Tag: obesity
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John Seabrook, “Snacks for a Fat Planet,” The New Yorker, May 16, 2011
“Over the course of the past half century, during which PepsiCo’s revenues have increased more than a hundredfold, a public-health crisis has been steadily growing along with it. People are getting fatter,” opines The New Yorker’s John Seabrook in this article examining the tension between the ubiquitous snack food empire and its recent foray into…
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IOM Meeting to Explore Relationship Between Farm/Food Policy and Obesity
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) has announced a May 19, 2011, public session of its Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention. Titled “Farm and Food Policy: The Relationship to Obesity Prevention,” the public session is a one-hour information-gathering forum where committee members will hear about “the determinants of food producer, manufacturer, and retailer decision…
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New York City Defends Plan to End Soda Purchases Under SNAP
According to an April 29, 2011, New York Times article, a plan to regulate purchases under the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) continues to gain steam in New York City, where officials recently asked the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to approve a two-year pilot project prohibiting the use of food stamps to buy…
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Alabama House Approves Bill Prohibiting Weight-Gain Lawsuits
The Alabama House of Representatives has passed a bill (HB193) that would prohibit people from filing lawsuits against establishments such as restaurants or grocery stores for selling them food that allegedly made them fat. The Commonsense Consumption Act, approved May 3, 2011, by a 75-20 vote, bars “civil actions against manufacturers, packers, distributors, carriers, holders,…
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USDA Launches Online Mapping Tool that Locates “Food Deserts”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched an Internet mapping tool that locates “food deserts” in the country. Designed to help policy makers, community planners and researchers bring nutritious food to low-income communities that lack accessibility to grocery stores, the Food Desert Locator is part of first lady Michele Obama’s initiative addressing the childhood…
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Litigation and Obesity Symposium Transcripts Available
Public interest lawyers and industry representatives debated the merits of using litigation to address obesity at a December 2010 symposium hosted by George Mason University, and edited transcripts have recently been made available in the Journal of Law, Economics & Policy. Among the speakers was John Banzhaf whose law students at George Washington University have…
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Arizona Governor Proposes Medicaid Fee for Smokers, Obese
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer (R) has reportedly proposed levying a $50 annual fee on smokers, the chronically ill or obese who receive aid from the state’s financially strapped Medicaid program. Effective October 1, 2011, if approved by the Arizona Legislature, the plan would apply to childless adults who “need to work with their primary care…
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Hungry Caterpillar to Grace Anti-Obesity Campaign
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation have selected Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar as literary fodder for their anti-obesity campaign, distributing copies of the best-selling children’s book to 17,500 pediatrician offices across the United States. The iconic story follows a caterpillar’s transformation from larva to butterfly while…