May 5, 2022 — This news from ECO2022, sadly, is not surprising. At an outstanding session on mental health and stigma, Sally Abbott presented new research on the implicit weight bias. In fact, she measured it in healthcare providers from UK bariatric services. These were mostly dietitians, psychologists, and nurses. More than 40 percent of these HCPs held implicit […]
April 2, 2022 — If you had any doubt that the last two years have been a trial for young people, new research from the CDC should put that to rest. In the MMWR yesterday, CDC published striking data on the mental and behavioral health of teens in the midst of the pandemic. In short, researchers found them in […]
March 19, 2022 — An amazing thing happened this week. The U.S. Senate voted unanimously to make daylight saving time permanent. The amazement comes from two things. First and perhaps most obviously, it’s amazing that the Senate can do anything by unanimous consent in these contentious times. But more startling is that they could do it without a peep […]
January 10, 2022 — Many of us are on an anxious journey right now. We know that being older, or living with a condition like obesity, means added risks for COVID. So we’ve been careful. But now the Omicron variant adds a bit of uncertainty because it is so contagious and so many people are getting the infection. Yet, […]
December 24, 2021 — These holidays are supposed to be joyful. But we are into a second year of holidays that are bringing the sorrow of isolation, loneliness, and loss every bit as much as they are bringing joy. The uncertainty of omicron is disrupting joyful plans for many people in this season. So no, this is not our […]
December 19, 2021 — Our roller coaster ride is not over. Not by a long shot. Back in July, optimism about putting the COVID pandemic behind us was high. A record number of people told Gallup they felt they were thriving. The swing from a 12-year low was remarkable. But now it seems a more truthful assessment is that […]
December 17, 2021 — We can’t believe it either. This weird, messy year is winding down and it’s time to figure out what just happened as we prepare to go into an new year of promise and uncertainty. In obesity and health, 2021 was full of change, confusion, and new insights. We started the year with a raging pandemic, […]
December 7, 2021 — We’re on our way to enduring two years of this pandemic, and it’s still killing more than five thousand people daily – more than a thousand in the U.S. alone. But, as each of us has learned, that’s not all. Coping with the pandemic has brought stresses that are showing up in our physical and […]
October 10, 2021 — The numbers make it crystal clear. One of the long-term effects of the COVID pandemic will be a jump in child obesity. And it’s not hard to trace that back to the mental health of children and families. Late last week a new report in Pediatrics provided a stark reminder about the impact of COVID […]
September 17, 2021 — For some time, it’s been clear to mental health professionals that social media could be a problem for teens. Facebook, which owns Instagram, has long minimized the issue. But reporting this week from the Wall Street Journal tells suggests that Facebook knows from its own research that Instagram promotes self-stigma for teenage girls. Slides from […]
