Battle against childhood obesity is complicated
Maureen O’Hagan and her colleagues at The Seattle Times have put together a sprawling package of stories on the fight against childhood obesity in their new series, “Feeling the Weight.” We’ll break it down story-by-story.
Kids battle the lure of junk food
Local agencies are spending millions to provide healthy alternatives to Seattle-area youth, but they — to say nothing of the youth themselves — are faced with a seemingly insurmountable deluge of tasty treats that tempt teens at every turn.
State still seeks winning strategy against childhood obesity
For a decade, Washington’s anti-obesity strategy has focused on providing kids with access to health alternatives.
So far, the results are discouraging. A push to put more fresh produce in poor neighborhoods’ corner stores, for instance, is struggling. And recent studies suggest the proliferation of farmers markets has done little to change diets or behavior. The number of overweight and obese kids continues to climb.
In other words, we might be spending a whole lot of money on efforts that miss the mark.
How to help your kids lose weight healthfully
The trick, she writes, is to focus on healthy behavior rather than on weight loss.
Parents stand between kids and junk food
O’Hagan’s profiles of parents of obese children shatter a few stereotypes and illustrate just how complex the issue is.
What readers had to say about childhood-obesity topic
Readers weighed in with advice, criticism, observations and more.
Related
Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters
The prospect of covering such a broad, engaging and important topic as obesity can be overwhelming. This guide, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to help journalists cover a wide range of stories, whether writing on deadline or researching a multipart series. It offers assistance on calculating body mass index, finding obesity statistics on the state level, gauging the quality of school district wellness policies, finding innovative school nutrition policies and much more.
Obesity doctor calls journalists’ statistical knowledge into question
Yoni Freedhoff, M.D., founder of Ottawa’s Bariatric Medical Institute, writes about two studies about obesity and questions whether journalists are skilled enough in statistical analysis to accurately report on them.
Freedhoff says a new report refutes an earlier study – published in the New England Journal of Medicine and widely reported by the media – as being statistically flawed. And he is skeptical the new study will receive attention from the journalists who reported the first study.
The original study, “The Spread of Obesity in a Large Social Network over 32 Years” by Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and James H. Fowler, Ph.D., was widely reported with headlines proclaiming that “Obesity is socially contagious” in 2007.
A new study by Indiana University’s Russell Lyons, published in Statistics, Politics, and Policy, claims “the assumptions behind the statistical procedures used were insufficiently examined.”
As Freedhoff notes, the NEJM has an impact factor of 50, while Statistics, Politics, and Policy has an impact factor of 0.857, leading one to wonder how many reporters have even heard of the new study.
But Freedhoff – who admits he’s no statistics expert – questions whether journalists will report on the new study because they do not have the statistical knowledge to do so.
All in all, even if you’re not a statistician, Lyons’ paper is worth a sober read and reflection, and here’s something else to chew on – the journalists who were originally all over Christakis’ and Fowler’s work? I’d bet every last penny I’ve got that not a single one of them were skilled enough in statistical analysis to analyze it. Really, why should they have been? They’re journalists, not statisticians. No, instead they smelled a good story, and ran with it. Those same journalists who shouted from the rooftops that obesity’s contagious? I’m betting the vast majority of them are going to be silent on this one, yet wouldn’t re-reporting be the socially responsible, ethical, and journalistic right thing to do?
Update: Brian Reid found this paper, “Examining Dynamic Social Networks and Human Behavior,” that appears to be a response to Lyon’s research – Christakis and Fowler reference his critique specifically at least twice in the paper.
So, reporters, let’s hear what you think: Do you know enough about statistics to analyze and report on the new study? Or were you even aware of the new study?
It’s certainly worth pointing to AHCJ’s most recent slim guide here: Covering Medical Research, which helps journalists analyze and write about health and medical research studies.
It offers advice on recognizing and reporting the problems, limitations and backstory of a study, as well as publication biases in medical journals and it includes 10 questions you should answer to produce a meaningful and appropriately skeptical report. This guide, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is a road map to help you do a better job of explaining research results for your audience.
An earlier slim guide, “Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters,” also might come in handy for covering the topic.
Series brings readers’ perspectives to obesity story
Weight loss and obesity stories are a pillar of health journalism and a flashpoint for reader interest, but they have been so thoroughly covered by local and national stories that they generally only hit the headlines when new treatments or alarming obesity statistics bubble up to the fore.
Photo by bookgrl via FlickrWith that in mind, we bring you The (Raleigh, N.C.,) News & Observer’s “Frontiers of Fat” series, which brings together the personal weight-loss perspectives of readers and reporters and up-to-date reporting that explores the current state of nutrition research. By adding local voices and centering the whole thing around a New Year’s Day kickoff, the newspaper created a way to get back to the fundamentals of the nutrition discussion while still creating something newsworthy and relevant.
Speaking of relevance, the newspaper is keeping momentum of the series going with updates on both its staff and reader-contributed weight loss blogs, accompanied by timely yet context-rich news stories. On the landing page, the updates are accompanied by interactive components like a calorie counter and a BMI calculator.
