How Is a Lawyer Like a Ph.D. Candidate?

The whole point of an academic dissertation is to take all the steps that a trial attorney goes through in preparing a court case. According to writer and editor Sabrina Collier, the author will define a question, pinpoint the issues, and assess the legitimacy and reliability of relevant information, which of course must be meticulously sourced. Then the evidence on every side should be evaluated, and a competent argument made, which leads to the conclusion. The only difference is, the dissertation-writing student (rather than the legal system) proposes the original question.

Almost 10 years ago, by submitting a dissertation, Janna Stephens of Johns Hopkins University claimed the right to place the letters Ph.D. after her name. The question that interested this student was whether technology, in the form of smartphone applications and text messaging, could provide successful platforms for the delivery, to young adults affected with obesity, of needed behavioral interventions. It was partly answered by analyzing the results of a weight loss study of subjects whose ages ranged from 18 to 25.

Results: Participants randomized to the intervention group lost significantly more weight (p=0.026), significantly reduced their body mass index (p<0.01), and significantly reduced their waist circumference (p<0.01) when compared to participants in the control group.

The participants confirmed that using the tools provided by a smartphone, along with text messaging, interested them greatly. The ability to integrate this technology into their lives was not even in question, but was proven anyway. In the realm of behavioral intervention, this concept went straight to the top.

Multiple studies have reported significant weight loss, reduced BMI, reduced fat mass, and increased physical activity in participants using Smartphone technology versus those who were not.

Between 2005 and 2010, studies of smartphone applications seem to have been centered around the cardiovascular risk factors posed by overweight, obesity, and inactivity.

The author also gleaned information from other timely studies. In one, the researchers noted that “the individual who accessed the application the most, lost the most weight.” Strangely, very few studies had focused solely on the young adult demographic, a particularly egregious omission considering such factors as the tendency of college students to gain the pounds known as the “freshman fifteen.” Stephens also noted a dearth of evidence about how effective mobile phone technology might be on elderly people or young children.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “What is a dissertation?,” TopIniversities.com, 06/01/23
Source: “Smartphone Technology and Text Messaging to Promote Weight Loss in Young Adults,” JHU.edu, July 2015
Image by Karen Neoh/CC BY 2.0

Happy Juneteenth!

Happy Juneteenth!

There’s no post today. We will return with a new post tomorrow. Enjoy the holiday!

Image by Jennifer Gagliardi via Flickr.

The Circus and the Sideshow, Continued

Yesterday, we considered the words of some newsworthy figures in the culture who have used controversial weight-control drugs — or not. Here are more, illustrating a bold willingness to speak on a divisive topic, and possibly acknowledging that as Hollywood figures they are widely imitated and expected to set a good example.

It’s impossible not to notice that the overwhelming majority of speakers on this topic are female. As previously mentioned, celebrity rank can change from one moment to the next, so they are quoted in alphabetical order. All these references are from either People.com or TooFab.com.

Charles Barkley — “I started at 352 and I’m down to 290.”

Dolores Catania — Told an interested reporter that, like all her co-stars, she too was on a weight-loss drug.

Bethenny Frankel — Cussed a lot in an Instagram video where she also rechristened one of the drugs “NOzempic” and warned followers to shun it, especially if they tend toward body dysmorphia and eating disorders.

Golnesa “GG” Gharachedaghi — Gained some weight from taking steroid injections for a health issue, had a hard time losing it, and tried out one of the new drugs.

Chelsea Handler — Was once prescribed Ozembic, before all the fuss broke out, by her anti-aging doctor, just to lose five pounds. To users she says, “Wishing you all well and hope you have doctors that care about more than your size. It’s gonna backfire, something bad is gonna happen.”

Jameela Jamil — Warns that these drugs do not permanently banish weight, and begs women not to shame themselves just because they don’t look like the stars at an awards ceremony. “There is little to no discussion of the side effects in any advertising online. I’m deeply concerned, but I can’t change any of your minds because fat phobia has our generation in a chokehold.”

Lala Kent — Believes we all need to become better examples for the children, and advises people who are using these drugs to stop. “Enough already.”

