Study finds obesity may be contagious
Two researchers who studied Army families say that those assigned to communities with higher rates of obesity were more likely to be overweight or obese than those assigned to bases where obesity was less common.
USDA again rejects Maine request to limit food stamp purchases
Maine Gov. Paul LePage said it was “extremely disappointing” that the USDA denied his request to ban the purchase of candy and sugary drinks with food stamps on grounds it would help prevent obesity, reported the Bangor Daily News.
For Millennials, convenience tops the grocery list
Members of the millennial generation, born between 1981 and 1996, are less likely to go to the grocery store than Baby Boomers or Gen X-ers and spend less per person when they do go to the store, write two USDA economists. "Millennials are demanding healthier and fresher food — including fruits and vegetables — when making food-at-home purchases, and they place a higher preference on convenience than to other generations."
Some nutritionists blame free trade for obesity epidemic in Mexico
As Mexicans consume more calories, there is a debate whether free trade and foreign investment resulted in an epidemic of obesity or whether it reduced malnutrition by lowering food prices, says the New York Times. Fast food restaurants and convenience stores multiplied across Mexico as its economy grew in recent decades.
USDA approves two-year Arizona test against food-stamp trafficking
Three days after offering states more latitude in running the food stamp program, the Agriculture Department approved a two-year test in Arizona to reduce trafficking of benefits. The waiver could be the first in a series; Maine, for example, wants to bar purchase of candy and sugary beverages, including soda, through the anti-hunger program.
Physical activity, more than diet, keeps the pounds from coming back
A study of 14 participants in the "Biggest Loser" TV show indicates that plenty of physical activity — "much more of it than public health guidelines suggest — is the key to preventing weight gain after significant weight loss, says the New York Times. "On average, those who managed to maintain a significant weight loss had 80 minutes a day of moderate activity, like walking, or 35 minutes a day of vigorous exercise, like running."
Self-loathing common among overweight and obese people
Research by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity found that "about 1 in 5 adults engage in body-specific self-loathing behavior," says the Danbury (Conn.) News Times. "It’s even more more common among adults who are obese, with 52 percent of them admitting to internalizing their weight bias."
Does gum acacia count as fiber? The FDA will soon decide.
The FDA is assessing whether 26 ingredients count as fiber on nutrition facts labels. “If you're a nutrition-label reader, the list includes some familiar-ish sounding ingredients — such as inulin, which is often sourced from chicory root,” says NPR. “Other ingredients on the 'do-these-count-as-fiber?' list include gum acacia, bamboo fiber, retrograded corn starch, and — get ready for the tongue-twister — xylooligosaccharides. Some of these fibers are extracted from plant sources, while others are synthetic.”
The food swamp is a greater risk than the food desert for obesity
A study by the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity "suggests that living in a food swamp — a neighborhood where fast food and junk food outlets outnumber healthy alternatives — is a stronger predictor of high obesity rates" than so-called food deserts with limited access to nutritious food, says ScienceBlog.
A soda a day? Not so often for many Americans.
Only half of adult Americans and 61 percent of children consume a sugar-sweetened beverage on any given day, down sharply from consumption rates a decade earlier, reports the New York Times, citing a study in the journal Obesity. Fewer people are drinking sugary beverages and when they do, they consume fewer calories.
U.S. obesity rate rises: 40 percent of adults
For Americans, gaining weight seems to go hand in hand with getting older; the obesity rate for adults is twice as high as the youth rate. And now, the CDC pegs the adult rate at nearly 40 percent, up 2 percentage points in two years and the highest rate ever, while the youth obesity rate rose to 18.5 percent, up by more than a point and also a record.
Child obesity soared worldwide in two generations
Some 124 million boys and girls around the world are obese, putting the children at risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, said a team of researchers in the journal The Lancet. Obesity rates among youths ages 5-19 years are eight times higher today than they were in 1975 and exceed 20 percent in nations including the United States.
Obese children live in less-advantageous settings
Household characteristics and food environments may have the strongest influence on children's weight, says a USDA report, although no single factor has been identified as the leading contributor to childhood obesity. Obesity rates among U.S. children more than doubled over the past three decades, says the USDA report by economist Young.
D.C.’s major food bank just cut junk food by 84 percent in a year
A year ago, Washington D.C.’s Capital Area Food Bank — one of the largest food banks in the country — decided to turn away junk food, joining a growing trend of food banks who are trying to offer healthier options to low-income Americans. From soda to chips, the CAFB has reduced the junk food it supplies to its 444 nonprofit partners, including soup kitchens and food pantries, by 84 percent.
Multinational food companies dive into developing countries
The food giant Nestlé relies on an army of door-to-door vendors to reach into the poorest neighborhoods of Brazil for customers, “part of a broader transformation of the food system that is delivering Western-style processed foods and sugary drinks to the most isolated pockets of Latin …
Food industry tries to shape food policy, says nonprofit group
A series of emails obtained under a state freedom of information law suggest major food companies have a "roadmap for dealing with scientific challenges," says the leader of the nonprofit group U.S. Right to Know in a Bloomberg story. The emails by current and former Coca-Cola executives suggest actions such as enlisting outside organizations to question dietary advice that was contrary to their business interests.
Jacobson to step down after 44 years at CSPI
After 44 years as president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, Michael Jacobson is stepping down. During his long tenure, Jacobson not only helped develop nutrition labels, he “has also had a hand in halting the marketing of many sugar-filled foods to children, reducing salt levels in packaged foods, and banning transfats,” says NPR.
Spotty progress in slowing obesity rates across U.S. states
Obesity continues to rise in the United States, with rates now exceeding 35 percent in five states, compared to four states in the previous year. But there are signs that adult rates are leveling off, says the annual State of Obesity report. Rates are holding steady in more states and for the second year in a row, at least one state showed a decline.