Food Law Prof Blog

Sleep and Obesity

According to my morning St. Paul Pioneer Press, a recent study shows a correlation between obesity and hours of sleep.  The study reportedly found that people who sleep less than six hours a night or more than nine were more likely to be obese. 

The full article by Associated Press medical writer Mike Stobbe is all over the internet and it provides more:

The study released Wednesday is based on door-to-door surveys of 87,000 U.S. adults from 2004 through 2006 conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Such surveys can't prove cause-effect relationships, so -- for example -- it's not clear if smoking causes sleeplessness or if sleeplessness prompts smoking, said Charlotte Schoenborn, the study's lead author.

It also did not account for the influence of other factors, such as depression, which can contribute to heavy eating, smoking, sleeplessness and other problems.

The study, Sleep Duration as a Correlate of Smoking, Alcohol Use, Leisure-Time Physical Inactivity, and Obesity Among Adults: United States, 2004-2006 by Charlotte A. Schoenborn, M.P.H., and Patricia F. Adams, Division of Health Interview Statistics, is available on the National Center for Health Statistics website (linked above). 

In an interview, health statistician Charlotte Schoenborn explains:

We found with the Health Interview Survey that people who got less than 6 hours of sleep were more likely to be obese… they were more likely to be physically inactive… they were much more likely to smoke… and somewhat more likely to use alcohol in large quantities… things that you associate with a clustering of unhealthy behaviors.

… we don’t know which direction the associations go, what’s causing what, but we do see a clustering of these unhealthy behaviors and it suggests that we need to be dealing with these as a group rather than one at a time.

The interview is available on the NCHS website (along with a link to the study): http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/STATCASTS/stat_cast_6.htm

"Dieting for Dollars?"

In a recent Newsweek article, author Jennifer Barrett discussed a new trend among employers--tying financial incentives to staying at a healthy weight.

Barrett discusses several legal issues that can arise with such requirements as well as whether or not those requirements are saving costs. She also cites a study by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine which found that companies lost billions due to the poor health of their employees.

William Mitchell College of Law student Jenna Powers asks, "Do you think it's a good idea for companies to tie these types of incentives to health? Or are employers overstepping their authority? "

Thank you to Jenna Powers for preparing this post.

How does being overweight impact children’s teeth?

The answer may surprise you.  While being overweight or obese increases the risk for many diseases such as high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes and heart disease, the impact on teeth seems to be different.  A recent NY Times article reports that overweight children have healthier teeth than normal weight children do.  The report is based on research conducted by the Eastman Dental Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center.   However, do not run out and by candy bars and Cokes for dinner quite yet:

“The findings don’t mean being overweight protects teeth, but they do raise questions about the differences in foods eaten by overweight children compared to their normal weight peers. It also debunks the stereotype of the overweight child who binges on cavity-causing candy and sugary foods. One theory is that overweight children may actually be eating fewer cavity-causing sweets than normal weight kids and instead overeating fatty foods.”

Nevertheless, the results surprised the researchers who also acknowledge that more search needs to be done:

“We expected to find more oral disease in overweight children of all ages, given the similar causal factors that are generally associated with obesity and caries,” said Eastman Dental Center’s Dr. Dorota Kopycka-Kedzierawski, the lead author. “Our findings raise more questions than answers. Research to analyze both diet and lifestyle is needed to better understand the results.”

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Chris Hartnett for preparing this post.

Mom was right! Breakfast may be the most important meal of the day

On March 25, 2008, The New York Times reported that researchers have found adolescents that eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight.  According to The Times, the authors of the study “found a direct relationship between eating breakfast and body mass index.”  Essentially, the more often a child eats breakfast, the lower the B.M.I.

The five-year longitudinal study was completed by researchers and professors at the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.  The study examined a racially and economically diverse sample from various public schools in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

The study, Breakfast Eating and Weight Change in a 5-Year Prospective Analysis of Adolescents: Project EAT (Eating Among Teens) was published in the March issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.   

The study’s objective was to examine the association between breakfast frequency and 5-year body weight change in adolescents.  The study primarily relied on self-reports of weight and eating habits of 2,216 adolescents.  Although the study concluded there is an association between breakfast frequency and change in BMI, the study was unable to determine whether the association is in fact causal in nature.  The study itself recognizes this in noting “long-term studies…will be needed to evaluate the possibility of an important causal link between breakfast consumption and risk for obesity and chronic diseases.”  The study hopes that interventions, especially in a school setting, could be aimed at promoting a healthy breakfast.  Such a breakfast might include whole grain cereals, low-fat milk, and fresh fruit.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Maureen Ventura for preparing this post.

