Imagine a program for children that would build their core strength and other muscle groups as well. Endurance and agility would also be among the beneficial results. Thanks to the University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions, t …

Animal-assisted therapy and animal-assisted intervention are two names for an aspect of “green care,” described in a previous Childhood Obesity News post. Real live animals are not the only ones who can help kids out of obesity. Imaginary animals made …

This is what I’d say to a teen, or even a pretty smart kid, who’s a lot like I was then. Full disclosure: The Childhood Obesity News blog exists for many reasons. One of them is to show any overweight or obese young person that W8Loss2Go is a good idea …

Publication by the Huffington Post is a pretty big deal, so we are pleased to find Dr. Pretlow’s byline there. This piece, titled “Eating Addiction: There’s an App for That,” presents the complete rundown on the W8Loss2Go smartphone application. Boiled …

This is not just any “formerly fat” narrative. Theresa Bowick of Rochester, New York, attended the Rochester Educational Opportunity Center (where she has subsequently returned to address the graduating class). After acquiring Licensed Practical Nurse …

Mark Manson is an author greatly interested in happiness, self-knowledge, habits, relationships, and several other areas of human awareness. He invited a guest blogger with a fascinating story, Kelvin Burnett, who lost 266 pounds by “getting his mind s …

One obstacle to activism is the human tendency to become fed up. A cause can raise awareness, then reach a point of diminishing returns and even develop an emotional backlash. People get compassion fatigue. More than five years ago, Neville Rigby wrote …

“Kids Eat Right Month” is now over. KERM seems to be the invention of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), recently suspected of being an “astroturf” (as opposed to “grassroots”) group whose decisions seem to be unduly influenced by corporatio …

Research at Washington University showed that fat lab mice have in their intestines more Firmicutes, which are a type of bacteria. Thin mice have more Bacteroidetes. When both groups of mice are given the identical amount and type of food, the Firmicut …

While we can’t set these words to music, we hope Justin Williamson will take them to heart anyway. The outstandingly talented, morbidly obese youth has embarked on a path of changing his life and inspiring others to do the same. As Dr. Pretlow says, “T …

When Justin Williamson was invited to California to be a guest on TV show “The Doctors,” the big question was whether he would even be allowed to fly there from Texas. A video clip on his homepage was made on the day of his preliminary visit to the air …

World Karate Champion Johnny Linebarger is based in Tucson, where he teaches martial arts. He wants to fight childhood obesity by sharing with the world something the KoSho Karate school franchise has known about for 20 years—Pad Tag, which he calls “a …

Childhood Obesity News has often offered many suggestions for parents. There is always a certain amount of reluctance involved in doing that, because most parents do the best they can. Telling them about their mistakes feels unkind, and no one wants to …

Because all of Dr. Pretlow’s time is spent working hard on a program to guide millions of children out of the prison of obesity, he is not able to respond to every individual. A recent letter, a true cri de coeur from an English mother at her wits’ end …

{NOTE: Yesterday Childhood Obesity News published, with the kind permission of its author, a moving communication from a mother in Great Britain, along with the beginning of Dr. Pretlow’s response. Here is the rest of that reply.} You can’t make her ac …

Not long ago, Childhood Obesity News looked at the calorie counter and energy expenditure tracker MyFitnessPal. Many technological aids are available to consumers for their weight-loss needs, and some of these inventions have capabilities that border o …

The government is supposed to protect us. If people are jumping off a certain bridge, the authorities strengthen the fencing and paint the whole structure a bright color, to discourage suicidal ideation. But when other threats tempt us from the path of …

Last time, Childhood Obesity News looked at some of the “collateral damage” (aside from the obvious obesity) the makers of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) inflict on the poor, including members of politically powerless minority groups: sub-optimal lan …

Available both online and in the print edition of the journal Childhood Obesity is Dr. Pretlow’s paper, “Treatment of Child/Adolescent Obesity Using the Addiction Model: A Smartphone App Pilot Study.” As Dr. Pretlow says: This publication signals anoth …

Writer and producer Matt Mira is renowned for his work on Attack of the Show, The Nerdist, @midnight, Tosh.0, Math Bites, and numerous other projects. He was also a fat kid who only survived high school because, he says, “I was funny and I played footb …

On happiness scales, obese patients have rated their quality of life as being similar to that of cancer patients on chemotherapy. So why don’t they just stop overeating? Because overeating is not really the cause of their obesity, but rather the sympto …

In recent years, the reformed Cookie Monster, who saw the light and realized that “cookies are a sometimes food,” has been all over the media. In November of last year, the popular TV show “Last Week Tonight” featured a sketch in which host John Oliver …

Today’s kids have a lot to cope with. Just like the members of previous generations, they must achieve academic success and jump through all the other traditional hoops in order to enjoy the independence of having jobs when they grow up. On top of that …

Yesterday’s subject was the decreasing tolerance shown by companies for risky health practices among their employees. For her report for CNN, Katherine Reynolds Lewis consulted several experts, including Jim Winkler of the consultancy firm AON Hewitt. …

Christopher Bergland is connected with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization primarily concerned with the childhood obesity epidemic. Its project is the Healthy Schools Program, which operates in 27,000 American schools. He is also a …

In discussing self-image, Childhood Obesity News has mentioned Corey Stoll, who has been remarkably frank about his struggles with weight. A morbidly obese child and 300-pound teenager, Stoll grew up to become well-known actor in “House of Cards,” “Law …

Childhood Obesity News has been looking into the lives and thoughts of some formerly obese people to see what can be learned. For a CNN iReport, Linda Roche shared the story of her earliest educational experiences: By the time I started kindergarten I …

The reader will enjoy Dr. Pretlow’s account of his experiences at the 2009 ECOG  scientific meeting, where he conducted a plenary session and introduced the idea that the childhood obesity epidemic is caused by emotionally driven comfort eating, which …

Fernando Botero Sculpture The varieties of fat acceptance range from mild to extreme. In the realm of health and safely, obesity must be acknowledged as something that exists in society, and is likely to continue for some time. Take the crash test dumm …

Toph Eggers Dave Eggers is an American publisher, author, editor, philanthropist, and half a dozen other things. In 2005, Time Magazine named him one of the “100 Most Influential People.” In 2008, Utne Reader named him one of the “50 Visionaries Who Ar …