Tag: obesity
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USDA Denies New York City’s Plan to Ban Food Stamp Use for Soda
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has rejected New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s (I) plan to prohibit residents from using food stamps to buy sugar-sweetened beverages and soda. In October 2010, Bloomberg and state officials had proposed a two-year experiment that would exclude the drinks from USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) in an…
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IOM Report Targets Legal Strategies for Addressing Childhood Obesity Prevention
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently issued a summary of an October 21, 2010, workshop titled “Legal Strategies in Childhood Obesity Prevention,” where public policy experts and stakeholders discussed national, state and local health initiatives that employ legal strategies “to bring about change as well as the challenges in implementing these changes.” The workshop summary…
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IOM Publishes Summary of Food Technology and Obesity Workshop
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) recently released the summary of a November 2-3, 2010, public workshop titled “Leveraging Food Technology for Obesity Prevention and Reduction Effort,” which addressed how the food industry “can continue to leverage modern and innovative food processing technologies to influence energy intake.” According to IOM, “Eating is impacted not only by…
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Obesity Experts Propose Foster Care for Severely Overweight Kids
Harvard University obesity experts have reportedly proposed that some parents should lose custody of their extremely overweight children to foster care. In a July 13, 2011, Journal of the American Medical Association opinion piece titled “State Intervention in Life-Threatening Childhood Obesity,” David Ludwig and Lindsey Murtagh suggest that the same legal precedents that protect undernourished…
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Critique of Study Linking Obesity to Social Networks Buried in Statistical Journal
In 2007, a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine generated widespread media coverage for its claims that obesity can be transmitted via social networks, such as friendship, familial relationship or marriage. Details about the study appear in Issue 225 of this Update. The authors wrote additional papers on other personal characteristics, including smoking…
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IOM Issues Report on Early Childhood Obesity
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has released a June 23, 2011, report titled Early Childhood Obesity Prevention Policies that recommends “evidence-based strategies… to promote healthy weights in children from birth to age 5.” According to IOM, “almost 10 percent of infants and toddlers carry excess weight for their length, and slightly more than 20 percent of…
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Los Angeles School District Bans Flavored Milk from School Menus
The Los Angeles Unified School District has reportedly removed flavored milk from school menus in an effort to combat rising rates of childhood obesity. The school board approved a five-year, $100 million dairy contract excluding chocolate and strawberry milk in favor of low-fat and nonfat plain milk, and soy and Lactaid products. Beginning in the…
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British Docs to Fatten Wallets with Advice to Obese Patients
General practitioners (GPs) in the United Kingdom will reportedly receive payments each time they advise patients to lose weight and by maintaining lists of those who exceed weight guidelines. The GPs will apparently be able to offer free memberships in diet clubs, paid for by the National Health Service (NHS), as part of the new…