Rudd Sound Bites

Nutrition Symbology

by Christopher Wharton

Recently, food companies have taken to printing all sorts of nutrition-related symbols on their food packages in attempt to “educate” consumers and boost sales.  You’ve probably seen a number of them: Kraft’s “Sensible Solutions” flag, Kellogg’s “Nutrition at a Glance” banner, Pepsico’s “Smart Spot” symbol.  These symbols either provide similar information as can be found in the Nutrition Facts panel, or they are meant to suggest the product meets some set of nutrition criteria the company deemed appropriate.  This would be a nice educational gesture, except that it’s ridiculous and confusing.

A Fat By Any Other Name

by Marjie Galler

The Question: What’s worse for your health than devouring a Snicker’s bar, two Oreos and a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup in one sitting? The Answer: Snacking on those same foods after they’ve been battered and deep fried. This decadent combination, known as the Combo Plate, is an Indiana state fair speciality and is estimated to contain over 700 calories. Luckily for the Hoosier patrons, this year the Combo Platters – along with all the other fair offerings – were fried in trans fat free oil!  Question: How many calories does a trans fat free Combo Platter contain? The Answer: 700. No difference.

Is Harm Reduction Missing the Mark?

by Kathy Henderson

It seems to me that we are developing an approach to improving nutrition that feels very familiar. We’ve seen it applied to smoking, drinking, illicit drug use, and sexual behavior. And, in these other arenas, the approach has inflamed hot debate. Harm reduction is a public health approach intended not to eliminate problematic health behaviors, rather, to reduce the harmful effects thereof. Needle exchanges, reduced-tar cigarettes, providing a safe space to party for underage drinkers, and providing condoms to teenagers are all examples of harm reduction strategies. I would argue that 100-calorie snack packs, reduced-sugar children’s cereals, and possibly even elimination of trans fats fall into the harm reduction category. Why? Because it would be better if we didn’t eat Oreos at all, and didn’t serve crappy cereal to our children at all, and tried to consume lower fat and less processed food in general. But, if we’re going to eat Oreos, and Lucky Charms, and deep-fried Snickers bars, let’s make them as healthy as possible.

Obesity: What Do Video Games Have To Do With It?

by Beth Rocchio

On a very hot day earlier this summer, I was standing in line at Cold Stone Creamery.  Just behind me, I noticed a school-aged boy with a BMI that appeared to be around the 85th percentile.  So far, nothing unusual.  Then I noticed his tee shirt: “My parents said I should play more outside,” the caption read.  The accompanying picture was of a kid sitting on a tree limb with a video game controller in his hand playing video games on a large-screen TV.

Call it the Snackwells Effect

by Victoria Brescoll

You’ve probably already seen the splashy headlines about the Indiana State Fair banning trans fats from the foods sold at their fair this year.  In their take on this issue, the New York Times featured a booth that sells deep-fried Twinkies, soda, and candy.  From a public health standpoint, it’s great that venues like this are voluntarily removing trans fats from their foods.  But I worry that there may be an unintended (negative) consequence of the trans fats bans.  Specifically, when it’s clearly advertised that the foods being sold are now “trans fat free,” people may feel like it is okay to eat even more of these foods than would have normally.  Call it the Snackwells effect (how when Snackwells first introduced fat-free cookies in the 1990s, people would eat larger quantities of these cookies than regular cookies, not realizing that they were virtually the same calories as the regular cookies and totally filled with sugar).

Bullied, Teased, and Absent

by Rebecca Puhl

Could weight bias lead to school absenteeism among obese students? A new study published in the journal Obesity shows that obese kids (in elementary school) miss more days of school then their non-obese peers. The study found that body weight predicts student absenteeism, over and above factors like academic performance, race, socioeconomic status, age and gender. Children who were underweight were the least likely to be absent.

"Today Show" Discusses Penalizing Obese Employees

by Carly Keidel

Many of our readers have expressed interest in a recent episode of NBC's Today Show, in which the Rudd Center's Rebecca Puhl was interviewed to discuss the practice of charging obese employees for being overweight. Please click here to watch the video clip and read coverage of this topic

"Do As I Do?"

by Becca Krukowski

During a recent session at the gym, I noticed that Self magazine was promoting a blog titled “Eat Like Me.”  I was intrigued, so I decided to check it out.  In this blog, a registered dietitian in Boston describes all of her meals and usually includes a picture of each meal as well as details about servings of various food groups.  In addition, she sometimes includes recipes, so that the reader can replicate her meals.  I don’t know how many people follow her blog, but it’s an interesting concept. Readers are able to see “first-hand” the challenges of someone who is trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and they are able to see the portion sizes that she is consuming. They see her eat healthy food, and they see her eat dessert.  And the blogger is of normal weight. So, it’s a “do as I do” philosophy, rather than “do as I say”.

A New Recommendation: Marketing Physical Activity

by Jennifer Otten

At the beginning of the month, the American College of Sports Medicine and American Heart Association released updated physical activity recommendations for adults aged 18-65 years.  While I applaud their efforts, I keep wondering: why don’t these guidelines ever include recommendations for marketing and dissemination of this information? Why can’t these organizations be held more accountable for implementation? A sort of “implement what you preach” attitude.

