March 31, 2023 — “Exercise with a buddy, your brain will thank you,” says the Washington Post. “Improve Your Memory, Problem-Solving, and Mental Processing Speeds in Just 6 Minutes,” promises Inc. This is just a small sample of the exuberant claims about exercise and brain health coming at us from news media. There’s only one problem. Some of it […]
March 30, 2023 — Reuters reported yesterday that the World Health Association is considering, for the first time ever, adding a drug used for diabetes and obesity to the WHO essential medicines list. The specific drug under consideration is liraglutide. This would represent a step toward learning from public health mistakes of the past to make a course correction […]
March 29, 2023 — Scientists and regulators at the FDA have identified a critical gap in new drug development and labeling. It is the failure to test new drugs in people with obesity. Where there are differences in clinical responses and safety, labeling – the instructions for safe use – should reflect those differences. But in many cases, they […]
March 28, 2023 — A close look at how health insurance denies access to care for children and youth with severe obesity reveals one thing. The system is really set up as insurance for profits – not for health. The story of Debra and Dan Tyler seeking care for one of their daughters, as reported by Ariana Eunjung Cha […]
March 27, 2023 — While Ozempic and Wegovy – two injectable forms of semaglutide – have been grabbing headlines, an oral tablet form – Rybelsus – has been quietly building momentum. Right now, it’s only approved for use in type 2 diabetes. But on Friday, Novo Nordisk announced results from the first phase 3 study of oral semaglutide for […]
March 26, 2023 — Food is medicine, say folks in certain food policy circles, and we have an abundant supply of it – especially in the U.S. So why is it true in this country that we have more food, find less joy in it, and live shorter lives? Eating More, Enjoying It Less, Losing Years of Life American […]
March 25, 2023 — New research in BMC Public Health raises important questions. Does news media frame obesity care for young persons in a way that promotes stigma? Does this reflect the bias of the media itself? Or does it play to the bias of the public that consumes this reporting? Thematic Analysis of Reporting from 2014 to 2022 […]
March 24, 2023 — You might have thought the U.S. government was busy with other stuff. Like writing new dietary guidelines. Or defining what food is naughty or nice. Or perhaps even sorting out problems with bank regulation. Maybe so, but these folks can multitask, so now we have the final word on peanut butter – it’s definitely, certifiably […]
March 23, 2023 — We face a pivot point for public health strategies to prevent obesity. The advent of advanced medicines for obesity treatment brings critical questions. Can we find better strategies for preventing obesity at the entrance to causal pathways for it? Or will we instead depend solely on medical interventions to reduce the harm it causes? These […]
March 21, 2023 — Both colon cancer and obesity are rising in young people. In fact, a new report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians suggests colorectal cancer is on the way to becoming the deadliest cancer for people under 50. While colon cancer death rates are dropping for older persons, they are headed in the opposite direction […]
