Health Digest - May 2015- UCONN Rudd Center For Food Policy and Obesity

Health Digest - May 2015 Rudd Center Recent Publications

Views on Classifying Obesity as a Disease In the first assessment of public opinion in the United States since the American Medical Association classified obesity as a disease in 2013, a study by the Rudd Center published May 13 in the journal Obesity found that a majority of Americans support the designation. "For decades, the message to the individual has been to eat less and exercise more, and for a number of reasons that has not been effective," said author Rebecca Puhl, Deputy Director of the Rudd Center. "Obesity is a much more complex issue, and the disease classification formally acknowledges this."   Rudd Center in the News   As food companies and restaurants increasingly remove artificial ingredients and GMOs from their offerings, "It's important that people still pay attention to things like portion size and calories even though the restaurant may have actually made some important changes," Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz said in a May 29 NBC News piece.    The Rudd Center's March study on the increasing health hazard that energy drinks pose to young people was cited in a May 19 article in Digital Trends on how players of video games are being targeted for marketing by energy drink makers. Rudd Center Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl's study assessing public opinion about the classification of obesity as a disease was highlighted in the May 13 edition of UConn Today. A May 14 commentary piece in Medscape by Dr. Puhl, "Obesity as a 'Disease' - What Americans Think, and Why That's Important," included a section on how her findings may inform relationships between healthcare providers and patients. She noted that many patients may not be aware that obesity is now considered a disease. "Healthcare providers may want to inform patients of the disease classification and discuss the implications that this has as a paradigm for diagnosis and treatment," Puhl wrote. The May 11 edition of The New York Times quoted Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz about making sure you get enough volume of food when you eat at a restaurant to feel satisfied when you leave. The tip appeared in an article by writer Josh Barro called "How to Eat Healthy Meals at Restaurants." Reuters ran a hard-hitting piece May 8 on a study showing that the vast majority of TV commercials during shows aimed at kids under age 12 are for unhealthy foods with too much added sugar, saturated fat or sodium. The ads don't meet proposed federal voluntary guidelines for the nutritional quality of foods advertised to children. Jennifer Harris, Rudd Center Director of Marketing Initiatives (who was not part of the study), told Reuters: "This paper is interesting because it shows that the industry's definition of what is healthy and should be marketed to kids is completely out of whack with the opinions of government experts." New York Magazine published a provocative piece on May 4 called "Willpower (or Lack of It) Is the Wrong Way to Think About Weight." Writer Melissa Dahl quoted Rudd Center Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl and cited her recent multi-national findings that, when people believe the cause of obesity is lack of willpower, they express stronger weight bias, on average, than those who believe biological or environmental factors play major roles. "...I think the way to think about this is that obesity is a very complex puzzle and personal behavior is just one of those pieces," Puhl said in the article.   The Rudd Center was featured in UConn Magazine's Spring 2015 edition in an article on our work to reverse the obesity epidemic. The piece, "National Disaster," quotes Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz on putting research into action. "If all I'm doing is publishing in a journal, that's not helping anybody else." Deputy Director Rebecca Puhl talks about  challenging the assumption that obesity is a matter of personal choice. "That's a false assumption," she says, pointing out that the American Medical Association now classifies obesity as a disease.   Rudd Center Director Marlene Schwartz appeared May 4 on WNPR's radio program "Where We Live" to discuss "Is Fast Food Going Out of Style?" The wide-ranging interview touched on topics including why McDonald's is struggling, how Americans are eating out more often, and policy options like taxing unhealthy foods while providing incentives for healthy foods.     News to Chew On   Los Angeles Times City of Davis sours on sweet drinks for kids' meals in restaurants U.S. News & World Report Rethink Your Child’s Sugary Drink San Jose Mercury News Berkeley soda tax: First month’s take, $116,000 The Washington Post These 26 states won't let you sue McDonald's for making you fat. The surprising consequence of banning obesity lawsuits. Time Preschoolers Aren't Getting Enough Exercise, Study Says NPR Is The War On Fat Harming Our Children? The New York Times Energy Drinks, Under Scrutiny, Tap into Young Gamer Culture   Washington Post Take off that Fitbit. Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight. Consumers Union Google’s YouTube Kids: Better for Advertisers than Families?   About.com The Relationship Between Bullying and Childhood Obesity   CSPI Dairy Queen Removes Soda from Kids' Meals Daily Mail UK Obesity epidemic to blame for record number of people suffering gout - and the sharpest rise is in patients in their 20s and 30s PR Newswire Pepsi Adds Bold Flavor to its Beverage Portfolio with Pepsi Limon CNN How paradise became the fattest place in the world   Salon Our food system is still a toxic mess: Mark Bittman on changing the way America eats     What's Simmering with Our Friends   Voices for Healthy Kids and others shared information in a May 19 #SaludTues tweetchat about "How to get more healthy drinks in Latino communities." The weekly social media chats focus on a variety of Latino health topics. These chats are co-hosted by @SaludToday, the Latino health social media campaign and Twitter handle for the Institute for Health Promotion at the University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio, which directs Salud America! Salud America! is The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Research Network to Prevent Obesity Among Latino Children.   Following public pressure from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, MomsRising.org, and other advocacy groups, Dairy Queen became the latest major fast-food chain to remove soda and other sugary drinks from children's menus. McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's had already made this change in response to pressure campaigns. The change at Dairy Queen franchises will take effect Sept. 1. "We hope chains like Applebee's and Chili's will choose to exercise the same kind of corporate responsibility that DQ has," said CSPI nutrition policy director Margo G. Wootan.   PreventObesity.net, a project of the American Heart Association dedicated to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic, highlighted a study published in JAMA Pediatrics that found that children have a tough time recognizing healthy foods in fast food television advertising. "Although leading fast food restaurants agreed to include healthy foods in their marketing targeted to kids back in 2009, marketers are often misleading in how they present those foods, researchers say." Only 10 percent of kids surveyed could positively identify apples in a Burger King ad - likely because the apples were sliced like french fries and placed in a french fries container, the PreventObesity.net piece noted.     Share With A Friend & Sign Up for Our Newsletter Facebook Twitter Website YouTube

