Babies, Cereal, and Childhood Obesity
It has been a bad year for infant cereal. On the last day of 2010, Eryn Brown of the Los Angeles Times reported that a good time to start worrying about a baby’s obesity potential is about nine months. And then, on February 14, Childhood Obesity News gave infant cereal the old heave-ho. We quoted […]
Prenatal Measures to Prevent Childhood Obesity
In advanced cases of overweight, up to and including morbid obesity, in teenagers and adults, the answer becomes clear. Many, many people are addicted to food in the same way an alcoholic or cocaine addict is hooked. They can only help themselves through interventions that adhere closely to the classical 12-step program, especially effective in […]
Milk, Vitamin D, and Childhood Obesity
We’ve been looking at various proposed answers to the childhood obesity problem. A small percentage of babies could be helped by making sure that their bottle-feeding phase does not extend for much over a year, and should certainly be finished by age two. One of the reporters we consulted was Bill Taylor, whose article included […]
Ditch the Bottle, Prevent Childhood Obesity
In the Journal of Pediatrics, Brigid Huey begins by explaining this particular aspect of the childhood obesity puzzle: Experts agree that obesity prevention should begin before children enter school. But due to a lack of conclusive data, health care providers often have trouble advising parents about which interventions are the most beneficial. In other words, […]
Tray Versus Lunch Box: The Dizzying Debate
Kathleen Blanchard, a Registered Nurse and freelance health author, reports for EmaxHealth on a study compiled by the Cardiovascular Center at the University of Michigan, which says it is extremely rare to find a genetic basis for childhood obesity. Blanchard writes, The researchers say leptin deficiency from gene mutation has been blamed for overeating, but […]
Ending Childhood Obesity – Idaho says YEah!
Does anything work to prevent childhood obesity? Once it has taken hold, can anything pull a child loose from its clutches? As many thousands of years as humans have been on earth, you’d think we would have figured this thing out by now. What kind of nurture does a growing human need so that the […]
What Kids Say About “Overweight: What Kids Say” – and Grownups Too
The Weigh2Rock website has invited kids aged 18 and under to download the PDF version of Dr. Robert A. Pretlow’s book, Overweight: What Kids Say, for free. Since then, kids residing in countries like Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, as well as the U.S., have taken advantage of the opportunity. They are also welcome to […]
5-2-1-0 and the Let’s Go! Initiative
Everybody wants to know: Is there anything that works to prevent childhood obesity? And if so, what is it? The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation wonders, too, and not only in a general, curious way. The Foundation has a specific goal, to reverse the growing obesity trend by 2015. Getting everybody slimmed down by then would […]
The Pricey Search for Answers About Childhood Obesity
Most anti-childhood obesity programs, whether they are prevention-oriented or cure-oriented, have one thing in common: they need money. Whether the source of funds is the government, a foundation, or an eccentric millionaire with a mattress full of large-denomination currency, somebody is going to make a decision about who gets the money. Who is more deserving? […]
Case Study: Virginia Schools and Physical Education
Because of concern about childhood obesity, a bill was introduced in Virginia that would require elementary and middle schools to offer 150 minutes of physical education per week. In her story about it, Rosalind S. Helderman included an extensive list of organizations that were against the measure. The opponents included Fairfax County officials, three groups […]