Posts Tagged ‘obesity prevention’

CDC Leaders Call for Both Obesity Prevention and Care

February 21, 2024 — Should this be surprising? Probably not. It had to come to this. But this is a pleasant bend in a long arc toward a more realistic approach for obesity at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Three leaders at CDC write in Health Affairs Forefront that we need both prevention and care to […]

The Correct Answer Is Breastfeeding. What’s the Question?

January 22, 2024 — Breastfeeding is such a good idea. But unfortunately, it doesn’t do much to prevent obesity. No matter. On the subject of breastfeeding and preventing obesity in children, we have policy-based evidence – the answer is preset. A new paper in Pediatrics lines up with this. Based on yet another finding of an association between breastfeeding […]

Liverpool: The Make-Believe Approach to Obesity

January 14, 2024 — Following in America’s footsteps, the UK applies something of a make-believe approach to dealing with obesity. With furrowed brow, policy makers acknowledge that obesity is undermining the health of the nation – not to mention the financial status of the vaunted National Health Service. The consequences of untreated obesity are multiplying so fast that it’s […]

Lancet: Obesity Drugs Won’t Save Us from Cheeseburgers

January 10, 2024 — Some things never change. Half a century ago, editors of the Lancet proclaimed that “most obesity could, with care, be prevented.” Drugs have “limited usefulness” for treating obesity, they explained, and so, “we need to be more vigilant about preventing obesity throughout childhood.” After 50 years of relying on this advice, obesity prevalence has tripled. […]

Dreaming of Long-Term Success in Overcoming Obesity

December 29, 2023 — Right now, the public and policy makers are grappling with innovations in obesity that we already have. But scientists are peering over the horizon. They are dreaming – asking important questions about long-term success in overcoming obesity. Stat News describes this as a “quest to eradicate obesity” – a frame for this work that misses […]

The Military Has Gotten No Exemption from Obesity

December 20, 2023 — Military service in the U.S. has mostly dealt with obesity in a pretty simple way. Keep it out has been the overarching strategy. Every branch of service has different standards, but the fact is that obesity disqualifies many otherwise eligible recruits. For example, a male of average height (5’9″) cannot meet U.S. Army height and […]

Oops: A Retraction on UK Soft Drink Taxes

December 12, 2023 — An amicable discussion about evidence for the effectiveness of soft drink taxes can be, well, somewhat taxing. Scientists with genuine curiosity about this subject often seem harder to find than true believers. But disappointment has come for those true believers. Because some of the evidence to back their firm beliefs in soft drink taxes recently […]

A Stark Line Between Confidence and Competence in Obesity

November 5, 2023 — We’ve got this. “We know what works to prevent obesity.” This is a refrain public health experts repeat often on the subject of obesity and childhood obesity in particular. But it reminds us that there’s a stark line between confidence and competence – especially in dealing with obesity. Unfortunately people mistake confidence for competence all […]

The View from OW2023: A Pivotal Year for Obesity Care

October 14, 2023 — Over the last four years, we’ve been through a lot – not all of it especially good. But the view from OW2023 as it starts today in Dallas points to a pivotal year for obesity care. A good year. Dare we say it. The world seems to be pivoting toward a much more helpful approach […]

“Important” Findings in Child Obesity with No Significance

October 10, 2023 — “The findings have important implications for future intervention research in terms of the effectiveness of intervention components and characteristics … It is important that policy makers continue to recognise the school setting as a vehicle for tackling childhood obesity.” These conclusions from a systematic review and meta-analysis of effectiveness for school-based interventions  in child obesity […]