September 16, 2023 — The question that fuels much curiosity about obesity seems simple enough. What is it that sparked an increase in the prevalence of obesity beginning in the 1980s? But a new paper in Science Advances suggests this may altogether be the wrong question. That’s because Mads Møller Pedersen, Claus Thorn Ekstrøm, and Thorkild I.A. Sørensen have […]
June 21, 2022 — While many researchers are having scholarly debates about their competing models for obesity, they focus primarily upon how food is doing it to us. Is it the excessive supply of hyper-palatable, ultra-processed food? Or is it all about carbs and insulin? But nowhere in these lovely models is there any focus on factors that go […]
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 […]
May 9, 2019 — “There’s a heck of a lot of bias among a lot of researchers,” Professor Barry Popkin tells us. On the subject of what’s driving global obesity prevalence, he’s certainly right. Is it the urbanization? To be sure, many authoritative voices promote that view. But it’s just not that simple. A new paper, published yesterday in […]
October 18, 2018 — The more things change, the more they stay the same. French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr coined that phrase in 1849. But we can thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Trust for America’s Health for keeping it current. They’ve issued the 2018 edition of their annual State of Obesity Report. Therein they tell us – at […]
May 8, 2018 — How much does physical appearance matter in the military? After all, national security relies more and more on technology. This question jumps out from a full day workshop on obesity in the armed forces at the National Academies. The answer depends in part on the branch of service. Physical functioning and health are certainly important […]
June 14, 2017 — Obesity has many complications, but here’s one that’s entirely unnecessary – whiplash. Health reporters routinely take the public through wild gyrations of hope and despair in describing obesity trends. This week we have another round of such reporting on a new study and commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine. Spoiler alert: the light at […]
