Obesity Thunder Bay Promoting Health Equity through Shared Accountability

Friday, 13 November 2015

US obesity rates 'rising for first time since 2004' - BBC News

US &
Canada

US obesity rates 'rising
for first time since 2004'

12 November 2015
From the section US & Canada

Obesity
rates are rising again among American adults, despite national efforts to
promote healthy lifestyles.

Rates of
obesity had been climbing dramatically since the 1980s but started levelling
off in about 2004.

This
latest study means they are rising again - to nearly 38% in 2013-14, up from
about 32% a decade ago.

The
numbers come from a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, using a national survey of about 5,000 people.

National
campaigns have been aimed at lowering obesity rates in the US, such as First
Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaign, which offers programming
for exercise and healthy eating among youths.

Stacey Snelling,
a nutritionist teaching at American University, told the BBC that the rise in
obesity rates could be due to the healthy eating campaigns losing their
effectiveness.

Over the
past 10 years, much of the focus has been on food and nutrition for keeping
obesity at bay, but now people were "losing attention" to that
message, she said, so perhaps now it was time to focus on exercise.

"Our
initial reaction to the obesity epidemic - limited sugary beverages and fried
food - that only works to a point," said Ms Snelling.

The
consumption of fizzy drinks has fallen in recent years and fast-food chains now
offer healthier menus, but these kinds of public health problems are complex,
she adds.

Image
copyright Press Association Image caption The US focused on cutting out fried
foods and sugary drinks in past years

Many
companies have introduced things like treadmill desks and incentives to
exercise with pedometers and staff-wide contests - but not all have taken a
stake in employees' health.

"With
adults, the corporate environment has not changed as dramatically as schools
have," she said.

Obesity
prevalence was found to be much higher for adult women than adult men - 38%
compared to 34.3%.

Study
author Cynthia Ogden told the BBC that this study marked the first time in many
years that higher women's obesity rates were statistically significant.

"That's
kind of a new finding," said Ms Ogden. "Now, what's happened is
prevalence in women has gone above what it was in men again."

Non-Hispanic
black and Hispanic adults and youth are experiencing higher rates of obesity
than their white counterparts, the study found.

Between
black men and women, there is a significant difference for rates of obesity -
women's rates soar above men's at 57% compared to 38%.

Socio-economic
forces determine the health status of any group of people, said Ms Snelling.

Reporting
by Ashley Gold

Thursday, 12 November 2015

Guest Commentary: CU right to reject Coca-Cola's money - The Denver Post

Is Fat Stigma Making Us Miserable? - The New York Times

Obesity’s Impact on Workers Compensation | Risk Management

Obesity Rates Continue to Rise Among U.S. Adults, Women Overtake Men - US News

How Food Companies Target Children

Professor leads lecture on how food companies market to children

By Joey Spagnuolo

Life

Dr. Marlene Schwartz, director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity and professor of human development and family studies at the University of Connecticut, speaks during her lecture "Tricks Are For Kids: How Food Companies Target Children" in Laurel Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015. (Mei Buzzell/The Daily Campus)

Dr. Marlene Schwartz, director for the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity and professor of human development and family studies at the University of Connecticut, addressed how food companies market their products to children by starting from a very young age at her lecture "Tricks Are For Kids: How Food Companies Target Children" in Laurel Hall on Wednesday night.

Cereal slogan “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” holds true in many regards, especially when considering the “tricks” employed by food companies to turn children into loyal customers, Schwartz said.

Schwartz’s presentation started out with a single question: does marketing work? She wanted to know whether the audience believed that marketing affects others as well as whether or not the audience believed it affected themselves as individuals.

In her research, Schwartz found that the majority of people she studied believed that others are affected by marketing, but they themselves are not. That, however, is simply not the case.

Schwartz recounted a story from when her daughter was younger that most audience members could relate to. While the two were at the grocery store, Schwartz’s daughter had asked her mom to buy Disney Princess themes fruit snacks for the sheer fact that the princesses were displayed on the box. Schwartz used this example to prove the fact that everyone is affected by marketing.

Food companies claim that they are just trying to get people to buy into their brand, but Schwartz said they do so at the expense of children’s health. Schwartz said food advertising relies heavily on emotion which, is exemplified in her princess themed fruit snack example.

Children are susceptible to the allure of their favorite television characters and therefore will beg their parents to buy them anything related to these characters, Schwartz said.

Capitalizing on children’s emotions, cereal, fast food and sugar-laden beverage companies are able to successfully advertise and sell their unhealthiest products.

Schwartz said the food industry knows that people want this problem regulated, but not at the expense of child targeted advertising. The past few years have seen some progress toward this movement with some companies no longer advertising toward children under the age of 12, but even that has its drawbacks.

She posed alternative solutions, such as keeping the television out of children’s bedrooms, writing letters to food companies and even just talking to children about this issue to teach them better eating habits.

When asked about her goals for the food marketing industry, Schwartz wants them “to recognize that children 14 and under are still children,” meaning that there needs to be stricter policies as to the maximum age children should be exposed to television food advertisements.

However, in a perfect world, Schwartz said she would like for companies advertising foods that are unhealthy for children “to stop marketing toward [children] all together.”

Joey Spagnuolo is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at joseph.spagnuolo@uconn.edu.