Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
Update on obesity issues
While the new website was in production, I got a bit caught up on my reading. Here’s what’s been happening on the obesity front.
Middle-age spread: eat less or else! A new study proves what every woman over the age of 50 knows all too well: you just can’t eat the way you used to without putting on the pounds. Muscle mass declines with age, calorie needs do too. Activity helps some, but not enough. I think it’s totally unfair, by the way, but I’m guessing the same thing happens to men (but they have more muscle to begin with). Alas.
Turn off the TV: Common Sense Media looked at 173 studies of the effects of watching TV on child and adolescent health. Of 73 studies examining correlations between TV-watching and obesity, 86% found strong associations. TV-watching was also strongly associated with such unfortunate outcomes as cigarette smoking, drug use, early sexual activity, and poor academic performance. Conclusion: if you want to encourage kids to be healthier, turn off the TV!
British government launched an anti-obesity campaign: The UK government’s Change4Life campaign is designed to promote healthier lifestyles. This is causing much discussion, not least because of its food-industry sponsorship (uh oh). Food companies are said to view the campaign as good for business (uh oh, indeed). The government wants everyone to help with the campaign by putting up posters and such, and its website is cheery. Buried in all of this is some good advice, but most of it is phrased as eat better, not eat less or avoid. That, of course, is why the food industry is willing to fund a campaign which, if successful, could hardly be in the food industry’s best interest.
