Scary Charts – 03.03.23

A study by the World Obesity Foundation predicts that more than half the global population will be living with overweight and obesity within 12 years if prevention, treatment and support do not improve.

Will half the world be overweight? — https://www.healthcare-economist.com/2023/03/03/will-half-the-world-be-overweight/#

Full disclosure – I’ve downloaded the full report but have not yet read it.

Food Addiction

Addiction to Highly Processed Food Among Older Adults — https://www.healthyagingpoll.org/reports-more/report/addiction-highly-processed-food-among-older-adults

Read the press release here – https://ihpi.umich.edu/news/1-8-americans-over-50-show-signs-food-addiction-u-m-poll-finds

Read more about the Yale Food Addiction Scale here – https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/fastlab/yale-food-addiction-scale/

Step 1: I admit I am powerless over pizza.

The picture above is a normal size slice at Benny’s. The tall beer can was strictly in the picture to provide perspective. For more about Benny’s see https://garyskitchen.net/worship-the-whale/.

The Economic Cost of Obesity

CONCLUSIONS: The 2-part models of instrumental variables, which estimate the causal effects of obesity on direct medical costs, showed that the effect of obesity is greater than suggested by previous studies, which estimated only correlations. Much of the aggregate national cost of obesity—$260.6 billion—represents external costs, providing a rationale for interventions to prevent and reduce obesity.

J Manag Care Spec Pharm, 2021 Mar;27(3):354-366.
https://doi.org/10.18553/jmcp.2021.20410

HT to https://www.healthcare-economist.com/2023/02/08/estimating-the-economic-cost-of-obesity/

Diabesity

Strong, consistent evidence shows that managing obesity can delay progression of prediabetes to type 2 diabetes. Obesity management is also highly beneficial in treating type 2 diabetes, based on the degree of weight loss achieved. Losing excess weight improves glycemic control, reduces the need for glucose-lowering medications, can substantially reduce A1C, and can even promote sustained diabetes remission.

Diabesity Clin Diabetes 2022;40(4):392–393 — https://doi.org/10.2337/cd22-0088

Remember, Stay as Thin as You Can as Long as You Can

Millions Suffer – Junk Food Industry Profits

Increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) was associated with more than 10% of all-cause premature, preventable deaths in Brazil in 2019. That is the finding of a new peer-reviewed study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Examples of UPFs are prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals, hot dogs, sausages, sodas, ice cream, and store-bought cookies, cakes, candies and doughnuts.

UPFs have steadily replaced the consumption of traditional whole foods, such as rice and beans, in Brazil.

Millions Suffer as Junk Food Industry Rakes in Profit, by Colin Todhunter — STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC

Here is a link to the original study https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(22)00429-9/fulltext

What is the Optimal Diet for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease? — The Skeptical Cardiologist

The skeptical cardiologist was asked to give a lecture in July on diet to the cardiology fellows in our training program at Saint Louis University. Needless to say, I didn’t hew to current recommendations from the American Heart Association or the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. For example, these recommendations are still promoting the narrative that…

What is the Optimal Diet for the Prevention of Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease? — The Skeptical Cardiologist

Great lecture. Thank you Dr. Pearson.

Factors associated with food choice among long-term weight loss maintainers

Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics Notes

My Editor’s Pick for October 2022 is this paper by Jacob Young, Suzanne Phelan, Noemi Alarcon, James Roake, Chad Rethorst and Gary Foster.

One of the biggest problems associated with weight loss protocols for individuals living with obesity is the difficulty of maintaining the lost weight loss. Weight regain is frequently observed following weight loss assisted by pharmacological agents, or dietary change alone. Among individuals who successfully maintain weight loss, success appears to be associated with consistency of intake across all days of the week and a strong ability to consciously control overeating.

In this study the authors accessed weight stable individuals living with obesity following a commercial weight loss programme, and weight loss maintainers (WLM) via the WW Success Registry. The WLM group had all reported a weight loss that was greater than or equal to 9.1 kg for more than a year. 8047 individuals were approached to complete…

View original post 218 more words

Another Sweet Saturday – 09.17.22

Our 1-year RCT indicated that a lifestyle intervention program can be highly successful in older adults with diabetes and chronic comorbidities. In this specific population, lifestyle intervention not only improved glycemic control associated with improved insulin action and secretion but also improved age-relevant outcomes such as body composition, physical function, and quality of life.

Alessandra Celli, Yoann Barnouin, Bryan Jiang, Dean Blevins, Georgia Colleluori, Sanjay Mediwala, Reina Armamento-Villareal, Clifford Qualls, Dennis T. Villareal; Lifestyle Intervention Strategy to Treat Diabetes in Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Diabetes Care 1 September 2022; 45 (9): 1943–1952. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-0338

From the periods 1988–1994 to 2017 to March 2020, there was an increase in the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes (from 4.6% to 11.7%), but no change in prevalence of persistent undiagnosed diabetes (from 2.23% to 2.53%) or confirmed undiagnosed diabetes (from 1.10% to 1.23%). Consequently, the proportion of all undiagnosed diabetes cases declined from 32.8% to 17.8% (persistent undiagnosed diabetes) and from 19.3% to 9.5% (confirmed undiagnosed diabetes). Undiagnosed diabetes was more prevalent in older and obese adults, racial/ethnic minorities, and those without health care access. Among persons with diabetes, Asian Americans and those without health care access had the highest proportion of undiagnosed cases, with rates ranging from 23% to 61%.

Michael Fang, Dan Wang, Josef Coresh, Elizabeth Selvin; Undiagnosed Diabetes in U.S. Adults: Prevalence and Trends. Diabetes Care 1 September 2022; 45 (9): 1994–2002. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc22-0242

Remember, Stay as Thin as You Can as Long as You Can.