Archive for category Policy

I changed my blog

Dear subscriber,

I just wanted to let you know that I over the past weekend made some major changes to my email and  RSS news feeds. From now on all stories are made as posts on my blog at morten.me.  Searching and navigating my blog is now much easier. Hope you will enjoy it. Each heading will take you to my blog and from there you can click on ‘Read me” for access to the original information.

Sorry that many old stories will be repeat posted in feeds and mails today. We will soon be back to normal.

All the best
Morten

Soda Makers Hope Tax Plan Goes Flat

Not surprisingly, companies like Atlanta-headquartered Coca-Cola Co. are sour on the potential of anew tax on sugar sweetened softdrinks to pay for President Barack Obama’s proposed overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

The defence strategy is one of rethoric: Coke refers to American Beverage Association to answer for them. So the Beverage Association started working by calling the proposed tax a “sin” tax. Clever move!. And they continue not adressing the obesity facts but only the rethoric: “It’s an over-reach when government uses the tax code to tell people what to eat and drink,” said Kevin Keane who is senior vice president of the American Beverage Association.

See Soda Makers Hope Tax Plan Goes Flat in Beverage World.

Are we in control of our own decisions?

Behavioral economist Dan Ariely, the author of Predictably Irrational, uses classic visual illusions and his own counterintuitive (and sometimes shocking) research findings to show how we’re not as rational as we think when we make decisions. Enjoy this wonderful video.

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Prevention of overweight and obesity from a public health perspective

The development and implementation of obesity prevention strategies requires the identification and understanding of determinant factors that can be influenced by effective large-scale action plans over time.
Strategies aimed at the primary prevention of obesity in a population should be multifaceted and designed to actively involve stakeholders and other major parties concerned; in addition, multiple settings for implementation should be considered. In this paper, an overview is presented of the strategies currently in place for obesity prevention, particularly in Spain.

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What can public health nutritionists do to curb the epidemic of nutrition-related noncommunicable disease?

This new global pandemic of obesity is rapidly becoming a problem of the poor. Extensive work has been undertaken to document the changes in weight and, to a much lesser extent, in diet, energy expenditures, and activity patterns. Broad-based creative public health actions are needed to offset these larger
forces that promote energy imbalance, poor diets, and reduced physical activity. Inaction will result in an acceleration of morbidity, disability, and deaths from major nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases – primarily in developing countries. Enjoy this paper by Barry Popkin.

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Massachusetts Approves Strong Calorie Labeling Measure for Major Chain Restaurants

The Massachusetts Public Health Council approved rules requiring major chain restaurants to provide calorie information for the food that they sell.

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Obama names New York health chief to head CDC

President Barack Obama on Friday named Dr. Thomas Frieden as the new director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tapping a health activist who pushed for expanding AIDS testing and banning smoking in restaurants.

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Active Living Research – call for proposals

The RWJF Active Living Research is calling for research proposals to investigate policies and environments to support active communities.

RWJF supports research to identify promising policy and environmental strategies for increasing physical activity, decreasing sedentary behaviors and preventing obesity among children and adolescents. They place special emphasis on strategies with the potential to reach racial/ethnic populations and children living in lower-income communities who are at highest risk for obesity.

Please note only US researchers can apply.

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Soda Tax Weighed to Pay for Health Care

US Senate leaders are considering new federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to help pay for an overhaul of the nation’s health-care system. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based watchdog group that pressures food companies to make healthier products, plans to propose a federal excise tax on soda, certain fruit drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and ready-to-drink teas. It would not include most diet beverages. Excise taxes are levied on goods and manufacturers typically pass them on to consumers.

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City in Belgium goes veggie once a week

Ghent in Belgium is set to declare one day a week ‘vegetarian’, in recognition of the effect that meat-eating has on climate change.

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