Obesity Is Now a Disease: Same Problem, New Label
The American Medical Association (AMA) now officially considers obesity a disease. Prior to the decision by the full association, a special committee within the AMA, assigned to explore the issue...
View ArticleDiseasification of Obesity
In a thoughtful, measured and well-reasoned blog post in these pages, Dr. Keith Ayoob recently discussed the AMA’s decision to classify obesity as a “disease.” As he concluded his post, Dr. Ayoob...
View Article‘Fat Letters’: Should Schools Report Obesity?
Most of us know schools as institutions of learning, usually associated with “the three Rs,” but now schools in 19 states are reporting progress on another subject: “BMI”—body mass index. These schools...
View ArticleTalking to Your Child About Being Overweight: Pointers for Parents
The conversation parents dread even more than the one about the birds and the bees? It’s the one about their kids’ weight. Sure, the facts-of-life talk is awkward and needs to be age-appropriate and...
View ArticleSnacking: The Fourth Meal
I’ve noticed whenever I’ve traveled to Europe that Europeans love to sit in cafés. They’ll nurse an espresso or two for hours, but they almost never eat in the cafés unless it’s a mealtime. In our...
View ArticleFed Up with Movies Like “Fed Up”
Recently, the movie Fed Up premiered, with a lot of media hoopla. Produced by Laurie David and Katie Couric, the film focuses on how the food industry is responsible for the nation’s obesity and health...
View ArticleNutrition Lessons in the Bronx: “What Would LeBron James Eat?”
When I was a child, one of my favorite sugary snacks was basically a small vat of frosting. It came with cookies for dunking. I won’t lie; some of that stuff is delicious, but with help from my family...
View ArticleBattling Obesity in the Physically Challenged Child
I direct a nutrition clinic in a large center for children with special needs, the Children’s Evaluation and Rehabilitation Center at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. My “kids” can have everything...
View ArticleFasting for Healthy Adults and Kids?
The typical dictionary definition of fasting is 1) to abstain from all foods or 2) to eat only sparingly or of certain kinds of food, especially as a religious observance. Few practice the former, at...
View ArticleThe Low-Carb Diet: Key to Reversing the Obesity Epidemic?
“Dr. Spiegel, why is your institute trashing the Atkins diet?” This was the question angrily posed to me by Congresswoman Anne Northup (R-KY) at the 2003 House Appropriations hearing for the National...
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