Posts Tagged ‘innovation’

Over the last four years, four new obesity meds gained approval and only one lived up to expectations in the marketplace – the Saxenda brand of liraglutide 3 mg from Novo Nordisk. The company reported quarterly results last week. Saxenda sales, growing impressively, are on track to surpass $200 million for the year. Net profit for […]

Until recently, finding expert obesity care has not been easy. Most primary care providers are reluctant to treat obesity seriously. They are also slow to refer. Among hundreds of thousands of allied health professionals, some have real expertise in obesity care, but most do not. Finding an expert provider is often a matter of trial […]

Soda is so yesterday. Drinking yogurt seems so much healthier. And it may well be. Along with 22 grams of sugar, you get lots of good stuff, like protein, vitamins, and minerals. The calories might be more than a 10-ounce Coke (220 vs 120), but there’s more nutrition. Those numbers come from the Drink Chobani brand, […]

St. Cloud, Minnesota, is investing seven million dollars to improve their streetlights. The city is installing those bright, snazzy, new LED lights. Public Services Director Pat Shea says that most of the feedback is positive: The LED lights are more durable, have a longer life and use 40 percent to 60 percent less electricity than their […]

FDA wants to know what it means to call a food product “healthy.” They have a definition that dates back to 1992. Based on that definition, fat-free, high carb foods counted as healthy. Foods with beneficial fats, like avocados and almonds, didn’t meet the definition. FDA Director Nutrition and Food Labeling Douglas Balentine knows that change […]

Consumer attitudes about food, dining, and health are shaking up the business climate for restaurants. Three big factors are creating worries, along with a few business opportunities. An unhealthy image is driving many people – especially millennials – away from fast food and fast casual restaurants that have prospered for years. Chipotle, with its faux-healthy “food with integrity” […]

Every now and then, conventional wisdom turns out to be more than legend. A new study in the Obesity journal confirms a bit of wisdom about how a little slip in dietary plans can undermine long-term weight management goals. In an elegant analysis, Molly Tanenbaum, Kathryn Ross, and Rena Wing confirmed that people really do tend to skip […]

Writing in the Washington Post, Tim Gunn says that designers in the fashion industry “haven’t bothered to hide their contempt” for the average American woman, who wears a size 16 or 18. Is the fashion industry reflecting a self-hating culture or creating it? For perspective, consider a new study to be published in Fashion and […]

When nutrition and health meet marketing, the results can be jolting. PepsiCo’s new organic Gatorade concept takes the crown for healthy-ish marketing from Panera (for Clean Food). It’s a greater stroke of evil marketing genius than veggie chips. Truly, PepsiCo is giving the world the quintessential product that no one knew they needed. It’s USDA […]

A study published today in Obesity shows just how slow the adoption of obesity innovation is in clinical care. Catherine Thomas and colleagues analyzed prescribing data for new SGLT2 diabetes treatments introduced in 2013. They compared it to data for new obesity treatments that were introduced beginning in late 2012. Many alternatives were already available […]