August 10, 2018 — Five months ago, we wrote about inflated claims of effectiveness from a pilot study of obesity prevention by Scherr et al. An independent group of researchers had written to the journal with concerns about the flawed analysis of the study. The flaws effectively canceled out the claims of effectiveness for the program. But Scherr et […]
August 9, 2018 — Journals are bursting with studies of childhood obesity this week. One appeared in Pediatrics. JAMA published two of them. Furthermore, all of these studies were randomized and controlled. On top of all that, JAMA published an editorial, describing “a glimmer of hope” for preventing childhood obesity. A Glimmer or a Wish? Unfortunately, we’re not seeing a lot […]
August 8, 2018 — At the National Academy of Sciences yesterday, the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions got a bit of a jolt. It came in the form of an afternoon spent reflecting on the counterintuitive physiology of obesity. One roundtable member summed it up nicely. “This way of thinking about obesity just smashes our old models for solving the […]
August 7, 2018 — Childhood obesity generates a lot of talk. But it might surprise you to learn how little we actually know about the natural history of this disease. And what little we know has been a bit discouraging. However, a new study by Danny Luan and colleagues offers some important new insight. Remissions, Though Not Typical, Are […]
August 6, 2018 — Every day, our news feeds fill up with sensational headlines about obesity and health. Somewhere in those headlines, important new truths are buried. But mostly, you’ll find hype. When we all have so many things competing for our attention, how can we filter through all this noise? Here are five clues for doing just that. […]
August 5, 2018 — No snickering, because this is already a thing. Forget about beef and chicken. Crickets are on the way to becoming the sustainable future of dietary protein. As a bonus, we even have a randomized, controlled trial to tell us cricket powder might make a healthful breakfast. Probiotic Effects Valerie Stull and colleagues conducted a blinded, […]
August 4, 2018 — The booming wellness industry is having quite a run in the news this week. It started with a lengthy examination of Gwyneth Paltrow’s business of monetizing empty wellness claims. Then, we learned that UNC is teaching some startling wellness concepts to all of its undergraduates. Cancer, dementia, and obesity (of course) are simply diseases of […]
August 3, 2018 — Many publications lately have documented the possibility for obesity care and resulting weight loss to reverse type 2 diabetes. But it’s hardly a sure thing. So the question remains, how does this happen in some patients and not in others? A new study in Cell Metabolism offers some clues. Digging into Diabetes Remissions Late last […]
August 2, 2018 — “Have We Lost Our Food Skills and How to Get Them Back” was the bait-clicky headline of a recent piece in the Sydney Morning Herald. The article by Paula Goodyer with contributions from dietitians including Profs. Clare Collins and Margaret Allman-Farinelli makes the point that “a host of factors have led to a generation who […]
August 1, 2018 — What happens when a distinguished public university starts buying a canned wellness curriculum from a for-profit wellness venture? Well, in the case of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, you wake up to find that all your students are learning that cancer is a choice. We wish we were making this up. But […]
