Comfort Eating and Kirstie Alley
Actress Kirstie Alley is a wild woman who has freely admitted to an interviewer, “It was the greatest thing in the world getting fat.” But being fat? Not so much. Still, if there is one public figure (besides Oprah Winfrey) whose every ounce of gain and loss has been tracked, minute by minute, by millions […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 5
Would you be surprised to learn that we have talked about TV before? Not with a title like this one! And you probably wonder what there could possibly be more to say about the immense amount of money spent by food corporations that relentlessly fill our kids’ heads with visions of sugarplums. Is there anything […]
Yale Childhood Obesity Study Explained by Dr. Ayala
When a big load of research comes to fruition and becomes a published study, there is nothing finer than an articulate professional who can break it down for you. Dr. Ayala Laufer-Cahana is splendid at doing just that. The controversial new report is from the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, located at Yale […]
Eating as Recreation, Food as Fun
When something hits a nerve, there’s no mistaking it. Friday’s post “When There is Nothing to Do But Eat,” concerning one of the contributing factors to the childhood obesity epidemic, definitely brought forth a flood of comments, ranging from pure nostalgia to well-reasoned arguments. Many thanks to everybody for contributing to this topic! By the […]
Breakfast Cereals for Children
We have spotlighted advertising directed at children as a major causative factor in the childhood obesity epidemic, and nowhere is it more prominent than in the breakfast cereal market. There’s fudge ripple cereal, cereal that tastes like cookies, magical marshmallows with chocolate cereal pieces, and on and on. Shelley Janson, who has done more food-related […]
It's High Fructose Corn Syrup Again
Nobody wants to be a one-trick pony. Nobody wants to be viewed as a fanatic in the grip of a twisted, vendetta-like obsession against one particular villain. But, sometimes, a topic is difficult to ignore. You can’t simply mention it once and then move on. For instance, take high fructose corn syrup… Please! No, really, […]
Parents, Kids, and TV
HealthDay reporter Steven Reinberg reminds us that one thing parents can do about childhood obesity is set boundaries for watching TV. He interviewed Susan A. Carlson, an epidemiologist at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, who says the first step is to establish rules agreed upon by parents and children. Spending too […]
Around the World With Junk Food Marketing
Today’s source article, “Statement on Junk Food Marketing to Children,” was published in 2004. “That isn’t news,” one might say — and one would be mistaken. Every charge it makes about the childhood obesity epidemic still holds true, so what does that say about the rate of progress in the effort to curb junk food […]
Television Advertising and Childhood Obesity, Part 2
Childhood obesity is a worldwide problem. Not long ago, Stephanie Nebehay reported for Reuters on the latest World Health Organization guidelines. A WHO spokesperson, Timothy Armstrong, is quoted as saying, The rate of increase in the developing world is greatest because of a rapid change in diet and physical activity patterns. Nebehay passes along the information […]
A Week of Empty Calories on the Table
If you want to visit the Unhealthiest Town in America, the federal Centers for Disease Control will direct you to Huntington, West Virginia. That’s where fitness-conscious celebrity chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver recently traveled, in order to meet some typical American families and show them the light. There are two reasons why this is […]