Saturated Fat, Cholesterol, and Heart Disease --not connected

This is a video of a presentation to British Medical Association last November.  The presenter is a physician, Dr. Malcolm Kendrick.  He presents data about saturated fat, blood cholesterol, and heart disease and makes a very credible and compelling argument that eating saturated fat does not cause heart disease and that high blood cholesterol does not predict heart disease.There are 5 parts to Dr. Kendrick's presentation. If the embedded video doesn't work, here's the YouTube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPPYaVcXo1I 

Dutch study: Preventing Obesity and Smoking Saves Lives -- But Costs Big Bucks

A study  published in the online Public Library of Science Medicine Journal analyzes the affects of smoking and obesity on a person's length of life and in turn their cost on the health care system and found that thin, healthy people cost the system MORE money. In an interview with the lead researcher, the Wall Street Journal Article quoted the following

Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars. 

'It was a small surprise,' said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. 'But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more.'

'We are not recommending that governments stop trying to prevent obesity,' Mr. van Baal said. 'But they should do it for the right reasons.'"

What might the "right reasons" be?  The study is based on data from the Netherlands? Should that deter the United States from funding programs that prevent obesity, when we have the highest obesity rate in the world?  Should it deter us from regulating the food industry in order to prevent obesity?

Link to the original study to read more.

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Jenna Powers for preparing this post.

Study shows diet soda consumption may be associated with metabolic syndrome

A recent study (abstract) found a surprising association between diet soda consumption and metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance, obesity, etc.).  The study (abstract published online Jan 22 in Circulation, the Journal of the American Heart Association) was a population study that can only observe overall effects and find correlations, but not show causation.

A Purdue University study on rats released Sunday (Feb 10, 2008) and published in the Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience, however, DOES seem to show a cause and effect relationship. The article summarizes the issue as our brains being confused by something that is sweet tasting yet has no calories, to compensate our brain tells us to keep eating, resulting in the obvious diseases and weight gain.

Here is an ABC News interview with diet doctor, Dr. Marie Savard, discussing both studies.  Dr. Savard explains that something about diet soda changes body chemistry.

ABC News video interview

Here's another video production. I'm pretty sure the dietician here gets the mechanism exactly wrong. Insulin does not give us energy -- it makes us hungrier.

Revised February 14, 2008.  Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student James Horan for finding the rat study and contributing to this post.

Video interview with proponent of Mississippi obesity bill

CBS News interviewed Mississippi state representative John Read, one of the proponents of the recent bill banning obese people from eating in restaurants (blogged here and here), and Joseph Nadglowski, President of the Obesity Action Coalition , an organization that

"aims to educate patients, family members and the public on obesity and morbid obesity. In addition, the OAC will increase obesity education, work to improve access to medical treatments for obese patients, advocate for safe and effective treatments and strive to eliminate the negative stigma associated with all types of obesity."

Mississippi Obesity Bill dropped -- dies in committee

Thank goodness they didn't mean it.  The Mississippi bill that would have prohibited restaurants from serving obese patrons (blogged here) died in committee, according to the Mississippi Sun Herald.

The bill, whose authors knew it had little chance of passage, attracted media attention from all over the world. Sponsors, including Rep. John Read, R-Gautier, said they wanted to draw attention to the obesity epidemic that plagues the state.

"Anybody with any sense knows it's not going to happen, not going to pass," Read told the Sun Herald recently. "Mississippi has been ranked the most obese state in the nation. With all the attention paid to tobacco problems, this was to shed some light on another major problem. This has been at least getting the dialogue going."

And here I thought we were supposed to be serious about legislation.

EU proposes new food labeling requirements to fight obesity

According to a statement issued this week by the European Commission, it has adopted a proposal to change food labeling requirements. From the Boston Globe:

“With Europe fast catching up to the United States in obesity tables, the EU health commissioner, Markos Kyprianou, warned of an "emerging health threat" and of the need for consumers to eat better.”

The food labeling plans are “designed to help consumers reject junk food and choose a healthier diet.”

“Under the proposals put forward yesterday, six measures will have to appear on the front of packages of food giving information on energy, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrates, sugar, and salts. The labels, which will have to be prominent, will also indicate what percentage of advisable daily intake the measures represent.”

Link to EU Commissioner's proposal

Consumer groups and industry groups attacked the proposal on two fronts. The “consumer group Which?, based in Britain, attacked the proposal as insufficient given the scale of the problem.” They recommend a red-yellow-green traffic light system to indicate whether fat, saturated fat, sugar and salt levels are high, medium or low.

