December 11, 2017 — Maybe it’s progress. Five years ago social media was full of explicitly hateful fat-shaming content. More often than not, complaints fell on deaf ears. But Friday, we learned that Google now considers merely asking about the word fat to be distasteful and offensive. Google Surveys will no longer ask people what they think about the […]
December 10, 2017 — “Believe me” is a popular phrase lately. It flows freely from people working to prove a point. It works for someone with something to sell. But it doesn’t work well in scientific journals. Consider this case of a pilot weight intervention study for an older lesbian population. A Big Leap for Pilot Study The SHE […]
December 9, 2017 — Movies offer an escape from harsh realities, right? That’s the conventional wisdom to explain why we watch. But a new analysis published in the December issue of Pediatrics suggests that’s not entirely true. A child being bullied about body weight can be pretty sure that the most popular children’s movies will include fat shaming messages. […]
December 8, 2017 — Sensational headlines have been hiding a serious story this week. NBC tells us that diet shakes and dropping sodas can reverse diabetes. But behind those headlines lies an important study and an even more important concept. Obesity care specialists and researchers are finding ways to reverse type 2 diabetes through better clinical care. To be […]
December 7, 2017 — Here’s a case study for the ages. In the midst of our relentless obesity epidemic, consumers have made a massive shift in attitudes about weight and health. Suddenly, weight management brands found themselves at risk. The biggest brand – Weight Watchers – faced the greatest risk. And now it seems to be emerging in a new, […]
December 6, 2017 — Late yesterday, a new, once-weekly injection for type 2 diabetes cleared the hurdle of FDA approval for sale. Semaglutide, will be available early next year in a familiar pen injection device. It will come in two doses: 0.5 and 1.0 mg once weekly. For people with type 2 diabetes it’s great to have a once-weekly […]
December 5, 2017 — To find the intersection of two contentious issues, look no further than the environment and dietary guidelines. On the environment, the current U.S. administration is busy wiggling out of commitments to reduce carbon emissions. On dietary guidelines, battles rage on multiple fronts – fats, red meat, and sugar are all hot topics. Undeterred, brave Dutch scientists […]
December 4, 2017 — The BBC says early baldness is a bigger risk for heart disease than obesity. And don’t forget gray hair. The LA Times says that gray’s the way that beats obesity for giving us a heart attack. All this and more is simply dutiful reporting on a press release from the European Society of Cardiology. Health […]
December 3, 2017 — We’re feeling a bit fed up with diets. It seems that the principal use for that word – diet – is to empower people to talk past each other on Twitter. It’s also useful for labeling and dismissing a person. “Oh, she’s part of the diet industry.” That word has so much baggage that registered dietitians (RDs) […]
December 2, 2017 — Two recent analyses point to a relationship between the hours parents work and a child’s risk of obesity. A small correlation between parents working and childhood obesity risk is not especially new. What is new is a deeper look at the potential for a cause and effect relationship. Charles Courtemanche believes that he and his colleagues […]
