Tag: obesity
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NYC Proposes Limit on Sugary Beverage Sizes
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (I) Task Force on Obesity recently garnered national attention by proposing to limit the size of sugar-sweetened beverages sold at local food service establishments. In a May 31, 2012, report outlining several public health initiatives, the Task Force claims that “[s]ugary drink portion sizes have exploded over recent years”…
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CDC Study Notes Increase in Diabetes Among Adolescents
A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has purportedly identified a sharp increase in the prevalence of prediabetes/ diabetes among U.S. adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, from 9 percent in 1999-2000 to 23 percent in 2007-2008. Ashleigh May, et al., “Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Among US Adolescents,…
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Alabama Passes Legislation Barring Obesity-Related Lawsuits
The Alabama State Legislature has reportedly passed a bill (HB 242) that would prohibit lawsuits “based on claims arising out of weight gain, obesity, a health condition associated with weight gain or obesity, or other generally known condition allegedly caused by or allegedly likely to result from long-term consumption of food.” Sponsored by Representative Mike…
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Tufts Researchers Advocate Reclassifying Obesity as Addictive Disorder
A recent analysis of scientific literature has argued in favor of reclassifying obesity as an addictive disorder based on criteria described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association, version IV, in part because such a reclassification would help initiate policy changes aimed at curbing “the obesity epidemic.”…
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Obese Ohio Boy Released from Protective Supervision After Weight Loss
An Ohio court has apparently released a 9-year-old boy from the supervision of Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services after he lost more than 50 pounds while in foster care and while living with an uncle in Columbus. Additional information about the case appears in Issue 421 of this Update. The boy, who came to…
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IOM Issues Weight of the Nation™ Strategy Report
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has published a May 8, 2012, consensus report assessing more than 800 obesity prevention strategies and identifying those “with the greatest potential to accelerate success.” Released at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of the Nation™ conference and funded by the National Academies of Sciences, Robert Wood Johnson…
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Reuters Focuses on Corporate Spending and Effects on Gov’t Anti-Obesity Initiatives
Reuters has issued a “special report” titled “How Washington went soft on childhood obesity” that details how food and beverage industry interests have allegedly turned aside national and statewide initiatives aimed at addressing childhood obesity. According to the article, “[a]t every level of government, the food and beverage industries won fight after fight during the…
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Book Complements Upcoming “Weight of the Nation” HBO Documentary
The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) executive officer has co-authored a book examining America’s obesity epidemic. Judith Salerno’s The Weight of the Nation: To Win We Have to Lose was published to complement a four-part HBO documentary on obesity debuting May 14-15, 2012, and a national campaign to curb obesity rates, both of which were featured in…