Tag Archives: obesity

Nutritional Labeling on Alcohol May Become a Reality to Educate Drinkers

A humble pocket of our society has grown increasingly health conscious in recent years, and while DietsInReview touts the positive exploits of the nutritionally enlightened, there is still a large chunk of the population who simply don’t get it. Proposed nutritional labeling on alcoholic beverages is an issue that could unite both the trim and otherwise alike, and perhaps usher some unhealthy citizens toward the light.

Alcohol

The U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau originally proposed the nutritional labeling in 2024, and have been mulling over its execution since then. The production and consumption of alcohol is big business—it’s said beer is the third most popular beverage in the world—so the fact that nutritional labels aren’t being slapped on cans and bottles already is mystifying. The alcohol manufacturers that have caught on to the calorie conscious trend—Skinny Girl spirits and Miller 64 come to mind—are all for the proposed change. Those same people are fans of the change because they want increased options and awareness of what’s in their libations. (more…)

Posted on June 12, 2023 by Patrick

Obamacare is Coming for Your Corporate Wellness Program in 2024 – What it Means for You

The Affordable Care Act, first disparagingly referred to as Obamacare and now adopted as its accepted moniker, is the most sweeping and dramatic health care legislation since Medicare. It’s also one of the more divisive.health care

Proponents say it will bring health care costs down through wider preventative care; opponents say it is intrusive and sets us up for a new bloated federal bureaucracy.

One of the most important tasks in preventative care and health care cost-reduction is addressing the obesity epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the direct and indirect medical care costs of obesity in the U.S. in 2024 was $147 billion. While obesity rates have leveled in recent years, long-term projections are still grim, with the possibility of nearly half of all Americans being obese by 2030. One report projects the majority of states will be over the 50 percent level.

While there are many myths about Obamacare, one of the better known facts about the legislation is that it will eliminate insurance companies’ ability to discriminate based on pre-existing conditions. But it’s not the utopian “health care for all” scenario some critics may think. Companies are able to more aggressively reward employees for achieving preset wellness goals, and conversely, saddling those who don’t make an effort to improve their health with higher premiums. (more…)

Posted on May 28, 2023 by Jason

Sugar is Not the Problem in the Obesity Epidemic, Where you Eat is

Health experts are giving sugar a reprieve in the case against obesity. While sugar and its many processed variations are running amok in the food we eat at home or away, fats, oils, flour and cereal are more to blame for America’s continuous bloat.

Sugars Fats and Oils

According to the CDC, 25.6% of Americans have a BMI greater than thirty, firmly planting them into the obese category. Since we tend to lie about how tall we are and how much we weigh, the figure is probably a bit generous, but it’s a 10.3% increase since 20 years ago, and that’s alarming.

A New York Times article reports that Americans are consuming 448 more daily calories— or 20% more—than they were in 1970. The Department of Agriculture says 242 of those calories are from fats and oils, 167 are from flour and cereal, and only 35 are from sugars. (more…)

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Patrick

4 out of 5 Americans Aren’t Getting Enough Exercise

exercise

  • A new report report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that roughly 20 percent of U.S. adults are getting the recommended amount of exercise.
  • According to MedicalNewsToday.com, most Americans are falling short in the area of strength training. Research revealed only one in five U.S. adults is meeting the requirements for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening components of the physical activity guideline issued by the federal government.
  • Research was based on a phone survey of adults aged 18 and older issued by state health departments. (more…)
Posted on May 3, 2023 by Dana

Obie the Obese Dachsund Loses 2.5 Pounds of Extra Skin in Tummy Tuck

  • America’s famous obese dauchsand, Obie, has undergone skin removal surgery. “It is a modified tummy tuck,” said the vet, who performed the surgery, to CNN.
  • His owner, Nora Vanatta, had the procedure done at a veterinary clinic in Tualatin, Oregon.
  • He weighed 77 pounds at his highest, but weighed a leaner 37 pounds at the time of surgery, having lost 40 pounds in eight months. Removing 2.5 pounds of skin has him down just under 35 pounds, and his owner wants him to lose about five more.
  • Obie’s Facebook page has nearly 90,000 fans. Photos there show Obie recovering, including Vanetta sleeping next to him in the vet’s kennel. (more…)
Posted on May 2, 2023 by Natalie K

Obesity Rates Rising for Hispanics and Mexican Americans

With the United States’ Hispanic population growing in number, it is becoming increasingly important to focus on the health and well-being of that community. Obesity is an epidemic concerning all Americans, but it is an especially concerning one for Hispanics and Mexican Americans who collectively have an obesity rate of about 40%, according to the CDC.hispanic

This high rate can be attributed to many factors. Several studies have shown the strong correlation between poverty and obesity. The CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report for 2024 found that the greatest racial/ethnic disparity in income and education existed for Hispanics. That there is a higher likelihood for obesity in a lower income situation can be found in both men and women.

