Biggest Loser Couples Reflections

So I’ve been thinking about The Biggest Loser and its impact on American culture for some time. I can’t help but notice all the efforts in government and healthcare to inspire change and how little really gets done. Cross that with The Biggest Loser and you have to ask – is The Biggest Loser scalable [...]

Sports Drinks Tax to Fight Obesity?

I’ve seen some lame ideas in my day, but this one takes the cake. The Washington Post reports that Kelly Brownell thinks the government should tax soda and sports drinks as a way to curb obesity rates in the United States. (Brownell is a professor of psychology at Yale University and director of the Rudd [...]

Nutrition Services for Obese Kids – Change Coming?

Sadly, insurance companies think obese kids don’t deserve nutrition counseling. But the Alliance for a Healthier Generation may help change that. According to a 2/19 press release…
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the AmericanHeart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, announced the formation of the Alliance Healthcare Initiative, a collaborative [...]

Help Obama End Childhood Hunger

Share Our Strength has launched a brand new campaign to raise funds to help end childhood hunger. “Operation No Kid Hungry” responds to President-elect Obama’s call to action to end childhood hunger by 2015.
Share Our Strength has partnered with AT&T to offer two great ways that you can support and participate in “Operation No [...]

Rockstar Surgeon General

Can you name a former surgeon general? If you can, congrats. But does that person have the chops of Sanjay Gupta? Doubtful.
I think Gupta is a wise choice. I mean, if you’re going to have a Surgeon General post, you might as well fill it with someone who might have some influence — or at [...]

Healthy Eating in This Crappy Economy

It can be very tempting in this economy to try to slash grocery spending in an attempt to save a few bucks. But before you race to the center aisle sugar and fat haven… think twice about the long term effects of this business. Do you really want your body’s engine to be dominated by [...]

A City in Denial?

I can’t help but wonder if Huntington, WV is a city in denial. The city was named the unhealthiest in the nation. The mayor is obese and his only comment was that health is not a focus area. Greeeeeat….
Nearly half the adults in Huntington’s five-county metropolitan area are obese — an astounding percentage, far bigger [...]

Obesity and Healthcare – When Bad Ideas Happen to Smart People

Would you consider Dr. Weil smart? I would… he is a doctor after all. But not all doctors have good enough knowledge about people and behavior change. Obviously, Dr. Weil is one of those doctors. Otherwise, he would not have said that charging obese people more money for health insurance is “a good idea for [...]

Home of the Sticker Shock? Philadelphia Will Show You Calories on Menus

It’s the home of cheesesteak and soft pretzels… and it’s going to show you the numbers. Philadelphia can be added to the list of cities who think consumers deserve to know the calories in the foods they are eating.
Here’s a full story, but I loved this excerpt:
Michelle W. – she didn’t give me her full [...]

Is the “Smart Choices” Program That Smart?

This is the first year since I’ve been involved in dietitics that I missed the big annual meeting – Food Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE). I was running the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon instead! I loved the marathon, don’t get me wrong, but I love FNCE too. Not only do I get to see colleagues [...]