The series also snagged Associated Press Managing Editor’s Innovator of the Month honors for March.
School lunches, obesity and causality
Filed under: Children, Health journalism, Hot Health Headline
Miller-McCune magazine’s Washington correspondent Emily Badger explains how a study found that the National School Lunch program is linked to youth obesity.
Photo by bookgrl via FlickrBadger takes great pains to put that finding into context, and doesn’t put forth the key causal relationship until the tenth paragraph. In the interim, she talks about the correlation between weight and school lunches, and about the methods the researchers used to tease out causation – namely, the kids’ birth weights and the type of meals they likely received at home. Only then does she deliver the kicker.
Controlling for those two factors, they found that children who participate in the school lunch program are more likely to become obese than those who don’t. In a surprising twist, though, the federally subsidized School Breakfast Program has the opposite effect. (And children who eat both school breakfast and lunch are less heavy than those who participate in neither program.)
That said, and with the caveats already out of the way before the key paragraph, Badger then explores the backwards incentives of the a la carte ice cream sandwich and why a school benefits financially from selling piecemeal junk food.
Miller McCune magazine is an effort of the nonprofit Miller-McCune Center and is dedicated to long-form, in-depth reporting on academic research.
Related
Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters
The prospect of covering such a broad, engaging and important topic as obesity can be overwhelming. This guide, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to help journalists cover a wide range of stories, whether writing on deadline or researching a multipart series. It offers assistance on calculating body mass index, finding obesity statistics on the state level, gauging the quality of school district wellness policies, finding innovative school nutrition policies and much more.
CDC: Obesity rises unabated, no state meets goals
Filed under: Government, Health policy, Hot Health Headline
According to Vital Signs, a new part of the CDC journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (more on that in a minute), the number of adults whose self-reported numbers indicated obesity rose 1.1 percent between 2007 and 2009. Nationally, 26.7 percent of adults were obese in 2009, a number that’s even higher for non-Hispanic blacks (36.8 percent), Hispanics (30.7 percent) and folks who didn’t graduate from high school (32.9 percent.) [PDF transcript of today's briefing.]
States ranged from Mississippi (34.4 percent) to Colorado (18.6 percent) and none met the federal Healthy People 2010 obesity target of 15 percent.
Healthy People 2010 was started by the HHS in 2000 as an effort to improve public health and eliminate disparities across the country. Obesity percentages were a key benchmarks, as were tobacco use, access to health care, mental health, environmental quality and immunization.
The objectives for Healthy People 2020 are being considered now. They would keep the obesity-related goals from the 2010 effort and augment them with nutrition-based standards.
The CDC says Vital Signs, which will be published on the first Tuesday of each month, “is designed to provide the latest data and information on key health indicators – cancer prevention, obesity, tobacco use, alcohol use, access to health care, HIV/AIDS, motor vehicle passenger safety, health care-association infections, cardiovascular health, teen pregnancy, infant mortality, asthma and food safety.”
APHA: Transportation policies impact health
Filed under: Health policy, Public health, Studies
Transportation policies and public health are inextricably linked, according to a new report released by the American Public Health Association.
Photo by Nrbelex via Flickr
“The Hidden Health Costs of Transportation” (PDF) attempts to put a dollar amount on the cost of transportation-related health outcomes and explores how such policies affect public health.
Our dependence on automobiles and roadways has profound negative impacts on human health: decreased opportunities for physical activity, and increased exposure to air pollution, and the number of traffic crashes. The health costs associated with these impacts, including costs associated with loss of work days and wages, pain and suffering, and premature death, may be as high as several hundred billion dollars.
The report lists other things that are impacted by transportation policy, such as noise, water quality, mental health and/or stress, equity and social capital or social cohesion.
The report cites a 2008 report from the Government Accountability Office that recommended the United States refocus its transportation planning to incorporate cost-benefit analyses and the APHA says those analyses should take health costs into account.
Perhaps somewhat predictably, the report says “Investment should shift toward transit, pedestrian and bicycling infrastructure in order to facilitate healthy, equitable and environmentally sound mobility.”
Reporters chronicle the death of a sugary drink tax
With a classic tale of powerful established interests, millions and millions of dollars and savvy lobbying, Chicago Tribune reporters Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger draw our attention to the news vacuum that has formed where debate over a sugary drink tax used to be. From its optimistic beginnings to its eventual slow strangulation, Hamburger and Geiger track the rise and fall of the push to tax sugary drinks in order to discourage poor dietary choices and help fund health care reform.
The reporters do a wonderful job of chronicling every lobbying pressure point pushed by the industry, from faux grassroots to industry alliances to muli-million-dollar advertising campaigns. Here’s a small sample of their overview:
The White House has dismissed the idea, however, even after President Barack Obama had expressed interest last summer. A key congressional committee, though initially seeming receptive, ended up refusing to consider it. Several minority advocacy groups, including some committed to fighting obesity, lined up against the tax after years of receiving financial support from the industry.
…..
Meanwhile, beverage lobbyists attacked several nutrition scientists, accusing them of bias and distorting available evidence. The beverage industry also financed research that reached conclusions favorable to its position.
