Media Reactions to Yale Food Addiction Study
We talked last time about the validation given by the recent Yale study, to the idea that food addiction is a reality for some people. Of course, the story was immediately picked up and expanded on by numerous other media, all with their own particular slants. For basic information about how the study was conducted, […]
Weight Loss Surgery, Part 5
In “Weight Loss Surgery, Part 4,” we looked at the experiences of some grownups with bariatric surgery. But what about the kids? Is weight loss surgery (WLS) recommended for obese children and youth? Dr. Laurie Barclay discussed this for Medscape not long ago, summarizing research that had been reported in the medical journal Clinical Obesity. […]
State + Nanny = Contentiousness
There are a lot of different opinions about how much responsibility the government should take for controlling obesity. When there is agreement that the government should do something, the easiest place to make an impact on large numbers of young and presumably malleable citizens is in the public schools. Canada Free Press offers an interesting […]
The Unhealthy Weight Epidemic
Not long ago, in England, a local government made international news by considering whether to ban the word “obesity” from use in the literature and media presentations of its pro-health campaigns. It’s not clear whether anything ever officially happened, but the big question is, why did the Liverpool City Council ever put this on the […]
Childhood Obesity Conflict of Interest: A Case Study
In the realm of discourse about childhood obesity, people who think about it at all tend to think about it a lot. People who have opinions about it often have very strong opinions. A whole area of dialogue stems from neither thought nor opinion, but from what is in a person’s stock portfolio or who […]
Childhood Obesity and the Psycho-Pharmaceutical Environment
Grown-ups and kids are different in some ways, and one of them appears to be how they react to atypical antipsychotics. These drugs are also known as second-generation antipsychotics, and they have pretty much replaced first-generation antipsychotics. There isn’t much difference, but the difference is an important one: with SGAs, the patient is less likely […]
A Bit of a Conflict of Interest
In America, among kids ages four to 17, about 8% are diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD.) They have a hard time sitting still, following a train of thought, being regimented, staying quiet, and settling down. And even though stimulants are supposed to stir a person up, when stimulants are taken by the kids […]
Is Childhood Obesity Inescapable?
With a title like this, you have to read the story: “Childhood obesity almost ‘inevitable’, say experts” (link is ours). Which experts? Could this be? Must we resign ourselves to the prospect of the ever-enlarging children? Journalist Madeleine Brindley has been talking to people who fear this might be the case. In Wales, as in […]
Breastfeeding Roundup
Politically and medically significant, it’s a public health issue and also a very personal and extremely emotional one. There is more to be said about breastfeeding, babies, and childhood obesity, so here are a few interesting items from around the Interweb. Actor Charlie Sheen’s alleged misbehavior has been saturating the media. One of the legal […]
Excitotoxins, Prescription Drugs, and Obesity
We have talked a lot about the Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm, Dr. Pretlow’s term for the concurrence of events that might not have been enough, by themselves, to start an epidemic, but which have a devastating effect when they pile up. Other medical professionals who treat and write about childhood obesity also point to a […]