Confusion Over How to Make Every Bite Count

March 30, 2022
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We listen to experts on what type of fuel to put into our car. If only we would pay a similar amount of attention to what we put into our bodies.

Obesity and Establishments

July 22, 2021
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This is by no means comprehensive coverage of the law as it pertains to obesity. The object is to look at a few moments in history to grasp the big picture.

Defining Obesity Under the Law

July 21, 2021
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The 2008 ADA amendments, rather than clarifying matters, had seemed to inspire even more confusion about whether obesity should qualify as a disability.

Hey Uncle Sam, Mind Your Own Business

July 20, 2021
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Today we look at the kinds of questions that schools have been asking parents in an effort to lower childhood obesity rates.

Different Strokes for Different States

July 19, 2021
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We continue looking at the complications that can stand in the way of student fitness screening, which mainly tracks obesity in school children.

Schools and Misconceptions

July 16, 2021
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Some parents strongly object to certain aspects of the school system, and this is one of the stumbling blocks impeding progress toward curbing childhood obesity.

Schools and Stumbling Blocks

July 15, 2021
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Many parents prefer a solid barrier between home and outside authority, and have strong opinions about what should or should not be the school’s business.

Schools Take On the Task

July 13, 2021
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The process involved in BMI assessment can be tedious, embarrassing, and even frightening to children. It’s a job for trained personnel, not school employees.

Schools and Expectations

July 12, 2021
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What are the rules for qualification as a disabled person in the education system, and how does it affect how childhood obesity is viewed and handled?

How Much Should Schools Care?

July 9, 2021
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Schools play an important role in reducing childhood obesity, we also have to consider the confidentiality of student academic and health records.

What Should Schools Care About?

July 8, 2021
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Who gets to define physical and mental health in schools? Parents, politicians, teachers, school administrators?

Schools and Obesity Tracking

July 7, 2021
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What should schools be doing about obesity, and on whose say-so? What happens if they go too far, or don’t go far enough?

Should Schools Stay in Their Lane?

July 6, 2021
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When it comes to children’s health policies, should schools mind their own business? And to what extent? There doesn’t seem to be an agreement.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Are Some People Fooling Themselves?

May 3, 2021
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This is a good time to look at the recent advisory from the Centers for Disease Control for fully vaccinated people, updated just a few days ago.

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Unholy Alliance: Obesity and COVID-19

November 4, 2020
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Conditions are perfect for an obesity epidemic that will leave all other obesity epidemics in the dust, and both COVID-19 and the obesity epidemic are beasts.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Food Insecurity and Other Demons

November 3, 2020
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Part of the battle against childhood obesity involves assuring that children are able to access nutritious food, yet it’s been an uphill battle in the U.S.

Coronavirus Chronicles — COVID-19 and the Dietary Guidelines

November 2, 2020
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We continue listing all the groups that are upset by the newest version of the Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines.

Coronavirus Chronicles — More on the Dietary Guidelines

October 30, 2020
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The Dietary Guidelines run to 835 pages, and still, a number of parties are ticked off over what they consider to be crucial omissions, like addressing obesity.

Coronavirus Chronicles — What’s Up With Those Food Guidelines?

October 29, 2020
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The dietary guidelines are renewed every five years. In the past, objectivity among the policymakers has been questioned by government watchdog groups.

Coronavirus Chronicles — A Mob of Two

October 28, 2020
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The global obesity plague and the plague caused by COVID-19 were destined to form a mutual aid society, which is a polite way of saying, a deadly partnership.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Transmission, Continued

September 1, 2020
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The CDC is not tracking school-based COVID-19 cases. Could there be a more perfect recipe for disaster?

Coronavirus Chronicles — What If Summer Slide Never Ends?

August 11, 2020
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The prospects for resumption of full-time in-person school, in most of the U.S., do not look promising.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Schools Must or Must Not Open, Continued

August 5, 2020
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Some of us are feeling that the safety of educators and school personnel is not being taken into account, and neither is the safety of America’s children.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Drivers, Temps, and Tech

July 29, 2020
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Even if it were true that children never catch or transmit COVID-19 (it’s not), that’s a lot of adults to be potential victims when the schools reopen.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Body Heat Goes Back to School

July 24, 2020
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Body temperature is a maddeningly unreliable indicator of disease, and basing the pass/fail system on it sounds a bit shaky.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Domestic and Foreign

July 16, 2020
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Worldwide, almost one-fourth of all coronavirus cases are American, because many Americans have what can only be called a bad attitude.

Coronavirus Chronicles — The Big Picture Is a Kaleidoscope

July 14, 2020
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With the U.S. losing battle to the pandemic, and the intense arguments over the concept of “Give me liberty or give me death,” some appear to have chosen death.

Coronavirus Chronicles — School Daze

July 10, 2020
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The idea that children don’t catch the coronavirus; or if they do, they don’t get very sick; and they don’t spread it around much is a misconception.

Coronavirus Chronicles — No More Pencils, No More Books?

July 3, 2020
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In quite a few locales, the concept of “reopening” society is a joke because Americans have exercised their right to selfishly do as they please all along.

Coronavirus Chronicles — Will There Be School?

July 1, 2020
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Educational institutions face monumental challenges in this upcoming school year. How are they handling an unprecedented mess? Can schools reopen?

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Profiles: Kids Struggling with Weight

Profiles: Kids Struggling with Obesity top bottom

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