December 21, 2014 — A learning curve is leading more companies to implement wellness done well. These companies are walking away from sticks and carrots. Instead, they are constructing programs that simply make it easier for people to improve their health. Evidence-Based Treatment. Instead of telling people to go away and lose weight, thoughtful employers are increasingly pairing a […]
December 20, 2014 — Is obesity a disability? Do laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities cover people with obesity? The answers to these questions are subtle and they are changing. A new ruling from the highest court in the European Union may mean that employers and business will have to do more to accommodate people with obesity. And it’s […]
December 19, 2014 — Will wellness kill Obamacare? Some observers are fretting that unless HR departments get to bypass concerns of the EEOC about discriminatory wellness programs, then “the whole point of the Affordable Care Act” will be subverted. The Business Roundtable — an organization of big business CEOs — is hopping mad that the EEOC has sued Honeywell because […]
December 18, 2014 — The new Surgeon General of the United States, Vivek Murthy, told the senators in his confirmation hearing that obesity will be a signature issue for his four-year term. The nature of the confirmation process demands that a nominee say as little as possible. The nomination dragged on for a year mainly because he was on record prior to his nomination […]
December 17, 2014 — With all the energy and money that goes into it, we wonder, is weight loss overrated? Could it be that long-term weight maintenance strategies are much more important? Certainly, weight maintenance seems to be the biggest challenge if you look at the natural progression of obesity and its treatment over time. By comparison, weight loss is […]
December 16, 2014 — More evidence of vibrant interest in new obesity treatments can be found in the news around two promising new approaches to the treatment of obesity. These research results are from animals and lab models, so there’s a long way to go before the promising concepts become approved medical treatments. The first comes from a new study published in […]
December 15, 2014 — In politics, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. In obesity, a false assumption too often becomes the basis for policy and innumerable publications. So it is with the false assumption that 3500 calories make a pound of fat. A recent publication in Biological Psychiatry used that assumption to conclude that the metabolic effects of […]
December 14, 2014 — As if we needed it, a new study in the BMJ appears to prove that men, indeed, are idiots. The authors explain: This paper reviews the data on winners of the Darwin Award over a 20 year period (1995-2014). Winners of the Darwin Award must eliminate themselves from the gene pool in such an idiotic […]
December 13, 2014 — Soda consumption is down 10% in Mexico, according to preliminary results of a survey of consumer purchase patterns published by Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health. This follows the institution of a seven-cents-per-liter tax on sugary drinks in January. At the same time, Mexico imposed an 8% tax on high-caloric, non-essential foods like chips and […]
December 12, 2014 — It could be that eating your words after arguing with your spouse can make you fat. A study newly published in Psychoneuroendocrinology finds that people with high scores for hostility and a history of depression experience significant metabolic changes when they argue with their spouses. It made a difference of about 128 calories in how many […]
