Category Archives Issue 309

President Barack Obama (D) has been urged by health organizations, nutrition experts and physicians to sign an executive order creating a Presidential Commission on Healthy Weights, Healthy Lives to take on the nation’s escalating rates of obesity. In a June 22, 2009, letter to the president, signatories suggested that the United Kingdom’s anti-obesity campaign could act as a model. “The increased rates of obesity will negate many of our nation’s investments in health care and could actually condemn youths to shorter life spans than their parents,” the letter stated. “Each year, obesity causes tens of thousands of premature deaths and tens of billions of dollars in avoidable medical costs. Obesity also leads to heart-wrenching psychosocial problems, such as difficulty making friends, stigmatization, and discrimination in employment.” Groups that signed the letter included the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), American Diabetes Association, American Public Health Association, National Consumers…