Follow the accumulating evidence and observations that shape our view of health policy and obesity
March 15, 2023 — One of the most disappointing responses to the new guideline for obesity care in children and adolescents came from the Academy of Eating Disorders. Shortly after AAP published its evidence-based guideline for obesity care, the Academy for Eating Disorders issued a press release to criticize it. But their criticism used speculation rather than data to […]
March 14, 2023 — Recently, we have written much about the high cost of obesity medicines, limited coverage under health plans, and the need for change. This is a very real problem and glaciers melt faster (sad to say) than policy makers make progress on this. But absurd arguments about the cost of obesity care do not help. In […]
March 13, 2023 — It was nothing short of cathartic for many people toiling in the tricky space of advocacy for people living with obesity. Brendan Fraser last night won an Oscar, Best Actor, for his portrayal of Charlie in The Whale. His character, Charlie, is dying from complications of obesity and the movie depicts him as a very […]
March 11, 2023 — Belief in the power of food stores and markets to shape outcomes in obesity runs deep. Perhaps it’s unshakable. But still, recent PR spin claiming that food stores “drive” bariatric surgery outcomes takes confusion of correlation with causality to new heights. In a press release from Ohio State University, the lead author of two new […]
March 10, 2023 — Anyone who doesn’t think a major shift in public perceptions about obesity is not underway has simply not been paying attention. Public discourse about this complex chronic disease is more intense (albeit sometimes frustrating) than we have seen in more than two decades of work on obesity. We see a pattern of three threads in […]
March 9, 2023 — More and more, dietary health guidance points us to consider whole foods and how they fit into the overall pattern of our eating. Advice that divides individual foods or nutrients between good and bad labels is not so helpful because context matters. And yet, advice to avoid saturated fat remains ubiquitous. Perhaps such a broad […]
March 9, 2023 — Reporting on supposed dangers of “fake” sugar is a self-replicating genre that seemingly never fades. The Washington Post this week published a prime example, telling readers: “The food industry says sugar substitutes help people manage their weight and reduce intake of added sugars. But studies suggest that fake sugars can also have unexpected effects on […]
March 8, 2023 — We would classify this as a report of a side effect. But it’s not really an adverse event. It seems that for some people, the use of semaglutide has prompted less alcohol use. In the New York Times, Dani Blum describes the experience of one patient: “In August 2022, Eva Monsen’s endocrinologist prescribed Ozempic [semaglutide] […]
March 7, 2023 — Okay, we’re awake now. WeightWatchers has entered a deal to add telehealth and obesity meds to their business strategy. The company will spend $132 million in cash and stock to acquire Sequence – a subscription telehealth service for weight loss that utilizes advanced obesity meds like semaglutide. Weight Watchers CEO Sima Sistani explains her rationale […]
March 6, 2023 — For the health of the U.S. population, this is a bad sign. While healthcare has done well to bringing down the prevalence of high cholesterol in young persons, diabetes and obesity are surging. Hypertension? It’s in between – neither rising nor falling in persons 20 to 44 over the timespan from 2009 to 2020. These […]
