Tag: obesity

  • McDonald’s Shareholder Proposal Seeks Report on Policy Response to Obesity Concerns

    The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, who hold about $2,000 of common stock in McDonald’s Corp., joined by nuns from orders in other states, have reportedly submitted a shareholder proposal seeking a report “within six months of the 2011 annual meeting, assessing the company’s policy responses to public concerns regarding linkages of fast food…

  • IOM Workshop to Address Obesity Prevention

    The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Food and Nutrition Board’s Committee on Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention has announced a public information-gathering workshop on measurement strategies to combat the nation’s obesity problem. The draft agenda for the March 23-24, 2011, event in Irvine, California, indicates that a panel discussion moderated by Northwestern University Professor Ellen Wartella will…

  • Arizona House Panel Passes Law to Stop “Consumer Incentive” Meal Restrictions

    The Arizona House of Representatives Commerce Committee has reportedly approved a bill (H.B. 2490) that would block cities and counties from enacting laws that would prohibit restaurants, food establishments or convenience stores from offering “consumer incentive items” with meals. Scheduled to go before the House for a full vote, the law identifies the items as…

  • Focus on Obesity

    The parties to obesity-related litigation, brought on behalf of several teenagers against fast-food giant McDonald’s Corp. in 2002, have filed a stipulation of voluntary dismissal with prejudice. Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp., No. 02-7821 (S.D.N.Y., stipulation filed February 25, 2011). The action followed entry of an order in December 2010 scheduling pretrial discovery and motions filing…

  • Obesity Study Questions Timing of Solid Food Introduction

    A recent study has claimed that, “among formula-fed infants or infants weaned before the age of 4 months, introduction of solid foods before the age of 4 months was associated with increased odds of obesity at age 3 years.” Susanna Huh, et al., “Timing of Solid Food Introduction and Risk of Obesity in Preschool-Aged Children,”…

  • NRC Report Suggests Past Smoking, Obesity Behind Shorter Lifespans

    The National Research Council (NRC) recently issued a report suggesting that past smoking and current obesity levels are major reasons why U.S. life expectancy at age 50, though still rising, has not kept pace with that of other high-income countries, such as Japan and Australia. Sponsored by the National Institute on Aging’s Division of Behavioral…

  • Food Activists Call for State AGs to Address Obesity

    Jennifer Pomeranz and Kelly Brownell, who are with the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, have authored an article titled “Advancing Public Health Obesity Policy Through State Attorneys General.” Referring to the role played by state attorneys general (AGs) in public health policy on tobacco, the authors contend that they “can be leaders in…

  • Bryant Stamford, “Government Should Step In to Help Kids,” Courier-Journal. com, January 13, 2011

    “I don’t want any more government interference than the next guy, but I believe that the precedent has already been set for successful government intervention on behalf of improving our health,” writes Hanover College Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology Professor Bryant Stamford in the first of a two-part article comparing obesity prevention tactics to federal curbs…