August 10, 2017 — There’s a cone of silence. When policymakers and experts sit down to discuss obesity, everything’s abstract. It’s theoretical. People who are actually living with obesity are either absent or silent about it. But OAC’s Your Weight Matters Convention, starting today in New Orleans, is an important exception. YWM 2017 is a place where people living […]
August 9, 2017 — Public health policymakers have high hopes for reshaping the food environment to tackle obesity. In 2004, Kelly Brownell proposed that a toxic food environment lies at the root of the obesity epidemic. That idea has impressive staying power. But a new paper in PLOS ONE finds little cause for joy when it looks at the […]
August 8, 2017 — At the annual convention of the American Psychological Association Saturday, Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad warned that feeling lonely may surpass obesity as a health risk. She said: Robust evidence suggests social isolation and loneliness significantly increase risk for premature mortality. The magnitude of the risk exceeds that of many leading health indicators. With an increasing aging […]
August 7, 2017 — Add one more U.S. city to the rolling soda tax experiment. Last week Chicago began taxing sweetened beverages at a rate of a penny per ounce. A lawsuit by the Illinois retail merchants association delayed the the tax by a month. On July 28, a judge dismissed the suit and cleared the way for the […]
August 6, 2017 — More and more, respectful language in health and wellness puts people first. Now, the new edition of the AP Stylebook includes guidance on writing about addiction that advises writers to use people-first language. Addiction is a disease. AP cautions against labeling people as addicts, alcoholics, users, and abusers. Language for Writing About Chronic Diseases This […]
August 5, 2017 — Yesterday, we had the privilege to present to a few hundred diabetes educators at AADE17 in Indianapolis. The subject was bias and how it interferes with progress against childhood obesity. So we spent a good bit of time talking about the abundance of imperfect information about obesity. The best question of the day came from […]
August 4, 2017 — Weight Watchers seems to be finding life for its brand despite the demise of dieting in popular culture. Business results for the company, released yesterday, show remarkable new vitality. Profits for the company are up by 48% for the second quarter of this year. Memberships are up by 20%, now totaling 3.5 million. CEO Mindy […]
August 3, 2017 — We have a new target, folks. For decades now, the preferred cause has been to prevent childhood obesity. Stitch in time. Ounces of prevention. Innocent children. All that fuzzy imagery was easier for people to buy into than addressing obesity in grownups. Writing in JAMA, Bill Dietz calls for expanding that focus to prevent weight […]
August 2, 2017 — “We have a pretty good idea of how to curb childhood obesity.” Such convictions run deep. And because of those convictions, prevention is a frontline strategy for dealing with childhood obesity. So it’s especially dispiriting when we see the scientific literature stained by a paper fudging conclusions about childhood obesity prevention. No Significant Effect Morphs […]
August 1, 2017 — You can find plenty of bad advice about obesity in general and bariatric surgery in specific. One bit that’s especially harmful is the false notion that bariatric surgery should be “a last resort.” But a new study in JAMA Surgery provides further clarity. Putting off surgery while obesity gets progressively worse will stack the odds […]
