February 13, 2013 — Wellness programs offer up promises to improving employee health while decreasing healthcare costs. Most employers use incentives primarily for healthy behaviors, but employers are experimenting with incentives for health improvements. A recent study to assess wellness incentives for weight control provides some insight. Results suggest that large penalties are unacceptable and rewards are preferable. The […]
February 12, 2013 — Continuing a trend of renewed investment in obesity treatment research, Vanderbilt University yesterday announced a research agreement with GlaxoSmithKline on new treatments for severe obesity. This investment in targeting severe obesity is noteworthy. It marks a departure from failed strategies of pursuing weight loss for broad populations that some have characterized as a search for miracle […]
February 12, 2013 — More than half of Americans suffer from one or more chronic diseases caused by preventable lifestyle issues. As 75% of healthcare costs in the U.S. come from treating health problems such as heart disease and diabetes, prevention could provide an opportunity for quality-of-life improvements and costs savings. Tami Gustafson questions this assumption in the Seattle […]
February 11, 2013 — In a New York Times op-ed titled “The Land of the Binge,” Frank Bruni laments the death of moderation in all aspects of American culture, and most especially food. Prompted by a friend who tells him, “favored restaurants give her no option other than gorging,” Bruni, a former restaurant critic, gives a perfect description of restaurant […]
February 11, 2013 — The weight-loss market is cluttered with bogus diet schemes designed to attract people eager to lose weight. One of those schemes is the HCG diet, built around the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). The Food and Drug Administration and FTC have acted to remove HCG weight-loss products from the market and halt the sale of […]
February 10, 2013 — Asthma is the most common chronic childhood illness and has markedly increased over the last few decades. A 2009 study by Cook Children’s Health System found that youth in a six county area around Fort Worth were diagnosed with asthma at rates as high as 25% of their age group. Evidence is mounting that cement plants […]
February 9, 2013 — According to a recent survey of 3,800 adults done by NPD Market Research, 23% of women reported being on a diet in 2012, a decline of 13% versus those who said they were dieting in 1992. Some theorize the change in attitudes about dieting reflects the fact that more people are changing their lifestyles permanently, […]
February 8, 2013 — The folks behind POM Wonderful may be wishing they hadn’t appealed a 2012 ruling against deceptive health claims for their product. The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a final ruling, denied their appeal, and imposed a stricter standard than the original ruling. Ouch! In 2010 the Federal Trade Commission issued a complaint to POM Wonderful […]
February 7, 2013 — A weight bias study in the Journal General of Psychology showed that people are likely to give preference to women of relatively healthy weight (BMI greater than 15 and less than 30) when selecting which woman would be appropriate for acceptance at a university. One hundred and ninety-eight volunteers were shown photos of women in […]
February 6, 2013 — Is there anything to the notion that the rapid increase in obesity worldwide is due in part to obesity being an infectious disease? Obesity has doubled in adults in the U.S. in the last 30 years and has tripled in children, and with the exception of infectious diseases, no other chronic disease in history has […]
