Coke Again

vicious-cycle-grazing

Drinking, throughout the day, anything but water is a subset of grazing. Dr. Pretlow and his co-author Carol M. Stock point out this seemingly obvious but under-recognized fact in “Addiction Model Intervention for Obesity in Young People.”

Here is the quotation:

Grazing is eating or drinking continually. Keeping candy in your pocket or desk, always sipping a soda, frequent trips to the “goodies” table at work or school, and frequent getting snacks from the vending machine are examples of grazing.

Grazing is one of the detrimental behaviors that the W8Loss2Go smartphone app was created to deal with. Excessive eating is as much an addiction as snorting cocaine or gambling. Overeating may be a substance addiction, or more likely a behavioral addiction, or it may be varying proportions of both, depending on the individual. The important thing to know is that overeating responds to addiction treatment methods. This applies to the consumption of liquids, as well as solid foods.

Withdrawal does not have to be traumatic, but can be accomplished gradually. There are pharmaceuticals that a patient cannot just decide to stop taking, because abrupt deprivation would be literally fatal. But a patient can be weaned from the medication by the administration of ever-decreasing amounts. If it can work with those powerful substances, how could it not work with mere sugar-sweetened beverages?

Whether liquid or solid, the steps are the same: staged withdrawal, followed by abstinence. Change is made in small, even micro increments. As an example, the presentation speaks of gradually diluting soda over a period of time. But again, as always, people are all different, to the point where “the ‘cold turkey’ approach of substantial food changes may be tolerated in select individuals.”

This does not sound good

Childhood Obesity News has not highlighted the perfidy of the soda pop industry for a while, so here goes. Less than a month ago, Corporate Campaign, Inc. sent out a press release. The company, founded in 1981, provides “tools to challenge unbridled corporate and political greed.” Their message describes the problem.

The Coca-Cola Company has a new CEO, James Quincey. Previously, he served his corporate masters as president of the soda giant’s Mexico division. Allegedly, a scheme involving labor-law violations defrauded Mexico, workers and government alike, of billions of dollars.

The roots of the alleged crime go back 30 years, though it was brought to light only 10 years ago when a marketing executive (who apparently was fired for having ethics) became a whistleblower. Although Quincey was in charge of Mexico a relatively short time, from 2005 to 2008, part of this situation did happen on his watch, and may still be ongoing. Now, James Quincey is the Big Boss, which some critics believe is worthy of concern.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Addiction Model Intervention for Obesity in Young People,” Weigh2Rock.com, 2014
Source: “Incoming Coca-Cola CEO Charged With Condoning Scheme to Defraud Mexican Government and Workers Out of Billions of Dollars,” ymlp.com, 04/24/17
Image by Weigh2Rock.com

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Profiles: Kids Struggling with Weight

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The Book

OVERWEIGHT: What Kids Say explores the obesity problem from the often-overlooked perspective of children struggling with being overweight.

About Dr. Robert A. Pretlow

Dr. Robert A. Pretlow is a pediatrician and childhood obesity specialist. He has been researching and spreading awareness on the childhood obesity epidemic in the US for more than a decade.
You can contact Dr. Pretlow at:

Presentations

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the American Society of Animal Science 2020 Conference
What’s Causing Obesity in Companion Animals and What Can We Do About It

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the World Obesity Federation 2019 Conference:
Food/Eating Addiction and the Displacement Mechanism

Dr. Pretlow’s Multi-Center Clinical Trial Kick-off Speech 2018:
Obesity: Tackling the Root Cause

Dr. Pretlow’s 2017 Workshop on
Treatment of Obesity Using the Addiction Model

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation for
TEC and UNC 2016

Dr. Pretlow’s invited presentation at the 2015 Obesity Summit in London, UK.

Dr. Pretlow’s invited keynote at the 2014 European Childhood Obesity Group Congress in Salzburg, Austria.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2013 European Congress on Obesity in Liverpool, UK.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2011 International Conference on Childhood Obesity in Lisbon, Portugal.

Dr. Pretlow’s presentation at the 2010 Uniting Against Childhood Obesity Conference in Houston, TX.

Food & Health Resources