See an example of the Traffic Light Label System.

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“The group's chief policy adviser, Sue Davies said, ‘…traffic lights are the best way to help busy shoppers identify healthy choices quickly and easily.’” She concluded that the European Commission’s proposal has “…ignored what works best for consumers and opted for what works best for some sections of the food industry."

Link to Which? Group criticism

The same story on EUObserver.com includes similar criticism by the European Consumers' Association (BEUC). "To be really meaningful," said Monique Goyens, the director general of BEUC, "the information which is provided must be comprehensive and easily understandable and some improvements are clearly needed on these points."

Link to EUObserver.com

Link to BEUC Statement on Food Labeling

Thank you to William Mitchell College of Law student Joan Pearson for preparing this post

Mississippi Bill: Illegal to serve food to obese patrons

A Mississippi bill introduced this week would make it illegal for restaurants with 5 or more seats to serve food to obese patrons.  HB 282

(2)  Any food establishment to which this section applies shall not be allowed to serve food to any person who is obese, based on criteria prescribed by the State Department of Health after consultation with the Mississippi Council on Obesity Prevention and Management established under Section 41-101-1 or its successor.  The State Department of Health shall prepare written materials that describe and explain the criteria for determining whether a person is obese, and shall provide those materials to all food establishments to which this section applies.  A food establishment shall be entitled to rely on the criteria for obesity in those written materials when determining whether or not it is allowed to serve food to any person.

Not even vegetables?

Correction posted 2/4/2008: restaurants with five or more "seats" (not tables).

F as in Fat -- Trust for America's Health report on obesity policies

The report, F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are Failing in America, 2007(dated August 2007 but I just learned of it) contains rankings of state obesity rates and a review of federal and state government policies aimed at reducing or preventing obesity and is available at HealthyAmericans.org.  From the August  press release:

Adult obesity rates rose in 31 states last year, according to the fourth annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Policies are failing in America, 2007 report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH). Twenty-two states experienced an increase for the second year in a row; no states decreased. A new public opinion survey featured in the report finds 85 percent of Americans believe that obesity is an epidemic.

Mississippi topped the list with the highest rate of adult obesity in the country for the third year in a row, and is the first state to reach a rate of over 30 percent (at 30.6 percent). Colorado was the leanest state again this year, however, its adult obesity rate increased over the past year (from 16.9 to 17.6 percent). Ten of the 15 states with the highest rates of adult obesity are located in the South. Rates of adult obesity now exceed 25 percent in 19 states, an increase from 14 states last year and 9 in 2005. In 1991, none of the states exceeded 20 percent.

The report also finds that rates of overweight children (ages 10 to 17) ranged from a high of 22.8 percent in Washington, D.C. to a low of 8.5 percent in Utah. Eight of the ten states with the highest rates of overweight children were in the South.

more (press release)

more (F as in Fat Report)

Thank you to Bix at FanaticCook blog for alerting me to this report.

Higher obesity rate among Minnesota Latinos

A recent survey of the health of Minnesota's growing Latino population indicates that the growing obesity rate is a source of concern.  Citing studies indicate Latinos have a higher obesity rate than other minority groups, the Latino Nutrition Commission has acted to revamp the Latin American food pyramid, and implement other tools to help this population develop healthy eating habits.   

Article:  http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/node/8153; 

Latino Nutrition Commission website:  http://www.latinonutrition.org/LatinPyramid.html  (The Latino pyramid is pictured here). 

Source of the study citing higher Latino obesity rates:  http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/160/6/578

Texas fitness policy for grades 3-12

In attempt to combat the trends and gain some knowledge of how healthy, or unhealthy, Texas students really are, lawmakers during the last legislative session passed a bill requiring school districts to annually assess the fitness and activity levels of all students in grades three through 12, and report those findings to the Texas Education Agency.   This bill, which piggy backs on recent changes in the Texas school nutrition policy, is now taking effect throughout the Texas school system.

Article:

http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/11/18/student_health.html

Food nutrition policy:

http://www.squaremeals.org/fn/home/page/0,1248,2348_0_0_0,00.html
fitness bill:  (deals only with physical activity, not food)

http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/tlodocs/76R/billtext/html/SB00530F.htm

(Thanks to William Mitchell College of Law student Teri Carlisano for preparing this post)

Farm Policy a cause of obesity?

From the Danville Register Bee:

Fat? Blame Congress, at least partly
By SEAN MUSSENDEN, Media General News Service

. . .

