Even though it has a plural name, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is one big federal agency — a big federal agency with a sense of humor. Just a couple of months ago (May 2011), a Public Health Matters blog post written by Ali S. Khan w …

The magazine Youth Outlook is taking a stand against obesity with its guerrilla marketing campaign against soda pop, among other things. The publication’s departments encompass several “special beats,” including Health, Youth Culture, and Education, al …

Children and teenagers, and their sleep patterns and bad sleep habits have been scrutinized by several research teams. There is some kind of relationship between obesity and insufficient sleep, which shows up especially in young teenage boys, but seems …

As it turns out, there are plenty of ways in which we, as parents, can help our children avoid or escape childhood obesity, and Childhood Obesity News has highlighted many of them. Of course, setting an example (a.k.a. “modeling” the desired behavior) …

Of course, an inestimable amount of totally informal communication between teenagers goes on all over the electronic universe. Surprisingly, some have not abandoned the conventions of print publications, even if their publications only exist online. Th …

This has been an overview of what happens at the intersection of electronic media and the struggles of individuals to deal with their weight issues, body image issues, food issues, addiction issues, food addiction issues, and the obesity epidemic in ge …

What kinds of suggestions do recovering food addicts pass along to each other through the numerous communication channels that make up the world of social networking? “Fashion Meets Food,” suggests a book called 50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food …

So, we were discussing the positive effects of social networking via electronic devices, and how the Pew Research Center’s findings show, among other things, that social networkers are more likely to be politically active. This is a good thing, because …

All over the Web, people are sharing thoughts and emotions about their unhealthful and unnatural relationship with food, and especially their realization that food addiction is real. Unfortunately, many of these confessions are long on what the afflict …

As with any other subject important to humans, personal testimony carries (excuse the expression) a lot of weight. Today’s peek at social networking includes examples of individual stories meant to hearten and encourage others who have had enough of ob …

We talked about the Internet & American Life Project from Pew Research Center, which found that online social networking has generally good effects on people. Of course, it would not be at all surprising if obese people excelled at electronic commu …

Dr. Pretlow sees two main issues in dealing with the childhood obesity epidemic. To fight it, we need to: 1) Get obese kids unaddicted to highly palatable foods; and 2) Prevent healthy kids from becoming addicted to start with. We have been looking at …

The overall mission of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project is to explore the impact of the Internet on children, families, and communities. Last month, they released the report “Social networking sites and our lives.” The 85- …

A reader who wanted to be anonymous wrote by email: So many doctors and parents are quick to run for that medicine cabinet! My niece is on so many prescriptions, it is startling, to say the least. Gross amount, seriously! All of them for ‘behavior’ pro …

If you are in the United Kingdom, you’re in the midst of the National Childhood Obesity Week (July 4-10), originated by a group called MEND, which stand for “Mind, Exercise, Nutrition… Do it!” Events planned for this year included a new MEND Olympics p …

A meme is like a mental gene, a little packet of information that carries a cultural idea from one mind to another. The “perfect storm” meme illustrates a truth that has been around forever, in an original way that can be adapted to many situations. Bo …

The word “fasting” may call up visions of a strict religious practice or some elaborate health-oriented routine involving a carefully calibrated number of ounces of fresh juice per day. A person might think, “I don’t know anybody who does that.” Maybe …

  Let’s celebrate our freedom to take control of our own destiny and resist holiday binge eating! Let’s allow people to say “no” if they don’t want another helping of barbecued ribs or cake! Let’s bring plenty of nice water to the picnic instead o …

Entertainment writer Jennifer Graham Kizer composed a splendid history of actress Kirstie Alley’s second career as an obese person: Showtime’s 2005 funny-but-short-lived scripted series, ‘Fat Actress,’ loosely chronicled the Emmy winner’s travails as a …

Actress Kirstie Alley is a wild woman who has freely admitted to an interviewer, “It was the greatest thing in the world getting fat.” But being fat? Not so much. Still, if there is one public figure (besides Oprah Winfrey) whose every ounce of gain an …

We told you. Didn’t we tell you? Now, here is Alicia Chang saying the same thing, a propos of a Harvard University study which appeared in The New England Journal of Medicine. Its title is “Changes in Diet and Lifestyle and Long-Term Weight Gain in Wom …

A while back, we mentioned that Dr. Pretlow’s latest paper was due to be published by Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment and Prevention. The future has become the present, and the document is now online. (The print version of Volume 19 #4, July …

As we mentioned before, the definitions of compulsive eating, compulsive overeating, and binge eating are a bit slippery, depending on whom you ask. One clue to the problem is the nature of the food in which people tend to overindulge. Zoe Harcombe, wh …

The thing about compulsive overeating is, there are a lot of things about it. It’s a very hefty subject with many fascinating areas of inquiry. For women, the hormones involved in the monthly cycle are implicated as compulsive-eating triggers. But male …

Last time, we looked at the aims of the STOP Obesity Alliance, starting with the encouragement of more physical activity on general principles, because of the overall superiority of fitness over unfitness. The Alliance is in favor of “different approac …

Housed at the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, a group is looking for innovative and practical ways to end the obesity epidemic. Its purpose statement says, The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesi …

We left off last time suggesting that maybe it’s time to accept the fact that the widely rumored and much discussed Gateway Drug, spoken of in addiction medicine, is actually sugar. A baby needs to love sugar for survival. Imbibing that liquid, whether …

I have always found it strange that the medical profession does not recognize this problem. I would say the majority of my patients are sugar addicts too, although most only become aware of it when they try to stop it. Those are the words of Frank Lipm …

Every now and then, some part of the food industry proves to be head and shoulders above the rest. In the realm of addictiveness, for instance, one of the unquestioned leaders is Starbucks. Back in 2006, The Wall Street Journal reporter Janet Adamy too …

In Chapter 5 of Overweight: What Kids Say, Dr. Pretlow discusses some conclusions drawn from what is said by obese kids when they talk anonymously amongst themselves. This happens, for instance, on the message boards of the Weigh2Rock website. It seems …