October 14, 2019 — The prevalence of severe childhood obesity has reached a record high in the U.K. In fact, severe obesity now affects 4.4 percent of all children in England. Among children with economic deprivation the risk is four times higher. In response, we hear lots of talk. But action has been spotty. The U.K. is making less […]
October 7, 2019 — How can it be that fitness is so hot, yet obesity is stubbornly rising? Peloton is a case in point. It’s that uber-cool exercise bike selling for an appropriately cool $2,000 and up. Just in case you’re ready to part with some more cash, the company has a $4,000+ treadmill for you, too. But it […]
October 5, 2019 — For most of the first 30 years of the obesity epidemic, the response has been simple. Address it as a failure of personal responsibility. But that hasn’t worked out so well. Marion Nestle explained this in her keynote address for the Obesity Medicine Association Fall Summit yesterday in Boston. Today’s food environment makes it socially […]
September 29, 2019 — The assumption that too much sugar explains our problem with obesity has become ambient white noise. Most people just accept it. Inconvenient facts fade into oblivion. Modelers grab the megaphone claiming to have evidence that sugar is the cause and the key for overcoming obesity. It’s easy enough to solve for the answer you like […]
September 19, 2019 — Popular culture is having a moment. All the talk about fat shaming that started two weeks ago is still echoing through the media – supporting a clear view that explicit weight bias is a bad thing. Apparently some people really did think that shaming people might be a tool for making them healthier. So the […]
September 9, 2019 — Reducing the intake of sugary drinks is presently quite important to many public health advocates. Taxes on sweet drinks are one effective way to do this. And advocates are convinced that the result will be better health – less obesity and less diabetes. But it’s worth asking: what will take the place of those sugary […]
August 17, 2019 — Kids these days. Social media seems to consume them. Gen Z, also known as the iGen, has grown up with smartphones and these apps. So it often defines the generation. Cranky codgers might decry it, but thoughtful researchers look at the potential benefits and harms. An association with psychological distress crops up as a worry […]
August 7, 2019 — We’ve known for a while that weight bias is especially strong in the UK. But with a viewpoint in Radio Times, Michael Buerk is breaking new ground. He has moved beyond simple weight bias into vile hate. Let people with obesity die to save the state money, he says. “They’re weak, not ill.” Bubbling Ignorance […]
August 5, 2019 — Facts are stubborn. So, too, is an entrenched bias. The bias that obesity is a simple matter of choice runs especially deep. Thus it creeps into headlines and even scientific journals. A new study in PLOS Genetics provides a vivid case in point. Unwarranted causal language in a paper flows through to a press release. […]
July 31, 2019 — Four principles describe a common framework for healthcare ethics: autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, and justice. That first one, respect for autonomy, requires telling the truth. But unfortunately, it can come into conflict with beneficence – the moral obligation to do good for others. So which comes first? Tell the truth as you find it? Or look […]
