3 ms·

This might be a good YC "request for startups." Virta Health is one I've seen. And the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation is working on this cause: https://www.rw

by arikr 9y ago

This might be a good YC "request for startups." Virta Health is one I've seen. And the Robert Johnson Wood Foundation is working on this cause: https://www.rwjf.org/en/our-focus-areas/topics/childhood-obesity.html https://www.rwjf.org/en/our-focus-areas/topics/childhood-obe... -- Diet seems crucial. Obesity isn't really helped by exercise. (https://www.vox.com/2018/1/3/16845438/exercise-weight-loss-myth-burn-calories https://www.vox.com/2018/1/3/16845438/exercise-weight-loss-m...) "Significant weight loss was observed with any low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet. Weight loss differences between individual named diets were small. This supports the practice of recommending any diet that a patient will adhere to in order to lose weight." (Many diets work. Most important is optimizing for one that will be continued long term / rest of their life) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25182101 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25182101 -- Overweight-obesity is also a top 3 preventable cause of death for US people (and many other nations). https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/smoking-high-blood-pressure-overweight-preventable-causes-death-us/ https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/smoking-hig... About 1 in 12 of total deaths each year in the US can be attributed to the person being overweight or obese. ~7x more Americans die each year due to obesity/overweight than due to opioids. (Though opioid deaths are rising much faster.) https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/overdose-death-rates https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/o... -- What causes obesity? The "greatest contributor to weight gain" is eating more calories than are burned. (https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/obesity/conditioninfo/cause https://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/obesity/conditioninf...) It seems that food types do play into this - in part because eating 1000 calories of sugar will leave you much hungrier than eating 1000 calories of fat, so while in theory you've eaten the same amount of calories, in reality the sugar eating person will probably eat more the rest of the day.

jacquesm 9y ago
I did a small investment in a food oriented start-up and I really hope they will succeed in their dream of feeding people healthy stuff. Many companies claim to want to 'change the world for the better' when actually they are just looking to make bank. These guys are driven because of their ideals, they're super nice and have a good idea + track record. Time will tell if it works out.
- arikr 9y ago
  Nice! What's the link/name?
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    They are still in closed beta, see https://www.velafoods.com/ https://www.velafoods.com/, they are US based. I've seen their whole product evolution up close and decided that I believe as much in the founders as I believe in the product which made investing in them a relatively easy decision.
- adrr 9y ago
  Its not about eating healthy food, obesity is about the over consumption of food. You can maintain a healthy weight eating hamburgers and fries every day. The problem is portion size.
  - jacquesm 9y ago
    It's a combination of: - food quantity - genetics - physical activity or lack thereof - food quality and make-up (plant / animal for instance) - and an addictive element thrown in for some individuals
    - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
      I'm curious, what makes you say genetics is an important factor? And what would make our genes change en masse in the last 50 years?
      - jacquesm 9y ago
        Our genes did not change but some people are simply more predisposed to obesity than others on account of their genetic heritage. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787002/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787002/
    - knbknb 9y ago
arikr 9y ago
Also this article seems promising, if only I could read it without a paywall... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-fix-the-obesity-crisis/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-fix-the-ob... (Side note: Is anyone working on "Amazon Prime for Web Paywalls" - e.g. $x/mo, and you get access to >90% of commonly hit web paywalls - see also https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/ https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/)
- sincerely 9y ago
  For specific articles you can make requests on r/scholar
m_ke 9y ago
We applied and interviewed twice with Bitesnap/Bite AI but got feedback that they weren't sure if the market was big enough. Blame probably falls more on us and our ability to sell the vision though.
anthony_romeo 9y ago
I don't disagree with what you've written, but regarding your brief point on exercise... On my journey to lose 100 pounds I came across a meta-analysis of studies on weight loss* which indicated that, while exercise wasn't a significant contributor to short-term weight loss, exercise was correlated to successful long-term weight loss (a much less likely occurrence, since the vast majority of people who lose weight regain it within a decade). *I read this analysis a decade ago, so I can't really find it to share.

by arikr 9y ago

jacquesm 9y ago

I did a small investment in a food oriented start-up and I really hope they will succeed in their dream of feeding people healthy stuff. Many companies claim to want to 'change the world for the better' when actually they are just looking to make bank. These guys are driven because of their ideals, they're super nice and have a good idea + track record. Time will tell if it works out.

arikr 9y ago
Nice! What's the link/name?
- jacquesm 9y ago
  They are still in closed beta, see https://www.velafoods.com/ https://www.velafoods.com/, they are US based. I've seen their whole product evolution up close and decided that I believe as much in the founders as I believe in the product which made investing in them a relatively easy decision.
adrr 9y ago
Its not about eating healthy food, obesity is about the over consumption of food. You can maintain a healthy weight eating hamburgers and fries every day. The problem is portion size.
- jacquesm 9y ago
  It's a combination of: - food quantity - genetics - physical activity or lack thereof - food quality and make-up (plant / animal for instance) - and an addictive element thrown in for some individuals
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
    I'm curious, what makes you say genetics is an important factor? And what would make our genes change en masse in the last 50 years?
    - jacquesm 9y ago
      Our genes did not change but some people are simply more predisposed to obesity than others on account of their genetic heritage. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787002/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2787002/
  - knbknb 9y ago

arikr 9y ago

Also this article seems promising, if only I could read it without a paywall... https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-fix-the-obesity-crisis/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-fix-the-ob... (Side note: Is anyone working on "Amazon Prime for Web Paywalls" - e.g. $x/mo, and you get access to >90% of commonly hit web paywalls - see also https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/ https://stratechery.com/2015/aggregation-theory/)

sincerely 9y ago
For specific articles you can make requests on r/scholar

m_ke 9y ago

We applied and interviewed twice with Bitesnap/Bite AI but got feedback that they weren't sure if the market was big enough. Blame probably falls more on us and our ability to sell the vision though.

anthony_romeo 9y ago

I don't disagree with what you've written, but regarding your brief point on exercise... On my journey to lose 100 pounds I came across a meta-analysis of studies on weight loss* which indicated that, while exercise wasn't a significant contributor to short-term weight loss, exercise was correlated to successful long-term weight loss (a much less likely occurrence, since the vast majority of people who lose weight regain it within a decade). *I read this analysis a decade ago, so I can't really find it to share.