News Archive for April, 2017

What does it mean when a food label says the product is healthy? For the last six months, more than a thousand public comments have poured into FDA. Two answers rise to the top. Health claims on a food label seem to be good for a bump in sales and for confusing consumers. Peculiar Advice […]

Making progress in obesity care continues to be a slow and steady business. Nearly 100 million Americans have this complex chronic disease. But it’s so stigmatized that most people don’t really want to think about it – let alone seek care. But progress continues, with a steady climb on all fronts. News from Novo Nordisk – now […]

People living with obesity find themselves swimming in a vast sea of weight bias. Obesity clinicians and researchers see it all the time. Knowing how to drain it away is hard because everyone has an opinion. But not many people have empiric evidence. At the Canadian Obesity Summit this week, Sarah Nutter and Angela Alberga presented […]

“Even fools who keep silent are considered wise.” That proverbial advice applies well in obesity. Unfortunately this week, politicians are not ready to follow it. Stupid talk about obesity keeps smacking us in the face when we read the news. Telling People with Obesity: You’re on Your Own When the Canadian Obesity Network released its […]

Why are we living with so much obesity? If you ask the public, this question has different answers in different cultures. New data, being presented today at the Canadian Obesity Summit in Banff, suggests that addictive junk food is an especially popular explanation for the problem – especially with Brazilians and French Canadians. Different Beliefs in Brazil, […]

The suggestion box is locked. So is the clinic if you need obesity care. A new report card on access to evidence-based obesity care in Canada gives the country’s healthcare system a solid F. The system is effectively locking people out from receiving care for obesity until the disease has serious complications. Band-Aids for Obesity […]

How much evidence is necessary for enacting sound public policy for obesity? Yesterday at EB2017, the Obesity Research Interest Section of ASN brought together diverging views on that fundamental question. An economist and a public health professor warned about two different biases. Either of them can poison policies intended to improve public health. Bias for Action Professor […]

“Science is not a liberal conspiracy.” That theme of yesterday’s March for Science echoed in more than 600 cities around the world. Hundreds of thousands marched despite gloomy weather. Still, it was hard to deny that politics were infused into these marches. The U.S. president appears to like attention and, without a doubt, he inspired […]

The needle is moving. We’ve long known that healthcare providers are ill-equipped to provide competent obesity care. Three years ago, the Bipartisan Policy Center stepped forward. The center called for a long-term effort improve training healthcare professionals in obesity prevention and treatment. Now, we have news that medical training programs are stepping up to the challenge. Training That’s […]

“That stuff can’t be good for you.” Diet soda is a fizzy elixir that people love to hate. And so this week, we have yet another round of studies and pseudo-scientific PR pitching “links” as evidence of cause and effect. The scare theme this week is artificial sweeteners will give you a stroke. The Study […]