However, adults are not the only members of the Hispanic and Mexican-American populations with significantly higher obesity rates. The rate in children is alarmingly high as well – about 23 percent of Hispanic children compared to the 16 percent rating of their Non-Hispanic white counterparts. Reducing obesity in children is particularly important as being overweight at a young age can lead to a litany of health issues. (more…)

Posted on May 2, 2023 by Elizabeth

5 Overweight Celebrities Who Died Too Soon

Celebrity weight is always rising and falling in America, and while it may be fodder for some, obese celebrities have a serious disease that doesn’t improve under the glitzy lights of Hollywood. They’re “just like us” when it comes to health.

In the last year, Rosie O’Donnell suffered a heart attack, Al Roker revealed his struggles with gastric bypass surgery, and Jennifer Hudson released a memoir detailing her battle with self-image and weight loss. These particular celebrities are examples of a proactive and positive approach to a disease that kills an estimated 112,000 Americans each year, according to the CDC.

Those stars, and many others, have gotten the wake-up call. But others didn’t. We’ve compiled a list of our favorite entertainers who weren’t able to conquer their weight-related health issues, and as a result, died too soon.

Patrice O’Neal, 1969-2024

The comedian and actor was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in his 20s and had battled weight issues for much of his life. On October 19, 2024 he had a stroke and died of complications one month later at the age of 41. (more…)

Posted on April 10, 2024 by Patrick

New County Rankings Show Vermont as Healthiest State; Mississippi as Least Healthy

On Wednesday the annual County Health Rankings were released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. These rankings break down each state into its counties and then rank them on various factors that influence health. The 25 factors evaluated include smoking rates, obesity levels, access to doctors and dentists, and physical activity levels.

States found at the bottom of the annual America’s Health Rankings by the United Health Foundation unsurprisingly also have some of the least healthy counties. According to the County Health Rankings, counties in Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, West Virginia and South Carolina have smoking rates of about 25 percent and obesity rates at 30-40 percent.

On the healthier side of things are the states that made up the top five in last year’s Health Rankings. Vermont, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Minnesota boasted fewer average days of poor physical health than the least healthy states. Counties in the healthier states also show higher rates of diet and exercise. (more…)

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Elizabeth

To Lose Weight, You Have to Build More Muscle

We all have that friend. The skinny one who eats whatever they want and never exercises. We all secretly dislike them for this trait and at the same time, wish we could be like them. New research is showing that they might be in a bad position, even worse than an overweight person who hits the gym. As scientist Bente Pedersen said this week, “It’s much better to be fit and fat, than skinny and lazy.”

Pedersen contributed along with many other professionals in Bill Gifford’s article for Outside this week. The article focused on more truths that have been revealed about fat. The report was lengthy but it highlighted some important misnomers about fat. Most know that we have “good” fat and “bad” fat, or subcutaneous fat and visceral fat. The good fat is more or less padding, while bad fat builds up in our mid-sections and can infiltrate our organs. A picture of fat invading muscles like the marbling of beef was used to describe how visceral fat can affect the inactive, not just the obese.

This bleak outlook of how fat can literally take over was explained further by Gerald Shulman, M.D., a diabetes researcher at Yale who contributed to the Outside article. Shulman explained how the amount of fat one has isn’t the problem, more so, it’s how the fat is distributed. He explained how fat build up in areas like the muscle and liver, or places it simply should not be, is when ailments like type 2 diabetes arise. (more…)

Posted on March 12, 2024 by Lacy

Sugar is Our Biggest National Health Threat, and Candy May be the Biggest Gun

The war on junk food is in full throttle. It began its slow escalation from proposals to improve school lunches and banning soda machines in schools, then maybe took a left turn into a little absurdity with the Mayor Bloomberg-led moratorium on giant-sized sodas in New York City (which takes effect tomorrow).

Junk food has been front and center in recent weeks as a high profile New York Times report outright accused food makers of a concerted effort to hook the public on cheap unhealthy snacks. Now, sugar is back in the crosshairs, and candy makers are beginning to sweat.

sugar study

It’s nothing short of surreal: the candy industry wants to offer solutions to the obesity crisis.

“If we don’t [act], I worry that someone else will do it for us.” said Debra Sandler, president of Mars Chocolate in North America at the National Confectioners Association meeting in Miami. “We need the whole industry to step up… We are not judged by the leaders of the category but by those who do not take responsibility for change.”

One place Mars and its competitors are starting – their youngest consumers. “They have adopted a policy to voluntarily stop direct marketing of candy to children under 12 years old. That’s a start,” noted Mary Hartley, RD, our resident nutrition expert. (more…)

Posted on March 11, 2024 by Jason

Dirty Details of What Soda’s Doing to Your Body and Checkbook

In this infographic, developed by Term Life Insurance, you’ll see a few of the many health issues that soda plays a large role in. Heart disease, obesity, osteoporosis, reproductive issues…the list goes on and on. I’m sure you’ve heard these warnings before, but have you really thought about what that can of Coke is doing to your insides? By consuming soda on a regular basis you’re basically asking to be miserable and sick. (more…)

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Danielle