Archive for August, 2015

The Economic Scale of Obesity

August 22, 2015 — People gravitate toward examining obesity on an economic scale. A robust body of economic research tells us that obesity is expensive, that it has ties to economic conditions, and that economic remedies should be considered. John Cawley has brought together a thoughtful review of economic causes, consequences, and solutions to obesity that’s worth your time to […]

Potential Breakthrough in Understanding the Obesity Gene

August 21, 2015 — Among folks who really understand obesity, there’s a remarkable level of excitement about a potential breakthrough in understanding how the obesity gene works to cause obesity. This excitement springs from a paper published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Melina Claussnitzer and colleagues from all over the world have documented how the FTO gene can […]

GMO-Free: Latest in a Long Line of Health Halos

August 20, 2015 — It looks like GMO-Free may be on its way to becoming the next in a long line of health halo scams that lead people to assign unjustified health benefits to foods because of claims that line up with popular convictions. Chipotle is amping up its promotion of a healthy image for the restaurant chain with […]

Move It!

August 19, 2015 — With a little less than 18 months to work with, Let’s Move! Executive Director Debra Eschmeyer has an impressive to-do list: bring revised nutrition facts labeling over the finish line, rally support for gains in school nutrition, and prepare for the post-presidency phase of Let’s Move! Leadership of some of the top scientific and professional […]

Low Carb, Low Fat, Low Value Argument

August 18, 2015 — The intense popular fascination with low carb diets and speculation that they are metabolically superior to low fat diets has long been a little tired. Admittedly, low fat everything in the 1980s — with a little sugar thrown in to make up for lousy flavor — was probably not such a good idea. But a hamburger […]

How Suppositions Become Facts

August 17, 2015 — Buried in the recent furor over the story of Coca-Cola funding for the Global Energy Balance Network is a useful illustration of how suppositions become facts that later wreak havoc. In making their case that the Coca-Cola Company is trying to “sugar-coat the truth,” the editors of the New York Times present a couple of suppositions […]

Stars of the Obesity Action Coalition

August 16, 2015 — Some of the stars of the Obesity Action Coalition really shined last night at the closing ceremonies for the national Your Weight Matters 2015 annual meeting. Fourteen individuals and organizations were called out for special recognition in their work to help the OAC deliver education, advocacy, and support for people everywhere affected by obesity. Justin Puckett, […]

How Your Brain Controls Your Weight

August 15, 2015 — Randy Seeley opened the educational program for the fourth annual Your Weight Matters National Convention by diving into neuroscience on Friday. With exceptional clarity, he explained how your brain controls your weight — just like it controls your body temperature and your breathing. And just as you can temporarily stop your breathing for only a short […]

Why Do We Have a Vibrant Obesity Community?

August 14, 2015 — The opening reception of the fourth annual Your Weight Matters National Convention brings just one question to mind. How has it come to pass that we have such a vibrant obesity community? What brings more than 500 hundred people from the U.S. — as well as other countries this year — to spend their own money […]

4 Things Would Change if We Ran the World

August 13, 2015 — Later today, more than 500 people directly affected by obesity will be gathering in San Antonio for the best conference in obesity that will happen this year. Though there are plenty of other fine conferences with great people and great information, YWM2015 (organized by the Obesity Action Coalition) is the only one that puts people […]