The illustration above is an oldie but goodie, which Childhood Obesity News has not published before, and it certainly deserves a place in the archive. Presented by Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, the award congratulates Dr. Pretlow for writing one of the top 25 articles — not of just one year, but of the publication’s entire history. The words in small italics say:
This certificate hereby verifies that a strict standard of professional review and selection has been utilized for this award, which honors the high merit, original thinking, and contribution to the profession made by the article.
Here is another callback, this time to one of Dr. Pretlow’s more recent activities, the January webinar sponsored by the Food Addiction Institute. The event is documented on a page of its own, in the form of a video that runs just short of an hour.
It is also available on YouTube, and the accompanying text details Dr. Pretlow’s professional credits in an easily assimilated couple of paragraphs, which have also not appeared on this website in quite that form. Here goes:
Dr. Robert Pretlow graduated with honors from Princeton University. He received his MD from the University of Virginia Medical School, where he also did his internship and residency in pediatrics. He is board certified in pediatrics and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He has a Master of Science in electrical engineering from Old Dominion University.
Dr. Pretlow has published 13 articles, has been awarded 5 U.S. patents, and has presented 47 abstracts, keynotes, plenaries, panels, and tutorials at national and international conferences. He is author of the book, Overweight: What Kids Say: What’s Really Causing the Childhood Obesity Epidemic. He is founder and director of Weigh2Rock.com, an online weight loss system for teens and preteens, used by clinics, schools, private practitioners, hospitals, community centers, and health clubs, worldwide.
The Obesity News Bulletin archives are online, and the Childhood Obesity section is only one one of many. Of particular interest here, of course, are Obesity and Pregnancy, Obesity and Genetics — well, all of them, actually. Anyone interested in a kindergarten-based intervention in China, or home-based behavioral intervention, or the effect of a chaotic upbringing, has come to the right place.
A few words on studies
Jeff Nedelman defines the difference between two sorts of academic enterprise:
Causational studies are very expensive; to be credible must involve many participants over a long time and account for many variables, while observational studies are a simpler matter of crunching the numbers enough to get the results one expects. No one commissions research anticipating a negative response.
The completion of a scientific study involves many people in a variety of roles. As an example, we randomly chose a publication at JAMA Network. Under “Author Contributions,” we are notified that, figuratively speaking, the buck stops here:
Dr Azad had full access to all of the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.
The other job descriptions include:
- Corresponding Author
- Study concept and design
- Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
- Drafting of the manuscript
- Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content
- Statistical analysis
- Obtained funding
- Administrative, technical, or material support
- Study supervision
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Childhood Obesity,” ContemporaryHealth.co.uk
Source: “The venomous rhetoric is worse than the science,” FSHealth.com, 04/10/13
Source: “Association Between Artificially Sweetened Beverage Consumption During Pregnancy and Infant Body Mass Index,” JAMANetwork.com, July 2016
Image by Routledge Journals
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