Archive for February, 2023

OCW2023: The Fear of Delivering Obesity Care

February 28, 2023 — To be sure, fear of change is understandable. The number of people living with obesity and suffering its complications has grown large. Achieving a balance between treating a problem like obesity and preventing it is tricky. To make it worse, we are living in a time when the media has figured out that fear and […]

Obesity Care Week 2023: Looking Forward and Back

February 27, 2023 — More than a decade of life as a champion for obesity care has been an enlightening road to travel. Obesity Care Week 2023 is a great occasion for looking forward because there can be no doubt. As Axios recently explained, the healthcare system is in the midst of a great re-think of obesity: “Doctors and […]

Too Much Food That Tastes Too Good?

February 26, 2023 — Quietly and systematically, Tera Fazzino has been working with colleagues to define a concept of hyper-palatable foods that might explain the apparent effect of ultra-processed foods on body composition and thus, obesity. The latest chapter in this quest appeared recently in Nature Food. In short, a narrative is taking shape that we may have a […]

The World’s Most (Implicitly) Stigmatized Disease

February 25, 2023 — Justin Ryder is quite plain about obesity and the stigma attached to it. “It’s the most stigmatized disease in the world. In America, we view obesity as a personal behavior problem and not as a disease.” Ryder should know. He is a pediatric obesity scientist and a vice-chair of research at Lurie Children’s Hospital in […]

OCW2023: Defining Basic, Decent Obesity Care

February 24, 2023 — Obesity Care Week has come as we are in the midst of a great public re-thinking of obesity care. Feelings about this subject are strong, but facts are catching up with those feelings and causing people to reconsider old ways of thinking. The dialogue goes in many directions, but a key issue is access to […]

How Much Does It Matter When You Exercise?

February 24, 2023 — The headlines make us dizzy. “For a longer life, afternoon exercise may be best,” says the Washington Post. “Morning Workouts May Lower Your Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke,” according to Verywell Health. However, BBC offers yet another view with a headline saying, “Best exercise time may differ for men and women.” Despite the wild variations […]

Is It Possible to Fix the Hate in Literature?

February 23, 2023 — It’s interesting to watch people get riled up about the censorship of Roald Dahl. The Roald Dahl Story Company owns the rights to his books and has worked with Puffin Books to edit out offensive words so “Dahl’s wonderful stories and characters continue to be enjoyed by all children today.” In collaboration with Inclusive Minds, […]

An Impossible Quest: Objectively Healthy Food

February 22, 2023 — Has the FDA bitten off more than it can chew? Two presidents ago, back in 2016, the FDA told us the agency had begun work to “redefine the term ‘healthy’” for food labels. Good luck with that is a fair summary of our reaction at the time. Seven years later, the quest to define objectively […]

Evidence for What Works in Obesity Prevention

February 21, 2023 — “This childhood obesity prevention program works best,” says the headline from Futurity. It’s a catchy headline with a catch. The catch is that there’s absolutely no evidence in the research this story highlights regarding the effectiveness of programs for actually preventing obesity. None. Works in this context apparently means that the obesity prevention program runs […]

Real Conversations About Obesity Med Costs?

February 20, 2023 — Public discourse about new medicines for treating obesity is easy to find right now – and a lot of it seems unreal from our vantage point. Headlines about people “terrified” by the prospect of effective options for kids with severe obesity or debating which Hollywood stars might be taking one of these drugs are weirdly off-topic. […]