Posts Tagged ‘childhood obesity’

The mental health of youth is in serious decline around the world – a decline that is a mirror image of rising obesity. These overlapping tragedies may be independent. But common threads are easy enough to find. An editorial from the Lancet Psychiatry distills perspective from the new Lancet Psychiatry Commission on Youth Mental Health: […]

This week in JAMA, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) published an evidence review and recommendation for youth with obesity. In a word, it is disappointing. The task force seems to have completely lost touch with advances in obesity care in young persons. They recommend only that youth with a BMI in the […]

In the prevention of childhood and adolescent obesity, let us have our wishes and beliefs, but distinguish them from facts in evidence. Wishes are good things. They are the muses which impel us to action to work for a better future. Belief is a good thing. Our staunch belief that something can work gives us […]

We’re packing our bags for Venice, where the European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2024) will start in just a few days. A lot will be coming at us in a short space of time, so taking time to set some priorities is essential. Thus, we have a short list of things that we’ll be seeking […]

Virginia Sole-Smith has black and white answers for the world of gray nuances that define the relationship of nutrition, obesity, and health. She is an outspoken advocate for fat acceptance and body liberation. Restraint is something she rejects. In a very personal profile for the New York Times, Lisa Miller describes her as both inspirational […]

Two decades ago, the state of Arkansas became the first in the nation to require every school to send parents BMI report cards – also known as fat letters. Back then, in 2003, the obesity rate for children in Arkansas was 17%. Since then, obesity in Arkansas public school students has risen dramatically. In the […]

On this, the second day of Obesity Care Week, let’s step back from all the complexity of obesity and focus on five simple principles that hold great promise for improving the way we care for people with this disease. It really doesn’t have to be so hard. 1. It Is Undeniable That Obesity Is a […]

Reporting for Reuters, Robin Respaut and Chad Terhune tell us that prescription data in the U.S. reveals increasing use of semaglutide for obesity in adolescents. Does this signal a huge surge in pediatric obesity treatment? Or merely a small uptick from almost negligible access to care? That all depends on the story you want to […]

Motivational interviewing is a respected tool for helping people who are seeking care for obesity. It’s  all about listening  to and supporting a person’s motivations wanting medical obesity care. But yet again, we are learning that motivation is not the magic answer for overcoming obesity. This time, in Pediatrics, Ken Resnicow and colleagues have published […]

E.B. White is long gone from this life and Block That Metaphor! is dormant at The New Yorker. But we need them back. The Washington Post has a new and twisted metaphor about obesity treatment, casting Ozempic as something like orthodontia. Kate Cohen writes: “I always thought I’d be thin if I were rich. “I’d […]