News Archive for March, 2014

Joe Nadglowski, CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC), reports today that obesity exclusions are no longer permissible in health plans for federal employees. The text of a ruling by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) focuses on obesity medicines, but the rationale was more sweeping. In a memo to all insurance carriers for the […]

The Public Policy Workshop of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics convened Sunday in Washington and two of the top issues relate to the need to treat obesity as a matter of health, rather than simply wait for complications. Approximately 400 nutrition professionals from all over the country will be visiting their senators and representatives […]

A study to be published April 1 in Neurology suggests that mid-life onset of type 2 diabetes seems to be associated with late-life cognitive deficits due to changes in brain volume. MedPage Today recently reported highlights of this study’s results using this headline: “Diabetes in Midlife Shrinks the Brain.” The healthcare community is well aware of complications […]

Though there’s plenty we’re not doing about obesity that we should — like adequate research to really understand, prevent, and treat the disease — way too much energy is going into the wrong things. Here are five things to stop doing. Credit goes to to Ragen Chastain for providing a starting point in Dances with […]

The marketeers on the venerable Velveeta brand took a bad situation — a product recall and a shortage — and turned it into a victory for their brand earlier this year. They also provided us with a glimpse of how food marketing works, for better or for worse. Velveeta is a distinctive brand that inspires […]

Food marketing and superficial nutrition advice bombards us daily, coaxing us to eat more of this or less of that. Much better advice is to simply eat better food and slow down to enjoy it in reasonable portions. A new example of this sort of advice run amok comes from a study published last week […]

The endocrinologists have gotten religion about dealing with obesity as a chronic disease. In 2011, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) adopted a position affirming that obesity is a complex, chronic disease. Ever since then, AACE has been showing up at every public forum that arises to affirm their support for addressing obesity as […]

Ted Kyle, David Katz, and Crystal Hoyt offer three competing views of obesity as a disease in this week’s lead story on Radio Health Journal. A complex chronic disease that requires good medical care and good choices for good health. Speaking on behalf of the Obesity Society, Kyle explained that obesity is a chronic disease […]

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/274409.php?tw Subscribe by email to follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health, obesity, and policy.

Two contrasting views of results from the landmark Look AHEAD study surfaced this week to offer considerable food for thought. Look AHEAD is a long-term study of the effectiveness intensive behavioral therapy for people with excess weight and type-2 diabetes to prevent heart attacks, strokes, and other major cardiovascular events. Meager results in a highly-motivated […]