Archive for the ‘Health Policy’ Category

What the Static Measure of BMI Misses in a Chronic Disease

January 22, 2026 — Spending yesterday with some of the top experts in obesity, health policy, and health systems reminded us of something essential that often escapes attention. The static measure of BMI cannot possibly be adequate for assessing the chronic disease of obesity. What brought this thought to mind was an expert in health benefit design who said: […]

A Fig Leaf for Dietary Guidelines Favoring Saturated Fat

January 21, 2026 —

Spending Trillions on Healthcare While Failing on Chronic Disease

January 18, 2026 — U.S. spending on healthcare hit a new record in 2024 – $5.3 trillion. That is a seven percent jump from the prior year, maintaining a longstanding pattern of health spends rising faster than spending on everything else in this economy. But how can it be that, despite all this spending, the burden of chronic diseases […]

An Early Contender for 2026 Word of the Year: Nihilism

January 16, 2026 — Evidence is mounting that the word of the year for 2026 could well be nihilism. Nothing matters. Meaning is void. Science is suppressed. Nonsense is flooding the zone of public discourse. In the contention between signal and noise, noise often seems to be winning. Breaking American Institutions of Science We note with regret that the […]

The Testosterone Agenda in New U.S. Dietary Guidelines

January 15, 2026 — Should it be a surprise to learn that a testosterone agenda is part of the scientific foundation for the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans? You can find it in “The Scientific Foundation for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.” HHS released that document alongside the guideline document itself. Stat News reports: “For the first time, the […]

Where Will Advocacy for People with Obesity Lead in 20 Years

January 11, 2026 — Twenty years ago, advocacy for people living with obesity was at ground zero. But now, we are entering a third decade of advocacy for the Obesity Action Coalition. We are in a profoundly different position. So we took the day yesterday to consider with leadership in the OAC community where the next two decades of […]

The Dumbest Headline of the Year About Obesity

January 10, 2026 — “People who come off slimming jabs regain weight four times faster than dieters.” The year is young, but already we have this contender for the dumbest headline of the year about obesity. It is helpful only as a reminder of how pervasive the implicit bias about obesity and its treatment is. Slimming Jabs? The headline […]

The Onslaught of Telehealth Weight Loss and Obesity Care

January 9, 2026 — Unless you’ve been living under a rock this January, you have probably noticed that this is no longer diet season. U.S. News seems to have abandoned their longstanding annual ranking of “Best Diets,” perhaps because no one is paying attention in this age of drugs related to Ozempic. Now, more people are dealing with excess […]

Muddled Dietary Guidelines with Plenty to Love and Hate

January 8, 2026 — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday announced muddled new Dietary Guidelines for Americans in which everyone can find plenty to love or hate – or both. These are the perfect guidelines for our era. TikTok nutrition influencers can spin them any way they want. RFK can tell everyone that he’s owning the so-called nutrition […]

Will Wegovy Tablets Launch a New Era in Obesity Care?

January 6, 2026 — A big change is afoot and the hype is cranking up. With the launch of Wegovy tablets by Novo Nordisk yesterday, we are seeing some very big expectations expressed for a new era in obesity care. The stock market has boosted the value of Novo stock by 15 percent since FDA approved these tablets. Yesterday […]