It costs far less to get the calories from unhealthy foods with added oils or sweeteners than it does from nutritious foods like fresh vegetables. Energy-dense foods made with subsidized crops like soybean oil and high-fructose corn syrup have been linked to heart disease and diabetes.

"There's a huge cost disparity. It's not a coincidence that low-income people will gravitate towards cheaper, energy-dense foods that are nutritionally poor," said Adam Drewnowski, director of the nutritional sciences program at the University of Washington.

His studies have found that foods made from subsidized crops - like cookies and soda -- cost five times less per calorie than unsubsidized foods -- like carrots or orange juice.

Drewnowski finds it ironic that the Agriculture Department encourages people to eat vegetables like lettuce or carrots that are not subsidized, and therefore more expensive, while giving people an economic incentive through subsidies to buy foods it says they should eat sparingly.

"The farm bill is geared to production of calories, not nutrients," he said. "It's resulted in a diet that is energy rich but nutritionally poor."

more

Childhood obesity correlated with little sleep

Here's something that's not food.  A British study found that toddlers who slept less were more likely to be obese by age 7.  Research suggests hormonal effects of insufficient sleep, as well as simply decreased activity when kids are tired (certainly applies to me!)  Some of the reports of this study are pointing the finger at TV, computers, and other electronic entertainment, but I find myself wondering whether it's also parents with long work hours who take the kids with them to the grocery store or Wal-mart after dark.  Or who have to get to work early which means rousing the kids before dawn to take them to daycare.  And for what it's worth, it all seems to apply to adults too.

Here's the blurb from BBCnews:

Sleep loss in child-obesity link

Dr [Shahrad ]Taheri told the BBC: "There is a really clear relationship between short sleep duration and obesity in children."

He said obesity occurs because of the "imbalance between the energy that we take in - the foods that we eat -and the energy we burn, which is our physical activity".

Dr Taheri added "there is a very good relationship between physical activity and good sleep".

The expert said this link was due to the fact that physical activity would make children tired, whereas youngsters were less likely to sleep well if they had been watching television or playing computer games.

Study says Americans prefer junk food

From Science Daily:

Price And Taste Trump Nutrition When Americans Eat Out

Americans are less willing to pay more for healthy dishes, less knowledgeable about healthy menu items, and more likely to consider healthy items bland-tasting than they were three years ago, finds a Temple University analysis.

NY City Trying Again to Require Calorie Content

Last month a federal judge threw out the New york City regulation that would have required restaurants to provide calorie contents for their dishes.  (See Judge Throws Out New York Rule Requiring Restaurants to Post Calories , New York Times, 9-12-07).

Now New York City is trying again.   City Tries Again With Labeling Fast-Food Menus (NYT, 10-24-07). Exerpt:

The new regulation would apply to all restaurants with 15 outlets or more across the country, though it’s aimed squarely at the fast food industry. Many chains, like McDonald’s, Burger King and Starbucks, already provide calorie information on their Web sites, or on posters or tray liners available in their restaurants. But health officials say customers rarely see this information before deciding what to order.

A survey by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this spring found that, excluding Subway restaurants, 97 percent of fast-food customers never saw any nutritional information before or after their purchase.

A public hearing is scheduled for Nov. 27 and the Board of Health is expected to vote on the measure in January.

read the NYT article

CRS Report on Mortality of Americans Age 65 and Older

Open CRS has posted a Report on Mortality of Americans Age 65 and Older. Excerpt from the Summary:

In 2004, a total of 1.8 million deaths of people age 65 and older was reported in the United States; one-third lost their life to a heart condition, one-fifth to cancer. Nevertheless, the number of deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease has fallen by nearly one-third since 1980. Moreover, the death rate for heart disease in 2004 was 41.6% lower than in 1980. Similarly, the death rate for stroke declined by 48.2% during the last quarter century. These declines are attributable to a number of factors, including medical advances that facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, the introduction of new pharmaceuticals, and important changes in lifestyle behaviors, including less cigarette smoking and changes in diet. This significant decrease, however, has been partially offset by an increase in cases of some chronic conditions among older Americans. In particular, since 1980, the share of elderly deaths resulting from kidney disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, and chronic liver disease more than quadrupled (from 5.0% to 20.1%), and death rates for chronic lower respiratory diseases increased by 120%. Increases in mortality attributable to chronic illness have not been evenly distributed. Even among the elderly, death rates vary by age. Moreover, significant racial and ethnic disparities are evident, reflecting different disease profiles for underlying populations, unequal access to health care, and other sociodemographic factors, such as income and education. Diabetes has been particularly deadly among blacks and Native Americans, heart disease has disproportionately affected white men, and Alzheimer's has been especially detrimental to white women. As the population of older Americans grows and the cost of medical care increases, the public policy interest in identifying the predominant causes of death among the elderly becomes more acute. Given the concentration of medical expenditures at the end of life, and the fact that Medicare covers more than 95% of all Americans age 65 and older, understanding trends in mortality may inform policy makers as they tackle the many challenges associated with financing and delivering care to the nation's rapidly growing cohort of older Americans.

