December 8, 2023 — Sounds great, looks great, not helpful. That’s how we would sum up the evidence for “fitspiration” social media posts and their influence on personal health. Oxford defines this genre as “a person or thing that serves as motivation for someone to sustain or improve health and fitness.” But a recent systematic review puts a harsher […]
May 30, 2023 — Let’s talk about lame excuses for denial of care in obesity. Writing in Quartz yesterday, Analisa Merelli explained the challenge obesity treatment presents for health insurer. The challenge comes down to this: “The line between healthcare and lifestyle can be blurry.” In this way of thinking, insurance companies must decide if the intentions are right […]
October 15, 2022 — In GQ recently, Will Peischel asked if the world is ready for extremely effective weight-loss drugs. Of course, the simple answer is yes and no. First of all, it’s clear enough that most people don’t really understand these drugs or the condition they treat. Peischel makes that clear right up front when he calls them […]
August 27, 2022 — Doppelgängers are having a moment. These are people who look alike, despite being nominally unrelated. Canadian artist François Brunelle is commanding attention all over the world for his I’M NOT A LOOK-ALIKE! photography project, which he started in 1999. At the same time, a study this week in Cell Reports tells us that looks, genes, […]
February 20, 2021 — Let’s say you’re a brilliant economist. Does it matter how attractive you are? Perhaps it should not. But according to a new study, it most certainly does. Attractive economists get to study and work at more prestigious universities. They get better jobs in the private sector. They even get more more citations for the papers […]
October 13, 2019 — The fitness industry is booming. But is it promoting fitness and health? Or is it promoting an unhealthy preoccupation with body image? Writing for The Lily, Nicole Chung reflects on this dilemma. Becoming a fitness instructor, she got herself into great shape. However, she found that her body image issues grew worse than ever as […]
January 11, 2015 — How deep is the public concern about obesity? Are we more interested in health, or in the appearance of health? A quick look at what we wear versus what we do suggests that the appearance of fitness activity is more important to us than actually engaging in fitness activities. Men are more likely to wear […]