Fruit juice and tooth decay

by Marjie Galler

There can always be too much of a good thing. Fruit juice, which is widely hailed as a healthy alternative beverage to sugary sodas, has been branded by dentists “the worst culprit for eroding the teeth,” according to this article from BBC Health News. Acidic juices destroy children’s baby teeth in the same way as soft drinks, eating away at the enamel of the tooth. Dentists now recommend that children only drink one glass of juice a day.

Is Weight Control Like 9th Grade Geometry?

by Sarah Novak

It is hard to understand what others are going through when our personal experiences are very different. During 9^th grade, I took geometry, and I adored it. I was the kind of geek who thought solving proofs was fun. I barely did my homework, rarely studied, and yet I skated through the class pretty effortlessly (don’t worry – I got my comeuppance in organic chemistry a few years later). Some of my classmates had a very different experience with high school geometry. I know this sounds snotty, but I was baffled that people were struggling, feeling miserable and incompetent, and hating it. One friend in particular spent hours studying and working practice problems, only to get low grades on the exams. Up until this point, I honestly thought that people’s grades and outcomes were directly related to the effort they invested, but my friend and I were demonstrating that that was not the case. I felt bad for students who struggled, but on some level, it also made me feel really good about my own abilities.

What’s the deal with high-fructose corn syrup?

by Christopher Wharton

On the Scale of Food Ingredients We Now Consider to be Pure Evil, it seems that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is a solid 9.8.  It makes some sense, I suppose.  You find the stuff (nearly without fail) in sodas and sweets; it contributes calories, but not nutrients, to the foods and beverages it’s in; and it’s the perfect representative of our Processed Food Culture, the antithesis of a diet based on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Sorry, you’re too heavy – that will be $30

by Chelsea Heuer

Charging employees a fee for being overweight constitutes overt discrimination.

Throughout history, institutionalized discrimination has never failed to exacerbate disease in groups that are considered “immoral.” In the early AIDS epidemic, moral opposition to those who were most vulnerable to HIV – gay men and injection drug users – discouraged political action, denied services and support to those who were suffering, and still affects people’s choices about testing and seeking treatment, fueling the spread of the epidemic.

Food Obsession: It’s only natural! (Or is it?)

by Beth Rocchio

In the nutrition advice column in this month’s O magazine, a reader asked why after weight loss and regular exercise she thinks “about food way too often” and can’t “forget about food between meals.”  In his response, medical and health expert Dr. David Katz  says we’re hardwired to obsess about food and that thinking about food is only natural.  I agree, but I also have to wonder, after we have had our need met, shouldn’t this obsession subside, and our interest move to a different need?  Among my friends and family who have never been overweight, this is precisely what happens.

The Evolutionary Path to Weight Bias

by Chelsea Heuer

Do people have an innate aversion to obesity?

A new study may help to explain the widespread and harsh nature of weight-based prejudice. The study suggests that weight stigma may be explained by an evolutionary mechanism that causes people to detect and avoid disease-causing pathogens. Our early ancestors depended on such instincts for survival. Much like we have an natural repugnance for spoiled food to avoid food poisoning, this study reveals that humans may have negative attitudes towards obese persons as part of a “behavioral immune” response.

Weight Discrimination on Campus

by Rebecca Puhl

Will obese women be absent among future college-graduates in America? A recent study found that obese adolescent girls are less likely to attend college compared to non-obese girls. Data for this study (published in the July issue of the journal Sociology of Education) were collected from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which tracked over 10,000 girls.

What’s happening here?

The "Big Challenge" Outcome

By Meghan O'Connell

The recent finale of ABC’s “Shaq’s Big Challenge” was uplifting and positive. The children all achieved significant weight loss over the 9 month period of filming. By the end of the show the children were thrilled with their accomplishments, very grateful to Shaq and his team, and committed to following the dietary, physical activity and behavior change advice they received. 

While I am very pleased that the kids achieved some of their personal goals, I still find the show disturbing. Perhaps the producers feel that the ends have justified their means-that the kids have forgotten all about the hideous way in which they were treated during filming the show. Sure, huge weight loss no doubt feels good to them, but memories of the humiliation, shame and pressure they must have felt could certainly outlast their behavior change.

Give Peas A Chance

by Becca Krukowski

If you ask an obesity researcher about the quality of school cafeteria food, you may hear about the proliferation of unhealthy a la carte snacks, vending machines, and low quality cafeteria foods. What if you ask kids? As a recent news story reported, the kids at a Las Vegas elementary school are also concerned about the quality of the food, specifically, in this case, the reheated frozen green beans.  I remember those overcooked, slimy green tubes from my school cafeteria days.  Yuck! It’s no wonder that kids are attracted to the a la carte items and often repulsed by vegetables.

"More Harm Than Good"

by Chelsea Heuer

Monday on Minnesota Public Radio, Kelly Brownell discussed the recent Harvard study along with the study’s co-author James Fowler. While Dr. Brownell commends the authors for their well-designed research, he reveals the potential harm in their interpretations of their findings. Dr. Fowler, on the other hand, seems completely unaware of the possible repercussions their highly controversial study may have on obese individuals. Click here to listen to this interesting conversation.