Dr. T’s recent paper “Chronic psychological stress and racial disparities in Body Mass Index change between black and white girls aged 10-19.” has been getting a lot of press lately! Check out these articles in the Chicago Tribune and at BET.com.
It shouldn’t be a crazy idea, but nowadays many people are eating just to be thin, and not to be healthy. A fantastic New York Times article focuses on current research on eating, dieting, and health and emphasizes the importance of what you eat as well as how much you eat. The article also suggests that maybe the answer to the United States’ high annual healthcare costs is not to cut spending but to address instead the diet and lifestyle choices that make us so unhealthy. This one is definitely worth the read!
Today marks the beginning of BEDA National Weight Stigma Awareness Week. The goal is to bring awareness to this dangerous and pervasive form of social injustice. To learn more about Weight Stigma and to get involved in the movement to end it, visit the WSAW website.
National Public Radio recently hosted a conversation about obesity, weight, and health with several medical professionals, where listeners were invited to share personal experiences of discussing obesity with doctors. Click here to listen to (or read) the newscast full of interesting – and sometimes shocking – things that doctors say.
Exercise, of course. A current TIME.com slide show article listed exercise as one of 8 ways to ward off the “Winter Blues.” Michael Terman, director of the Center for Light Treatment and Biological Rhythms at Columbia University Medical Center, noted that around 33% of patients who practiced regular aerobic exercise showed a “marked lift in depressed mood,” but only if they kept at it! The good news is that socializing also made the list, so grab a friend, hit the gym, and really fight the “winter blues.”
The entire slide show article written by Maia Szalavitz can be found here.
and information on SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder can be found here
We are a little late to the game, but this past week was National Stress Out week. If you’d like some ideas on de-stressing your life, head on over to the ADAA website to get some tips.
Everyone knows children absorb information like a sponge, but now parents have to be careful about having their children absorb information FROM a sponge…SpongeBob that is! Read more
A new book called “Maggie Goes on a Diet” is about to be released, and even before it’s out the book is stirring up a lot of controversy. In it, 14-year-old Maggie starts out overweight and unhappy. Then she diets, loses weight and becomes popular. You can find coverage of the controversy and very sound advice regarding the book in this article in the Washington Post.