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 […]
November 28, 2018 — It sounds pretty easy. A pediatrics professor at the University of Gothenburg says primary care can do a fine job treating childhood obesity. In a press release to promote his new publication, Staffan Mårild says: There’s an attitude that obesity is so terribly difficult to get rid of that you have to send the child to […]
November 24, 2018 — “Those among us who are unwilling to expose their ideas to the hazard of refutation do not take part in the scientific game.” Thus wrote Karl Popper in 1934. But these lofty words don’t protect us from the hazard of confirmation bias. It really hurts when a big, expensive trial does not confirm an important […]
November 17, 2018 — It’s all over, but the music is still playing. ObesityWeek 2018 came to a close and people dodged snow and plane delays to return home on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. So we’ll leave you with a few arbitrary thoughts about some of the highlights. 1. Blackburn Symposium It was the latest installment in the seemingly endless […]
October 29, 2018 — Would it surprise you to find that only four in a thousand children with leukemia have access to comprehensive cancer care? Of course it would. A total of 98 pediatric cancer centers show up on the U.S. News list of the best hospitals for pediatric cancer. But the story is very different for youth with […]
October 26, 2018 — At the age of 2, it’s not especially obvious if a child will have obesity later in life. But a new study, published in mBio, suggests that the microbes in a child’s gut at age 2 might offer some pretty good clues. Microbiota Explaining More Than Half of BMI Scores Maggie Stanislawski and colleagues analyzed data […]
October 16, 2018 — Childhood obesity starts early. By the time infants become toddlers, about 14 percent have obesity. If you read about the priorities for preventing childhood obesity, you’ll find a lot about nutrition. Family activities, too. But sleeping is a mere footnote. This might be a serious mistake, if you go by what recent research says. The Importance […]
September 21, 2018 — Perhaps your mother told you cleanliness is next to godliness. That concept found its way into a 1778 sermon by John Wesley. But it’s even older than that. Ancient Babylonian and Hebrew religious texts have the earliest references. Now, CMAJ wants to put cleanliness next to obesity. Could there be a clean connection? An Association with […]
September 5, 2018 — A new viewpoint in JAMA Pediatrics yesterday reminds us that respectful care for childhood obesity is remarkable. Why? How can it be that good care for one of the most common health problems of childhood is unusual? Respectful Language Is a Start Fatima Cody Stanford and Ted Kyle point out that respectful language is an […]
August 31, 2018 — Seeing is believing. So showing before and after results is a tried and true way to persuade people that something works. The effect must be real. You can see for yourself. Unfortunately, for weight management it’s the basis for bogus claims of effectiveness. In a letter to the editor, Bridget Hannon and colleagues point out […]