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Curbing global sugar consumption | World Cancer Research Fund

Curbing global sugar consumption | World Cancer Research Fund



  Canada just gave 4.5 Million $$$  to conduct research on Weight Loss Surgery.  I am pretty dumb when it comes to this type of surgery so I need to ask a question. How does one Not lose weight when the body environment is altered?   How does this reflect on Prevention ? Paul Murphy

         Just a few Ideas from the article :

• school nutrition standards in Queensland, Australia
• a vending machine ban in France
• a front-of-package symbol that led to product reformulation
• soda taxes in France and Mexico
• a programme targeting retail environments in New York City, USA
• a programme promoting increased water consumption in schools in Hungary
• school fruit and vegetable programmes in Netherlands and Norway
• a healthy marketing campaign in Los Angeles County, USA
• a comprehensive nutrition and health programme in France

Can Mexico Fight Obesity ?

  If you want to see and witness legislative action to address Health and Health Equity just explore how Canada has  taken on Tobacco.  Despite countless reports and warnings Canada refuses to use Tobacco Tactics to address Diabetes and JunkFood consumption.  They have funded reasearch on weight Loss Surgery. Paul Murphy

Can Mexico’s health program teach the U.S. to lose weight?

Watch Video | Listen to the Audio

This report originally aired on February 16, 2014.

MARTIN FLETCHER: Every Sunday in Mexico City tens of thousands answer their president’s challenge: to exercise one hour a day. Mexico’s health ministry says its citizens are too fat.

Yoga class along the city’s main Reforma Avenue. Nearby, Zumba. Five straight hours of Latin American dance and aerobics. All overseen by Horacio de la Vega, a Mexican pentathlete in two Olympics.

You see that 30 percent of people in Mexico are obese and 70percent  are overweight.

HORACIO DE LA VEGA, MEXICO CITY INSTITUTE OF SPORT: Yes.

MARTIN FLETCHER: And you’re an Olympic athlete. How do you feel about that?

HORACIO DE LA VEGA: It’s a very important problem. It’s sad that we actually came to this point. It’s painful, but it has a lot to do with education, with the culture, and we’re trying to make a lot of efforts to make this revert.

MARTIN FLETCHER: We met Diana Cardona at the Zumba dance. At barely five feet, this thirty year old mother has struggled with her weight her whole life. Zumba has helped her lose 20 pounds — she’s hoping to lose 20 more. The Zumba class is certainly hard to resist — a catchy part of what Mexico calls its three pillars to fight obesity.

So this is the pillar number one: more exercise for the people. I think I’ve lost a little bit of weight. Maybe.

After more sport comes number two: a healthier diet. But it’s pillar number three that has the whole world watching.

Taxation of junk food. With one and a half billion people overweight around the globe, Mexico’s battle of the bulge has become a test case in the fight against obesity. The new taxes are: eight per cent on food high in saturated fat, sugar and salt, like sweet breads and cakes. About nine per cent on sugary drinks like cola.

