There is a weight-busting move afoot in the US to introduce calorie-counting menus in chain restaurants. Would such a move be useful and welcomed in Australia? Health experts weigh-in.
Obesity epidemic
Fruit juice: a nutritious way to get extremely fat
A glass of apple juice is no better for you than a glass of Coke — the average soft drink is 10% sugar and so is the average juice. Drinking fruit juice is just a nutritious way to get extremely fat.
How many calories would you like with that order?
Croakey’s North American correspondent, Dr Lesley Russell, investigates the effectiveness of “calorie-counting” menus, while a local obesity policy expert, Jane Martin, looks at whether such an option might be useful in Australia.
Like good health, it’s all about balance
Last week, David Gillespie criticised the use of Nestle’s Optifast weight loss shake. But the obesity epidemic of the past 30 years is not due to a single cause, writes Neil Holt.
Australia’s real body image problem: pretending we’re not fat
42% of all Australian women over 18 are overweight or obese; 4% are underweight. Before worrying about Photoshopped images of super-skinny models, there is — literally — a much bigger problem to tackle, says Virginia Haussegger.
Keane: Everything that’s wrong with the Preventive Health scheme
Bernard Keane is not a fan of the government’s proposed National Preventive Health Agency, and it’s not just the Nanny State thing (though there is that): it’s because the bulk of the agency’s funding will be directed to pointless “social marketing campaigns”.
Why overweight kids are victims of child abuse
Being fat is one thing, says India Knight: feed your face as much as you want. But if you feed your kids so much, and so poorly, that they develop weight issues, expect them to be taken away from you.
Selling our kids to McDonald’s
McDonald’s has pulled off a huge marketing coups by signing up more than 230,000 NSW students to its maths tutoring program. Dr Rosemary Stanton, Jane Martin and Professor Elizabeth Waters weigh-in on whether the whole scheme undermines the government’s rhetoric on tackling childhood obesity.
Still sweet for sugar in fat, slumbering Australia
Big Sugar in the United States is spending vast streams of cash to defend sugary drinks in the debate around soft drink and obesity — but at least they’re having a debate.
Is raising kids on a diet of TV child abuse?
Sex, violence and mindless manipulation: if TV came in a bottle, it would be illegal to sell it to children, says Jeff Jacoby. Why do we work so hard to keep our kids away from booze and drugs, then willingly plonk them for hours in front of an equally destructive addiction?
Bill Maher: Whatever happened to “Yes we can”?
Ten months in, and Obama can’t get the US out of Iraq or Afghanistan, fix health care, close Gitmo or cap carbon emissions. When did America get so lazy? Maybe it’s something they’re putting in the country’s high-fat, high-sugar food. Possibly the fat and sugar.
It’s time to let the government into our pantries
The obesity epidemic is costing Australia $8.3 billion a year, and the death toll continues to rise. Self-regulation has failed, says Michael Smith: it’s time to embrace the nanny state.
Debunking the myth that fast food is cheaper
Much of the obesity epidemic is blamed on fast food being cheaper than home-made, but cook Sally Sampson blows this myth wide open, whipping up her own pizzas, Whoppers and Egg McMuffins for a fraction of the price — not to mention the calories.
All this nagging, Nicola, isn’t making us thin
Health Minister Nicola Roxon thinks we’re too fat, smoke too much and drink too much. But don’t worry, she’s got a solution: she’s going to nag us to death instead. Even if research suggests it won’t work.
Health Taskforce wishes you all a long, dull life with nanny
People get fat because they eat too much and don’t exercise enough. Yesterday’s National Preventative Health Taskforce’s report was full of surprises, writes Tim Wilson.
Tackling obesity with economics
Want to solve the obesity epidemic? Instead of relying on the notoriously unscientific diet industry, maybe it’s time to give economists a shot, says Andrew Leigh.
Time to treat Big Food like Big Tobacco?
Just as Big Tobacco swore that smoking doesn’t cause cancer, the food industry may never admit that its calorie-laden wares are making us fat; but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be held to account: it’s time to recast the industry as “obesity dealers”, says Ellen Goodman.
Why we’re fat — and getting fatter
Weight-[em]loss[/em] books have been an ever-expanding genre for decades, but now an increasing body of literature on exactly what is driving the West’s weight [em]gain[/em] is appearing. So why are we getting so porky?
Michael Pollan on the food reformation
Author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan, has long been a critic of what and how Westerners eat. But, he says, a food movement is taking place that is akin to Martin Luther’s reform of the Catholic Church.
Constant craving: why we overeat
Why are fatty, salty and sugary foods just sooo good we can’t stop eating them, even when we know we should? Dr David Kessler explains why we’re slaves to the snack.
Surgery is not the solution to obesity epidemic
The House of Reps committee wimped out on making a strong call to action for some bold obesity prevention policies — like tougher regulation of food formulation and a ban on junk food advertising to kids, writes Melissa Sweet.
Burning the fat: obesity and global warming
A new study plays out a grim scene: a world of overweight populations draining the earth’s resources and forcing up global temperatures.
Army life was never so sweet for Gallipoli diggers
Australia’s tank commanders are having trouble telling which large objects on the parade ground are tanks and which are the men who are supposed to be driving them, writes David Gillespie.
New UK report challenges Australia’s approach to obesity
Obesity, especially childhood obesity, has received increasing public attention in the last couple of years. A recently released report from the UK Government’s Foresight Programme provides a fresh approach to thinking about obesity, and a varied set of solutions to dealing with it.
