March 26, 2014 — The endocrinologists have gotten religion about dealing with obesity as a chronic disease. In 2011, the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) adopted a position affirming that obesity is a complex, chronic disease. Ever since then, AACE has been showing up at every public forum that arises to affirm their support for addressing obesity as […]
March 22, 2014 — Active couch potatoes — people who sit for hours daily, but still get enough exercise — are living a common lifestyle that puts them at risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and death. Dale Bond opened the annual Weight Management Symposium of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics in St Louis yesterday with a compelling […]
March 19, 2014 — Martin Binks reminds us that many overlooked sources of bias get pushed out of view by a singular focus on bias associated with commercial financial interests. His commentary has just been published online in the International Journal of Obesity. In another recent commentary — this one in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine […]
February 22, 2014 — Name-calling is something that civility puts out of bounds, especially when the subject is someone with a chronic disease or a disability. Decades have passed since it was permissible to demean people by labeling them with a disability or a chronic condition. Labels like “cripples,” “autistics,” and “epileptics” have — thankfully — passed out of […]
June 20, 2013 — In a week of milestones for obesity policy, Democrats and Republicans joined in Washington to introduce the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act in both the Senate and the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Coming a day after the American Medical Association voted for the first time to declare obesity a disease, this bill opens the […]
April 14, 2013 — About 5,000 Registered Dietitians have made a commitment to work as front-line professionals for healthy weight through their membership in the Weight Management Dietary Practice group of the Academy for Nutrition and Dietetics. At an annual meeting of this group in Indianapolis yesterday, a detailed explanation of how Medicare will now pay for their services […]
April 12, 2013 — Food policy engenders conflict with an intensity that echoes historic religious conflicts. Battles over labeling for genetically modified (or GMO) foods are the latest example. A messy rift in a committee of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics charged with developing a position statement on GMO foods erupted into headlines this week. The New York […]
March 27, 2013 — Truth, bias, and conflict come together in the field of obesity and nutrition research with astounding intensity. Food and beverage regulation, industry funding for nutrition professionals, and breastfeeding are three examples that come to mind from recent news stories. But we have an abundant supply of other examples. Sugar-sweetened beverages, fast food, and processed foods […]
January 29, 2013 — A broad group of health and obesity policy advocates joined to call for wellness programs that actually promote health, rather than discriminate against people affected by obesity, when they jointly submitted comments last week on implementation of wellness provisions in the Affordable Care Act. The group included The Obesity Society, the Yale Rudd Center for […]
November 3, 2012 — November 6, 2012 — In October, The Obesity Society began laying the groundwork for a caucus focused on obesity by reaching out to every senate office. Caucuses are groups of congressional members who band together to advocate or vote for shared policy interests. Caucuses have been established for a wide range of health issues including […]
