March 6, 2019 — This is nothing but explicit, outrageous bias at work. The Times reports that Tusla – the child and family agency of Ireland – assigns “negative recommendations” to people with obesity who want to adopt a child. Of course, a medical clearance is a routine part of the evaluation for people seeking adoption. If someone has […]
March 6, 2019 — United Behavioral Health is systematically “ignoring the effective treatment of members’ underlying conditions,” says U.S. Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero. In an ongoing case, the judge issued a scathing decision against this division of United Healthcare. This case is all about access to care for mental health and addiction. But it perfectly illustrates the playbook for […]
March 5, 2019 — Three decades have passed since McDonald’s started selling us fast food salads. Consumers want to eat healthy – whatever that is. So fast food outlets are serving us ever more healthy-sounding food that tastes great. In larger portions, with more calories and more sodium than ever. These are the findings of new study by Megan […]
March 4, 2019 — It sounded like she was thinking about scrambling eggs. “I don’t want to crack open Medicare Part D for obesity meds,” said this bright young Senate health staffer last week. “Don’t you think a lot of this is coming from depression?” she asked. Such are the questions we hear from some policymakers about obesity care. […]
March 1, 2019 — “I just worry about opening the floodgates.” These are the kinds of things you might hear when you talk to folks who’ve never lived with obesity about access to care. But undaunted by such implicit bias, 35 volunteers made more than 100 visits with their elected representatives to ask for real action now on obesity. […]
February 24, 2019 — The results are in. It looks like we’ve got a winner. And that winner is the sweeping regulation of food marketing in Chile for obesity prevention. A new study in the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity just came out to prove the point. The study findings “were overwhelmingly positive,” says UNC-Chapel Hill […]
February 23, 2019 — We have an interesting climb ahead. Yesterday the USDA announced members of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. Clearly some groups are very happy. Unhappy campers – we know you’re out there – haven’t spoken up yet. Happy Bakers Among the happy campers was America’s Baking industry. The American Bakers Association celebrated with a press […]
February 19, 2019 — UPDATE: Within days of our posting below, Medscape posted the following retraction notice. While we welcome thought-provoking and even controversial points of view in our commentaries and in comments from our readers, we do not endorse weight bias, nor bias towards any group. After careful review, the editors at Medscape have decided to retract this […]
February 17, 2019 — The consumer market for activity trackers is shrinking. Smartwatches have put a dent in the sales trend for Fitbit’s old bread and butter product – the fitness tracker. Of course, the company has responded with a pretty good smartwatch to compete with Apple. But a big part of its strategy is to make a buck by helping […]
February 16, 2019 — As the prevalence of obesity has grown, so has our fixation on programmed physical activity. If you’ve got the money and the time, odds are your kids are participating in youth sports. But are organized sports enough to ensure childhood fitness? A Study in Homeschooled Youth A new study of homeschooled youth suggests that organized […]
