Posts Tagged ‘bias’

We hear lots of arguments about diagnosing obesity. Some people say it’s all about BMI. Sometimes they use this as a straw man argument for saying that BMI has flaws, so obesity isn’t really a thing. But other people are putting forward thoughtful proposals for diagnosing and staging the chronic disease of obesity. One such […]

This is a spin machine that any politician would be proud to own. Chile enacted a broad set of food system regulations in 2016 that many folks in public health simply love. The intent? Put an end to this obesity thing. This week, PLOS Medicine published a study of their effects and the fan club erupted […]

Today we have the privilege of presenting at the Methodist Health System Digestive Institute Symposium in Dallas. Mixed in with some truly distinguished experts on gastroenterology, we’ll be exploring evolving policies on obesity. But most important, we’ll be examining why progress in reducing obesity has been so elusive. And above all, how can we make […]

When medical students become doctors, at least four out of ten patients they see will suffer the effects of obesity. And yet, for many medical schools, obesity care education is a low priority. For some schools, not even the basics are a big priority. This finding comes from an important new study published in BMC […]

Some people call it the macronutrient wars. We call it a relentless pursuit of macronutrient magic. Consumers want to eat healthy, whatever that is. In the 1980s and 90s, it was low fat. In this millennium, that’s shifted to low-carb and keto approaches. But a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine offers a clue that […]

We didn’t think the meat mayhem reported last week could get any nastier. We were wrong. That’s because John Sharp, Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System, is now requesting an investigation of actions by Walter Willett, Frank Hu, David Katz, and the True Health Initiative related to this big mess. He calls their reported […]

It is a telling choice of words. More than half of black women over age 20 are categorized as obese, wrote Joseph Williams. Half of America will be considered obese within this decade, says Alyssa Bethencourt. Oliver Williams writes that 18.9 per cent of children in Year 6 are classified as overweight or obese. These […]

Meat mayhem marches on in the arcane world of academic nutrition warfare. Humans have a tough time these days with diversity of thinking. Especially if the subject is nutrition. Or food policy. Thus, Rita Rubin served up a compelling account of the ongoing battles about meat in JAMA this week. Avoiding the Meat of the […]

Trust and vulnerability are two closely related dimensions of the relationship between healthcare providers and patients. Trust arises from vulnerability, wrote Mark Hall. But when providers judge patients, they violate that trust. New research in JAMA Network Open tells us that this breach of trust might be relatively common. And it has serious consequences. That’s […]

We share a dream for 2020. Perhaps it can be a year when weight talk gets an injection of compassion. Imagine how life would be if everyone thought about how they could do their part. Here are four ideas. 1. Call out bias and fat phobia. This is more difficult than you think as we […]