March 23, 2014 — Obesity discrimination poses growing risks for employers that target obesity in their employment practices. The Risk and Compliance Journal of the Wall Street Journal identified three factors contributing to the increasing risk: Recognition as a disease by the American Medical Association has markedly increased the risks for employers to be sued for workplace discrimination. Previously […]
March 22, 2014 — Active couch potatoes — people who sit for hours daily, but still get enough exercise — are living a common lifestyle that puts them at risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and death. Dale Bond opened the annual Weight Management Symposium of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in St Louis yesterday with a compelling […]
March 21, 2014 — Obesity conspiracy theories — like other medical conspiracy theories — are persistent and pervasive. A new study in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that roughly half of the population believes in at least one unfounded medical conspiracy theory. And it affects how they approach their health. Say the authors: Although it is common to disparage adherents […]
March 20, 2014 — With all the sloppy health reporting we see, it’s worth noting that Reuters got the story right on obesity trends through two news cycles. Two weeks ago, when CDC issued a press release declaring that preschool obesity rates had plunged 43%, most news organizations posted headlines like “Obesity in Young American Children Plummets.” Reuters stood […]
March 19, 2014 — Martin Binks reminds us that many overlooked sources of bias get pushed out of view by a singular focus on bias associated with commercial financial interests. His commentary has just been published online in the International Journal of Obesity. In another recent commentary — this one in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine […]
March 18, 2014 — What appears to be a breakthrough liver medicine moved another step closer to submission for FDA approval with the announcement of favorable results in a pivotal phase III study yesterday. The study showed that obeticholic acid was effective in treating primary biliary cirrhosis in a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The drug was previously found to be […]
March 17, 2014 — A few mistakes holding us back from making progress against obesity come up again and again, testing the patience of people who devote their careers to addressing obesity as the serious chronic disease that it is. Simplistic presumptions get repeated with a frequency that is mind numbing. A prime example is the stale assertion that […]
March 16, 2014 — The way bias trumps evidence in obesity treatment and policy, blissful ignorance is never in short supply. Here are three appalling examples. Celebrity “Experts.” Folks like Mehmet Oz shout out evidence-free opinions that the media publish as facts. These folks are selling only one product — themselves. But along the way, Oz routinely promotes “weight […]
March 15, 2014 — Sugar is more dangerous than marijuana, says the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey of American public opinion. For this news we can thank two political agendas spinning together to create misperceptions on a colossal scale. Who needs pesky facts and evidence? Seriously, this news might give you a reason to think twice about the […]
March 14, 2014 — Obesity coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has improved somewhat, but it’s a bit of a moving target says Obesity Society advisor, Ted Kyle, in a recent interview with the San Diego Union Tribune: The good news is that all health plans now have to cover intensive behavioral treatment for anyone with obesity. But […]
