Rudd Sound Bites

The Freshmen 5 or 7

by Stephanie Feldman

Two new studies on the dreaded “Freshmen 15” deliver good news and bad news. The good news: subjects in these studies—the largest efforts to track college students’ weight—gained far less than 15 pounds in their first year of school. The first study found that, on average, men gained 5.6 pounds and women gained 3.6 pounds. Only one in six gained 10 pounds or more. However—this is the bad news—these students continued to gain weight through their sophomore years, an extra two or three pounds on average. A second study discovered an average weight gain of 7.8 pounds during the freshmen year, with another two or so pounds following sophomore year.

"Real, high quality" Chipotle

by Stephanie Feldman

There's been much discussion about the contribution of oversized portions to the obesity epidemic, and studies (and experience) show that restaurant portions are ofter much larger than those prepared at home. An amateur--but fearless--experiment brings this home.

Hungry New Yorkers are talking about Chipotle, the inexpensive Mexican chain whose website  promises "real, high quality food" prepared using "time-honored cooking methods." Chipotle, originally of Colorado, is backed by the McDonalds company, yet promises healthier fare--and huge portions. A friend of mine--let's call her CB--decided to get to the bottom of the Chipotle burrito, fabled for its size as much as its "gourmet" ingredients.

Would you like a little virus with that bologna sandwich?

by Stephanie Feldman

After an unsatisfying and overpriced takeout lunch in midtown, I like to treat myself to a little food porn, courtesy of The New York Times Dining & Wine section. Perfectly roasted and brewed espresso courtesy of a veteran barista and a $10,000 machine? The new "Little Caucuses" restaurant row in Queens? An op-ed on if New York is "saturated" with restaurants? Check, check, and check.

Adolescent and addicted to Starbucks

by Stephanie Feldman

Recently in Salon, Katharine Mieszkowski investigated teenagers' devotion to the high-calorie—and higher-caffeine—products on the Starbucks menu. Though she succeeds in pointing out another dangerous indulgence for kids (and adults), the article feels like a trend-piece that missed the real trend.

Mieszkowski suggests that Starbucks is marketing to children, but her evidence is anecdotal, relying on the observations of a single doctor and two teenage Starbucks customers, a visit to an Oakland, California, Starbucks, and the common-sense notion that sugar-laden beverages are appealing to young people.

Fabulous and thick

by Stephanie Feldman

I finally got around to reviewing MoNique’s F.A.T. Chance, the annual beauty pageant for “Fabulous and Thick” women that the Oxygen network has been rerunning for several weeks, and as, I anticipated, I have mixed feelings.

On one hand, the pageant explodes conventional beauty standards. Not only are all of the women F.A.T., but they’re racially diverse, range widely in age (the oldest contestant is in her 40s), sport tattoos, buzz-cuts, and, in one case, a large burn scar. Some of the women are mothers. One contestant is a former correctional officer; another, a convicted felon. Even more refreshing is the sense of camaraderie among the women. MoNique cheers on each contestant as she walks (or, in one instance, stumbles) down the runway in evening wear, casual wear, and lingerie. There is a lot of footage of the women spending time together in a Hollywood mansion—that staple of reality TV contests—and encouraging each other as they tackle horseback riding and salsa dancing. They declare that they’re a family. It’s only at the very end that I even realized there was $50,000 at stake.

The shape of a mother

by Stephanie Feldman

America is obsessed with celebrity, and these days, it is obsessed with celebrity babies—and post-pregnancy celebrity bodies. Heidi Klum recently modeled in a Victoria’s Secret fashion show only weeks after giving birth to her second child, raising the bar for moms seeking to regain their pre-pregnancy physiques. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, Britney Spears has drawn excessive ridicule, not just for her supposed child-care deficits, but for failing to recover her figure after her first pregnancy—a fact that the media has cheerfully blamed on a Cheeto-fixation rather than the rigors of child-bearing.

Does anything NOT contribute to obesity?

by Stephanie Feldman

Not long ago, David Allison and Scott Keith of the University of Alabama published a paper suggesting several alternative reasons for the developed world’s growing weight problem, and Slate’s health editor evaluated their claims.  Allison and Keith accept that poor dietary and exercise habits contribute to obesity, but they remind us that other aspects of our lifestyle also have a negative impact on weight.

Spinach, I'm Looking at You

by Stephanie Feldman

Recently in AlterNet, Sandra Steinberger of the Center for Ecoliteracy described accidentally subjecting her children to a "food experiment."  Her two children grew up without exposure to food industry advertisements, thanks to a television-free household and the family's choice to buy groceries exclusively from a co-op and a nearby organic farm. Now that they are school-aged, her children's preference for healthy food emphasizes the strong effect that advertisements have on children's tastes—and adults' expectations.