A Food Addict and His Movie: Lbs.
Film Journal International brings us Frank Lovece’s comprehensive review of a dramedy called Lbs. The subtitle is “Heavyweight human drama of a food addict going cold turkey.” The reviewer is especially impressed by the dialogue between two friends who argue about which addiction, cocaine or food, is harder to kick. Lovece calls this: […] a […]
Why Americans Don't Want to Hear About Food Addiction
In some circles, putting forward the idea that food can be an addictive substance will win a person the reputation of a serious crackpot. This is often the fate of innovators who have more than average awareness, and who see a bit more deeply into society’s problems. We have discussed the food dependence-addiction paradigm here […]
Eat for Success: Part Two
Maybe you thought that yesterday’s post, on tools for dealing with childhood obesity, was the end of covering this subject, but, no — let’s look at a few more ideas. First, a general observation. It’s useful to bear in mind that practically everyone has unconscious, emotional, and irrational biases on the subject of obesity, in […]
Eat for Success: Hints from the Winners
First, let’s look at one of the wrong ways to eat, as demonstrated by the dinosaurs called sauropods, who are, incidentally, now extinct. According to an uncredited article at Alpha Galileo, researchers at the University of Bonn, Germany, unraveled a conundrum about these ancient creatures. In order to get enough nourishment, an animal of that […]
Sending Toddlers on the Food Addiction Path
Just when you thought you’d heard the epitome of absurdity, along comes another crazy notion to top the last one. How about formula for toddlers that is laced with chocolate and vanilla flavorings? Of course the stuff is marketed as not only benign, but actually healthful, because of its added ingredients. Apparently, it’s supposed to […]
Anti-Obesity Measures Can Lead to Surprises
Michelle Obama has adopted the overcoming of childhood obesity as her special project, which may turn out to be helpful, or not. We will see why in a minute. In any case, there is no doubt of the First Lady’s good intentions, nor does anyone question the good intentions of millions of adults who have […]
Reflections on Food Addiction
Huffington Post blogger Jan Shepherd, who had lost 200 pounds and kept it off for nearly 10 years, talks about handling addictive behaviors: As addictive behaviors go, ones dealing with food and eating are among the most complicated and complex. I’m not suggesting that alcoholism is by any means easy, but it is possible to stop […]
TV Makes Kids Fat or Fatter, Take Your Choice
That overweight kids are likely to become obese adults seems to be a fairly reasonable assumption. Of course, whether a person is young or old, excess fat is a liability. It’s just that, as we age, extra poundage becomes even more of a liability. Scientific American doesn’t want to see hefty kids grow into hopelessly […]
A Memorial Day Reminder…
Holidays make for difficult times for the weight-conscious kids. So remember to act accordingly. As Grandma used to say, Have fun, but not too much fun! Happy Memorial Day! Image by Tobeyotter, used under its Creative Commons license.
The Ultimate Junk Food
This is heartening. In the succinctly-titled “Final Version of Junk Food Essay,” a 19-year-old Malaysian woman, who goes by the pseudonym “ngfeiwen,” speaks of her belief that junk-food sales in school canteens should be banned. Childhood obesity and other health problems aside, junk-food packaging creates a lot of ugly and cost-incurring litter. If young people […]