In Maine, one in three children are overweight, and about half of poor children ages 10 to 17 are obese. Programs such as "Let's Go!" have tried to combat the trends by spreading messages of healthy eating and exercise, but widespread problems persist. Why the impasse?
Health care's "super-utilizers" are very much in the news these days, as policymakers seek ways to curb spending. But programs that deliver durable results that save money are scarce, in part because many 'frequent fliers' suffer from an incredibly complex web of issues, often tied to early trauma.
On Tuesday, the FDA announced that it will require the food industry to eliminate the use of artificial trans fats by 2018. Does that mean trans fats will soon disappear completely? Not quite. Here are five things to watch for as the FDA’s new ruling rolls out.
Requiring certain ingredients to be listed on food labels can often drive larger changes in what we consume. The U.S. required trans fats to appear on food labels in 2006, but countries such as Brazil and Argentina have gone much further in setting limits on the unhealthy fats.
Why have policies limiting the prevalence of trans fats been so slow to arrive? A brief history explains how policy actions aimed at curbing such fats, now known for their role in chronic diseases, ultimately gained traction in tip-of-the-spear countries such as Denmark.
Unhealthy trans fats have long remained a staple in our food supply, but that’s slowly starting to change. Denmark provides a useful case study for what happens when countries move to limit the amount of trans fats in food.
Children consume a bigger proportion of their daily calories from added sugars than adults, and the concerns go beyond nutrition. New research suggests that fructose can activate the brain's reward regions and generate hunger and cravings for other high-calorie foods.
It's easy for the headlines on health stories to go way beyond what the study itself actually supports. That happened this week in coverage of new research on how physically active preschoolers are. It serves as a good reminder to acknowledge any given study's limitations.
Laura Starecheski's recent NPR series on childhood adversity and trauma is an essential listen for those interested in how childhood events can shape long-term health. Starecheski recently spoke to Reporting on Health about how she reported the stories and what she learned along the way.
The strategy of using cell phones and texts to nudge people toward healthier decisions makes a lot of sense. But as L.A. Times' Eryn Brown discovered in reporting her series on "m-health," the promise of these programs is still far ahead of the reality.
