Tag: obesity
-
CDC Releases Report on Obesity Rates in Children
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report indicating that obesity rates among preschoolers decreased in 19 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands between 2008 and 2011. Analyzing weight and height information from nearly 12 million children aged 2 to 4 years who participated in CDC’s Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System, the report…
-
National Geographic Highlights History of Sugar Consumption
“It seems like every time I study an illness and trace a path to the first cause, I find my way back to sugar,” opines University of Colorado-Denver nephrologist Richard Johnson in an August 2013 National Geographic special feature examining the history of sugar consumption. Titled “Sugar Love: A Not So Sweet Story,” the article authored by Rich Cohen…
-
Researchers Link FTO Gene to Increased Ghrelin Levels
A new study has reportedly detailed how a common gene variant linked to obesity affects the production and reception of ghrelin, the hormone responsible for stimulating hunger. Efthimia Karra, et al., “A link between FTO, ghrelin, and impaired brain food-cue responsivity,” Journal of Clinical Investigation, July 2013. According to a July 15, 2013, press release,…
-
Law Review Note Finds Model for Fast Food Litigation in Canada
According to a recently published law review note, health care reimbursement suits modeled on Canada’s Cost Recovery Act and provincial litigation against cigarette manufacturers could be successfully maintained against the food industry for the treatment of obesity-related illnesses. Timothy Poodiack, “The Cost Recovery Act and Tobacco Litigation in Canada: A Model for Fast Food Litigation,”…
-
Atlantic Article Advocates Role of Food Industry in Obesity Prevention
“An enormous amount of media space has been dedicated to promoting the notion that all processed food, and only processed food, is making us sickly and overweight,” writes David Freedman in a July/August 2013 Atlantic article arguing against the widely-held belief that “the food-industrial complex—particularly the fast-food industry—has turned all the powers of food-processing science…
-
Advertising Standards Board Upholds Children’s Marketing Complaint Against Cereal Maker
The Obesity Policy Coalition (OPC) recently announced that the Australian Advertising Standards Board (ASB) has upheld its complaint alleging that a TV commercial for Kellogg Co.’s Coco Pops® cereal violated the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI). According to ASB’s case report, the advertisement under review featured a bowl of Coco Pops® playing “Marco Polo” in…
-
Parens Patriae Deemed a Flawed Strategy to Address Obesity
A recent law review note outlines the history of parens patriae actions that allow states to sue to protect the health and welfare of their citizens, explores its use by state attorneys general to advance public health policy—particularly regarding the use of tobacco—and argues that it cannot be successfully wielded against food companies to address…
-
BPA Allegedly Linked to Obesity in Adolescents
A recent study has allegedly linked higher urinary bisphenol A (BPA) levels to a greater risk of obesity in adolescent girls, raising questions about whether BPA “could be a potential new environmental obesogen.” De-Kun Li, et al., “Urine Bisphenol-A Level in Relation to Obesity and Overweight in School-Age Children,” PLoS One, June 2012. Researchers with…