Posts Tagged ‘research’

Stuff happens. Errors creep into research papers. We gripe about it here from time to time. But today we have a great example of how scientific integrity works. Back in July, a group of researchers, led by Yulyu Yeh, published a paper about nutrition education for African-American preschoolers. Their analysis found a benefit for the […]

It’s an easy trap. Prevention is a cherished goal for childhood obesity. Behavioral economics has such a strong cachet that it just earned Richard Thaler a Nobel Prize. So when elegant research that says little nudges – like a sticker on a piece of fruit – can lead children to make better food choices, we want to […]

It’s early days for this new protein, but worth noting, nonetheless. Amgen scientists have successfully demonstrated that they can modify a GDF15 protein to treat obesity in mice, rats, and primates. With animal data published in Science Translational Medicine, they show an impressive effect on body weight in mice and monkeys. Acting on the Gut […]

This year’s Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine is here. For their work on the genetic basis of circadian rhythms, Jeffrey Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael Young are sharing the prize. They discovered a gene in fruit flies that helps explain the mechanism for just about every living thing to adapt to the rhythms of […]

Could it be that a little fine-tuning for the stomach can have a real effect on obesity? That’s the gist of the latest research on how liraglutide (Saxenda) works. The senior author on this study, Michael Camilleri, explains: Liraglutide appears to be very effective in inducing weight loss over three months of treatment. We also […]

Yet again, we have the PURE study this week stirring up headlines around the world. A couple of weeks ago, it was nutrition. Today in Lancet, they’re publishing data on the potential for exercise to prevent deaths. Scott Lear and colleagues say that 30 minutes of exercise, five days a week can make a big […]

“We need a safe space to rethink our assumptions.” This phrase came from a recent summary panel on food environments and obesity prevention. Later, the speaker explained. We need that safe space, she said, because a disproven assumption puts funding at risk. So people are reluctant to speak candidly. It was a stark reminder. The […]

Sprinkled through the the health news this week, the miraculous keto diet was offering up some wonderful benefits. A longer life, greater strength, and better memory can all be yours – if you’re a lab mouse. Cell Metabolism published two studies in mice and unleashed a torrent of frothy health reporting. Arcane Nutrition Science Meets […]

“Don’t trust research funded by industry.” Suspicion runs deep about commercial funding for research, especially in nutrition. So, we imagine many heads were nodding recently when Justin Rankin and colleagues reported a signal of funding bias in obesity studies. Consistent with prevailing beliefs, their report suggested that industry-funded studies were the most likely to selectively report […]

When it comes to BMI, everyone is a hater. Even so, most people are content to keep using it as an easy number to screen adults for obesity. But for kids, everyone knows BMI just doesn’t work. In Pediatrics this month, Bill Dietz  describes “widespread agreement” that BMI scores for kids with severe obesity are […]