While BMI is important to assess health trends across the population, it is not an accurate measure of the health of an individual; new studies bear that out.
An infographic on Halloween foods.
Some food innovations we take for granted make a huge difference in our health.
Conservatives complain that there aren't enough calories in the "new" lunch - but calorie counts are the same as in major fast-food meals. The difference? Shockingly, kids don't want to eat vegetables.
Studies show that recess is important to kids' health both physically and socially. Recess strategies are important.
Calorie counts come from laboratory measures of the energy in food - but our bodies may process food differently from the lab environment.
News about "yo-yo" dieting may be overstating health risks - most studies don't screen for individuals who lost weight due to a preexisting illness.
Reward sensitivity is a powerful tool advertisers use to change buyer behavior - but it only works for junk foods.
How lunches are prepared and presented has a lot to do with how kids accept them. Junk food is acceptable even if it is poorly prepared, but healthy foods require more care.
An Australian intervention program that helps families start out with healthy habits turns out to make a long-term difference in diet-related disease.
How New York could have changed the way the "soda ban" was percieved - and how that might have actually made a difference in improving health.
20 million workers help get food on your plate. Nearly 90% of them are living in poverty, and rely on government programs for nutrition. What's wrong with this picture?
About the disconnect between science news and the actual science involved, and how to judge the difference between truth and hype.
Bias in "scientific" studies funded by food companies, and the purchase of bee researchers by Monsanto.
My entry in the NYT Ethics of meat contest.
Ethics and Meat
Why the NYT Ethicist contest should change its panel.
As we discuss obesity, I wonder if body shape is the best rubric to measure lifestyle-related disease?
Sugar isn't nutritious and is surprisingly difficult to eliminate from our diets. Who knew? Oh, right...
Who stands to gain from USAid besides the recipients?
Making sense out of all the conflicting messages about food.
Grocers in the Food Desert
What actually happens when municipalities court big-box stores?
How you can improve your live by changing just a small part of it.
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be lighted"
The FLABEL project studies the effect of food labeling on consumer behavior.
Why Advertising Succeeds When Education Fails
Are children receiving mixed messages when it comes to consumer behavior?
Sometimes, change comes when people take matters into their own hands.
A story about fat-phobia and obesity.
Is it a Food Desert, or a state of mind?
Or, how do I really feel about this diet book for early readers.
Do you wind up composting or otherwise throwing away vegetables from your garden? Here's a better way.
A group of lobbyists spins a rationale for marketing junk food to children.
A program directed towards encouraging investment in food infrastructure.
We often focus on urban issues, but forget that rural policies affect all of us.
What do you think clear front-of-package nutritional information should look like? Here's your chance to show experts what information and what format you think will work best.
An overview of my experiences at two screenings/panel discussions of the film Lunch Line.
The surprising ways in which a small change in ecology can hit you right in the pocketbook, as my grandmother used to say.
Stores often sell preferred shelf space to the highest bidder - but some stores reserve preferred shelf space for healthy foods.
Water access inequalities in the US
Breakfast helps kids study; 20 links to easy, quirky, or portable healthy breakfasts.
USDA offers a breakdown on how each food dollar is spent.
The European Union has strict standards about what constitutes "fresh." The US, not so much.
Wherein I prove that the ingredients in Nutella are not as wholesome as their website would have you believe.
If "half your plate" should be fruits and vegetables - which ones offer the most bang for the buck? The USDA reports on fruits and vegetables' cost-per-edible-cup.
The new guidelines suggest that "half your plate" should be fruits and vegetables...but stops short of expressly saying which foods to avoid.
Ever wonder exactly what's in "blueberry crunchlets?" or "maple flavor?" or why some oranges are such a vibrant orange?
Expressing the dietary guidelines in the way most people use them - by dividing them on a plate.
How the new food safety law expands the jurisdiction of the FDA, but excludes meat, poultry, eggs and dairy.
Researchers in the "stroke belt" found that consumption of fried fish is linked to stroke.
Keeping food out of the "temperature danger zone."
Dietitians in Canada recommend against internal industry controls for food marketing.
Concern that we're throwing the nutrition baby out with the bathwater.
An infographic on a typical Thanksgiving meal.
How subtle changes can help people make healthier food choices.
Half of these empty calories come from six foods: sugar-sweetened soda, sugar-sweetened fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza, and whole milk.
How smart maps can help identify areas in need of grocery stores.
Comparing a PR piece to the statistics it's based on.
School Breakfasts: Universal breakfast vs In-class breakfast: which one helps kids most?
Food activists consume junk food to show its effects on the human body.
The Healthy Schools Act in DC.
How the poor are disproportionately affected by food safety problems.
Just how do you get children to try new foods?
The Diabetes Collaborative and Walgreen's team up to offer resources to change bad dietary habits.
Separating "treats" from "foods."
Using less energy and still producing delicious foods, a win-win.
An infographic on the typical American diet.
Should the food industry self-regulate?
The Institute of Medicine offers this diet as a treatment for diet-related disease.
Despite controversy and opposition, Wal-Mart enters the Chicago food desert.
Interested in expending 1,600 calories on a treat?
How some parents manage to protect their children from the onslaught of marketing and advertising.
The Chefs Move To Schools program gets food professionals involved in school lunch.
Regulations on how sugars appear on nutritional labels allow corporations a number of loopholes.
How the "healthy" label can lead people to poor food choices.
Did you know that SNAP benefits can be used to purchase seeds for edible plants?
Are guidelines enough to reduce sodium in processed foods?
If the food desert can't get a grocery store, why not bring the groceries to the food desert?
How food advertising dollars far outweigh what is spent on wellness education.
Why the word "hunger" isn't adequate.
Exploring how canned and frozen foods can be as good as - and sometimes even better than - fresh foods.
Do you know what SNAP stands for? What about LINK, WIC, EBT or TANF? Navigating US social programs.
The new legislation on School Lunch also covers other nutrition support programs.
