Posts Tagged ‘exercise’

Let’s face it. Americans don’t like the idea of accepting a preordained destiny. Nope, we’ll have none of that. We choose our own destiny here, thank you. So naturally, if the New England Journal of Medicine tells us that DNA is not destiny when it comes to our risk of heart attacks, we love it. […]

Last week we met a brave physician guarding the floodgates of demand for obesity care. He told us: “If all the patients that need bariatric surgery demanded it, they would bankrupt our health system.” This is a jarring perspective from a primary care physician in leadership at a large, nonprofit health plan. He confirmed that they are quite […]

Recently in JAMA, Bill Dietz and colleagues outline a three-part recommendation to address the long-term consequences of preventable chronic health conditions. They focus, rightly, on smoking and tobacco, physical activity, and nutrition as components of the two leading causes of preventable suffering and premature death. These are important recommendations for healthier generations. We see strengths in […]

With so many suspects for the cause of growing obesity prevalence, satisfying answers are rare. But new research from the State University of New York at Binghamton provides some fascinating insight on the possible contribution of consumer electronics – such as our glowing rectangles – to obesity risk. After controlling for demographics, diet, and activity, they […]

The American Academy of Pediatrics released new position papers Friday on screen time for young children and teens. The bottom line? Guidance just got looser. A hard and fast ban on screen time for children under two went out the window. Now the advice is no screen time under 18 months…unless it’s a video chat with […]

Primary care providers face a dilemma. More than a third of adults have obesity. Providers spend 75% of their time managing the chronic diseases that result – things like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and arthritis. So what should they be doing about obesity? Does telling a patient to lose weight mean that a provider is […]

Here’s a clue for reading health news. When you see “linked,” “associated,” or “increased risk,” your antennae should go up. The report you’re reading might be science fiction. Case in point: sloppy reports about an observational study of self-reported emotions recalled after a heart attack. Circulation published the study yesterday. In this study, people who […]

Wishful thinking is pretty easy to find when the subject is fitness, nutrition, health, and obesity. Another label for it might be magical thinking. Unfortunately, health writers promote wishful thinking far too often. Here are three notorious forms of it: Exercise for Weight Loss. The myth that working out is a great way to lose weight is […]

Last week, JAMA published a randomized, controlled study that showed fitness trackers don’t help people lose weight. This week, Obesity published a systematic review and meta-analysis of how well fitness trackers work for their intended purpose – promoting fitness activities. Surprise, surprise: adding a fitness monitor to fitness programs seems to yield more physical activity. Herman […]

Another study – this one published in Diabetes – tells us that air pollution might contribute to insulin resistance and ultimately to diabetes. It addresses a genuinely interesting subject for scientific inquiry. But it doesn’t tell us that a healthy diet and exercise is the antidote for the harms that air pollution might cause. Nevertheless, the New York […]