Latest KFF Health News Stories
Obesity Rate Flat For First Time In Decades, Health Rankings Find
An annual state-by-state survey says the country is making good progress in improving its overall health — including a flat obesity rate and a lower rate of smoking. But individual states, especially in the South, continue to lag. The 2013 edition of “America’s Health Rankings” by United Health Foundation, the American Public Health Association and […]
CDC Study: Schools Are Getting Healthier
Nowadays, the hub for developing healthy habits isn’t just the gym or home. For kids, at least, it’s increasingly their schools, according to a study released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. School districts across the country are demonstrating a range of improvements in terms of nutrition, exercise and tobacco policies. For instance, after […]
Obamacare Insurance Won’t Cover Weight-Loss Surgery In Many States
In more than two dozen states, obesity treatments
School Cafeterias Join Fight Against Childhood Obesity
Kathy Del Tonto started cooking school food 30 years ago in the Montrose school district at the foot of Colorado’s San Juan Mountains. Back then, the cafeteria workers made everything from scratch. “My first kitchen that I managed was a little country school out south of town, and we made our own ketchup and everything,” she […]
Unchecked Rise In Obesity Will Be Costly To States, Report Says
A new report analyzing obesity trends warns that health care costs will increase alongside U.S. waistlines if current rates are left unchecked. It calls for mobilizing public health efforts and expanding funding to help adults and children become leaner. Mississippi, Louisiana and West Virginia have the highest adult obesity rates, but projections of health trends for 2030 […]
Family, Community Ties Key To Fighting Chronic Disease Among Latinos, Officials Say
Mayra Alvarez, one of four daughters, said her mother makes ends meet in California by cleaning houses during the week and caring for an elderly person on weekends. And when it comes to deciding between paying for a preventive screening test for herself or spending the money on her youngest daughter’s education, she said her […]
New Guidelines On Obesity Treatment Herald Changes In Coverage
The recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that people who are obese get “intensive, multicomponent” intervention offers support for consumers, but it is not clear that employers and insurers welcome the change.
Preventive Services Task Force Endorses Obesity Screening, Counseling
All adults should be screened for obesity, and those found to be obese should be offered at least 12 weeks of intensive counseling about lifestyle changes, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said in a statement published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The recommendation is likely to accelerate insurance companies’ coverage of weight […]
Doctors And Insurers Are Key To Fighting Obesity
IOM report says physicians need to be more rigorous in dealing with patients’ weight, and insurers should reverse stingy reimbursement policies and help develop evidence-based programs that can help curb the epidemic.
Even Small Reductions In Obesity Would Generate Major Savings, Report Finds
Cut the growth in rates of obesity by just 1 percent a year over the next two decades, and you’ll slice health care costs by $85 billion. Keep obesity rates at their current levels – which is well below a 33 percent increase being projected — and you’ll save nearly $550 billion during the same […]
War On Smoking Offers Some Lessons For Obesity Fight
But the scope of the nation’s weight problem is much more extensive than tobacco ever was and public health campaigns must address issues as complex as food and beverage choices, television viewing, exercise routines and even the design of cities.
Employers Tie Financial Rewards, Penalties To Health Tests, Lifestyle Choices
Whether such programs spur long-term change is unclear, and some fear discrimination against those with chronic conditions.
Will We Get The Biggest Bang From Health Law’s Prevention Grants?
Backers of the health law’s provision of $15 billion for prevention efforts believe it has the potential to improve health and reduce costs. But some question the administration’s decision to sprinkle money for community programs among dozens of groups testing different approaches, rather than channeling it to proven programs. Ken Thorpe, who chairs the Department of Health Policy […]
Experts Divided Over Recommendation To Screen Children For Cholesterol
Doctors say testing may identify some in need of treatment but could also lead to many youngsters being mistakenly labeled as at risk.
Heavy Doctors Avoid Heavy Discussions
Research already demonstrates that physicians are sometimes uncomfortable talking about weight with their obese patients. Now, a new study shows that the doctors’ weight makes a difference too. Physicians who pack on the pounds discuss weight loss less frequently with obese patients than doctors who have normal body-mass indexes (18 percent versus 30 percent), according to […]
The Body’s Fight Against Losing Weight
Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web. The New York Times Magazine: The Fat Trap For years, the advice to the overweight and obese has been that we simply need to eat less and exercise more. While there is truth to this guidance, it fails to take into account that […]
African American Women And The Obesity Epidemic
Four in five African American women are overweight or obese, and they start adding extra pounds years before their white counterparts. Research suggests the problem may have a lot to do with when girls give up regular exercise.
Addressing Childhood Obesity: From Public Health To Social Justice
Moving her hips and shaking her hands, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin danced the Cupid shuffle alongside elementary school kids to kick off the NAACP’s initiative on childhood obesity inside the Thurgood Marshall Center, where the famous civil rights lawyer stayed in Washington, D.C. while fighting for desegregation. It seemed like an appropriate backdrop to […]
Obesity Rate Ballooning, Report Says
Americans are continuing to supersize – adult obesity rates increased in 16 states last year and did not go down in a single state – raising health risks and ultimately adding to the cost of health care, according to a study out today. Just four years ago, only one state had obesity rates above 30 […]
Obesity Problems Fuel Rapid Surge Of Type 2 Diabetes Among Children
The disease was once considered “adult-onset” diabetes, but cases among U.S. children have ramped up from virtually zero to tens of thousands in little more than a decade.
