Posts Tagged ‘public policy’

News surfaced this week that NCI is redirecting resources from serious cancer research into a highly speculative study aimed at showing ivermectin can “kill cancer cells.” Let’s face it. In matters of health, including public health, there is demand in certain corners of the public right now for baloney. Fact-based dialogue about evidence or risks […]

Evidence is mounting that the word of the year for 2026 could well be nihilism. Nothing matters. Meaning is void. Science is suppressed. Nonsense is flooding the zone of public discourse. In the contention between signal and noise, noise often seems to be winning. Breaking American Institutions of Science We note with regret that the […]

As the world is coming around to the understanding that public health policy cannot neglect the need for obesity treatment, a question hangs in the air. What does this mean for obesity prevention strategies? This question – together with fast-changing market realities – begs another question. Will prevention policy or market dynamics reduce obesity more? […]

The Washington Examiner tells us we can prevent millions of cases of obesity and thousands of strokes simply by dropping twice-a-year time changes. “Study says.” Discover magazine says so, too. The Washington Post is a little more restrained. “We’d all be a little less prone to obesity and strokes if we ditched the switch.” Ditch […]

The best thing about this day is that we can finally say we are done with 2024. We can savor the good news it brought and put the bad behind us. And while you are shaking off that bad news, we want to offer you some bad ideas on obesity, nutrition, and health that perhaps […]

In recent years, a troubling trend has emerged – a growing distrust in health science, particularly in fields like nutrition and obesity. This skepticism isn’t just about healthy debate or constructive criticism. It’s about an erosion of confidence in scientific expertise. In the age of social media and viral misinformation, unreasonable doubts have real consequences […]

“Not everything is healthcare,” writes Chris Pope in an essay for the Wall Street Journal, questioning  policy advocates who focus on disparity in social determinants of health. In his commentary, he expresses doubt about diverting money from healthcare to other social programs: “Social theories of health have become so popular because they allow states, nonprofit […]

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 […]

Quietly but firmly last year, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that it is A-OK for Texas Tech to fire a medical resident for obesity. No need to hear about whether she could do her job. Her “habitus” was a problem, they said. During a long and difficult emergency case, she was breathing heavily and sweated. […]

Two decades ago, the state of Arkansas became the first in the nation to require every school to send parents BMI report cards – also known as fat letters. Back then, in 2003, the obesity rate for children in Arkansas was 17%. Since then, obesity in Arkansas public school students has risen dramatically. In the […]