Rudd Sound Bites

Mississippi Bill Puts Weight Bias on the Menu

by Kelly Brownell and Rebecca Puhl 

In late January, the Mississippi House of Representatives introduced House Bill 282 (HB 282) which seeks to prohibit state-licensed food establishments from serving food to any person who is obese, as defined by criteria outlined by the Mississippi State Department of Health.

The Rudd Center is strongly committed to reducing weight bias, and is deeply disturbed by and concerned with this proposed legislation.

"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 Importance of Menu Labeling

by Kelly Brownell

Several states are considering legislation to require calorie labeling on restaurant menus. This follows on the heels of action by the New York City Department of Health to take trans fats out of all restaurants and to require calorie labeling in restaurants that have the information already available (the chains for the most part – about 10% of all restaurants).

Does Treatment for Obesity Ever Work?

by Kelly Brownell

Several recent studies, one from Stanford and another from UCLA, have questioned whether treatment of obesity works. Both studies found that on average, people who get the best available treatments lose little weight and tend not to keep off what they do lose. The only real exception is surgery. What do these results mean?

Why Get Rid of Trans Fat?

by Kelly Brownell

The New York City Department of Health recently took action to ban trans fat from all restaurants. This was courageous action which brought down the political wrath of the restaurant industry, which is considerable. Now states and other cities are considering similar action.

The Sydney Principles: Might the Food Industry Be Accountable For Marketing to Children?

by Kelly Brownell

A group of leaders in the public health, nutrition, and obesity fields have released a draft document known as The Sydney Principles.  This document contains guidelines the experts feel the food industry must consider if their marketing of food to children is to avoid hurting them and to be ethical. The impetus was a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Oslo, Norway in which people from around the world who deal with the marketing issue were assembled.

Ahoy, Chocolate Chips – in a Bus Shelter!

by Kelly Brownell

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle noted recently that food marketers have reached news levels of cleverness. The milk industry is planning a test in which chemical strips that give off the small of chocolate chip cookies will be placed in bus shelters in San Francisco, along with Got Milk? ads. The hope of course, is that this will trigger irresistible desires to go home and have milk and cookies.

Marketing Food to Children: The U.S. is an Outlier

by Kelly Brownell

Earlier this year the World Health Organization convened a meeting of experts in Oslo, Norway to address the issue of children’s food marketing. The report from that meeting was just released and is available here. 

Dysfunction by Design: The USDA and Nutrition

by Kelly Brownell

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has two primary goals – to promote healthy eating and to promote agriculture (aka help the industry sell more food).  These goals sometimes oppose one another, creating an inherent conflict of interest. The most obvious is that food and agriculture industries benefit when people eat more food, but the last thing the nation needs is to eat more.

Real change on the menu in New York

by Kelly Brownell

The Big Apple gets five stars for proposing a ban on trans fats in restaurants and requiring nutritional labeling on menus. New York City Health Commissioner Tom Frieden announced the changes today. Trans fats raise “bad” cholesterol and lower “good” cholesterol. Numerous studies have linked trans fats to heart disease and premature death. The city tried getting restaurants to voluntarily stop using trans fats, for which there are many alternatives. After a year of campaigning for restaurants to act in their patrons’ best interests, a third of New York eateries were still serving trans fat. Given the weight of scientific evidence showing the danger of trans fats, the city had a responsibility to act.