(Hat tip to Audrea Huff of the Orlando Sentinel’s Fitness Center blog)
Industry unleashes millions to fight sugary drink tax
Joe Eaton of the Center for Public Integrity and Christine Spolar of the Huffington Post Investigative Fund look into how the threat of a tax on sugary drinks has mobilized major food interests and millions of dollars of lobbying power. Thanks in part to the limited earning potential of a low “sin tax” on sugary drinks and the presence of powerful senators with agriculture interests (Baucus has sugar beets, Grassley has corn) on the Finance Committee, such a tax has not yet been included in the major health reform proposals, though it’s an idea that has been getting some traction on Capitol Hill and in individual states.
Eaton and Spolar lay out the resources and players in the struggle, as it now stands:
During the first nine months of 2009, the industry groups stepped up their lobbying in Congress. They have spent more than $24 million on the issue of a national excise tax on sweetened beverages and on other legislative and regulatory issues, according to an examination of lobbying reports filed with the Senate Office of Public Records. The review shows that 21 companies and organizations reported that they lobbied specifically on the proposed tax on sugar-sweetened beverages — which among other things would include sodas, juice drinks and chocolate milk.
About $5 million of the money was spent on a national advertising campaign aimed at Capitol Hill lawmakers and promoting a newly formed coalition called Americans Against Food Taxes. The group bills itself on its website as a coalition of “responsible individuals, financially-strapped families, [and] small and large businesses” but its 400-plus membership list is dominated by industry heavyweights such as Burger King Corporation, Coca Cola, PepsiCo and Domino’s Pizza.
It may seem a bit silly to tax corn syrup and related sugars when the government is pouring billions in subsidies into corn production, but it appears that corn syrup is such a small part of the cost of manufacturing soda that the effect of the subsidies on the final cost is negligible.
Inside the soda marketing machine
While general terms may vary across the country, the same brand names dominate the soda business worldwide. To shed light on the marketing practices these companies use, AHCJ member Hilary Abramson put together Sugar Water Gets a Facelift: What Marketing Does for Soda, an extensive guide to the advertising of sugary drinks that was prepared for the Strategic Alliance’s Rapid Response Media Network and The California Endowment’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities program.
Doctors protest alliance with Coca-Cola Co.
Meanwhile, the American Academy of Family Physicians signed a six-figure deal with Coca-Cola that would “fund educational materials about soft drinks for the academy’s consumer health and wellness Web site.” While the Academy’s CEO says the soft drink maker will not influence the group’s public health messages, some doctors are highly critical of the deal, with some even quitting the organization over the matter. One doctor has started a Facebook group protesting the deal.
Bariatric patient’s story shows potential savings
Las Vegas Sun reporter Marshall Allen follows one man’s story to look into the ultimate cost (or savings) of bariatric surgery and discusses why insurance companies don’t always cover the procedure.
The narrative alone makes the story worth reading, and when Allen adds the numbers it draws a particularly compelling picture.
• In the first five months of 2008, taxpayers provided Daswell (who topped out at 380 pounds) with 17 medications for obesity-related health problems at a cost of $8,374.19.
• In the first five months of 2009 (after the surgery), taxpayers provided Daswell with 13 medications for obesity-related health problems, many at reduced dosages, at a cost of $5,106.54.
It’s a simple measure, but shows a savings of $3,267.65 in the five months, a 39 percent reduction in expenses in drugs alone.
Daswell’s surgery cost about $16,000 for the procedure and first year of follow up. If the pharmacy costs were the only savings realized, the expense could be recouped in just over two years. That does not count the costs Medicare would presumably save in doctor visits and medical equipment — he barely uses the sleep apnea machine he once depended on every night. The equation would also have to factor in the long-term chance that Daswell could contribute to the economy by getting a job and going off Medicare disability.
Bariatric surgery: Resources and story ideas for reportersMarshall goes on to say that while Daswell’s case is somewhat exceptional, the results and savings are, for the most part, generalizable to the population at large. Bariatric surgery, Marshall found, usually pays for itself within a few years.
New CDC site aims to reduce workplace obesity
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched a Web site called “LEAN Works” as part of a campaign to work with employers to reduce workplace obesity. In CDC-speak, LEAN stands for Leading Employees to Activity and Nutrition.
The campaign aims to speak in a language business can understand, emphasizing the negative impact big waistlines can have on a company’s bottom line. They even provide an obesity cost calculator, which will allow any HR department creepy enough to have every employee’s body mass index on file to calculate the precise projected return on investment yielded by an obesity intervention program.
The CDC also gives tips on how to set up a workplace obesity intervention, how to keep the momentum going and how to measure whether or not it’s producing any results.
(Hat tip to the NPR Health Blog)
AHCJ Resource
Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters
The prospect of covering such a broad, engaging and important topic as obesity can be overwhelming. This guide, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is designed to help journalists cover a wide range of stories, whether writing on deadline or researching a multipart series. It offers assistance on calculating body mass index, finding obesity statistics on the state level, gauging the quality of school district wellness policies, finding innovative school nutrition policies and much more. Supplementary material can be found on this page.
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