Social Networking and Obesity, Part 6
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 the childhood obesity epidemic seems to be in need of some political intervention, especially at […]
Social Networking and Obesity, Part 3
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 communication for its own sake. In real life, a meeting with a friend comes with […]
Social Networking and Obesity, Part 2
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 problem of food addiction and the possibilities of social networking […]
The Most Addictive Substance
The more you look into the number one addictive substance behind childhood obesity, the more people you find who have seemingly devoted their entire lives and careers to the specific mission of warning us about it. Take Nancy Appleton, for instance. Her first book was Lick the Sugar Habit, and her most recent book is […]
Food Is One of the Top Five Addictions
Addict Nation: An Intervention for America is a book which examines the country’s leading addictions. Not surprisingly, food addiction is #2. (The other most prevalent addictions are prescription pills, crime and punishment, shopping, and technology.) What do the authors say about food addiction? Millions of Americans have been self-medicating with fat and sugar for so […]
Why Parents Don’t Want to Hear About Food Addiction, Part 8
The Psychological Food Dependence-Addiction Paradigm is a very simple concept. People, yes, even kids, can become addicted to high-calorie, low-nutrient, hedonically engineered substances that masquerade as food. Food can be a drug of abuse, and it’s a lot easier for kids to get hold of than most other drugs of abuse. The good news is, […]
Comfort Eating and Regular People
The psychological food dependence-addiction lens is a new and still somewhat unpopular paradigm, because it has to do with addiction to food as the cause of much obesity. Looking through that lens, we see that while legislative measures are useful, what really needs to be addressed is the tendency of people to become addicted, at […]