June 24, 2021 — Writing in the Lancet, Janet Treasure and Suman Ambwani have a simple request. Public health policy should stop promoting weight stigma. The request is simple, but it may not be easy. For decades now, public health has often focused on promoting fear of fat, rather than the pursuit of health. The result is health policy […]
June 3, 2021 — Five years ago, Chile adopted innovative regulations of food marketing to combat the rising problem of obesity there. A year later, Rand’s Debra Cohen wrote that Chile’s programs are a model for anti-obesity policies: “Nearly 30 years into the ongoing global epidemic of obesity and chronic diseases, Chile has taken the lead in identifying and […]
May 14, 2021 — With the conclusion of #ECO2021 and #COS7, it’s worth reflecting on where the efforts to address obesity will take us. In the 1990s, the concept of a “war on obesity” gained traction. But it was problematic. Not only did it promote weight stigma, it was also ineffective. Medical care for obesity has been mostly inaccessible. […]
March 27, 2021 — In the new issue of Childhood Obesity, Sarah Armstrong and Ted Kyle tell us the time has come to stop screening for obesity in school. The reason is simple. This screening harms children, but offers them no benefit. Telling a child or the child’s parent they are fat doesn’t help. It does nothing for their […]
March 4, 2021 — Today is World Obesity Day and this day of global attention presents a basic question. Are we all about the problem? Or in the spirit of OCW2021, can we turn up the volume on solutions? Preferably solutions that are actually helpful. Because frankly, the world’s attention span is short. For too long, the world has […]
November 27, 2020 — It’s time for a shift in media narratives about obesity in Western Australia. So says the Health Consumers Council of Western Australia, in concert with the government there. The HCC is a nonprofit voice of the health consumer. It works across many health issues to ensure people have a say in health policy. HCC listened […]
October 23, 2020 — October is National Bullying Prevention Month because bullying should never be a part of childhood. So we find ourselves wondering. Can we find the mute button for bullying? Are parents, teachers, and coaches giving bullies an open mic for weight-based bullying? Complicity with Weight-Based Bullying Adults are supposedly in charge. But when it comes to […]
