January 8, 2026 — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. yesterday announced muddled new Dietary Guidelines for Americans in which everyone can find plenty to love or hate – or both. These are the perfect guidelines for our era. TikTok nutrition influencers can spin them any way they want. RFK can tell everyone that he’s owning the so-called nutrition […]
January 4, 2026 — The new year has brought a new natural experiment on the effects of restricting availability of “non-nutritious” foods. That’s a euphemism for junk foods. Policymakers who are opposed to regulating the availability of junk food – “a threat to freedom” – have no reluctance about regulating the freedom of people who need food assistance. Thus, […]
December 31, 2025 — This has been quite a year that we are closing out on this New Year’s Eve. As we start another new year, we will be leaving behind an ample collection of curses we suffered and blessings we enjoyed in 2025. No doubt, you have your list. So here is our own brief list of the […]
November 22, 2025 — A rupture of public trust occured this week. Information on the CDC website changed overnight, without input from scientists, to espouse the anti-vaccine agenda of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Specifically, the website now says “The claim ‘vaccines do not cause autism’ is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the […]
November 14, 2025 — Tired, poor, huddled masses, yearning to breathe free? Those words are “inoperative” now in the U.S. State Department. New guidance from the top suggests America doesn’t want people with obesity getting a visa enter the country. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has issued a directive to U.S. embassy and consular officials all over the world, […]
October 29, 2025 — In 2016, the use of the word “numbskull” in English literature soared to a new high. It has remained high ever since. Though we cannot be sure why, we are confident that members of Congress are earning that label as they crash toward creating an utterly unnecessary American hunger crisis by cutting off SNAP food […]
October 16, 2025 — UPDATE: Axios reports the administration has now reversed its decision that eliminated NHANES staff at CDC. It seems that tariff policy is not the only whipsaw game in town. Pesky facts and data get in the way of policymakers who want to pursue their agenda. So should we be surprised that the critical staff […]
October 10, 2025 — Sometime between July 29 and August 27, Leanne Redman became Editor-in-Chief of Obesity, the official journal of the Obesity Society. We know this because the August issue (published July 29) lists Michael Jensen as editor. But the September issue (published August 27) lists Redman as editor. A One-Sided Grievance The only reason this came to […]
October 6, 2025 — In good conscience, it is hard to ignore the steady stream of scientific publications that tell us we are putting our children at risk by filling the world with plastics. And yet it seems that the convenience and ubiquity of plastics make it hard to resist. A sweeping new review in Lancet Child and Adolescent […]
October 3, 2025 — “The Hegseth hypocrisy: Fat-shaming top generals in land of McDonald Trump.” That headline delivers the essence of fat shaming in the week’s political news. It started with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and quickly spread to detractors of the administration. Hegseth explained that he can’t stand the sight of fat people in the military: “Frankly, it’s […]
