Posts Tagged ‘public attitudes’

YouGov released some fascinating new survey research on Friday that shows GLP-1 awareness rising sharply and a profound shift in views of obesity as this happens. Dramatic Growth in Awareness Two years ago, only 23% of U.S. adults knew “a lot” about semaglutide. Now, that number has grown to 41%. Total awareness is now up […]

A new interview with ConscienHealth founder Ted Kyle offers a long view of more than two decades of work on obesity. The interview explores a core question that people ask all the time: Are we making progress in flipping the script on obesity? Or are we still fighting the same misunderstanding of obesity that has […]

On Friday, the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research documented a remarkable reversal in attitudes about obesity medicines. Roughly half of the public believes “it’s a good idea” to use obesity medicines for obesity or weight-related health conditions. Likewise, most Americans believe Medicare and Medicaid should cover the use of these drugs. Only about 20% […]

It is beginning to seem like an anachronism. January has long marked the beginning of “diet season.” Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Atkins, and many other businesses depend on this annual weight loss ritual to rack up their biggest sales of the year. Diet resolutions typically stick for only a few months, though. Some time […]

On Friday, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released remarkably detailed results from a survey of public awareness and beliefs about new obesity medicines. It offers much for us to think about. But at the very top line it puts some solid numbers on a basic fact about the public response to breakthrough medicines for obesity. […]

Public discourse about obesity is often locked into the wrong debate. On one hand, a common view holds that this is a problem for which prevention is the only real answer. People must have good nutrition and active lives by default so that children will not grow into adulthood with obesity. On the other hand, […]

Make no mistake about it, public health is a righteous cause. Overwhelmingly, people choose careers in public health because they believe in the mission and they want to make a difference in the world. But righteous causes can bring a loss of objectivity. It happens because strong, human feelings come into play. When we hear […]

This week, the CDC added overweight to its list of conditions that might bring increased risk for severe symptoms with COVID-19. By that, the agency means anyone with a BMI between 25 and 30. For a BMI of 30 and above, CDC does not mince words. Your risk is higher. Think about it. This means […]

It seems like conspiracy theories are enveloping us. The new coronavirus was hatched in a lab and foisted on us by China! The one percent is manipulating the economy! Oh, my. It’s a long list that we can read and smugly think, we’re too smart to fall for that. Right? But on the other hand, […]

Risk is an abstraction. It’s invisible. So people have a tough time wrapping their heads around questions of risk. How immediate is the risk? Is it big? Does it affect me? Am I putting others in danger? These are just a few of the questions that shape how we think about knowing our risks. As […]