Gina Kirschenheiter — Reports that she is not on a weight-loss drug, but lost weight by giving up alcohol, and also is photographed by experts who know how to pose their subjects well.

Katie Maloney — “Do what you want to do… Understand the risks… Follow your bliss.”

Jillian Michaels — Says there are a lot of negatives to taking Ozempic, and she helped several friends transition off it. And the weight will return.

Sharon Osbourne — Battled one of the main side effects, nausea, for four months and lost 30 pounds. Apparently, she then stopped, and told an interviewer that there is no quick weight loss recipe for what is basically a mental problem.

Patti Stanger — “I’m on the shot. I’m gonna tell you the truth. I went on semaglutide, which is the ingredient in Ozempic. I got the worst acid reflux. And I was not feeling good. So, I stopped three weeks in.” But then, she went on Mounjaro.

Amy Schumer — Tried Ozempic for weight loss, and felt so lousy she couldn’t even play with her son. “But I immediately invested because I knew everyone was going to try it.” She then opted for liposuction. “Everyone has been lying saying, ‘Oh smaller portions.’ When I got lipo, I said I got lipo.”

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Stars Who’ve Spoken About Ozempic — and What They’ve Said,” People.com, 05/01/23
Source: “Stars Who Have Spoken Out On Weight Loss Drug Trend In Hollywood,” TooFab.com, 03/27/23
Source: “Amy Schumer Says She Tried Ozempic, Tells Others ‘Lying’ About It to Be ‘Be Real’ About Their Weight Loss,” People.com, 06/09/23
Image by mahmoud99725/CC BY-SA 2.0

The Circus and the Sideshow

One might suppose that the subject of the new weight-loss drugs had been exhausted by now. But no! A flow of news continues to cascade into the general consciousness, and a spectacular number of celebrities have had their say about Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro. The differences between the particular drugs have been explored here, but they all work on the same principle.

To be fair, individuals who were originally prescribed the GLP-1 agonists to treat Type 2 diabetes and other hard-to-manage conditions seem pretty happy with the improvement in their lives, especially considering the alternative. It’s the professional pretty people, who like to eat their metaphorical cake and retain their waistlines too, who will not, metaphorically speaking, put a sock in it.

Are their motives pure?

Discussions around weight and body size tend to permeate many aspects of the zeitgeist, for all kinds of reasons, which is why our kids can get so messed up by the constant attention and scrutiny. Traditionally, joining the chorus of voices about a current news trend can be a career booster for someone teetering on the edge of stardom. If nothing else, it increases name recognition and the cumulative number of online mentions.

When established figures who don’t need the publicity also chime in, they tend to be granted another kind of attention, with an extra tinge of credibility. The situation is confused further by the fact that people in different age groups tend to have varying ideas about whom they consider worth listening to.

The moral elephant in the room

But first, because they belong to a distinct category, let’s listen to the people whose primary concern is the shortage of product, caused by the enormous publicity. Julia Fox says “I would never do that. There are diabetics that need it.” Meghan McCain says, “There’s a clear moral issue here. It’s hard to take a drug because swimsuit season is around the corner, while others need it to stay alive.”

The shortage will not last, because pharmaceutical corporations have unlimited resources and a determination to give the people what they want. So these voices will soon sound quaint, and in a world where there are enough drugs for everybody, the upcoming generation will wonder what all the fuss was about.

As with any other profession, there are a certain number of celebs who actually have a health problem that the drug was designed to treat. Rosie O’Donnell was grilled about recent weight loss, and explained to the press that yes, she was using one of the controversial drugs to treat her Type 2 diabetes.

Some energetic and highly motivated celebrities find it offensive to be suspected of using pharmaceuticals when they actually put in a lot of sweaty work. Kyle Richards told the press of her frustration, never having taken a diet drug, and after having exercised with extreme determination to achieve an all-natural weight loss. And Khloé Kardashian is quoted as saying, “Let’s not discredit my years of working out. I get up 5 days a week at 6 AM to train.”

