I have also been late in addressing the recent announcement of pending changes in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association that regard eating behaviors. The DSM is in its fourth edition; the fifth is due in 2013.

You may know that the only substance abuse disorders regarding food in the DSM IV are anorexia and bulimia. There is another category, ED-NOS, which stands for eating disorders not otherwise specified, but they are mostly A/B-related, with exceptions.

I'm a little late to the party, but wanted to acknowledge Michelle Obama's joining the fight against childhood obesity, which she did last week. Her ability to focus attention on an issue is unique, and her focus on obesity is welcome. (I don't limit my own focus by age, but I don't mind if someone else does.)

Georgie and I have been watching, and enjoying, "Men of a Certain Age," the Ray Romano/Andre Braugher/Scott Bakula show on TNT. I think they have three believable characters, none of them perfect by any means, but textured, sympathetic, and believable.

But a plotline in the most recent episode stumbled a bit, on a topic I think worth raising.

Few sweeping statements can be applied broadly, but here's one I'm willing to stand by: The first action any problem eater should consider is to take responsbility for what he or she eats, and look for support and help to change.That's what I did, albeit haltingly and irascibly, and I'm maintaining a 150-pound-plus weight loss for almost 20 years.

I met up with a few new comrades at the Promising Practices in Food Addiction Recovery conference last weekend in Houston. One of them is Meredith Terpeluk, who works with problem eaters in South Bend, Ind. I expect I'll refer to her at least occasionally, by virture of her blog at reachcorewellness.wordpress.com.

The Department of Defense is considering either supplementing or fortifying the rations of all active service personnel with EPA and DHA omega 3 fatty acids to enhance stress resilience and general wellness. [They would expect to] improve military performance, cut hospital bills and speed recovery from traumatic brain injuries.

 

This comes from nutraingredients-usa.com, which views this as a business story; its lead paragraph talks about a huge market opening for those substances if the military follows through.  And, of course, it is; nutrition is inextricably linked to the marketplace, which is our way of life but not a way to safe way to life.

Unless this is your first visit here, you know that I am convinced that food addiction exists, and that I reserve high dudgeon for the medical establishment for not understanding what I know to be true. (Feel free to make your own judgments about the know-it-all texture of that; I’m not unaware of them.)

They’ve recognized substance use disorders involving tobacco, alcohol, amphetamines, and myriad other chemical dependencies. But not food, not yet.

Joan Ifland, principal organizer of the Promising Practices in Food Addiction conference last weekend in Houston, shared some back-of-the-envelope figuring, and suggested that overeating is responsible for 7 percent of the economy. It went like this:

I fear no contradiction when I say that if you don’t act insanely around food, then you know someone who does. That shouldn’t even stir contention in a nation where 2 of every 3 adults — 145 million of us — are considered overweight (defined as a body/mass index of between 25 and 30) or obese (a BMI over 30).

Here’s a window on that insanity, cited by Diane Rohrbach of Seattle, program director of Food Addiction Recovery Education, during her presentation at the Promising Practices in Food Addiction conference last weekend in Houston: The Cookie Diet. This is an actual product.

New York is contemplating a penny-per-ounce tax on sugared drinks. Here's how New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg justified his support to a state Senate committee:

“Today, more than half the residents of New York City, and nearly 40 percent of our public school students, are overweight, many of them seriously so. That puts them dangerously on track to contracting diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, depression, and other serious health problems later in their lives.