Obesity
Contradictory as it seems, malnutrition is a key contributor to obesity - Madeleine M. Kunin
image by: Steve Baker
HWN Suggests
Obesity now kills more people worldwide than car crashes, terror attacks, and Alzheimer's combined
Look around you, and it’s not hard to see how serious the problem of obesity has become in America. People here are now bigger, and suffering from more obesity-related diseases, than ever before — prompting cities across the country to desperately try to fight back with measures like soda taxes and calorie labels.
Travel beyond the US borders, though, and you’ll see the same problem elsewhere: Obesity is now a growing phenomenon in just about every corner of the world, in poor and rich countries alike.
That’s the big take-home message from an impressive new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. A global group of researchers, funded by the Bill and Melinda…
Resources
Doctors need to change the way they treat obesity
And it could be as easy as ABCD.
A diet guru explains why you should eat dinner at 2pm
There have been two main changes in dietary habits from the 1970s (before the obesity epidemic) until today. First, there was the change is what we were recommended to eat. Prior to 1970, there was no official government sanctioned dietary advice. You ate what your mother told you to eat. With the publication of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, we were told to cut the fat in our diets way down and replace that with carbohydrates, which might have been OK if it was all broccoli and kale, but might not be OK if it was all white bread and sugar. But the other major change was in when we eat.
Everything You Know About Obesity Is Wrong
For decades, the medical community has ignored mountains of evidence to wage a cruel and futile war on fat people, poisoning public perception and ruining millions of lives. It’s time for a new paradigm.
New research spells out the number of years obesity shaves off a life
New research shows people who suffer from overweight and obesity are at greater risk of dying sooner than people who don’t. The finding pokes holes in the so-called “obesity paradox.”
Obesity is not a uniquely American phenomenon
Obesity has become one of the greatest health scourges of our time. Around the world, it contributes to three million deaths each year. There are more than a billion adults who classify as overweight or obese, and the epidemic has hit developing countries, where starvation and malnutrition are still widespread. As researchers learn more about the social and economic impact of obesity, a number of basic unanswered questions remain — such as why obesity rates have soared in the last three decades, and how to turn that trend around.
Obesity, even without other risk factors, leads to higher rate of cardiovascular disease
Is obesity always unhealthy? Some studies have tried to answer that question by looking at those who are “fat but fit” — obese but still physically active. A new study takes a different tack: If people are obese but without other cardiovascular risk factors, do they still have a higher rate of things like heart attack and stroke? The answer, in one of the biggest studies yet to weigh in on the question, is yes.
The Obesity Epidemic — Root Causes
Global cooling has long ceased to be a serious concern, but global warming and melting polar ice caps dominate the news. Instead of global hunger and mass starvation, we face an obesity epidemic, unprecedented in human history.
Why Are We So Fat? The Multimillion-Dollar Scientific Quest to Find Out
A growing number of doctors and advocates now see decades of increased consumption of table sugar and other refined carbohydrates as the most likely explanation for our current epidemics.
Why our food is making us fat
We are, on average, 3st heavier than we were in the 60s. And not because we're eating more or exercising less – we just unwittingly became sugar addicts.
Are There Health Benefits to Being Overweight?
A heart doctor says overweight people can be healthy. A public-health professor says the dangers of extra weight are underestimated.
Body Weight, Clash of Ideologies
Doctors understand obesity as a social disease, even if most other people don't.
Fast food is fueling an obesity epidemic in Africa
The African continent is growing ever more obese. Rapid urbanization, population growth and expanding economies which swell the ranks of middle-income families, are leading to more Africans indulging in fast foods.
Gaining A New Perspective On The Cause of Obesity
Researchers have found a possible lynchpin stemming from the immune system
How Junk Food Can End Obesity
Demonizing processed food may be dooming many to obesity and disease. Could embracing the drive-thru make us all healthier?
Hunger and Obesity Can Be Two Sides of the Same Coin
The U.N.’s latest report on food security shows troubling trends for both problems.
Is Obesity an Addiction?
New brain research is revealing why fats and sugars may be driving more and more people toward obesity.
Lap Bands - Worthless or Worthwhile?
Obesity has become a major health problem worldwide and especially in the western world. Could lap bands make a difference?
Limiting Exposure to Unhealthy Food Choices on Campus the Right Move
Some might say it's government intrusion, but we're talking about children, and we're only saying that public schools ought to be providing them with more than just proper mental nourishment.
Mediterranean diet is best way to tackle obesity, say doctors
A Mediterranean diet may be a better way of tackling obesity than calorie counting, leading doctors have said.
Study Finds Fat Kills, Casting Doubt on
In findings contradicting the "obesity paradox", which had suggested a possible survival advantage to being overweight, researchers said excess body weight now causes 1 in 5 of all premature deaths in America and 1 in 7 in Europe.
The Big Fat Truth
More and more studies show that being overweight does not always shorten life — but some public-health researchers would rather not talk about them.
The Crushing Depression of Morbid Obesity
People who are morbidly obese are four to six times more likely to be depressed than people of average size.
We’re barely using the best tool we have to fight obesity
Americans keep dieting to lose weight, but bariatric surgery is the most effective treatment out there.
What's Wrong With Calling Obesity A Medical Problem?
It's become a source of major national anxiety. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation predicts that every state in the nation will have an obesity rate greater than 44 percent by 2030, and will be sicker for it.
