One of the foundations of Dr. Pretlow’s philosophy is the principle that the kids themselves are the experts, and they are worth listening to. In fact, we’d better listen to them, or we will wind up spending a lot of resources on programs that are doom …

This profile on CNN Health turns a sociological eye upon the life of an overweight child named Claudia Garza. Actually, Garza is a grownup now; a citizen journalist who recounted her story for iReport, the section of CNN generated by the public. Then h …

That overweight kids are likely to become obese adults seems to be a fairly reasonable assumption. Of course, whether a person is young or old, excess fat is a liability. It’s just that, as we age, extra poundage becomes even more of a liability. Scien …

Holidays make for difficult times for the weight-conscious kids. So remember to act accordingly. As Grandma used to say, Have fun, but not too much fun! Happy Memorial Day! Image by Tobeyotter, used under its Creative Commons license.

This is heartening. In the succinctly-titled “Final Version of Junk Food Essay,” a 19-year-old Malaysian woman, who goes by the pseudonym “ngfeiwen,” speaks of her belief that junk-food sales in school canteens should be banned. Childhood obesity and o …

When considering the obesity epidemic, more and more people are making the mind/body connection. David M. Dunkley, assistant professor in the Psychiatry department at McGill University, is also a clinician and researcher at the Jewish General Hospital …

Linda Spangle, R.N., is an expert on heart hunger, the emptiness that leads to emotional eating, which is pretty much the same as comfort eating. Her website, Weight Loss Café, offers several helpful articles about emotional eating. Today we’re looking …

Today we are watching a video from a class given by Dr. Elissa Epel at the University of California San Francisco, where she is a faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry. She and her colleagues have been studying the ways in which stress can lea …

Not long ago, Pediatrics magazine published the results of a study undertaken by four authors: Jean Huelsing, RN; Nadim Kanafani, MD; Jingnan Mao, MS; and Neil H. White, MD. They took a very close look at 76 children and adolescents who went to a weigh …

Here, from Huffington Post, is an illumination of one aspect of the proposed Healthy Choices Act. The article was written by Penny Lee, Executive Director of the Campaign to End Obesity. Her job is to cross-pollinate the thoughts of many powerful inter …

Ever since Barbara Schroeder and Carrie Wiatt first introduced The Diet for Teenagers Only, the book has gained quite a following among the young people it addresses. It has earned the reputation of being a safe and inspirational authority that supplie …

Well, this is news that many people don’t want to hear, but, like it or not, we do need to pay attention to scientists like Paul Kenny and Paul Johnson. Victoria Stern has recently reported on fruit flies, personality problems, nanoparticles, and bacte …

Marilla Mulwane says, I do not believe in starving yourself to lose weight, or in having to spend hours at the gym every day, or in not being able to enjoy your favorite foods. Did that catch your attention? It did mine. Yes, Marilla, tell me more abou …

Happy Mother’s Day! If you’re a Mom, we hope your special holiday is a terrific one this year and every year! We know what you want more than anything — for your kids to be healthy and happy. So here’s our Mother’s Day gift to you: the knowledge that …

If you want to visit the Unhealthiest Town in America, the federal Centers for Disease Control will direct you to Huntington, West Virginia. That’s where fitness-conscious celebrity chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver recently traveled, in order to me …