obesity
Endorsing junk food, pop stars add to teen obesity
Sodas, sweets and fast food are the most common choices when pop music stars endorse foods and beverages, says a study by New York University researchers, who blame the advertisements for contributing to teen obesity. "The vast majority of the food and beverage products ... are unhealthy," says the NYU Langone Medical Center, "Equally alarming, none of the music stars identified in the study endorsed fruits, vegetables or whole grains."
Judge gives San Francisco green light to warn against soda
IA San Francisco federal judge ruled that the city has the right to force sugary beverage companies to post health warnings in display ads for their products, says The San Francisco Chronicle. The law, which is the first in the nation, was challenged in court by the American Beverage Association, the California Retailers Association and the California State Outdoor Advertising Association. It will take effect on July 25th.
Oakland to vote on soda tax, ‘huge fight’ expected
A third city in the San Francisco Bay area will vote whether to put a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, predominantly soda. This time, the November referendum will be in Oakland, neighbor to Berkeley, the first and only city in the nation to adopt a soda tax.
Dieters at war with their bodies
A long-term study of the rock stars of dieting -- contestants on the reality TV show "The Biggest Loser" -- reveals some of the reasons why it is hard to keep the pounds off, says the New York Times.
Childhood obesity rate continues to rise
Some 17.4 percent of American children are obese today, compared to 14.6 percent at the start of the century, says the Los Angeles Times, citing a study published in the journal Obesity. "Among children from infancy through age 18, rates of obesity have increased steadily from 1999 to 2014, and the numbers of children with the severest forms of obesity have risen most dramatically."
Full-fat dairy may protect against Type 2 diabetes
Eating full-fat milk, yogurt and cheese may help protect against Type 2 diabetes, says a study of 3,333 adults published in the journal Circulation.
CA soda-tax bill scrapped before it could come up to vote
Assemblyman Richard Bloom pulled California’s latest soda tax bill before it could come up for a committee vote on Tuesday, reports The Sacramento Bee.
‘A clear divide in the health of urban and rural Americans’
The Washington Post says its county-by-county analysis of death records compiled by the federal government "shows a clear divide in the health of urban and rural Americans, with the gap widening most dramatically among whites.
The soda tax as a budget-balancer
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is taking a new tack on the soda tax. Instead of promoting it as a public-health tool, Kenney asks the city council to approve a 3-cent-an-ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages as a way to pay for universal pre-kindergarten for the city's children, says the New York Times.
More than half of California is at risk for diabetes
More than half of California is diabetic or pre-diabetic, says a new study out by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. Without treatment, more than 70 percent of pre-diabetics will eventually get the disease.
Fruits, vegetables, budgets and the Dietary Guidelines
Americans eat far less than the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, and a common excuse is that they cost too much. Not so, say USDA economists, who examined the average retail price of 156 commonly consumed fruits and vegetables, fresh or processed.
Californians support warning labels and soda taxes
By a 2-to-1 margin, registered voters in California support a tax on soda and other sugary drinks with the revenue used to finance nutrition and physical activity programs in schools, the results of a Field Poll show.
House votes to delay menu-labeling provision in Obamacare
In "yet another fight over Obamacare," the House passed a bill "to weaken an Obama administration regulation to require nutrition information on restaurant menus," reports The Hill newspaper.
Many Americans try to limit sugar in their diet
Perhaps Americans paid attention to the roll-out of the updated Dietary Guidelines, which for the first time recommend a limit on consumption of added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily calories. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-January "finds that 58 percent [of respondents] say they tried to limit sugar in their diets in the previous 30 days," says Reuters.
Child obesity surges, report urges healthier diets and physical activity
Some 41 million children under the age of 5 are overweight or obese, a 33-percent increase worldwide in a generation, says a report to the UN World Health Organization that urges public and private groups to reverse the trend.
‘The trouble with Iowa’
Leading into the Feb. 1 precinct caucuses that begin the presidential nomination process, Harper's says in a cover story that "it seems to defy reason" that Iowa, a farm state with a population of 3 million, "should play such an out-sized role. But Iowa is not over. In fact, it may be more relevant than ever."
Warning signs proposed for sugary drinks in Charm City
Baltimore city officials are considering whether businesses selling soda and other sugary drinks should be required to post warning signs about the drinks, reports the Associated Press.
In frigid, high-cost Alaska, ‘the salad wars are on’
Two small startups "with a starkly different vision of how to grow produce year-around, under uniquely Alaskan conditions," hope to reap profits, along with vegetables, in a state where the food chain is long and prices are high, says the New York Times.
CDC: High obesity rates in 23 states
New population data show that in 23 of the 50 states, at least 35 percent of adults are obese, a startling increase in a decade, said the Centers for Disease Control. Before 2013, adult obesity did not reach these rates in a single state.