February 9, 2025 — April this year will mark 20 years of patient advocacy in obesity by the Obesity Action Coalition. We’ve spent this weekend with the OAC board, looking back and looking forward at advocacy to educate, elevate, and support the voices of people living with obesity. So this is a good time to ask what has changed […]
January 18, 2025 — In the midst of lot of news about obesity this week came a pretty big announcement from FDA. The agency is proposing to require front-of-pack nutrition labels for most packaged foods in the U.S. FDA is optimistic. Food policy advocates are cheering. This will be a big opportunity to reduce obesity says FDA: The U.S. […]
December 19, 2024 — This was a pleasant surprise. For years, the World Health Association avoided the idea that obesity is an actual chronic disease. Today we have evidence for a big shift in thinking. Three senior officials from WHO published a viewpoint in JAMA yesterday to clearly say not only that obesity is a chronic disease, but also […]
December 9, 2024 — Eat healthy and get your exercise. It is a straightforward framework for dealing with obesity. But that simple prescription of diet and exercise for preventing obesity overlooks a critical factor – the prolonged sitting time very often required by work and school. A recent study of data from young adult twins showed that sitting time […]
November 29, 2024 — “Taxes on sweetened beverages have become a litmus test in public health: if you are concerned about rapidly increasing global rates of obesity, you should favor them.” This truth telling comes from a new commentary in JAMA Pediatrics. So we are happy to acknowledge the radiant sincerity of those who believe in taxing soda. But […]
November 15, 2024 — If one is in the mood to stare into the abyss of futility, the Lancet has a perspective for you on obesity today. The Global Burden of Disease project has a new analysis of obesity in the U.S. It tells us that 76% of adults 25 and older have overweight and obesity. Furthermore, that number […]
November 1, 2024 — 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 […]
October 30, 2024 — November is upon us and thus, so is ObesityWeek 2024 in San Antonio. This has been a year of radical change in the environment for obesity research, prevention, and care. So as we peruse the program for this meeting, it comes across as a year for consolidating the understanding of this disease and transformative options […]
September 13, 2024 — In a perverse way, it is nostalgic. Yesterday, the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) published the latest edition of their annual series: State of Obesity 2024. Though the subtitle is “Better Policies for a Healthier America,” it seems more like a replay of golden oldies in obesity policy. Reading this report, we come away with […]
September 8, 2024 — What’s the harm? For many “interventions” to reduce obesity prevalence, this rationale seems to be good enough to spur implementation. Menu labeling is a good example. Restaurants in the U.S. and in numerous other places must publish the number of calories in food portions they sell. This went into effect based upon suppositions. Policy makers […]