Campos -- Brownell Debate in LA Times

Here are links to the rest of the debate between Paul Campos (Colorado) and Kelly Brownell (Yale Psychology) .  (The first installment, How Obese Are We? was blogged here.)

Why Is Our Flab State Business? (Sept. 18) -- the government's role in combatting fat.
The best Anti-Obesity Policies (Sept. 19) -- professors Brownell and Campos discuss the best practices in stemming the expansion of the national waistline.
Obesity Myths (Sept. 20) -- misinformation about America's problem with weight.
Culture Matters in the Obesity Debate (Sept. 21) -- 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?

Kelly Brownell and Paul Campos Obesity Debate in LA Times

Yesterday's LA Times opinion section includes How Obese Are We? the first part of a debate between Kelly Brownell (Yale Psychology & Epidemiology) and Paul Campos (Colorado law). 

Two-thirds are overweight, and we're still debating? by Kelly Brownell

. . . It is sad that we debate this issue at all, but it is part of a predictable cultural script. The media strive to present two sides of every issue, even if one side is held by only a few people. Enter the contrarian -- the press needs someone to disagree. Some questioned Newton's law of gravity long after it was clear he was right. Today a handful of people claim that global warming is a myth and that cigarettes do not cause lung cancer. The contrarians make themselves even more newsworthy by adding in conspiracy claims that profits or fame drive their opponents and that some "establishment" suppresses the truth. . . .

Homosexuality was once a 'disease' too, By Paul F. Campos

. . .Now "obesity" (defined by our public health authorities as a body mass index of 30 or higher) has been transformed into a disease. In fact, except at statistical extremes, the correlation between weight and health risk is weak or nonexistent. The vast majority of Americans who the government defines as weighing too much have, on average, as good or better health than the scientifically baseless "normal weight" category of BMI 18.5 to 24.9. This is confirmed by the overwhelming bulk of the epidemiological evidence. The studies that find a strong correlation between increasing weight and health risk are the true outliers - and they produce these correlations by highly dubious statistical methods, such as by excluding 90% of the deaths in their studies. . . .

Los Angeles City Council considering ban on new fast food restaurants in South L.A.

From an LA Times article, Limits Proposed on Fast Food Restaurants, by Tami Abdollah

. . .The City Council will be asked this fall to consider an up to two-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in South L.A., a part of the city where fast food is at least as much a practicality as a preference.

"The people don't want them, but when they don't have any other options, they may gravitate to what's there," said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who proposed the ordinance in June, and whose district includes portions of South L.A. that would be affected by the plan.

LA Times online article
Councilwoman Jan Perry's website

New Equipment Analyzes Starches

University of Queensland news release.

New Approach to Fighting Obesity and Diabetes

World-first equipment, made exclusively for UQ scientists, will determine how to produce food which is better for us, but still tastes good.

UQ researcher Professor Bob Gilbert said that while an unhealthy lifestyle and poor eating habits were significant factors in Australia's obesity and diabetes epidemics, they were not entirely to blame.
“An important component of the problem is from changes in the starches in our food,” Professor Gilbert said.
“Starch supplies 50 percent of food energy in the modern Australian diet, and up to 90 percent in countries on Asian diets.
“A way forward would be to see what factors in the starches in our diets correspond to healthy digestibility”.

more

How to translate science into law and policy is one of my areas of fascination.  If these researchers discover differences in starches that correlate with health (or lack thereof), how long until these differences show up on the Food Pyramid and the nutritional information label?

Genome Evolution Influenced by Diet

It seems we humans are evolving to digest the food available.  Maybe someday we will be able to eat junk food and stay healthy!  A New York Times article, Study Finds Evidence of Genetic Response to Diet by Nicholas Wade, describes research showing that people from countries with high starch diets have genetic adaptations to their diet:

Researchers studying the enzyme that converts starch to simple sugars like glucose have found that people living in countries with a high-starch diet produce considerably more of the enzyme than people who eat a low-starch diet.

