Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Fri, 5 Apr 2013 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130225/18073022108/dailydirt-creative-ways-to-eat-less.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130225/18073022108/dailydirt-creative-ways-to-eat-less.shtml

There's a chance that the bacteria in our intestines have some influence on obesity. From a preliminary study, morbidly obese people were found to have different bacterial communities in their intestines, but it's not clear if the different flora are a cause (or a result) of obesity. If there is a causal relationship, maybe there will be an effective treatment that involves cultivating different intestinal microbes. [url]

"The Parasite Diet" isn't a new idea. At the turn of the 20th century, some people used tapeworms to lose weight (before modern medicine convinced people this was a very bad idea). But genetically modified tapeworms that are benign to people could be a reality someday. [url]

Freakonomics has yet another podcast on obesity called "100 Ways to Fight Obesity" that covers some interesting proposals to prevent overweight adults and children. Some suggestions, such as smelling a vial of vomit to curb an appetite, are not so pleasant -- and not really guaranteed to work that well, either. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post via StumbleUpon.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20130225/18073022108 Fri, 28 Dec 2012 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100617/1033019865/dailydirt-watching-our-weight.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100617/1033019865/dailydirt-watching-our-weight.shtml

Bags of snacks that contain just 100 calories worth of goodies are kind of annoying, so how about other ways to indicate calories? Imagine stacks of potato chips where every tenth chip was red -- subtly telling you how many servings you're consuming. [url]

The Weight of The Nation is an HBO documentary that investigates the issues of obesity and the food industry in the US. Nearly 70% of American adults are overweight or obese, and obesity is a public health issue that can not be ignored. [url]

An obesity-inducing microbe could be living in our intestines, making us fatter. Fight fire with fire... and ingest some tapeworms! [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20100617/1033019865 Fri, 12 Dec 2008 11:34:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081210/0244153071.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081210/0244153071.shtml suing a Croatian TV station for filming her walking in public and including the clip in a documentary about obesity. The woman never knew she was being filmed, and claims that this is "an attack on human dignity." The specific legal issues are pretty complex (it's in the UK, so it discusses the twists and turns of UK law on the issue), but it sounds like the right to privacy in such a case is hardly clear cut. Still, it does make you wonder what was really done wrong here. She was out in public, where anyone could see her -- and assuming the video accurately portrayed her and didn't change or distort the image, is it really an attack on her dignity? If so, would someone just looking at her in the street and thinking she's obese be an attack on her dignity? Where does that line fall?

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]]> fat-chance http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20081210/0244153071 Fri, 16 Nov 2007 17:20:00 PST Mike Masnick http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071116/120131.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20071116/120131.shtml parents really need an online test to tell if their children are obese? The article is actually a little vague about what this "test" is. It sounds like kids in the UK are having their height and weight measured, with that info being sent to parents by mail. Parents are then urged to type the height and weight into an online system that will do a simple body mass index (BMI) calculation to tell you that the kid is obese. However, if you need a computer to tell you when your kid is obese then perhaps the real problem is your own eyesight. Do we have an online test for that?

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