Tag: obesity
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Russian MP Proposes “Graphic” Warning Labels on “Junk Food” and Fast-Food Packaging
Russian MP Oleg Mikheyev has reportedly asked the government to require “graphic warning labels” on fast-food packaging in an effort to stop the spread of obesity and improve the health of Russian citizens. Mikheyev, who previously proposed a tax on “junk food,” also argued that producers of food products such as potato chips or soft…
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Food Addiction Beliefs Drive Support for Obesity-Related Initiatives
New research reportedly suggests that belief in food addiction translates into support for obesity-related policies, “even when accounting for the significant associations of age, gender and political party.” Erica Schulte, et al., “Belief in Food Addiction and Obesity-Related Policy Support,” PLoS One, January 2016. Relying on the responses of 200 individuals recruited through Amazon Mechanical…
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WHO Report Advocates “Life-Course Approach” to End Childhood Obesity
The World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity (ECHO) has issued a January 25, 2016, report that recommends, among other things, a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), context-specific dietary guidelines, and “interpretive” front-of-pack labeling. Taking “a life-course approach” that focuses on what it describes as an obesogenic environment, the report urges WHO, member…
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Global Index Ranks Food Manufacturers’ Responses to Obesity and Undernourishment
The Access to Nutrition Foundation has released its second Access to Nutrition Index® (ATNI), which ranks the 22 largest food and beverage companies on their “contributions to tackling obesity and undernutrition.” According to a concurrent press release, “The 2016 Index concluded that, while some companies have taken positive steps since the last Index, the industry as…
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Researchers Discuss Tools for Assessing Food Addiction
A research article examining the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) and Palatable Motives Eating Scale (PEMS) has concluded that together these tools “offer a rigorous way to evaluate whether an addictive process contributes to certain eating disorders, such as obesity and binge eating.” Jose Manuel Lerma-Cabrera, et al., “Food addiction as a new piece of…
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Plain Food Packaging Might Encourage Consumption
Plain food packaging for snack foods decreases purchase intention and brand perception but increases actual consumption among some consumers, according to French and Belgian researchers. Carolina O.C. Werle, et al., “Is plain food packaging plain wrong? Plain packaging increases unhealthy snack intake among males,” Food Quality and Preference, December 2015. Billed as the first to…
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Rudd Center Survey Finds Support for Laws Against Weight Discrimination
The University of Connecticut’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has conducted a study assessing public support for policies and laws that would prohibit discrimination based on weight. Rebecca M. Puhl, et al., “Potential Policies and Laws to Prohibit Weight Discrimination: Public Views from 4 Countries,” The Milbank Quarterly, December 2015. In an online…
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The Lancet Launches Multidisciplinary Obesity Commission
U.K. medical journal The Lancet has announced establishment of a Commission on Obesity “to provide a multidisciplinary platform to contribute to accounting systems for action and to critically analyze the systemic drivers of, and solutions for, obesity.” The 22-member commission is a partnership among The Lancet, University of Auckland, George Washington University, and World Obesity Foundation.…