Social Networking and Obesity, Part 8
This has been an overview of what happens at the intersection of electronic media and the struggles of individuals to deal with their weight issues, body image issues, food issues, addiction issues, food addiction issues, and the obesity epidemic in general. One of the unsurprising revelations is that Alcoholics Anonymous is right again. Service to […]
Are Kids Overdiagnosed and Overmedicated Into Obesity?
A reader who wanted to be anonymous wrote by email: So many doctors and parents are quick to run for that medicine cabinet! My niece is on so many prescriptions, it is startling, to say the least. Gross amount, seriously! All of them for ‘behavior’ problems like attention disorder, anger, depression… don’t get me started […]
Of Current Interest: MEND
If you are in the United Kingdom, you’re in the midst of the National Childhood Obesity Week (July 4-10), originated by a group called MEND, which stand for “Mind, Exercise, Nutrition… Do it!” Events planned for this year included a new MEND Olympics program. In general, MEND promotes services designed to offer long-term solutions, mainly […]
The Perfect Storm Revisited
A meme is like a mental gene, a little packet of information that carries a cultural idea from one mind to another. The “perfect storm” meme illustrates a truth that has been around forever, in an original way that can be adapted to many situations. Bob Case, a meteorologist, is credited for naming it in […]
What Can Be Learned From Kirstie Alley?
Entertainment writer Jennifer Graham Kizer composed a splendid history of actress Kirstie Alley’s second career as an obese person: Showtime’s 2005 funny-but-short-lived scripted series, ‘Fat Actress,’ loosely chronicled the Emmy winner’s travails as an overweight Hollywood star. Off the set, Alley also became a spokesperson for Jenny Craig’s weight loss program. By 2006, the ‘Cheers’ […]
Think Tank Asks, What Else Works?
Last time, we looked at the aims of the STOP Obesity Alliance, starting with the encouragement of more physical activity on general principles, because of the overall superiority of fitness over unfitness. The Alliance is in favor of “different approaches” to obesity, one of which is to “redefine success.” Obviously, success can’t be verified and […]
Think Tank Asks, What Works?
Housed at the School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University, a group is looking for innovative and practical ways to end the obesity epidemic. Its purpose statement says, The Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance is a collaboration of consumer, provider, government, labor, business, health insurers and quality-of-care organizations… […]
What About Endocrine Disruptors?
Hormones control metabolism, growth, development, the function of tissues, and a person’s mood. We have specialized organs for the production of hormones, and, just to keep things interesting, other organs can also secrete hormones as their second job. Often they gang up and work together, in which case you get something as elaborate as, for […]
How Evil Is Sugar?
How evil is sugar? Let us count the ways. Or rather, sing along as Gary Taubes counts them. Taubes is an independent investigator in health policy, connected with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which is of course deeply concerned with the obesity epidemic and is constantly exploring ways to put an end to it. Taubes’ […]
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, […]