March 25, 2020 — We’re witnessing some intense interchanges on health policy right now. Reason and emotion are in vivid conflict. Jolting comments collide with disturbing facts. The new coronavirus “will disappear like a miracle,” says one policymaker. In addition, we hear promises of “packed churches all over our country” in just a couple of weeks. But then, a […]
March 13, 2020 — Through the last four decades of relentlessly rising obesity, we’ve had two clinical strategies in play. The first approach – arguably dominant – has been to overlook obesity and merely treat the complications as they appear. The other is intensive behavioral treatment. But clearly, neither of these have been adequate. The burden of chronic diseases […]
March 8, 2020 — We occupy an interesting dwelling place at the intersection of advocacy and science. By doing so, we have the gift of constant reminders to pay attention to a bright red line. That line marks the very important distinction between research and proving a point. Too often in obesity and nutrition, we have lost sight of […]
February 27, 2020 — We are swimming in a sea of implicit weight bias. At its most basic, the bias is this: obesity is a behavioral problem. When we tell people, no, it’s a problem of physiology, most often they can’t accept it. Tell them it’s highly heritable and they often spit back at us. “Genes are not destiny!” […]
January 29, 2020 — It seems we can’t quit bickering about dietary recommendations. Especially about red meat. The squabbling continues this week as Frank Hu and colleagues fire back on the subject, publishing a new commentary in Diabetes Care. With appreciation to the Fred Hutch News Service for sharing, we offer the following perspective on where we’ve gone wrong, […]
December 18, 2019 — Apparently, “excellence” in scientific research is a male thing. So, too, is novelty. And let’s not forget uniqueness or promise either. A new study published in the BMJ tells us that male authors are much more likely to use these superlatives in the research papers they author. Female authors, not so much. “Supportive” was the […]
December 7, 2019 — An unexpected privilege comes from sharing information on this site every day. It’s the opportunity for collaborating with really smart people from all over the world. All to promote better science for better health. So today’s post is a simple expression of gratitude to Andrew Brown and every one of his collaborators on our […]
October 31, 2019 — Get ready for sensory overload. We’re heading to Las Vegas where roughly 5,000 scientists and professionals will focus on obesity next week, all week. It’s overwhelming. So your best bet is to make your top-ten list now. Because once you get to Vegas, you better have a plan. Here’s our top ten to give you […]
October 30, 2019 — Everyone was ready to head home from FNCE 2019 yesterday morning. Yet a crowd gathered to hear from Kevin Hall and Amber Courville about ultra-processed foods. Theirs is the fascinating study that shows people eat more calories and gain more weight on a diet of processed foods. It’s a study that seems quite important. But […]
October 25, 2019 — Any number of people want to sell you magic steps to prevent dementia. Lumosity had to pay a two million dollar fine in 2016 because it “preyed on consumer fears about age related cognitive decline.” But that hasn’t stopped the company. It’s just being more careful about falsely promoting its game to prevent dementia. Nonetheless, […]
