May 21, 2018 — In just a few days, the European Congress on Obesity (ECO2018) opens in Vienna. This comes as news from London suggests UK childhood obesity rates are rapidly catching up with U.S. Of course, no one is celebrating this milestone. Surpassing the Rates for 11-Year-Olds The latest data come from Britain’s NHS. They show that 20% […]
May 20, 2018 — Ellie Krieger tells us that fruits and vegetables are becoming snack-ified. The food industry is turning just about every fruit and every vegetable you can imagine into chips in a bag. Krieger’s a big fan of a DIY approach: I learned how tossing kale leaves with a little oil, sprinkling them with salt and baking […]
May 19, 2018 — Great Britain is getting a new princess today when Meghan Markle weds Prince Harry and becomes Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Sussex. On top of that, it seems like we might be taking her celebrity nutrition advice to a new, royal level. A Vegan-ish Duchess Until she became destined for royal status, Markle was […]
May 18, 2018 — The math for weight loss is simple. Eat fewer calories than you expend. The challenge arises when we attempt to apply math to the complex physiological system that is the human body. The result? Actually achieving and sustaining negative energy balance long enough for significant weight loss is extraordinarily challenging. Then, addressing obesity on a […]
May 17, 2018 — In a provocative post on Medscape, medical ethicist Arthur Caplan tells us that he doesn’t believe in literally calling out people with obesity and shaming them. But, he says, we can’t give in to acceptance. Obesity is just too harmful to health. What Exactly Does That Mean? We find ourselves scratching our heads over his […]
May 16, 2018 — Scientists and health reporters love a paradox. It earns clicks and ad dollars. It garners citations and visibility. So Pieter Coenen and colleagues are getting attention this week with a claim that they’ve found a physical activity paradox. In their analysis, they find that hard labor – high levels of physical activity at work – correlates with 18% […]
May 15, 2018 — Justin Ryder, Claudia Fox, and Aaron Kelly offer us an excellent overview of the options for treating severe childhood obesity. Unfortunately, for all the talk of urgency about childhood obesity, the options are far too few. Intense Focus on Lifestyle The cornerstone of care for youth with severe obesity remains lifestyle interventions. It’s a low […]
May 14, 2018 — Bariatric centers of excellence now perform most bariatric surgeries. So if all those centers are excellent, how much does it matter where someone has a surgery performed? Quite a bit. A new review by Tapan Mehta and David Allison in JAMA offers an important conclusion. Accreditation might be a good idea, but by itself, it doesn’t […]
May 13, 2018 — Ad hominem logic seem to be ruling the day. International diplomacy features name calling between a little rocket man and a dotard. And now, people are starting to call for the dotard to receive a Nobel Peace Prize. So is it really surprising to see ad hominem logic creeping into scholarly discourse? Ad Hominem Logic […]
May 12, 2018 — Discrimination against fat people is so endemic, most of us don’t even realise it’s happening When we think of prejudice and discrimination, most of us tend to think of overt attacks, harassment, or discriminatory behaviour. Blatant examples of prejudice do still occur with depressing frequency. But for most members of stigmatised groups, it is not […]
