Posts Tagged ‘confirmation bias’

“This study confirms what I’ve been saying, which is that diet is the key culprit in our current epidemic,” says Barry Popkin. He’s talking about a new study in PNAS. With a giant leap of faith, one can use this study for a perfect expression of confirmation bias about the role of diet and exercise […]

A new study in Obesity caught our attention with a claim that “restricting fast food outlets in areas with a high concentration of such outlets as part of a package of policies to reduce childhood obesity may help to reduce prevalence and inequalities.” So we looked a little closer and found a different story in […]

When an idea captures the imagination, it can become something like an ink stain. Tough to alter. One such idea that captured our imagination is the idea that gut microbiota might be a causal factor in obesity. But a new review in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B suggests rethinking this idea. Matthew Dalby […]

In the face of uncertainty, humans often rely on the ring of truth. Facing a pandemic and big changes to daily life, reports of depression and anxiety grow. Surely this will bring a spike in suicides, people say. Equally certain is the belief that childhood obesity will rise. But sometimes, the ring of truth is […]

Sad but true, most obesity care is self care. For the most part, that means personal efforts to lose and maintain a lower weight. Recently, a study in JAMA Open Networks, by Liyuan Han et al, generated a flood of headlines on this subject. Bottom line, the story was that “more people are trying and […]

Hope and facts live together in an uneasy relationship. We have an excellent example before us as we digest the latest trends in childhood obesity. Specifically, we’re looking at the prevalence in children between the ages of two and five. In new statistics for 2016, the number reached a new high: 13.9%. Perhaps you recall […]