April 28, 2025 — Happy headlines late last year told us that obesity recently “dipped” in the U.S., perhaps because of medicines like semaglutide and tirzepatide. Those headlines presented a partial and misleading truth that a new analysis in Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology explains more fully. Yes, the prevalence of overweight and mild obesity has seemingly plateaued. But this […]
February 14, 2025 — New data from CDC (yes, it’s still there) tells us obesity is still growing steadily in children, while in adults, the growth in prevalence appears to be on pause. But in both children and adults, rates for severe obesity are continuing to grow. These data, published in JAMA yesterday by Samuel Emmerich and colleagues, come […]
September 24, 2024 — This is a milestone we’ve been anticipating. New NHANES data on obesity are out and they mark a shift in the dynamics of obesity rates. We now have data to suggest that the overall rate of obesity – which has been climbing relentlessly for four decades – appears to be leveling out at about 40%. […]
December 1, 2022 — The Whale is premiering next week in theaters everywhere, after a New York premiere this week and a tour of film festivals that has many people suggesting Brendan Fraser will win an Oscar for his performance in the film. But why should we care? In a word, this film is already prompting discomfort with a […]
September 7, 2021 — Care delayed is care denied. The truth of this is obvious in emergency medicine. In the case of a stroke or a traumatic injury, unnecessary delays in care lead to immediate harm. But with a chronic, progressive disease, the harm can be more subtle. Add in systemic bias and delayed care can become quite a […]
October 15, 2015 — A recent study of self harm after bariatric surgery might be telling us more about how we care for people with obesity than it does about this surgical procedure. A new study in JAMA Surgery found an increased risk of intentional self harm after bariatric surgery. Junaid Bhatti and colleagues followed 8,815 people for three years before and […]
January 9, 2015 — Zafgen — a young biotech company “dedicated to severe obesity treatment” — quietly continues to make progress in efficacy studies of beloranib. This week, the company announced positive results of a third phase II study in a third distinct population of patients severely affected by obesity. This study involved patients with obesity resulting from injuries to […]
July 14, 2014 — Smoking or obesity: who wins the mortality sweepstakes? Some unsung hero of stupid headlines has set up this useless question and twisted a study of severe obesity into a headline about overweight. Whoever you are, please step forward and claim your prize for the worst health news headline in recent memory: Being Overweight Is Actually […]
January 8, 2014 — Severe obesity is hiding in plain sight as the Institute of Medicine (IOM) starts a three-year roundtable process on obesity solutions. Bill Dietz opened a workshop on the current state of obesity solutions in the U.S. He offered an optimistic assessment of overall obesity rates stabilizing in many segments of the population. But he offered […]
September 11, 2013 — Are mainstream childhood obesity programs — like First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign — essentially ignoring kids with severe obesity? The intersection of two conflicting sets of headlines this week begs that question. The first lady was making headlines about progress against childhood obesity. In sharp contrast, the American Heart Association (AHA) issued a […]
