In his post yesterday, Kelly Brownell of TIME Magazine revived an old idea: tax soda. Various states and cities, he says, are considering leveling such a tax against sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). Besides discouraging the consumption of unhealthful beverages, the economic benefits of such a tax, says Bronwell, would be significant.

There are two lovely posts that cropped up last week defending NJ Governor Chris Christie from attacks on his girth: Jonathan Chait’s Chris Christie is Fat. So What? in New York Magazine and Frank Bruni’s The Round and the Oval in the New York Times…

Many of you reading our most recent issue may wonder how we can even raise the question of whether it’s possible to be both fat and healthy.  “There’s scientific evidence!” you might say.  “Excess body fat has been proven to be unhealthy.” Enter this New York Times article from a few weeks ago that discusses how the statistical framework researchers [...]

We’ve finally done it America- we are now living in a country with more obese citizens than overweight ones, according to the latest federal government statistics. “Numbers posted by the National Center for Health Statistics show that more than 34 percent of Americans are obese, compared to 32.7 percent who are overweight. It said just [...]

Point: Obesity is a serious health problem, and the obese must lose weight in order to fundamentally improve their health.
Counterpoint: It is perfectly possible to be fat and healthy. Rather than weight loss, aerobic fitness and a healthy relationship to food are the most important contributors to health.

I find this kind of troubling: A federal advisory panel Friday endorsed an expansion of the use of Allergan’s Lap-Band stomach-restricting device to patients who are less than severely obese. The vote could pave the way to double the number of Americans who qualify for weight-loss surgery. And it could eventually lead to making other types [...]