The reason is an evolutionary one. People in high-starch countries have many extra copies of the amylase gene which makes the starch-converting enzyme, a group led by George H. Perry of Arizona State University and Nathaniel J. Dominy of the University of California, Santa Cruz, reported yesterday in the journal Nature Genetics.

The production of the extra copies seems to have been favored by natural selection, according to a genetic test, the authors say. If so, the selective pressure could have occurred when people first started to grow cereals like wheat and barley at the beginning of the Neolithic revolution some 10,000 years ago, or even much earlier.

Link to the article

Study Shows Obesity Spreads in Social Circles

A study published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine examined the role of social networks in the spread of obesity. The study found that "the likelihood of becoming obese is much greater if a friend, sibling or spouse becomes fat. Obesity spreads through a person's social network like a train speeding down a track."  The quoted material is from the Washington Post's article:

Obesity Spreads In Social Circles As Trends Do, Study Indicates by Rob Stein

. . . The researchers found that when one spouse became obese, the other was 37 percent more likely to do so in the next two to four years, compared with other couples. If a man became obese, his brother's risk rose by 40 percent.

The risk climbed even more sharply among friends -- between 57 and 171 percent, depending on whether they considered each other mutual friends. Moreover, friends affected friends' risk even when they lived far apart, and the influence cascaded through three degrees of separation before petering out, the researchers found.

"It's almost a cliche to speak of the obesity epidemic as being an epidemic. But we wanted to see if it really did spread from person to person like a fashion or a germ," said Nicholas A. Christakis of Harvard Medical School, who led the study, being published tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine. "And the answer is, 'Yes, it does.' We are finding evidence for a kind of social contagion."

Headline writers had fun with this one:

The latest diet advice: don't hang around with fat people, The Belfast Telegraph

Obesity may be catching -- Canada.com

Study suggests obesity is 'socially contagious' -- San Francisco Chronicle

Your best friend can make you fat: study -- Sydney Morning Herald

Too fat?  Thank friends and family -- San Jose Mercury News

Friendship can raise heavy issue -- Baltimore Sun

Sympathy Pounds -- BusinessWeek

Your circle of friends may expand your waistline -- Orlando Sentinel

Food Addiction

In what is believed to be the first meeting of its kind, Yale University recently convened nearly 40 experts on nutrition, obesity, and addiction to consider whether food is addicting.

From NewTimes.com:

Yale University nutrition experts are worried food can be as addicting as cigarettes, drugs or alcohol.

Yale University obesity experts held a meeting with several dozen scientists Tuesday to discuss the intriguing question of whether food can create as powerful an addiction as drugs or alcohol.

The consensus? Maybe.

The evidence is that people who are obese tend to use the same language to describe their need for food as people do who crave drugs or alcohol.

more

Food Addiction?

By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY

Obesity has long been blamed on weak willpower, overeating, genetics and lack of exercise. Now scientists increasingly are seeing signs that suggest there may be an additional contributor: food addiction.

Monday night and again today, dozens of the nation's leading researchers in obesity, nutrition and addiction planned to discuss whether food has addictive properties for some people. They're gathering in New Haven, Conn., at a meeting sponsored by Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.

"We believe that there is sufficient science to suggest there is something to this, so we are bringing the leading authorities together to decide whether food addiction is real and what the underlying psychology and biology might be," says Kelly Brownell, director of the Rudd Center.

more from USA Today

Kids resist healthy eating efforts

This one is kind of depressing. An Associated Press article by Martha Mendoza says that nutrition education efforts aren't working.

PANORAMA CITY, Calif. -- The federal government will spend more than $1 billion this year on nutrition education -- fresh carrot and celery snacks, videos of dancing fruit, hundreds of hours of lively lessons about how great you will feel if you eat well.

But an Associated Press review of scientific studies examining 57 such programs found mostly failure. Just four showed any real success in changing the way children eat -- or any promise as weapons against the growing epidemic of childhood obesity. . . .

The results have been disappointing :

Last year a major federal pilot program offering free fruits and vegetables to school children showed fifth-graders became less willing to eat them than they had been at the start. Apparently they didn't like the taste.

Read the AP article in the Boston Globe

High fat diet and no heart disease

Study: Deleting an enzyme in mice allowed them to eat any kind of fat with no atherosclerosis.

