Posts Tagged ‘obesity statistics’

Digging Through Data on Obesity to Find a Prize

June 20, 2019 — Confirmation bias is a potent motivator. Pollsters get fired when their polls don’t tell the right story. Industry scientists may do better when they find results to advance an employer’s interests. Academics can prosper when they produce evidence to support their hypotheses. And government researchers may feel more job security when their work aligns with […]

Good Question: Why Is Diabetes Incidence Going Down?

May 30, 2019 — This is now unmistakeable. And it seems like a rare piece of good news. For the first time in decades, diabetes incidence is going down. The real question is, why? And the honest answer is nobody knows. A Trend That Started in 2008 Stephen Benoit and colleagues from CDC analyzed U.S. trends in the diabetes […]

The Urban-Rural Race to Obesity

May 9, 2019 — “There’s a heck of a lot of bias among a lot of researchers,” Professor Barry Popkin tells us. On the subject of what’s driving global obesity prevalence, he’s certainly right. Is it the urbanization? To be sure, many authoritative voices promote that view.  But it’s just not that simple. A new paper, published yesterday in […]

A Glimpse of Progress in America’s Once Fattest City

April 15, 2019 — We’re not especially fond of rankings for obesity. They can spark sensationalism. Back in 2008, journalists had great fun with a CDC report that identified Huntington, WV, as “America’s fattest city.” Jamie Oliver swooped in to offer an enlightened diet to the city and its children. He sobbed for the cameras when the city didn’t […]

Childhood Obesity: Talking Crisis While Acting Casually

March 12, 2019 — Crisis. It’s a time of intense difficulty. Or it’s a time when a difficult, important decision must be made. And finally, it can be a turning point toward either failure or recovery. For decades now, all the talk about childhood obesity has been about crisis. That crisis talk is spreading around the world as childhood […]

What Presidential Checkups Tell Us About Self-Reports

February 13, 2019 — Our president just had his annual medical exam and that ritual is providing us an important reminder. Self-reports – especially about obesity, nutrition, and physical activity – are not very reliable. That’s because most people misremember or shade the truth. We’re all lighter, taller, eating healthier, and more active when we do the reporting ourselves. A Long […]

Obesity-Related Cancer Rising in Millennials

February 5, 2019 — Most often, when public health reports discuss the impact of rising obesity, the focus is on diabetes and its complications. Cancer does not spring to mind. But a new report in Lancet Public Health provides a disturbing jolt. Six obesity related cancers are rising, especially in the millennial generation. These are cancers that have always […]

Who Benefits from a Booming Fitness Industry?

November 3, 2018 — The fitness industry is booming. Since 2000, gym memberships have nearly doubled. Health clubs generate revenues of $87 billion per year around the world. In addition, we’re spending money on fitness togs and gear as if our lives depend upon it. And maybe, just maybe, some people are improving their health. But we’re not putting […]

Obesity Is Getting Worse, Let’s Stay the Course

October 18, 2018 — The more things change, the more they stay the same. French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr coined that phrase in 1849. But we can thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health for keeping it current. They’ve issued the 2018 edition of their annual State of Obesity Report. Therein they tell us – at […]

Are Trends in Obesity and Overweight Shifting?

September 13, 2018 — CDC and the National Center for Health Statistics have published new statistics on the prevalence of obesity and overweight. We already knew that obesity rates in 2016 were still rising. But with these additional statistics, we see signs of a subtle shift in trends. Less Progression to Overweight Since the 1980s, we’ve seen a rather […]