(To be continued…)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Stars Who’ve Spoken About Ozempic — and What They’ve Said,” People.com, 05/01/23
Source: “Stars Who Have Spoken Out On Weight Loss Drug Trend In Hollywood,” TooFab.com, 03/27/23
Image by Tim Dorr/CC BY-SA 2.0

A Book That Doesn’t Do Much, Continued

Mr. Lambert asks the rhetorical question, “Why on earth would anybody want to stay fat?” and the practical question, “Why do you so often do things that are counterproductive to that?” and the deeply challenging question, “Do you believe that deep down you don’t deserve to be thin?

True, there is a need to identify conflicting motivations, because cognitive dissonance is never helpful. Also:

DO YOU REALISE THAT YOUR PROBLEM MAY NOT STEM FROM YOU BEING FAT AT ALL? As human beings we possess anchors deep within us. This book lets you know that power and respect are gained through attitude and behavior, regardless of your size.

Huh? Anchors? Maybe it is not necessary to lose weight, but only to learn a few authoritative body language moves, to keep people in line. At any rate, this book might, possibly, be someone’s idea of a joke. Or maybe it was conceived as the ideal “passive income” vehicle.

Exploitation much?

On February 9, 2010, then-First Lady Michelle Obama announced the Let’s Move! campaign. Lambert’s Why Not Stay Fat? hit the street 10 days later. The book seems to have been first published as a PDF file, so a rush job could conceivably been done within that timeframe. It was almost as if someone had responded to an ad that said “Want to become rich and famous? Cash in on a promising current trend!”

Almost 10 years later, employing a trick that is a startling reversal of traditional marketplace dynamics, used copies of the book were offered for almost twice the cost of new copies. There were no Amazon star ratings or customer reviews, nor are there today. This is the author’s choice, but why? Who doesn’t want a major selling platform to show their reviews? From the advertising material and store page, we have some clues about what’s inside. Oddly, the subject tags are Cooking, Photography, and Education.

Lambert also published another book on the psychology of weight loss. From the ad, it sounds like the standard strategies that are shared by numerous media outlets for free. But the copy is pitched toward the acquisition mentality. It says, “Regain your sense of self control by investing in this book, and you will be rewarded by the investment you make to your health via natural weight loss.” The word “invest” is there twice in the same sentence! The book is quite pricey and again, there don’t seem to be any reader reviews.

Anyway, getting back to “Why Not Stay Fat?” — the title is a philosophical question of impossible scope. People have spent decades in towers or caves pondering such matters, and have earned advanced degrees by addressing them. Why do anything? It is an existential conundrum worthy of consideration. One approach might be, “Why Not NOT Stay Fat?”

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Why Not Stay Fat? — Overweight? So What,” Booktopia.com.au, 2010
Source: “Pubmatch Profile,” Web.archive.org, 2016
Source: “Psychology Of Weight Loss,” Dymocks.com.au, undated
Image by Zorilla/CC BY 2.0

A Book That Doesn’t Do Much

The cover art: Why is the one lady peeking up the other lady’s skirt? The question: “Why Not Stay Fat?” is hardly a question worthy of Socrates and Aristotle. The response is usually the same — “Why not, indeed?” — because to change one’s habits is, for most humans, an excruciatingly painful effort, and one not undertaken lightly.

The slogan: “Be happy with who and what you are.” Unlike the cover designer, we use — correctly — the double, not single, quotation marks. Was the editor taking a nap?

“Be happy with who and what you are.”

The advice offered by the book’s cover is widely agreed to be a legit concept. In one of those weird paradoxes of human psychology, self-acceptance is recognized as the first step toward any possibility of achievable or lasting change. There is no reason to quarrel with that basic premise. On the other hand, the line is deceptively and dangerously simplistic. Surely, a person who self-identifies as a child abuser or a serial killer is not supposed to be happy about it.

More useful is the concept of “Accept who and what you are.” Acceptance sets a much lower bar than happiness. This is why in AA meetings (although it is not mandatory) a speaker will probably stand up and say “My name is Bill Wilson and I’m an alcoholic.” They don’t say, “… and I’m happy to be an alcoholic.”

Some people want to become different. Some want to stay as they are, but quit caring about the fact that others want them to be different. As a vintage television series used to say, “There are eight million stories in the Naked City.” Still, in the field of healing, despite the ubiquitous presence of unique stories, it is almost universally acknowledged that acceptance is the necessary precursor to change.

