Ghrelin, Comfort Eating, and Obesity (Part 2)
Back in the hunting-and-gathering days of humankind, the only really delicious things to eat were fruits like berries, and honey. Even those were not available at all times or in all climes. Honey and berries advertise their rewards right up front and are immediately identifiable as hedonic foods. They send out a strong “Eat Me” […]
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 […]
Ghrelin, Comfort Eating, and Obesity (Part 1)
The word “fasting” may call up visions of a strict religious practice or some elaborate health-oriented routine involving a carefully calibrated number of ounces of fresh juice per day. A person might think, “I don’t know anybody who does that.” Maybe not, but voluntarily abstention from food for a period of time is actually pretty […]
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 […]
Compulsive Eating: A Large Topic
As we mentioned before, the definitions of compulsive eating, compulsive overeating, and binge eating are a bit slippery, depending on whom you ask. One clue to the problem is the nature of the food in which people tend to overindulge. Zoe Harcombe, who characterizes herself as “a real food lover and a processed food hater,” […]
The Most Addictive Substance
The more you look into the number one addictive substance behind childhood obesity, the more people you find who have seemingly devoted their entire lives and careers to the specific mission of warning us about it. Take Nancy Appleton, for instance. Her first book was Lick the Sugar Habit, and her most recent book is […]
What Kids Say About “Overweight: What Kids Say” – and Grownups Too
The Weigh2Rock website has invited kids aged 18 and under to download the PDF version of Dr. Robert A. Pretlow’s book, Overweight: What Kids Say, for free. Since then, kids residing in countries like Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, as well as the U.S., have taken advantage of the opportunity. They are also welcome to […]
‘Melting Mama’ Looks At ‘Designated Fat Girl’
Jennifer Joyner is Assignment Editor at WRAL-TV in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and also works in radio, among other pursuits. She also published a book entitled Designated Fat Girl: A Memoir. Starting from morbidly obese at 330 pounds, her book covers 16 years of struggle against food addiction, a condition that is not taken seriously by […]
Slate Magazine’s Childhood Obesity Crowdsourcing Project
The online magazine Slate asked its readers for their best ideas about how to shrink childhood obesity. A dozen submissions were picked, reporter Christy Harrison tells us, half of them by the readers themselves. Six more were chosen by a panel of judges, all leaders in the field. Among the judges were medical doctors Amy […]
Food Addiction and Childhood Obesity: Now What Do We Do?
(Part Two of a Two-Part Post — View Part One) The first part of this post had to do with the fact that the “healthy eating and exercise” approach for ending the childhood obesity epidemic just isn’t working. Compelling new evidence now points to actual addiction to highly-pleasurable comfort foods, like junk food and fast […]