July 10, 2020 — Humans can rationalize anything. But that doesn’t make it rational. And sooner or later, reality intrudes to lay bare the irrationality of some systems that humans construct. What else should we call the deeply embedded racial and ethnic disparities in systems of healthcare around the world? They are simply irrational. By synergistically destroying the health […]
July 2, 2020 — Sometimes, a health crisis serves to clear the mind and prompt scientific curiosity. In fact, we see that in a steady stream of new research building an understanding of how COVID-19 leaves some people unharmed and others devastated. A new paper in Obesity offers a fine example. Ming Deng and colleagues bring new insights to […]
June 22, 2020 — We are in a moment when life and death and race and ethnicity are forcing conversations that White people politely avoid. It’s uncomfortable. But the brutal deaths of Black people at the hands of police have become impossible to ignore. And in the COVID-19 pandemic, Black and Latino people are dying in numbers that make […]
June 20, 2020 — The concept of a traffic light diet is a mainstay for clinics that treat childhood obesity. It seems to be useful for shaping healthy childhood eating behaviors. In its Evidence Analysis Library, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics says it’s effective. In fact, it even says the evidence is strong for it. But if you […]
June 19, 2020 — In pharmaceuticals, a one-trick pony is doomed to oblivion. Some companies have a big hit with a successful drug and then struggle to follow up with more innovation. So patents expire and sales dwindle. The company with one-trick innovation fades away. But with solid clinical trial results announced yesterday for two new drugs in obesity, […]
June 17, 2020 — A randomized controlled trial (RCT) in surgery is quite a challenge. For good reason, people are reluctant to sign up for a study in which they might randomly get surgery. Or not. Surgery is a big decision and leaving it to chance doesn’t sit well with most people. Yet an RCT is the very best […]
June 11, 2020 — America is having a moment. Civil unrest and a still-unfolding pandemic display a gaping wound in the public life of this nation. Disparities in justice and health are impossible to ignore and it shows up in the disparate effects of obesity on racial and ethnic minorities. Attention Span and the Possibilities for Change As distressing […]
June 5, 2020 — These are times that present us with extreme but false choices. Lives versus livelihoods. Chaos versus oppression. Add to that list an extreme, false dichotomy on obesity. At one extreme, we have two fat acceptance advocates advocates arguing that concern about obesity is nothing more than an expression of racism. At the other, a conservative […]
May 30, 2020 — Like a dog with a bone, Nina Teicholz is not ready to let it go. She has a point to make and a book to sell. It’s all about pushing everyone to eat a low-carb diet. No matter what the problem, we find her telling us that low-carb diets, with plenty of saturated fats, are […]
May 27, 2020 — It seemed like a good idea at the time. Build incentives for employees for wellness into health benefit packages. Employees “volunteer” to give up some health privacy in order to have their employers collect health data on them. They get a little financial incentive to participate and then more incentive if their health data improves. […]
