The Wall Street Journal published a story concerning obesity treatments a children. We're not talking 8 year olds, but 2 and 3 year olds. Yep, the obesity mindset is being bred into health care workers to the point they are looking at babies. 

The classic model of relying on the BMI is used, which we've covered before as BMI is a lie.  

Now, I am all for understanding and appreciating that a certain percentage of babies might be obese. Seriously, there are metabolic disorders and such that can cause real, serious medical issues. But look at the numbers.

Another report on diabetes and obesity hit the press. You can read the article in The Sydney Morning Herald. The study was completed by the George Institute for International Health based in Australia. It looked at over 11,000 people in multiple countries over five years. The breadth of the study was fantastic, and it focused on reducing the A1C results for diabetics. 

As we discussed yesterday, the BMI method of determining obesity is the shotgun approach. Many people are designated obese when they are just overweight. Many more are of norrmal weight, but classified as overweight based on the BMI. 

No one will argue being obese is healthy, but when the BMI measurement is used for everything from recreational activities to insurance rates, you need to step back and take a look.

And that's what we're going to do. We'll examine a few of other ways to determine obesity in your life that don't rely on BMI. These methods are typically more accurate as they take into account many factors.

Well, duh, the answer is because the patients already know.

Ok, seriously, Time Magazine has an interesting article on the results of a study through the Mayo Clinic. It is a very interesting study that is designed to see why more doctors don't label their patients as obese.

The study's objective:

To evaluate whether primary care physicians document obesity as a diagnosis and formulate a management plan.

One of the many things obesity brings to the table is a stigma that you are broken. Sure, many people have caused their own obesity, but going past the cause you look for solutions. The state of New Jersey is about to get into the business of "helping" families fight obesity.

Up until this point most government programs concerning prevention weren't official groups. They were funded with grants, etc. and didn't draw from the general fund. New Jersey is changing this with their The New Jersey Obesity Prevention Action Plan. 

A fascinating news report on preventing obesity made the rounds a couple of weeks ago. It featured a program called Shape Up Sommerville headed up by Tufts Assistant Professor Christina D. Economos. The program focused on impacting obesity causes among first, second and third grade children in the city of Sommerville, Massachusetts.