We are looking at the similarities between two public health menaces, nicotine and the overconsumption of food, that threaten to bring on an obesity epidemic.

DSM-5 doesn’t accord food dependency the courtesy of calling it a substance abuse disorder; nor does the industry bible specify Tobacco Use Disorder treatments.

There are similarities between nicotine addiction and compulsive overeating, and cognitive behavioral therapy and pharmacological intervention might help both.

Practical tips and the emotional exploration of flying for both obese individuals and their neighbors on commercial airline flights.

Kids with addicted parents can react to gaslighting by “stuffing” their feelings or expressing their chronic anxiety through displacement behaviors.

Some of the suggested obesity causes stem from international trade policies that form the global food system, the market economy, and agricultural policies.

Research shows that the risk of adult obesity in females increases with a childhood ADHD diagnosis, and adversity trauma is linked to childhood obesity.

For people who can’t fit into commercial airline seats, the emotional effects of flying could be serious. But how do the people of conventional weight feel?

Research has shown that improving a city’s public transportation system or building more grocery stores don’t necessarily solve the food desert issue.

Even the most elegantly executed map doesn’t mean zip if, at ground level, it measures the wrong things or depends on skewed data to get answers.

When it comes to the food accessibility research, scientists should agree on measurement standards as their decisions might translate into public policy.

It doesn’t matter how much food might be available if people can’t afford to buy it or don’t have a way to bring the food from where it is to their homes.

How Portland, Oregon, addressed the issue of food deserts is a striking example of what a city can do when it puts its mind to a task.

The researchers concluded that keeping an eye on BMI increase, and especially on its rate of progress, even before age 5, is paramount.

When it comes to food deserts in major cities, there are problems that have solutions, and there are solutions that have problems.

If customers want fresh produce, why are the owners of groceries and convenience stores not stocking it already, out of sheer self-interest?

One of the problems of living in a food desert is traveling the distance to the nearby grocery stores, especially if you don’t have a car.

Many cities have made all-encompassing plans to address their food desert dilemmas. A massive one was conceived some years back by the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) in Portland, Oregon. The document began by saying, “This project consider …

There is debate about whether living in a food desert is associated with unhealthy eating and food buying practices.

The theory of deprivation amplification deals with the features of the physical and social environment that either promote or damage health.

Individual deprivation (low income or education) is amplified by area-level deprivation (lack of jobs or good schools), increasing health inequalities.

Food is widely available even in the most depressed and oppressed neighborhoods, but it’s likely to be high-calorie, processed pseudo-food.

While government programs do try to reduce obesity, they rarely specifically address the racial and ethnic disparities that factor into childhood obesity.

Weight-loss surgery in the U.S. is twice as likely to be performed on a white teen. Various experts suggest reasons for this disparity.

In the U.S., economic deprivation and social inequality are prone to coincide with obesity, and obesity is much more widespread among people of color.

The researchers found evidence that, in adulthood, long-term weight loss is hard to sustain because the body constantly strives to return to its largest size.

Is food addiction a substance addiction, a behavioral addiction, or a combination of both? And why is there resistance to accepting the idea of food addiction?

Poverty is very much linked to race in America. It’s also reflected in the prevalence of obesity among the historically disenfranchised groups.

Research shows there is a strong likelihood that racially and ethnically targeted marketing contributes to health disparities, including obesity rates.

Why do people seek out comfort food? Because of psychological tension and uncertainty.