Science Daily — A new study in mice raises a tantalizing possibility -- that humans may one day be able to eat any kind of fat they want without raising their risk of heart disease. "We deleted an enzyme in mice and they could eat any type of fat and not get heart disease," said Lawrence Rudel, Ph.D., a professor of comparative medicine. "If you're a mouse, it's great. Of course, we don't know yet if it will be the same in humans."

The study involved deleting a gene in the mice that causes production of ACAT2, an enzyme that alters the molecular structure of cholesterol so that it can be transported to the body's cells. "Regardless of the type of fatty acid in the diet, even trans fat, no atherosclerosis occurs if the ACAT2 enzyme isn't present," said Rudel. "Our research in animals tells us that ACAT2 is a potential treatment target to protect people against heart disease."

Read the story on ScienceDaily.com

Diabetes and Obesity More Likely in Harlem

From ABC News:

A new report says Harlem residents are at a greater risk for obesity and diabetes.

According to the Health Department East and Central Harlem's health food availability is very low.

The report says Harlem has many bodegas and corner stores but they are about half as likely to carry low-fat dairy products and seven times less likely to offer certain common vegetables as their Upper East Side counterparts.

"Bodegas are convenient but offer fewer healthy options," said Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas R. Frieden. "And there are three times as many fast-food restaurants per person in Harlem as there are in nearby neighborhoods. Diabetes and heart disease - which are related to an unhealthy diet - cause more than a third of deaths in East and Central Harlem each year. All New Yorkers should have the option to buy healthy foods in their neighborhoods."

"Eating Well in Harlem: How Available Are Healthy Foods?" compares all food establishments in East and Central Harlem to a sample of Upper East Side locations.

Read the story (includes link to the study)

Florida School District serving Faux Fat in School Lunches

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

The district began widespread use of Z Trim [a water and corn-fiber gel] about a month ago but has been testing it since early this year in recipes to see what students and faculty think. The goal is to reduce the amount of fat in bread, cake, cookies and salad dressing by half while eliminating the yuck factor associated with some other faux fats.

The Illinois company marketing the product, Z Trim Holdings, touts it as a safe way to reduce calories while maintaining a pleasing taste and texture in foods such as rolls, cake, salad dressing and mayonnaise.

"I'm excited because we've found another food product that helps us to improve the health and lifestyle of students naturally," said Jonathan Dickl, the Volusia district's new food-services director. "It's something we believe in."

In January, Dickl read a news article about Z Trim and decided Volusia schoolchildren could benefit from it.

Dietitians say the imitation fat is innocuous because it's made from natural ingredients; the U.S. Food and Drug Administration categorizes it as generally safe. The Center for Science in the Public Interest agrees. The nonprofit nutrition-advocacy group says that Z Trim is a good way for food companies to add fiber to their customers' diets while decreasing the amount of saturated and trans fats.

Soda Drinkers Consume More Calories

A study published in April's American Journal of Public Health finds that people who drink sugary soda do not reduce their caloric intake from other sources.  Overall, they tend to consume more calories than non-soda drinkers, and tend to become obese more often. 

Effects of Soft Drink Consumption on Nutrition and Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis, Lenny R. Vartanian, PhD, Marlene B. Schwartz, PhD and Kelly D. Brownell, PhD, American Journal of Public Health, April 2007.

Abstract: In a meta-analysis of 88 studies, we examined the association between soft drink

consumption and nutrition and health outcomes. We found clear associations of soft drink intake

with increased energy intake and body weight. Soft drink intake also was associated with lower

intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients and with an increased risk of several medical

problems (e.g., diabetes).

Study design significantly influenced results: larger effect sizes were observed in studieswith stronger methods (longitudinal and experimental vs cross-sectional studies). Several

other factors also moderated effect sizes (e.g., gender, age, beverage type). Finally, studies

funded by the food industry reported significantly smaller effects than did non–industry-funded

studies. Recommendations to reduce population soft drink consumption are strongly

supported by the available science.

Chemical "obesogens" may play role in obesity

A recent Washington Post article describes recent and ongoing scientific research on "endocrine disruptors" -- chemicals that can trigger fat-cell activity -- a process scientists call adipogenesis.

"[We discovered] that tributyltin disrupted genetic interactions that regulate fat-cell activity in animals. "Exposure to tributyltin is increasing the number of fat cells, so the individual will get fatter faster as these cells produce more of the hormones that say 'feed me,'" Blumberg said. The exposed animals, he added, remain predisposed to obesity for life.

Retha R. Newbold, a developmental biologist at the NIEHS, has seen similar lifetime effects in her work with diethylstilbestrol (DES), a potent synthetic estrogen she has studied for 30 years.

