advertising would both reduce obesity and raise tax revenue with one action. In a recent analysis, Grossman and colleagues found that banning fast food advertisements would reduce obesity when measured by percent body fat, a measure that some experts believe is a better metric […]
January 9, 2013 — UK Minister of Business, Jo Swinson, has advised women’s magazine editors in the UK to stop featuring irresponsible fad diets that set unrealistic goals about weight loss and may be harmful to women’s health in this New Year resolution season. Ms Swinson, in a radio interview, said any diet that is “encouraging you to lose weight […]
January 8, 2013 — Sorting out weight loss options in January can bury you with an insane assortment of dubious options. The Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) has just published a new resource to help sort the good from the bad, with an eye toward achieving healthy weight for the long term. OAC recruited the nation’s leading experts on obesity, […]
January 8, 2013 — Should we let people with obesity off the hook? Someone recently read our post about Faith, Health, and Obesity and said that we “let the younger children off the hook.” He went on to say we are encouraging kids to think “If I’m obese there is nothing I can do about it, and it’s not […]
