U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have reportedly joined the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network and a coalition of federal, state and local public health organizations in urging U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin to investigate the alleged association between sugar-sweetened drinks and rising obesity rates. According to a September 12, 2012, letter, the senators have asked Benjamin to conduct a study that would determine “the impact of sugary drinks on rates of American obesity and whether public health proposals that target sugary beverages will positively impact public health.” “As America’s waistline has expanded, so too has our access to sugary drinks,” states the letter. “Beverages like soda, sports drinks, lemonade, juice drinks, and sweetened teas are cheap and available everywhere. Doctors and public health experts recommend limiting and reducing the consumption of sugary drinks, especially in children, but kids and adults drink twice…
Tag Archives obesity
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reportedly approved the use by Ohio State University (OSU) investigators of brain pacemakers as an obesity treatment. Deep-brain stimulation has apparently been approved for use in the treatment of disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, tremor, dystonia, and severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, and OSU researchers and clinicians evidently made the case for use of the therapy to treat obesity in an article recently published in Neurosurgery. According to OSU Professor of Neurological Surgery Ali Rezai, the goal will be to stimulate the region of the brain linked to addictive behavior to improve its function, regulation and control. “Research shows that many of the complexities of obesity are traced to faulty signals in the brain. Considering the heightened health risks in obese individuals and the problems that some patients have after bariatric surgery, it is reasonable to consider deep-brain stimulation as a treatment,” he said. See…
New York University researchers using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children with data on more than 11,000 children have purportedly found a consistent association between antibiotic exposure in the first six months of life with “elevations in body mass index with overweight and obesity from ages 10 to 38 months.” L. Trasande, et al., “Infant antibiotic exposures and early-life body mass,” International Journal of Obesity, August 21, 2012 (online). The researchers suggest that the administration of antibiotics during early life, “a critical period for gut colonization,” may disrupt “ancient patterns of intestinal colonization.” U.S. farmers since the late 1940s have apparently given low-dose antibiotics to domesticated mammalian and avian species to hasten weight gain with the understanding that “alterations in the microbiota change ‘feed efficiency.’” Thus, the researchers explored the possibility of similar effects in human children. According to lead researcher Leonardo Trasande, “Microbes in our intestines may…
The Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has posted its fall 2012 speakers schedule, noting that the center “welcomes speakers from different disciplines to present and discuss their work and its implications for the study of obesity and food policy.” Among those on the roster are Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Jason Riis, “Field Studies of Consumer Behavior in Food Retail Settings,” September 12; University of Washington Clinical Professor James Krieger, “Using Policy and Systems Changes to Create Healthy Environments at the Local Level,” October 10; Northwestern University Psychology Professor Ellen Wartella, “Media Characters: The Unhidden Persuaders in Food Marketing to Children,” October 17; Mathematica Policy Research Senior Fellow Ronette Briefel, “National Data to Inform Childhood Obesity Prevention Strategies: Beverage, Dietary, and Activity Practices at Home and School,” November 7; and University of Pennsylvania Media & the Developing Child Director Amy Jordan, “Testing the Effectiveness of Public Service…
In the wake of an Australian High Court ruling validating regulations requiring cigarettes to be sold in plain packages, some commentators are speculating whether other products, such as alcoholic beverages and fast food, will be subject to the same types of restrictions. The opinion, penned by Patrick Carlyton, suggests that because alcoholism and obesity also purportedly have deleterious effects, government may consider imposing taxing and packaging rules on the other industries. While he questions whether these types of restrictions actually affect consumption—“will plain packaging work in reducing smoking rates? No one knows. It hasn’t been tried before”—he concludes, “One thing is certain. Plain packaging for unhealthy foods in supermarket aisles would certainly constitute a relief for every parent, and this would have nothing to do with the health benefits.” See News Limited Network, August 16, 2012.
A peer-reviewed article appearing in Preventing Chronic Disease explores how five alcohol-control policies could hold promise in addressing the obesity epidemic if used to regulate access to low-nutrient foods. Deborah Cohen & Lila Rabinovich, “Addressing the Proximal Causes of Obesity: The Relevance of Alcohol Control Policies,” Preventing Chronic Disease, May 2012. The policy interventions discussed include (i) limitations through zoning and licensing on the density of food outlets; (ii) displays and sales restrictions that focus on controlling impulse buying; (iii) regulations on portion sizes; (iv) pricing strategies, i.e., higher taxes on foods high in calories and low in nutritional value; and (v) strategic use of warning labels and ads that discourage people from overeating or consuming too many foods lacking nutritive value. According to lead author and RAND researcher Deborah Cohen, “Just as regulating alcohol accessibility has been effective in reducing problem drinking, regulating food accessibility is promising for controlling…
According to news sources, human-services authorities in Victoria have sought protection for extremely obese children on at least two occasions in 2012, arguing to children’s court magistrates that they would be unable to lose weight in their parents’ care. One case reportedly involved a preteen boy who weighed more than 240 pounds and a teenage girl with a 66½-inch waist that was greater than her height; she had apparently gained 66 pounds over 18 months. The public is divided about whether weight management is an appropriate reason for removing children from their homes, and at least one obesity expert, Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute Associate Professor John Dixon, suggested that more cases like this can be expected. Dixon said that removal can be the best option in some cases, although he acknowledged that obesity “can be the result of a whole range of environmental issues, the food, the lack of…
Responding to a question certified by a federal district court, a divided Montana Supreme Court has said that obesity which is not the symptom of a physiological condition may be a “physical or mental impairment” as the terms are used in the Montana Human Rights Act. BNSF Ry. Co. v. Feit, No. OP 11-0463 (Mont., decided July 6, 2012). The issue arose after an extremely obese applicant for a conductor-trainee position was told he would not be considered for the position unless he lost 10 percent of his body weight or completed certain medical examinations, including a $1,800 sleep study, at his own expense. The applicant successfully pursued an administrative remedy through the state department of labor and industry alleging that the railway defendant had illegally discriminated against him because of perceived disability. He was awarded damages for lost wages and benefits, prejudgment interest and emotional distress. On appeal, the…
Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity’s Kelly Brownell has provided a “Perspective” article for PLoS Medicine’s ongoing series about “Big Food.” Titled “Thinking Forward: The Quicksand of Appeasing the Food Industry,” the July 3, 2012, article contends that public-health efforts to collaborate with the food industry to address obesity are a mistake. According to Brownell, “The food industry has had plenty of time to prove itself trustworthy,” but because food companies “must sell less food if the population is to lose weight, . . . this pits the fundamental purpose of the food industry against public health goals.” Brownell calls for the industry to be regulated. “Left to regulate itself, industry has the opportunity, if not the mandate from shareholders, to sell more products irrespective of their impact on consumers. Government, foundations and other powerful institutions should be working for regulation, not collaboration.” Another article in the…
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) has sent a July 3, 2012, letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, asking the U.S. Surgeon General’s Office to issue a report “that examines how the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages impacts the health of Americans.” Noting that the 2012 Cancer Prevention Guidelines stress the importance of a healthy diet and weight in reducing “one’s lifetime risk of developing or dying from cancer,” ACS CAN has called for an “articulate, science-based and comprehensive national plan of action” to combat rising obesity rates. “We know there is a direct link between excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and obesity, and the adverse health effect can be profound in children as they grow into adults and throughout their lives,” states the letter. “As was the case in 1964, when the Surgeon General first revealed to the broad American public…