Why It May Be Counterproductive to Say 'Overweight'
A proposed linguistic change could temper a cultural obsession with body weight.
In treating obese patients, too often doctors can’t see past weight
Our cultural obsession with appearance may bleed over into the exam room, leading doctors to disproportionately focus on weight and to interact with fat patients differently from thin ones. It’s a stigma that can bring sometimes life-and-death consequences.
Obesity now kills more people worldwide than car crashes, terror attacks, and Alzheimer's combined
Five takeaways from a giant study on an epidemic governments can’t ignore.
Campaign to End Obesity
The Campaign to End Obesity Action Fund collaborates with leaders from the Administration, Congress and federal agencies on legislation and policies to reverse the obesity epidemic.
Obesity Action Coalition
The Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) is a nearly 50,000 member-strong 501(c)(3) National non-profit organization dedicated to giving a voice to the individual affected by the disease of obesity and helping individuals along their journey toward better health through education, advocacy and support.
Obesity Prevention
Bloomberg Philanthropies is stepping up to combat this growing and deadly trend by helping to identify and implement policies that aim to halt, and ideally reverse, the global rise in obesity. Bloomberg Philanthropies launched the Obesity Prevention Program to support policies targeted at preventing obesity among individuals in Mexico. If proven successful, these policies can be used in other low- and middle-income countries.
Obesity Society
The Obesity Society is the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. Since 1982, The Obesity Society has been committed to encouraging research on the causes and treatment of obesity, and to keeping the medical community and public informed of new advances.
ObesityWeek
ObesityWeek has something for every scientist, physician, surgeon, allied health professional, and policy maker interested in solving one of the world’s biggest public health problem. ObesityWeek is a unique, international event focused on the basic science, clinical application, surgical intervention and prevention of obesity.
STOP Obesity Alliance
The STOP Obesity Alliance will foster change in society's perceptions of, and approaches to, preventing and treating obesity in the context of the real-world environment in which we live.
The State of Obesity
The State of Obesity (formerly F as in Fat) has raised awareness about the seriousness of the obesity epidemic, encouraged the creation of a national obesity prevention strategy and highlighted promising approaches for reversing the epidemic at the state and local level. The State of Obesity is a collaborative project of the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and is supported by a grant from the Foundation.
Walk from Obesity
The Walk from Obesity is the nation’s largest gathering of individuals affected by obesity. In cities all across the country, those focused on addressing obesity will join forces and walk to raise money for research, education, prevention and treatment of obesity.
World Obesity
World Obesity Federation represents professional members of the scientific, medical and research communities from over 50 regional and national obesity associations. Through our membership we create a global community of organisations dedicated to solving the problems of obesity. Our mission is to lead and drive global efforts to reduce, prevent and treat obesity.
American Board of Obesity Medicine
The American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) serves the public and the field of obesity medicine by establishing a credentialing protocol and maintaining standards for assessment and certification of candidate physicians.
American Obesity Treatment Association
AOTA was formed to bring together individuals who are facing the often life-long struggle with obesity. Whether you are beginning to address your weight issues, you have been fighting the battle for a long-time, or you have 30 pounds or 300 pounds to lose, you are not alone in this journey.
American Society For Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery Foundation
The Mission of the ASMBS Foundation is to raise funds for conducting research and education, increasing public and scientific awareness and understanding, and improving access to quality care and treatment of obesity and morbid obesity.
Association for Pet Obesity Prevention
The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (APOP) has launched campaigns to fight pet obesity within the veterinary medical community, veterinary schools, and state and local veterinary organizations, and has reached out to various media outlets. We are made up of dedicated veterinarians and veterinary healthcare personnel who are committed to making the lives of dogs, cats, all other animals and people healthier and more vital.
Canadian Obesity Network
Mission: to act as a catalyst for addressing obesity in Canada and as a platform to foster knowledge translation, capacity building and partnerships among stakeholders so that researchers, health professionals, policy makers, industry and other stakeholders may develop effective solutions to prevent and treat obesity.
Cardiometabolic Health Congress
The CMHC provides unprecedented access to the largest U.S.-based multidisciplinary cardiometabolic risk summit of 1,500+ clinicians world-renowned faculty, plenary sessions, and interactive case-based symposia to deliver on all counts – translating the most current clinical data into real-world solutions that will undoubtedly make a significant impact on your daily practice.
Cardiometabolic Risk Summit
The Primary Care Cardiometabolic Risk Summit is dedicated to translating late-breaking clinical research on cardiometabolic syndrome risk reduction into practical and targeted education that can easily be applied to real-world clinical scenarios in the primary care setting.
eMedicineHealth
Obesity is an epidemic in the United States and in other developed countries. More than two-thirds of Americans are overweight, including at least one in five children. Nearly one-third are obese.
National Childhood Obesity Foundation
To be the most current and effective international nutritional and physical activity health education resource for gatekeepers of children.
Scientific American
Various articles dealing with obesity.
WHO
Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for a number of chronic diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Once considered a problem only in high income countries, overweight and obesity are now dramatically on the rise in low- and middle-income countries, particularly in urban settings.
World Congress On Insulin Resistance, Diabetes & Cardiovascular Disease
Serves to inform people on insulin resistance syndrome and other metabolic conditions.
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