Posts Tagged ‘wellness’

Yo-yo dieting is an boogeyman that persists stubbornly in defiance of the facts. A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine is the latest fuel for a mix of derision and fear mongering. Researchers found an association between weight fluctuations and bad outcomes from heart disease. They did not study dieting or […]

Seven years of efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) seem to be taking a rest for now. Perhaps the moral outrage on both sides of this debate can take a rest, too. But will we ever get a rest from health and wellness as a tool for signaling virtue? The Epithet […]

Suffering shows up in many ways until it becomes unmistakable. Today at the Brookings Institution, Anne Case and Angus Deaton present their newest findings on a “sea of despair” among white working class Americans. People see this crisis in many different ways. All at once, it is an economic, medical, and human tragedy. An Economic Crisis […]

Workplace wellness has been creating headlines this week, due to legislation about genetic testing in these programs. In a guest blog today, our friend Al Lewis writes about his concerns with the industry. This week, Fortune published a generally very skeptical review of workplace wellness, highlighting one of the few major companies (Cummins) to be moving […]

One fine day in 1518, Michelangelo sent out for groceries: fish, bread, fennel soup, herring, anchovies, and wine. His servant was illiterate, so he illustrated the shopping list. It’s lovely documentation for some of the ingredients in a healthful Mediterranean diet. It looks so easy and beautiful. FDA Guidance for a Healthy Shopping List FDA’s […]

Is it time to feel a bit of pity for Fitbit? For that matter, maybe the corporate wellness industry deserves some sympathy. Both of them have hit some bumps lately and some observers are suggesting they can help each other out. The Motley Fool says corporate wellness programs “could be a game changer” for Fitbit. […]

For some time, we’ve known that people are thinking about weight differently. Last week, JAMA made it official. In a research letter, Kassandra Snook and colleagues describe a trend of fewer adults with excess weight and obesity trying to lose weight. A 17% Drop People Trying to Lose Weight The value of this new research is that […]

All is not well in certain parts of the wellness industry. Employers are shying away from intrusive and coercive wellness programs that employees resent. So the wellness industry is looking for a bigger stick. They’re quietly pushing a bill that would make it easier to levy big penalties on employees who don’t want their employers […]

Too much sugar and too few nuts are killing us, apparently. That’s how press reports distilled a recent paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). On the other side of the globe, the messaging is similar. “Obesity has got us by our flabby throats,” says Peter FitzSimons in the Sydney Morning Herald. He […]

The idea that sitting is the new smoking has taken off. This compelling narrative – that your desk chair is killing you – is so titillating that you’ll find 33 million results on Google. We have an ample supply of infographics, books, TED Talks, and more. Just one tiny problem is cropping up: hyperbole. Reviewing the Evidence […]