A common assumption is that kids with obesity consume more high-caloric foods – which of course includes confectionary items like chocolate and non-chocolate sweets. Now, a study by Constantin Gasser and colleagues from Melbourne, Australia, in a paper published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, present a systematic review and meta-analysis of confectionary consumption and overweight in kids. The researchers identified 19 studies fort their systematic review, 11 of which (?177,260 participants) were included in the meta-analysis. Overall, odds of excess weight of kids in the highest category of sweets consumption was about 20{7920e18cf5186565893a18d1f69fa52bf2806dc683a7bfcea51d671d2f7d8125} less than in the reference category. This inverse association was true for both chocolate and nonchocolate confectioneries. Furthermore, in the longitudinal studies and the randomised controlled trial included in the …

Having just completed a tour de force, first as President of the International Congress on Obesity in Vancouver and then as an invited plenary speaker at the Scientific Meeting of the German Diabetes Society in Berlin, I have had ample opportunities to discuss how best we can make better progress in obesity prevention and treatment. Amongst the many experts I spoke to virtually no one believes we will make any progress whatsoever, as long as the notion persists among the public and decision makers, that obesity is simply a lifestyle choice and that its impact on health are overstated. Thus, I would like to draw your attention to a timely article by Scott Kahan and Tracy Zvenyach, published in Current Obesity Reports on current policies and their …