July 30, 2024 — The soft drinks industry levy came into effect in the UK in early 2018. The first study to investigate the effect of this “sugar tax” on individual-level consumption has just been published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. The headline finding is that adults reduced their daily added sugar intake by about two […]
July 25, 2024 — It has been ten years that diverse stakeholders have been meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions. In our role as advisor to the Obesity Society, we participated in a symposium at the Academy focused on looking back and moving forward. A Fraught History of “Solutions” For looking back, […]
July 20, 2024 — In a perverse way, policies to address obesity have been effective in the U.S. But only for specific communities. As the recognition of obesity as a threat to public health has grown, some communities have grown more resistant to it. Others have not and disparities in obesity have grown steadily – between rural and urban, […]
July 9, 2024 — If one is looking for a hint about the cluelessness of the NHS in dealing seriously with obesity, they can find a double dose in reporting on priorities of England’s 42 integrated care boards. First there is the analysis. More than 85% of those boards think obesity is not a priority for health. Two of […]
May 13, 2024 — Compelling new research presented at ECO2024 implicates obesity in nearly half of all cancer cases. Researchers from Lund University in Sweden analyzed data from more than four million adults to find an additional 19 types of cancer for which obesity likely plays a significant role. They explained: “The findings of this study have important public […]
April 27, 2024 — To open Obesity Medicine 2024 yesterday, David Arterburn presented a brilliant perspective on the radical paradigm shift and price wars that lie ahead in obesity care. Along the way, he explained how he believes that better obesity medicines can help meet a fundament goal of healthcare: to improve population health. He described the future of […]
April 7, 2024 — Almost two centuries ago, the world was in the midst of a cholera pandemic and the prevailing belief was that “bad air” was the cause. Near Broad (now Broadwick) Street in London, an especially bad outbreak occurred, killing 616 people. The key to stopping it was to figure out that it was not bad air. […]
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 […]
December 9, 2023 — Yesterday, we had the opportunity to offer (and gain) perspective on stigma and discrimination related to obesity. It came in the rich context of a three hour discussion on “Ethics, Equity, and Stigma in Obesity Treatment and Policy.” The Division of Medical Ethics of NYU School of Medicine co-sponsored the discussion with the Comprehensive Program […]
November 28, 2023 — Up front, we want to say that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are incredibly important and we are very grateful for the diverse and talented experts who are working on scientific input for the 2025 edition. They offer a framework for healthy nutrition that guides U.S. (sometimes even global) food policy in ways that are […]
