Childhood Obesity and Other News for School Nurses
It’s great to be an employed professional, out in the world of work, and it’s even greater to have a life to go home to. But in between all that, how do you keep up with developments in your field? If you’re busy looking after the needs of a school full of kids, not to […]
The Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm, Part 7
We have talked about the Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm before, and its various components such as the existence of cleverly engineered highly pleasurable foods, the ubiquitous availability of those foods to kids, and the way the products are marketed. We have discussed how stress and obesity go together like a horse and carriage, or, in […]
Childhood Obesity and Minority Groups
Full disclosure: John Foreyt, Ph.D., wrote the Foreword to Overweight: What Kids Say, and he’s a friend. In fact, so good a friend that in the Acknowledgements section of the book, Dr. Pretlow says, This book wouldn’t have happened were it not for the inspiration and encouragement of Dr. John Foreyt and his conviction that […]
The Weight of Secrets and Shame
The following is a guest post by Dr. David L. Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center. The article was originally published on Prevention.com, and has been modified and updated for Childhood Obesity News. About a year ago I appeared on MARTHA: The Martha Stewart Show to talk about — what else — living […]
Childhood Obesity Funding and Independence
Dr. Pretlow’s December 20 post, “Childhood Obesity Science Conflicts of Interest,” set off an interesting chain of reactions. It expressed concern about the objectivity and impartiality of the new magazine, Childhood Obesity, which is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. (The link is to where an issue of the magazine can be sampled for free.) How objective […]
Childhood Obesity Is Equal-Opportunity
About three months ago, President Barack Obama made a speech to announce the National Childhood Obesity Awareness Month. He has mentioned the National School Lunch Program that currently helps keep 30 million American kids somewhat properly nourished so they can pay attention in school. This is a good thing. Some people feel that it could […]
Young Activists, the Anti-Obesity Krew
The more you follow the news about childhood obesity, the more unusual facts you learn. For instance, think of all the fruit and vegetables eaten by the Americans. An awful lot of that farm produce is grown in the “nation’s salad bowl.” Yet the San Joaquin Valley is California’s worst locale in terms of “food […]
Feed Us Not Into Temptation
We’ve seen it on bumper stickers and t-shirts, a saying that is short and to the point: I can resist anything except temptation. Ain’t it the truth! Especially when it’s an obese person wearing the t-shirt. And that goes double when the person in the shirt is a walking statistic in the childhood obesity epidemic. […]
Childhood Obesity Conflicts of Interest
Childhood Obesity Science Conflicts of Interest If a tobacco company were to fund an anti-smoking scientific journal, most people would point out the glaring conflict of interest. Yet, a new peer-reviewed, scientific journal, Childhood Obesity (Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.), was launched in September 2010 with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The Kellogg Foundation’s […]
The Childhood Obesity Perfect Storm, Part 6
In America, we are so immersed in food, it’s ridiculous. Sure, not everybody can afford it, but it’s out there. Everywhere we turn — in the house, in the school, in the church, in the movie theater — food is staring us in the face. What Dr. Pretlow wants to know is, How will we make the […]