Can we get our obesity problem under control? In part one of this series, we saw that common policy responses to our expanding waistlines have failed. Let's now consider why these interventions tend to yield such disappointing results.
obesity
Many obesity experts argue that changing the public's "food environment" is the key to promoting widespread weight loss. This proposed solution is not backed by solid evidence.
Fat-acceptance advocates say medical terms like "obesity" and "overweight" stigmatize fat people and should be eliminated from our vocabulary. They're putting public health at risk to promote a misguided ideology.
Ordering diet soda significantly reduces the number of calories customers eat when they visit fast food restaurants, according to a recent study. The paper is an example of scientists reaching the right conclusion for the wrong reasons.
A new systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that drinks sweetened with sugar substitutes may promote weight loss. Could these results end the dispute over the benefits of diet soda? Let's take a closer look.
Perhaps you’re familiar with the sentiment about how a child's behavior is often transformed into how they act as an adult. A new study finds a connection between some early lifestyle and health choices and later-life concerns.
There is a campaign underway to discourage health care providers from weighing their patients unless it’s "medically necessary." Proponents of this effort are rightly concerned about the stigma often attached to obesity, but they're going about it the wrong way by minimizing the risks of being overweight.
Let us leave aside our obsession with COVID and consider two more significant health problems that have long plagued us, obesity and cardiometabolic disease resulting in hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. As a new review article suggests, “Adipose tissue lies at the center of these health problems….” Fat is more than something that insulates and gives our body a shape.
It's time for another installment of the "Health Ranger Chronicles," where we critically examine the strange ideas promoted by Mike Adams' wildly popular website Natural News. This time we investigate a story about Monster Energy's "Satanic" plot to poison our children with sugar and caffeine.
Are "ultra-processed" foods addictive? Some scientists say yes, pointing to experiments with sugar-craving rats and the difficulty many people have losing weight and keeping it off. Taken in isolation, these observations lend themselves to a food addiction model, but there's actually little evidence to support the theory.
A lot has been written about the strengths and weaknesses of using DNA testing to customize individual diets. It's a promising idea, but our knowledge of genetics isn't yet good enough to pinpoint what each of us should eat.
Pregnancy and pediatric "advice" comes from all directions when you're a soon-to-be parent, and most of it is scientifically dubious. In part one, I examined the potentially harmful suggestions my wife and I received from friends and family. This time, I'll cover the less deadly but still ridiculous recommendations.