California’s Central Valley What if a single damaging environmental condition affected 40% of the world’s children? Would that explain the obesity epidemic that also affects such a large percentage of kids worldwide? Several studies have linked secondh …

These words are from Dr. Frederica Perera of Columbia University, a winner of the prestigious Heinz Award from the Heinz Family Foundation: Exposure to endocrine disruptors in the air can alter the normal hormonal signaling and affect growth and develo …

Risk management expert Robin Desrocher developed a continuing education course for physicians, with the object of helping them reduce their exposure to malpractice liability. The downloadable PDF file includes, on page 2, a list of “Secondary Causes of …

In her very thorough 2010 article for Reuters about teens and weight-loss surgery, Debra Sherman referenced a study done by Dr. Susan Woolford, a specialist in the area of medicine where pediatrics and obesity meet. When she surveyed 381 doctors, almos …

In his Huffington Post article, Dr. Pretlow mentioned that although bariatric surgery has been successful for some teens, there are inevitable risks, and when the long-term outcome is considered, there is a 20% – 30% failure rate. Even this is not cert …

Here, as observed and reported by a variety of researchers, are some factors thought to contribute to obesity. Childhood Obesity News does not vouch for the accuracy of any of these reports, but merely passes on the information that these factors are c …

In his Huffington Post article, “Eating Addiction: There’s an App for That,” Dr. Pretlow gave weight-loss surgery a mixed review. On the one hand, he credits bariatric surgery with being the only obesity treatment that has resulted in “significant long …

Dr. Pretlow is always focused on treating the underlying cause of obesity, rather than the symptom. As he mentioned in his Huffington Post piece, “Eating Addiction: There’s an App for That,” bariatric surgery is capable of facilitating long-term weight …

Ms. Pat projects the opposite of approved corporate image. Comedian Ms. Pat talks about how the local kids participate in the time-honored mischief of ringing doorbells and running away. She tells her son to stay out of it because, being so fat that hi …

It seems like every time you turn around, another bleak prediction appears. In 2014, The Lancet revealed that about 2.1 billion of the Earth’s inhabitants—about one-third of the entire population—were overweight. And of that number, about 670 million q …

The possibility that obesity is predetermined in the womb is disheartening. Even worse, it appears that fate is set for us by trillions of microorganisms. Because we serve as their luxury apartment buildings, they may cooperate in keeping us alive, but …

McKinsey Global Institute issued a discussion paper titled “Overcoming obesity: An initial economic analysis,” some of whose details Childhood Obesity News has already recounted. It identifies obesity as a critical global issue, because almost 30% of t …

Some European countries have reduced their mortality rates when it comes to diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases (including strokes and heart attacks.) This is a good-news highlight from the World Health Organization’s recent release, “The Eur …

Sunset in Brisbane, Australia In Australia, where one child out of four is overweight or obese, Canstar Blue specializes in rating consumer products and services. This summer, the company released some rather alarming survey results. Just over half—58 …

When the Australian firm Canstar Blue surveyed parents about baby food and related topics, Simon Downes wrote up the results. Nearly 60 percent of Australian parents admit to having given fast food—such as can be found at McDonald’s and similar establi …

Dearth is an old-timey word that still means the same thing: an insufficiency. We suffer from a lack of understanding. More and more information is gathered every day, and numbers are crunched, and little progress is made. Childhood Obesity News is cas …

We live in the midst of a worldwide trend toward ever-increasing obesity. Imaginative observers have compared it to speculative fiction classics such as Invasion of the Body Snatchers or Orson Scott Card’s story of a planet where everyone suffers from …

At best, a news story headline can attempt to capsulize a situation in fewer words than a Twitter tweet. At worst, it can spread misinformation faster than the airborne bacteria expelled by a sneeze. Of course, all news stories are not created equal. R …

“Ultrasound Image of My Large Intestine” What is the role of the microbiome in addiction? Nobody knows for sure, but mounting evidence indicates that the gut plays a large part in the body’s reaction to addictive substances. The question is worth askin …

Childhood Obesity News keeps track of some of the more improbable proposed causes of and cures for childhood obesity.  Who knows? Some day one of them may prove to be the key that unlocks some secret to stopping the obesity epidemic. David Berreby expl …

If a website deals with obesity, it can’t go too long without mentioning the Coca-Cola Company and its works and ways. Childhood Obesity News recently remarked on the ground-breaking scientific research that Coke is funding. They claim to have already …

Research at Washington University showed that fat lab mice have in their intestines more Firmicutes, which are a type of bacteria. Thin mice have more Bacteroidetes. When both groups of mice are given the identical amount and type of food, the Firmicut …

From profiling the microbiomes of many people, science has learned that only about one-third of each person’s internal bacteria are like other people’s. As Honor Whiteman explains for MedicalNewsToday.com: …two thirds of the gut microbiome is unique …

According to one hypothesis, the microbiota that colonize us do not simply sit around waiting for nutrients to arrive. They have their likes and dislikes, and ways of enforcing those preferences. Like college students with Dad’s credit card, they phone …

Remember all the disdain that our posts have heaped onto fatlogic proponents who convince themselves that food snuck from someone else’s plate doesn’t have calories, or food eaten on an airplane is calorie-free? Maybe Childhood Obesity News should apol …

Soon after show business personality Jamie Kilstein accepted that he was an alcoholic, he understood that his relationship to food was also one of addiction and said: Once you admit you have a problem, you have a new agenda: to get healthy. To be bette …

Candida Yeast Who would want to believe that any aspect of her or his life could be controlled by a gang of itty-bitty tyrants working in unison? Who wants to think that we noble Homo sapiens are gigantic puppets whose strings are pulled by trillions o …

A fecal bacteria transplant, to make an obese human lean—what a bizarre notion! But what if it turns out to be valid? Should we all immediately rejoice and declare the war on obesity won? Absolutely not. Even when equipped with winning microbes, people …

As Dr. Dale Archer reminds us in Psychology Today, the human gut is sometimes referred to as the “second brain.” It contains more than 100 million neurons, he says, “and many contain the exact same neurotransmitters as the brain.” The vagus nerve, whic …

The model for a new emoticon? The microbiota wield a lot of influence inside what we fondly like to think of as “our” bodies. There is no end to the havoc they can cause or alleviate. They can even influence our emotions. Imagine if the truth were admi …