News Archive for November, 2023

For the last two days, we have been both observing and participating in an NIH meeting on pharmacotherapy for obesity in children and youth that has been quite a pleasant surprise. Scientists, clinicians, parents, and young persons came together in a stimulating exchange of ideas. Perhaps the most notable dialogue focused on a desire to […]

It is time to translate words into action and fix the blind spot in drug trials and labeling for people with obesity. Every major obesity group in the U.S. issued this united call to action on Tuesday. This includes the ASMBS, Obesity Action Coalition, Obesity Medicine, Obesity Society, and STOP Obesity Alliance. It comes as […]

Up front, we want to say that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are incredibly important and we are very grateful for the diverse and talented experts who are working on scientific input for the 2025 edition. They offer a framework for healthy nutrition that guides U.S. (sometimes even global) food policy in ways that are […]

Truly, access to care for obesity is a tough slog. Not that it’s easy for any health condition. Obesity really is a special case, where medical care that can improve a person’s health often lies just out of reach. Bias about obesity is part of the problem. Fear of mounting medical costs is another. But […]

As an article of faith, we like to believe that healthy habits will lead us to a longer life. So of course, it makes sense to develop healthy habits for eating, enjoy an active life, and get enough good sleep every night. But putting a number on the benefit of those habits is not so […]

Two weeks ago, a shift started in the public messaging about semaglutide supply issues that have dogged Novo Nordisk from the very beginning of launching a version of this drug (Wegovy) for obesity. Has the catch-up game in production capacity for obesity and diabetes medicines begun at last in earnest? At the beginning of November, […]

What is the difference between exercise and physical activity? Does it really matter? A recent review in Current Nutrition Reports suggests that this is a distinction that makes a difference. Oxford tells us that exercise is “activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness.” But physical activity is “any form […]

If we grant that this is the year of Ozempic, then perhaps the flood of stories about how Ozempic will mix with the food-focused holiday of Thanksgiving should not surprise us. Will it throw us all off because it robs us of a “food orgy” as the AP suggests? Or will we find a better […]

The economics of healthcare bedevil us. Spending on it, with occasional interruptions, goes up year after year. Some countries spend less to get more, but the story is universal. The better we get at healing our health problems, the more we seem to spend on healthcare. In the case of obesity care, medical research has […]

Men are coming up short in life expectancy. In fact, the gap in lifespan between men and women is now the widest it has been in three decades. Why? The short answer is COVID. But the truth is that it is more than just COVID. The pandemic took more lives from men because their underlying […]