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 […]
Food, Foodlike Substances, and Labeling
When people are concerned about health, and especially about obesity, and they talk about food labeling, there are a couple of different things they might mean. Fast food restaurants with more than 20 branches now have to give the calorie count on their menus, and items sold in vending machines need to print the information […]
Calorie Labeling in Restaurants
At the point in time when only a few municipalities had adopted the idea that restaurants should reveal the calorie counts of their dishes to the customers, a bunch of young people voiced their opinions at Weigh2Rock. This website has published a series of polls to keep track of what kids are thinking about their […]
Food Labeling — Restaurants and Calorie Information
Many people believe that at least some obesity (PDF) could be prevented if only we were really aware of everything we ate. Awareness of why we are eating is always helpful, of course. It’s always a good idea to ask ourselves questions like, “Am I really hungry, or just upset?” and, “Do I have to […]
Zoe Harcombe, or How to Not Be Big, Fat, and Stupid
Childhood obesity is just adult obesity getting an early start, and we had better get this thing figured out before 100% of us are overweight or obese. To encourage us, Justin Stoneman recently published an essay in The Huffington Post titled “America: A Big, Fat, Stupid Nation.” First of all, Stoneman is astonished that, with […]
The Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm
“Perfect storm” is a term that has been around since at least the 1930s. A perfect storm is what happens when a number of powerful factors concur in such a way that a disastrous or critical situation is created. No single one of them alone would have had such a destructive effect, but the synergy […]
Fast Food, Hospitals, and Cravings
Fast food and hospitals are the two concepts that should not be found together in the same sentence. And yet, their relationship grows cozier all the time. It was with some dismay that Dr. Pretlow recently noticed a TV commercial for the Blizzard Children’s Miracle Network. Actually, the word that came to mind was “disgusted.” […]
Eat for Success: Part Two
Maybe you thought that yesterday’s post, on tools for dealing with childhood obesity, was the end of covering this subject, but, no — let’s look at a few more ideas. First, a general observation. It’s useful to bear in mind that practically everyone has unconscious, emotional, and irrational biases on the subject of obesity, in […]
For the Whole Family: Dance Dance Revolution
Marilla Mulwane says, I do not believe in starving yourself to lose weight, or in having to spend hours at the gym every day, or in not being able to enjoy your favorite foods. Did that catch your attention? It did mine. Yes, Marilla, tell me more about how to become svelte, or at least […]