E43: Barry Popkin on the International Success of Soda Taxes

June 14, 2019

Taxes on sugar sweetened beverages now exist in a number of cities in the United States, including Philadelphia, Oakland, and San Francisco, and in more than 40 countries around the world. These have been made possible by dedicated, passionate and talented people working on the science supporting the use of such taxes. They evaluated the impact of these taxes and have worked with governments to decide how taxes might be structured and implemented. And there is no person who does all these things better and does so in every corner of the world than Barry Popkin.
International Success of Soda Taxes

Related podcasts: Childhood Obesity | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Obesity | Soda Taxes |

 

E42: Jim Krieger on the Making of a Soda Tax

June 13, 2019

Let’s say that you are a public health advocate and would like to see a tax on sugar sweetened beverages established in your community. What steps would you take? What coalitions do you think you’d need to build. And how would you go about the extraordinary work of gathering support from both the public and political figures? Few people are in a position to tell the story in such a compelling way as today’s guest Dr. James Krieger, who joins us from Seattle–one of the many places in the world that now has such taxes.

Related podcasts: Childhood Obesity | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | Obesity | Soda Taxes |

 

E34: Juan Rivera on the Success of Mexico’s Soda Tax

April 24, 2019

For people around the world who believe that taxing sugared beverages is a good public health policy, the country of Mexico passing such a tax was a stunning victory. There was a significant need in Mexico to be sure, given high rates of obesity, especially in children, and very high consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. But there was also a powerful beverage industry fighting the taxes. A fascinating story unfolded as the tax was being considered with a number of courageous and creative individuals at the center. One key figure is today’s guest, Dr. Juan Rivera.

Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Children Food Preferences | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Policy | International Food & Ag Policy | Obesity | Soda Taxes | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |

 

E18: Ashley Gearhardt on Food Addiction and You…Yes, You.

March 4, 2019

Can some foods have addictive properties? We all have cravings for some things–chocolate, let’s say? But can food really hijack the brain much as happens with classic substances of abuse? And are foods engineered by the food industry in ways that trigger addictive like reactions in the brain? Such are the questions being asked by Dr. Ashley Gearhardt. She is an associate professor of psychology and the clinical science area at the University of Michigan and a leading researcher in the field of food and the brain, food, and addiction in particular.

Related podcasts: Addiction & Food | Childhood Obesity | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Obesity | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |

 

E27: William Dietz on Obesity, Undernutrition & Climate Change

March 3, 2019

It would seem at first glance that undernutrition and obesity are opposite sides of the same coin and not very related to one another and that neither of these issues would be related at all to climate change. Well, this turns out to not be true at all according to an authoritative new report for our listeners. The title of the report is The Global Syndemic of Obesity, Undernutrition and Climate Change, The Lancet Commission Report. One of the architects of that report is Dr. William Dietz.

Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Diet & Nutrition | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Insecurity | International Food & Ag Policy | Obesity | Regenerative Agriculture |

 

E7: Thomas Farley on the Real Returns of the Philadelphia Soda Tax

January 24, 2019

Today’s guest has had a fascinating career and has made significant contributions to public health in Louisiana, New York, and in Pennsylvania. He says he learned the true value of public health investigating syphilis and legionnaire’s disease outbreaks while working for the Center for Disease Control’s epidemic intelligence service. He’s worked on the front lines to prevent and control infectious diseases such as HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, and his research on obesity led him to see the obesity epidemic in our country as an outcome of an unhealthy environment. Dr. Thomas Farley is the Health Commissioner for the City of Philadelphia and he led work to pass a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, seen widely as a significant success in health policy.

Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Childhood Obesity | Diet & Nutrition | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Obesity | Soda Taxes |

 

E6: Shiriki Kumanyika on the Disparities in our Food

January 22, 2019

Is it fair or ethical to allow food companies to target low-income communities with marketing for unhealthy foods? Should the health of our communities take a back seat to industry profits? These are surprisingly difficult questions we’ll explore today with Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika on The Leading Voices in Food.

Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Diet & Nutrition | Eating Disorders | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Obesity | Ultra-processed Food & Additives |

 

E3: Marion Hetherington on Kids, Vegetables and Appetite

January 19, 2019

Ever wonder why some kids like certain vegetables and some don’t? Or why some people are super focused on food and others forget to eat? Explore these ideas with biopsychologist Marion Hetherington on the Leading Voices in Food podcast.

Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Children Food Preferences | Diet & Nutrition |

 

E5: Kevin Concannon on the Role of Federal & State Food Assistance Programs

January 11, 2019

Imagine presiding over one of the nation’s major food assistance programs. The supplemental nutrition assistance program that helps feed more than $40 million Americans. And that this is just part of your job. Few people have seen the inner workings of federal and state food assistance programs as deeply as today’s guest, Kevin Concannon, former Undersecretary of Food, Nutrition and Consumer services in the US Department of Agriculture, under President Obama.

Related podcasts: Advocacy & Food | Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Equity, Race & Food Justice | Food Policy | School Meals | Social Safety Net & Food |

 

E2: Andrew Prentice on the Genetic Legacy of our Nutrition

January 10, 2019

You have likely heard the saying “You are what you eat.” But what if I told you that how well your parents were eating in the days and months before you were conceived may actually help to determine how your body works—at the cellular level—for your entire life? As it turns out, you were optimized to survive in your parents’ nutritional environment. The Leading Voices in Food podcast series, produced by the World Food Policy Center at Duke University, interviews Dr Andrew Prentice, professor of international nutrition that the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prentice is a distinguished scholar on the effects of diet on human health and disease and as a world leader in global health research, he has made major contributions in many areas, two of which are the regulation of Human Energy Balance and obesity and the effects of malnutrition on maternal and child health and poor populations.

Related podcasts: Child Development & Nutrition | Childhood Obesity | Food Insecurity | Food, Psychology & Neuroscience |