Newbold's research has shown that mice exposed to DES during early development produced more fat cells, larger fat cells, and more abdominal fat than those not exposed. Exposed mice became obese adults and remained obese even on reduced calorie and increased exercise regimes. Like tributyltin, DES appeared to permanently disrupt the hormonal mechanisms regulating body weight.

"Once these genetic changes happen in utero, they are irreversible and with the individual for life," Newbold said.

Washington Post article by Elizabeth Grossman

Kids Affect Parents' Food Choices

Adult Fat Intake Associated with the Presence of Children in Households: Findings from NHANES III , an article published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine, reports that adults living with children eat about the same calories as adults living without children, but more of the calories come from fat.  Families with children, it seems, eat more junk food and pizza. 

Baltimore Sun article on the report.

Not for use in humans

It's all over the news -- the FDA has approved a new diet drug for dogs.  The drug is called Slentrol and is manufactured by Pfizer, Inc.  Obesity is a problem for dogs, as well as people, which isn't all that surprising -- most dogs are in about the same condition as their owners.

Of course, Slentrol is supposed to be used "as part of an overall weight management program that incorporates a complete and balanced canine diet and physical activity." (Link to prescribing info.)

And the drug is not to be used by humans:

“To discourage human use, the label of Slentrol includes the standard warning, "Not for use in humans. Keep this and all drugs out of reach of children," and cites adverse reactions associated with human use, including abdominal distention, abdominal pain, diarrhea, flatulence, headache, nausea and vomiting."

Don't even think about it.

Workplace Discrimination against Diabetics

Diabetics face discrimination at work, according to a New York Times article, but their legal recourse is not always clear.  Type 2 Diabetes is not clearly a "disability" which means that the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require workplace accommodations that employees with other health issues could demand.  Link to NYT article on workplace discrimination

Learning When to be Hungry

A recent study published in Nutrition and Metabolism suggests it may be possible for people to learn when to be hungry.  Study subjects were trained to estimate their blood glucose at meal times by associating feelings of hunger with glycemic levels determined by standard blood glucose monitors.  They were told to eat only when blood glucose dropped below a specified level.

And this worked!  Subjects did learn to accurately predict their blood glucose levels.  An untrained control group could not make the same predictions.  Here's the good part -- the trained subjects also experienced less hunger than the untrained.

<p><em>abstract: </em></p><blockquote dir="ltr"><p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Background</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">The will to eat is a decision associated with conditioned responses and with unconditioned body sensations that reflect changes in metabolic biomarkers. Here, we investigate whether this decision can be delayed until blood glucose is allowed to fall to low levels, when presumably feeding behavior is mostly unconditioned. Following such an eating pattern might avoid some of the metabolic risk factors that are associated with high glycemia.</p> <p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Results</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">In this 7-week study, patients were trained to estimate their blood glucose at meal times by associating feelings of hunger with glycemic levels determined by standard blood glucose monitors and to eat only when glycemia was &lt; 85 mg/dL. At the end of the 7-week training period, estimated and measured glycemic values were found to be linearly correlated in the trained group (r = 0.82; p = 0.0001) but not in the control (untrained) group (r = 0.10; p = 0.40). Fewer subjects in the trained group were hungry than those in the control group (p = 0.001). The 18 hungry subjects of the trained group had significantly lower glucose levels (80.1 +/- 6.3 mg/dL) than the 42 hungry control subjects (89.2 +/- 10.2 mg/dL; p = 0.01). Moreover, the trained hungry subjects estimated their glycemia (78.1 +/- 6.7 mg/dL; estimation error: 3.2 +/- 2.4% of the measured glycemia) more accurately than the control hungry subjects (75.9 +/- 9.8 mg/dL; estimation error: 16.7 +/- 11.0%; p = 0.0001). Also the estimation error of the entire trained group (4.7 +/- 3.6%) was significantly lower than that of the control group (17.1 +/- 11.5%; p = 0.0001). A value of glycemia at initial feelings of hunger was provisionally identified as 87 mg/dL. Below this level, estimation showed lower error in both trained (p = 0.04) and control subjects (p = 0.001).</p> <p><span class="subBHead" style="font-size: 1.2em;">Conclusion</span></p> <p class="xfull" xmlns:m="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML">Subjects could be trained to accurately estimate their blood glucose and to recognize their sensations of initial hunger at low glucose concentrations. These results suggest that it is possible to make a behavioral distinction between unconditioned and conditioned hunger, and to achieve a cognitive will to eat by training. </p></blockquote>