It may be informative to know what else Tommy Thompson and HHS has on their
plate right now.
HHS tackles obesity
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/2004/304_fat.html
excerpts from this press release:
"Healthy Lifestyles and Disease Prevention" is a national educational
campaign that encourages long-term weight control through public service
announcements (PSAs) and an interactive Web site. Nongovernmental partners
in the HHS initiative include Lifetime Television, Sesame Workshop, and the
United Fresh Fruit & Vegetable Association.
(maybe the formula co's where silent partners in the Breastfeeding
Campaign??? TIC - Janice)
"Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson says the findings
should motivate all Americans to take action. "Americans need to understand
that overweight and obesity are literally killing us," Thompson said in
announcing an HHS initiative to fight obesity in March 2004. "We need to
tackle America's weight issues as aggressively as we are addressing smoking
and tobacco."
<snip>
"Designed for all media outlets, the PSAs provide tongue-in-cheek examples
of the power of small steps. They show typical Americans finding "love
handles," double chins, and other unwanted body parts in public places,
apparently "lost" as people used the stairs, got active on the beach, or
walked to the office. The ad agency McCann Erickson worked through the Ad
Council to create the ads for HHS.
"We know that gloom and doom messages warning against weight don't work,"
Thompson said. "These messages are provocative and attention-getting, but
they are also empowering and achievable."
Janice again.
The original press release of Dec. 13, 2001,
http://www.os.dhhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/20011213.html included this
strategy:
"Educate all expectant parents about the benefits of breast-feeding. Studies
indicate breast-fed infants may be less likely to become overweight as they
grow older."
The press release of May 2004 (first link in this post) doesn't mention
breastfeeding at all. See this:
Obesity Research
Thompson says that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is developing a
strategic plan for obesity research. NIH director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.,
says the strategy coordinates the funding of obesity research across 25
institutes, centers, and offices at the NIH. The NIH budget request for
obesity research for fiscal year 2005 is $440.3 million, a 10 percent
increase from the current year's funding.
"There is no single cause of all human obesity," Zerhouni says, "so we must
explore prevention and treatment approaches that encompass many aspects,
such as behavioral, sociocultural, socioeconomic, environmental, physiologic
and genetic factors."
The NIH also is reviewing public comments on a draft plan and preparing the
final version. The NIH plan is organized into four major themes related to
obesity prevention and treatment:
-lifestyle modification
-pharmacologic, surgical, or other medical approaches
-the link between obesity and its associated health conditions
-crosscutting research topics, including health disparities and technology.
Janice Reynolds
Canada
(where our gov't recently launched a similar plan to fight obesity, which
included increasing breastfeeding rates, however, the gov't failed to
mention breastfeeding in its own press release (listing only lifestyle
factors) so the media reports never mentioned breastfeeding, either).
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
