Unfortunate misunderstandings were fostered by bureaucrats, news reporters and editors when the President spoke about the obesity epidemic.

The increase in obesity rates had slowed down since 2005, but decelerated growth is hardly the same as a decrease, despite some studies and claims.

Legislation has given all the advantage to grain crops, which can be transmogrified into everything from engine fuel to makeup.

We pay “food” subsidies for products that are not even food. The government uses public money to guarantee private profit.

Even with all their lobbying power, some food companies seem to have no interest in protecting consumers from obesity.

Healthy Eating Research program from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on effective policy and environmental strategies.

RWJF’s national program supports research likely to promote healthy eating in children and reverse the childhood obesity epidemic.

In 1849, the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr wrote words that became a proverb: “Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.” The saying is just as true in English: The more things change, the more they stay the same. Five years ago, Michael F. …

In discussing the food industry’s promise of self-policing in the realm of child-targeted advertising, we saw how Nestle wiggled out of taking responsibility for cheating when they introduced three varieties of Girl Scout cookie-based candy bars. The c …

The food industry is fighting efforts to improve nutritional value of foods traditionally marketed directly to children.

Childhood Obesity News takes another look at the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” program, designed to alleviate childhood obesity.

From Michelle Obama’s garden to Beyonce’s “Let’s Move!” campaign — public figures tried addressing childhood obesity.

Activists in the U.S. and overseas campaign for sale bans or at least warning labels for sugar-sweetened beverages.

This picture shows the “Holidays Are Coming” truck, which yearly visits more than 40 locations in the United Kingdom. Last year, 2015, saw more pushback than ever, including harsh words from Parliament member Keith Vaz who said: The Coca-Cola truck is …

In Jamie Oliver’s world, sugar is “the next tobacco” in the sense that it should be shamed, educated, taxed, and hounded out of existence wherever and whenever possible. Last autumn, Oliver’s production company released the documentary film Sugar Rush  …

Over in the United Kingdom, Steve Miller is known for several activities. As a Weight Loss Master, he teaches mindset and motivation, and is a great believer in willpower as the impetus and fuel for weight loss. A person can buy a series of personal co …

Dr. Pretlow has mentioned the costliness of bariatric surgery, which is quite a significant drawback. In Britain, the National Health Service offers two varieties—the gastric band and the gastric bypass. The band option is simpler and less expensive. I …

Remember when the state of Georgia wanted to do something about childhood obesity, and put up cautionary billboards as a public service, and got hit by an anti-fat-shaming backlash? Defenders vouched for the images’ acceptability by referencing the ant …

Some European countries have reduced their mortality rates when it comes to diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases (including strokes and heart attacks.) This is a good-news highlight from the World Health Organization’s recent release, “The Eur …

Yesterday, Childhood Obesity News  unpacked some of the contents of the McKinsey Global Institute’s “Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis.” The Institute, which is intimately connected with the global management consulting firm McKinsey …

Dearth is an old-timey word that still means the same thing: an insufficiency. We suffer from a lack of understanding. More and more information is gathered every day, and numbers are crunched, and little progress is made. Childhood Obesity News is cas …

As 2014 drew toward its close, over half the American states had soda taxes. The city of Berkeley, California, became the first to successfully institute a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Heartened by these advances, several other states were …

One obstacle to activism is the human tendency to become fed up. A cause can raise awareness, then reach a point of diminishing returns and even develop an emotional backlash. People get compassion fatigue. More than five years ago, Neville Rigby wrote …

Last year two California cities, San Francisco and Berkeley, had soda tax items on their ballots. The soda industry is said to have responded by investing $9 million in a campaign designed to stamp out any bad thoughts about their companies or products …

Childhood Obesity News would be hard-pressed to find another illustration as perfect as the one that accompanied “The Troubled History of the Soda Tax Concept.” A huge peak shows where, in reaction to the threat of a federal tax on sugar-sweetened beve …

Deborah Cohen, M.D., a RAND Corporation senior natural scientist, published a book titled A Big Fat Crisis—The Hidden Forces Behind the Obesity Epidemic—and How We Can End It. In her view, humans are “biologically designed to overeat,” and thus need to …

In “The Tax Conundrum,” Childhood Obesity News quoted Dr. Kelly Brownell, who differentiates meaningful change from programs that, while praiseworthy, are widely considered to be mere window-dressing, like healthy eating campaigns and corporate social …

Childhood Obesity News has been tracing some of the developments in efforts to offset the public cost of the consequences of obesity by levying tax on soda pop, junk food and fast food. Relevant to this, a recent New York Times article by Dariush Mozaf …

Whenever a threat to their continued profitability arises, the food and beverage industries react. The chart on this page was created by the Union of Concerned Scientists, and it’s the best kind of chart—one whose message can be read from across the ro …

Canadians in fat suits advertise a massage parlor The most basic argument for a “fat tax” it is that no matter how a national system is organized, hospitals and medicine cost a lot of money. When the political structure is more on the socialism part of …