May 26, 2020 — This is not about me – not my problem personally. It’s a problem for other people and I feel for them. I really do. In the midst of a health crisis, those words suggest we’re not serious about solving the problem for everyone. For decades now, we’ve heard it about obesity. And now we’re hearing […]
December 15, 2018 — We’ve noted it before. The relationship between income and obesity is tricky. And according to a new paper from Alexander Bentley and colleagues, the relationship is very new. As recently as 1990, they say, it simply wasn’t there. Today, it’s quite clear. Less income predicts more obesity. Likewise, the correlation between income and diabetes is […]
November 4, 2018 — In an editorial for JAMA this week, Frank Hu and Walter Willett tell us they have a clear view of the future for nutrition research. We’ve broken the bonds of biochemistry, animal models, and feeding studies. Biomarkers are nice, but at best they can only complement – not replace – dietary self reports. Thanks to […]
December 2, 2017 — Two recent analyses point to a relationship between the hours parents work and a child’s risk of obesity. A small correlation between parents working and childhood obesity risk is not especially new. What is new is a deeper look at the potential for a cause and effect relationship. Charles Courtemanche believes that he and his colleagues […]
April 25, 2016 — Could a rigged game of Monopoly give us insight into the complicated relationship between social status and obesity? Michelle Cardel and colleagues have published a new study in Physiology and Behavior that does precisely that. Mickey Stunkard first published landmark work on social factors and obesity more than 50 years ago. As Greg Pavella and colleagues […]
October 8, 2014 — Neighborhood obesity clusters have been evident to public health and obesity experts for quite some time now. Presumptions have become articles of faith to explain why some neighborhoods have persistently high rates, while neighborhoods nearby have dramatically lower rates. A pair of new studies are challenging some of those presumptions. In the Journal of Human Nutrition and […]
