March 15, 2023 — One of the most disappointing responses to the new guideline for obesity care in children and adolescents came from the Academy of Eating Disorders. Shortly after AAP published its evidence-based guideline for obesity care, the Academy for Eating Disorders issued a press release to criticize it. But their criticism used speculation rather than data to […]
February 13, 2023 — Perhaps you’ve noticed. Our lives, especially our professional lives, have an abundant supply of hostility these days. So seriously, should we be surprised by the anger welling up from people with strong feelings about guidance on medical care for young persons who face health issues because of obesity? No. But learning from this anger might […]
February 1, 2023 — “I would tell them to look beyond the weight and accept me.” These words of a 17-year-boy point to twisted ideas about body weight that surface in the relationships among parents and teens. The words come from a mixed-methods study just published in Body Image by Samantha Lawrence and colleagues. Why is this such an […]
January 29, 2023 — Reading about the heated and not terribly well-reasoned arguments people are having about obesity prompts a sad conclusion. A history of ineffective and, at times, harmful anti-obesity campaigns may have poisoned the well of public sentiment about obesity. People have such strong feelings that facts and reason become irrelevant. Aggrieved Advocates for People with Eating […]
January 22, 2023 — When the American Academy of Pediatrics released its clinical guideline for obesity, it put a spotlight on an odd kind of zero sum thinking. For people promoting this line of thought, the presumption seems to be that parents, advocates, and health professionals have to pick sides. Which is more worthy of our attention – eating […]
November 11, 2022 — Are college sports having an issue with body image and health? Mental health of elite athletes received a great deal of attention during the Tokyo Olympics. Simone Biles captured public attention as she struggled with the subject. New reporting, though, points to more specific problems with body image and health in college sports, especially among […]
September 5, 2022 — The big problem with pop diets is the presumption that the latest, hottest diet on the scene might be THE ANSWER that everyone’s been looking for. Ironically, non-diet diets fit neatly into this template. It’s all part of the abyss that greets people when they go looking for answers about diet, health, and weight. Evangelists […]
February 19, 2022 — To folks who concern themselves with eating disorders, this is not news. Rather, it is confirmation. The pandemic has brought a sharp rise in eating disorders. A new report yesterday in the MMWR provides solid documentation. In fact, the proportion of emergency department visits with eating disorders doubled for teenage girls during the pandemic. Emily […]
October 13, 2021 — In so many ways, COVID-19 has turned our lives upside down, and the disruption continues. Casual – and annoying – talk about pandemic weight gain continues to swirl, thought the data on this tells a very mixed story. But something more serious is getting less attention – a sharp spike in eating disorders for young […]
January 18, 2021 — The intersection of obesity and eating disorders in teens requires urgent attention, write Hiba Jebeile and colleagues in a new paper. But attention is lacking. Policymakers talk much about childhood obesity. Beyond the talk though, health policies do little to offer help for the youth and families affected. Likewise, screening and care for youth with […]
