Rudd Sound Bites

How food is like the letter "Y."

by Beth Rocchio

The letter "Y" is a vowel.  Or is it a consonant?  It all depends how you use it, right?

I understand exactly why so many people have such difficulty understanding how food can be a substance of abuse.  We need food to live.  However, for many years certain people have claimed to be compulsive overeaters or self-described food addicts.  And now, there is mounting evidence from throughout the research/scientific medical community showing that for some people the brain appears the same on food as it does on drugs.

The proof is in the property values

by Chelsea Heuer

Where you live has a lot to do with how healthy are. A new study shows that property values are among the strongest predictors of obesity – the lower the property values where you live, the more likely you are to be obese. In the current study, which took place in the Seattle area, obesity rates reached 30% in the poorest regions, but were only 5% in the most affluent zip codes.

Adults Just Wanna Have Fun

by Becca Krukowski

A couple of months ago I worked with a patient who expressed to me his frustration about physical activity: as a retired football player, he was used to physical activity being a “game” or “fun”.  As an older adult, he didn’t think it was in his best interest to resume playing football in his attempt to maintain a healthy lifestyle, but he was bored by the traditional exercise activities (such as walking on a treadmill at a gym).  At the time, I don’t think that I fully understood his point, as I actually enjoy going to the gym for exercise.

Did Slow and Steady Win Some Ratings?

by Sarah Novak

After overcoming the irritation of having the Proclaimers’ mid-90s hit “I’m gonna be (500 miles)” stuck in my head for several weeks, I was eager to see ABC’s summer entry into the weight loss TV genre.  “Fat March” followed 12 obese adults as they walked over 500 miles, passing through 9 states in the process.  The contestants started at the Boston Marathon and those who completed the journey ended up in Washington, DC 10 weeks later.  The prize money was determined by the number of marchers who finished.  Though it could have been as much as $100,000 each, due to quitters, physical problems, and rivalries, the finalists wound up with only $40,000.  An insurance-minded viewer has noted that marchers also reduced their insurance premiums significantly.

"Dust-Up" in the LA Times

Our readers may be interested in the Opinion section of this week's LA Times, where the Rudd Center's Kelly Brownell and Paul Campos from the University of Colorado debate five different issues related to our obesity crisis:

1. How obese are we? Is obesity truly an epidemic? What is the size of our overeating problem?
2. Why is our flab state business? Specifically, what concern is it of the government's that Americans are getting fatter?
3. The best anti-obesity policies. What specific government policies, and what types of approaches, work best in combating obesity?
4. Obesity myths. What are the most common misconceptions about obesity, and who is spreading them?
5. Cultural matters in the obesity debate. How much are the Great Fat Wars an artifact of class and cultural differences? How does that affect the way we talk about and act upon obesity?

The Clash Between Portion Control and the Environment

by Jennifer Otten

I teach a weight loss group in the environmentally conscious state of Vermont. In a recent class, my group raised the issue that as they try to control their portion sizes they are finding themselves battling their environmental conscience.

For example, one participant controls the amount of sugar in her coffee by using individual packets instead of the large, glass sugar shaker from which one could pour sugar. She feels guilty. In the past she says she used the sugar shaker to avoid the paper waste of the individual packets. Others had concerns over buying the individual serving sizes of yogurt. They were used to buying the larger yogurt containers and then eating from those. But they found they couldn’t control their portion size as well. They also felt guilty and wondered: were they now preserving their own health at the expense of our future, collective environment?

Advocating for a New Farm Bill

by Michelle Castañeda

The USDA and public health advocates recognize that Americans are eating too much fat and sugar, and too few fruits and vegetables. The Food Guide Pyramid recommends eating several times more servings of fruits & vegetables than meat, yet the government pours much more funding into farming livestock than growing fresh produce. The explanation for this has nothing to do with logic or reason; what we have is a policy that values corporate interests over the heartbeats of the American people.

Role Model on a Bike

by Rebecca Puhl

I came across an interesting blog the other day called “Fat Girl on a Bike”. It’s about a young woman named Sarah Watson, who is obese and has completed 6 triathlons. Her website and blog focus on her athletic training experiences, and various triathlon accomplishments. She details her experiences of the rigorous physical training and mental effort it takes to prepare for the competitions, but also talks about her motivation for participating in triathlons, which is to have fun, to complete the races, to improve over time, and to discover her physical capabilities.

Sleeplessness and the School Year

by Marjie Galler

Over the last few weeks, approximately fifteen million American college students returned to campus to begin fall classes. Though the early days of the semester may be filled with orientations, parties and afternoon naps, it won’t be long before reading assignments, papers and exams inundate even the most conscientious scholar. And so, with that deluge of work, all hopes of getting a decent night’s sleep go down the proverbial drain.

Cupcakes are gone – get over it.

by Marlene Schwartz

There seems to be a new back-to-school ritual – newspaper stories on how the school cafeteria looks different this year because districts are continuing to try to improve the school food environment.  One feature of most of these articles is a comment on how upset students and parents are about specific changes.  For example, this article states that parents are upset about losing cupcakes

“But some parents say that by cracking down on cupcakes in the classroom to celebrate birthdays and Halloween, school officials have crossed a line.”

And students are upset about losing French fries:

Middle schoolers in the district of South Orange and Maplewood in North Jersey were dismayed that the deep fryers were removed during a recent cafeteria renovation, cutting fried French fries from the menu.  “It wasn’t a clean transition over that, I’ll be honest,” said Patricia Johnson, the food service director, who noted that the district now offers baked fries, though not every day. “We had a lot of pouting that lasted about two or three weeks, and they got over it."

Drawing the Line for Doctors

by Jennifer Otten

A recent article in Time magazine emphasized how important it is for physicians to “say what needs to be said” and diagnose respective patients as overweight or obese.  I wholeheartedly agree – to a certain point. And that certain point, for me, is where diagnosing ends and treatment and counseling begin.

The Time article supports the practice of doctors providing weight management plans for their obese patients, but did not provide data about whether physician-generated weight management plans actually resulted in weight loss or better health.

The No Thank You Bite

by Becca Krukowski

A colleague was telling me about a research participant who is struggling with making healthy changes with her diet because she doesn’t like raw vegetables.  As a point of discussion, my colleague responded with “when is the last time that you tried raw vegetables?” In the parenting literature, there is extensive discussion about how kids require repeated exposure to new foods to develop an affinity for them.  I like the idea of the “no thank you” bite, a philosophy by which children are required to take just one bite of a new food that they think they will dislike.