LUIS VIDEGARAY, SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND PUBLIC CREDIT, MEXICO: We’re doing a lot of education programs, health programs to change the habits of people, but we are also using incentives, and taxes can be powerful incentives. I’m an economist, so I believe in incentives, and I think this should have an effect on how people select what to drink and what to eat.

MARTIN FLETCHER: Commercials pound the message: exercise and eat healthy, every day, similar to the New York anti-obesity message of former Mayor Michael Bloomberg. And that’s no coincidence. Bloomberg’s philanthropic organization has pledged $10 million dollars to help finance Mexico’s anti-obesity campaign.

Jorge Romo, chief lawyer for Mexico’s beverage industry association, says that since the taxes were introduced January the first this year, consumption is already down five per cent — but he believes it will go up again.

JORGE ROMO, MEXICAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SOFT DRINKS AND CARBONATED WATER: We are not convinced that by putting a new tax for soft drinks, in addition to other taxes that they already pay, it’s going to be a solution. And the reason is that it’s an old customs — custom in Mexico to drink soft drinks.

MARTIN FLETCHER: But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it? To reduce the consumption of sugar because sugar leads to obesity.

JORGE ROMO: Yes, but if you taxed only the drinks which are bottled, then why not the other ones? There is an unequitable situation. And in talking of equity, that’s a main reason that the tax might be unconstitutional, because you cannot tax some product and the other ones not.

MARTIN FLETCHER: What Romo’s getting at: the new tax only levies extra pesos on bottled or canned soft drinks and packaged snacks, not the fatty foods and drinks sold on the street.

Still Mexicans drink more Coca Cola products per capita than anyone else in the world. Visiting a mobile health clinic, Maria Castillo has had hypertension for 23 years and diabetes for five.

How much Coca Cola do you drink every day?

For the family, three liters she says.

Three liters a day? Three liters of Coca Cola, so it’s one liter a day each person more or less?

She says, yes it’s bad. And tortilla and bread. That’s what makes us fat.

Mexico’s Coca Cola franchise declined our interview request. But industry lawyer Romo — who represents Coke among other brands — says the soft drink companies aren’t the only culprits in the obesity crisis.

But it’s the amount of sugar — there is so much sugar in these drinks.

JORGE ROMO: Maybe it is the amount of sugar, but if it is the only energy they consume, they eat or they drink, so no problem. And if they exercise no problem at all. It’s very expensive to buy fruit, to buy vegetables, so they only eating fried food.

MARTIN FLETCHER: With fifty percent of Mexicans living below the poverty line, cost is critical.

Doesn’t it just make it more expensive for the people who can’t afford to buy anything else?

LUIS VIDEGARAY, SECRETARY OF FINANCE AND PUBLIC CREDIT, MEXICO: But there are alternatives. The taxes — the taxes are only taxing high calorie foods and sugary drinks. There are other foods and other drinks available that are not being taxed, and we want exactly that shift in consumption patterns.

MARTIN FLETCHER: Perhaps easier said than done, especially in a country where even locals shy away from the tap water, often leaving bottled drinks as the only option.

Back at home, Diana from Zumba class has changed her eating habits over the past year. The children eat rice, tomatoes, peas, tortilla, and guacamole. A year ago it was fries, takeaway pizzas, hamburgers, cans of cola. If she hadn’t gone on the diet, she says, I’d be this big! And she feels better. Look at the badge behind her.

‘Me siento magnifico.’ That’s Spanish for ‘I feel magnificent.’

DIANA CARDONA: Whoo! Si! Yes!

MARTIN FLETCHER: It’s too early to say what the effect of taxation will be as a tool against obesity. Even its supporters say an increase of eight to ten percent is just not enough, but the government argues it’s the message that counts. Healthy eating saves lives.

In a local initiative by Mexico City, for those who don’t go to the gym, the gym comes to them. Three hundred so-called urban gyms were set up last year, three hundred more will be opened this year, and the same again next year.

With medical and psychological advice, and check-ups, all provided free by the city. Prevention, the mayor says, is cheaper than treatment.

Maria Gonzales is the city psychologist in charge of these urban gyms.

MARIA GONZALES, MEXICO CITY GOVERNMENT: We want the people to be healthy.

MARTIN FLETCHER: And when you see the people come to you, are they healthy?

MARIA GONZALES: Most of them no. But they come here and they start wanting to have a better way of living. A healthy life, a healthy style of living.

