Posts Tagged ‘health reporting’

We are on a steady diet of studies with a seemingly singular aim: to persuade us ultra-processed foods are really, really bad for us. We get the point. But the nourishment for our brains from this unbalanced research diet seems deficient. The latest is an RCT that shows us oatmeal made from scratch is a […]

Making America Healthy is an industry with very low barriers to entry. Lots of people have fun with it. They also make lots of noise. The trouble is that because of those low barriers to entry, most of them, including some academics, do very little to actually make Americans healthy. Instead, they generate headlines and […]

Are we cynical? For many of us, the answer is clearly yes. News feeds give us ample reasons for general distrust of the motives of others, for thinking that self-interest is driving the actions of policymakers. Misinformation, conflicts of interest, and an apparent disregard for facts are impossible to ignore. Skepticism is certainly warranted, but […]

Coffee and chicken are fueling nutrition headlines this week. “Black coffee improves insulin sensitivity in women,” say headlines sparked by one study. “Eating chicken could shorten your lifespan, raise cancer risk,” according to headlines from another study. Coffee good, chicken bad. Got it. Eating Chicken Isn’t Killing You Please, don’t hit the panic button if […]

Can obesity prevention be as simple as telling people to chew more slowly? That’s what the principal investigator of a new study published in Nutrients, Professor Katsumi Iizuka, says: “These are easy, money-saving measures that can be started right away to help prevent obesity. “Incorporating the proposed eating behavior into school lunches and other programs […]

Yesterday, another report came out to suggest that the prevalence of obesity and overweight may have peaked in the American population – at a combined prevalence of 75%. This particular report comes from Epic Research, based on electronic health records for more than 100 million patients. Every time one of these reports emerges, headlines are […]

Narratives in health reporting tend to cluster. This is how we get diet fads. It’s also why stories about how bad BMI is have gotten enough traction to drive people to extreme views about it. Lately, we’ve noticed a new cluster forming. Let’s call it the premature death notices for diet and exercise. In Vox […]

Yes. This is a relief. We are in the midst of what used to be called “diet season.” Yet we are not getting an onslaught of advice about Atkins, paleo, vegan, or an assortment of obscure dietary approaches for fast weight loss. Instead, we are getting tips for healthy eating – such as this advice […]

“We conclude that exercise and video gaming have differential effects on the brain, which may help individuals tailor their lifestyle choices to promote mental and cognitive health, respectively, across the lifespan.” This conclusion comes from a preprint published on PsyArXiv. Science, health, and lifestyle reporters got even more bold with their conclusions. For instance, the […]

Headlines and health plans depict the demand for advanced obesity medicines in terms of mania or a stampede. “The Ozempic craze is booming in the United States,” says the University of Kentucky healthcare system. But is it reasonable to describe the people seeking these medicines as crazed? Or is this really an expression of false […]