MARTIN FLETCHER: The biggest challenge is to start them young – all research shows that if a child is overweight at age five, most always will be. Esperanza and Citlali are five – they don’t know much about new taxes – but the government says higher taxes on junk food will make families buy less – and their children will be healthier, and live longer.

The post Can Mexico’s health program teach the U.S. to lose weight? appeared first on PBS NewsHour.

Fat Hatred and Bashing the Obese by Paul Murphy

Fat Hatred and Bashing the Obese

THUINDER BAY, ON --- November 10, 2010 ---- Our health care agencies in Thunder Bay, are under attack, due to this impending obesity crisis.
The issue could not be simpler, and yet we are losing the battle.
Perhaps we are misguided by special interest groups. Many heavily
funded programs continue to focus solely on physical activity, and very
little else. The root cause of obesity may be misinformation, and our
stats that continue to grow and grow are due to our misguided work
plan. How does addressing physical activity, successfully, address the
issue? Bashing the obese and spreading fat hatred is a regular
occurrence within the media. Programs such as The Biggest Loser, only
add to the already complex situation. The goal is to raise the level of
awareness, and try to promote the conversation about this practice.
Why are the obese the targets, and how can we begin to address this
issue?

The couch potato myth continues to be promoted by the media, food industry and weight loss industry. This myth continues to shift and scheme to
avoid accountability. All three have a major interest in suppressing
the environmental action plan necessary. The lifestyle tool has been
brilliant, because it shifts any notion of accountability away from the
food giants. Lifestyle is blame and blame restricts the conversation.
How can we sit by and allow a child be victimized for obesity? Some
of our children may never recover from the brutality supported by the
media. They have simply stopped trying, and this is a tragedy. The try
harder message heavily supported by the weight loss industry continues
to play loudly. Why is there so much pressure to avoid discussing the
food environment? The weight loss industry has continued to flourish,
and many programs are owned by the food giants, and they continue to
have a failing rate of ninety-five percent. But it is you that are the
one left with feeling like a failure. If only you had more will power
and a desire for a lifestyle change.

There are many gifted and talented people working on the childhood obesity issue. However, a single pair of eyeglasses does effectively correct
the vision of all who need them. Each person has their own food
experience and relationship, and for some this has been a long standing
struggle. For many, obesity could not be simpler; spouting calories in
and calories out. No one can argue with this theory, unless your food
relationship is saturated with rage and self hatred. Add to the
experience of a drug like addiction to sugar or overeating we suddenly
obtain a better vision of the complex issue. Many can barely stomach a
thought of food intake in the morning, and for those who suffer with
body image distortion, the issue is even more complex. What if we are
framing the issue all wrong? How about an environmental approach on the
issue of childhood obesity? Let’s build a community driven action plan,
and open the lines of communication.

A little ‘fat talk’ is a tool that is free, and it might create the impact needed to address childhood obesity. The concept of real health
promotion must include all aspects of the issue. Why not move past the
established media and host town hall meetings on the childhood obesity
issue? The antidote, or solution might be too close for us to actually
see, and lifestyle may be acting as a blind spot. Perhaps one day we
can examine the issue in an open free thinking forum, and as we conduct
a full and open investigation on the obesity crisis, solutions will
emerge. We can add integrity and dignity to the obesity action plan,
and those with a restricted ability will be flushed out, for their
activity, turn off the screen action plans. Children are the future and
if this food environment is hampering their health, it needs to be
changed. After all, obesity is the by product.

Attacking the obese and labelling people of size as lazy, unhealthy, unmotivated and have no willpower, is unacceptable. While the statistics continue
to grow, they reflect some real truth, and that truth might indicate
that we are missing the target. The media and food environment continue
to distort any real, measurable targets that may create an impact on
obesity. The time for games is over, and we need to witness some real
action that addresses the issue of obesity. Our media needs to act like
reporters, and start investigating the obesity crisis. How can the
media distance themselves from the giants of the food industry, who
have always skilfully skirted any notion of accountability? Our
governments have created alliances with the giants of the food
industry, and because of these alliances, the physical activity crisis
has been born. Blaming the issue of obesity onto one single individual
is just fine, but how can you explain the recent Ontario statistics
that identify 70 per cent of the population to be obese? Many have
compared the food industry to the tobacco giants that had to face
legislation in order to inspire a little accountability. With all the
facts and information out there, here us a thought: Is food our next
tobacco?

Paul Murphy
Obesity Thunder Bay