Run that by me again…

These days, it is very hard to distinguish satire from reality. With all due respect to authors everywhere, sometimes you just have to wonder why a book exists. The one pictured here is by Wayne Lambert, who appears to be a Westerner based in the Middle East. Full disclosure: Childhood Obesity News has not seen the book. Discussion of it is based on the public relations materials, dispersed to the relatable public under the author’s byline.

A good first impression has not been made. That rough draft was not proofread even once. Another self-generated puff piece was replete with grating repetition and regrettable (ranging to woeful) lapses in grammar. The CAPS LOCK key stayed stuck for whole sentences at a time. Some information that was researched years ago has vanished from the internet, like www.wholebodyworkshop.com. So it cannot be proven that there was once a version of this piece that ended… “I have already self published all the books that I have wrote.”

In a piece currently still posted, another simplistic idea appears: “My philosophy is to stick to the basics and the rest will follow very easily with little effort… just focus!” As Grandma used to say, if it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Some people are born without the ability to focus, and others have it knocked out of them, one way or another, by the vicissitudes of life.

(To be continued…)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Pubmatch Profile,” Web.archive.org, 2016
Source: “Why Not Stay Fat?,” Booktopia, undated
Image from Booktopia

A Book That Explains a Lot

Roxane Gay’s memoir, Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, was not written with the aim of motivating the reader. When the author toured in support of the book, a college newspaper wrote,

Her struggles aren’t meant to be a success story, but a true story to give people a sense that they aren’t alone… Gay sets the record straight from the beginning of her talk. The story of her body is not a story of triumph or motivation. It’s not a weight loss memoir either.

That audience motivation is not her purpose must come as a welcome relief to young adults who are always being counseled about what to do with their lives. Gay says,

I don’t want to pretend I’m on some triumphant, uplifting journey. I don’t want to pretend that everything is okay. I’m living with what happened, moving forward without forgetting, moving forward without pretending I am unscarred.

In the course of exorcising personal demons, a terribly difficult and challenging writing experience became a personal case study and a philosophy textbook. Gay’s observations about feminism and misogyny range widely and cut deeply. In the same way that a person with paralyzed legs must verify the existence of wheelchair ramps at venues, a person with super-morbid obesity has to check out the conditions before venturing forth into the world, and Gay exposes those potential problems to the reader.

She does not care for “reality” shows about makeovers and weight loss, or this world where female celebrities’ weights are “tracked like stocks because their bodies are, in their line of work, their personal stock, the physical embodiment of market value.” She does not love a society where, although fat people themselves cannot lawfully be made to disappear, it’s perfectly okay to wage war on the fat cells that just happen to live inside those people. She vehemently deplores the societal myth that “our truest selves are thin women hiding in our fat bodies like imposters, usurpers, illegitimates.”

What’s in there?

The fortunate humans who don’t cope with obesity in their own bodies or their own families usually do not have an accurate picture of what it’s all about. Here’s the tricky part — among the people who do struggle with obesity, they get that way from a lot of different causes. Some people write books about their “weight loss journeys.” Gay openly admits that while various words might describe her journey, “over” is not one of them.

The Atlantic reviewer Adrienne Green says the author gives readers “some emotional insight into the unrelenting nature of trauma.” And she doesn’t want to call herself a survivor because she doesn’t “want to diminish the gravity of what happened.” The more precise and accurate term is victim, and she claims it.

But what did happen? The origin story of her obesity goes back to a violent sexual assault at age 12. Tara Haelle wrote for the Association of Health Care Journalists,

I recommend “Hunger” to health journalists: Gay offers insight into experiencing two of the most incredibly challenging, complex and pressing issues of our time. It requires a far higher level of empathy, understanding and nuance than most issues about which we write.

After that event, the author wrote, she “ate and ate and ate in the hopes that if I made myself big, my body would be safe.” She needed to transform her physical self into “a safe harbor rather than a small, weak vessel.” In its vulnerability, the body had betrayed her, and the need to make it unassailable became her strongest drive. Eventually, the painful secrets came tumbling out:

My family’s constant pressure to lose weight made me stubborn, even though the only person I was really hurting was myself. The constant pressure made me refuse to lose weight to punish these people who claimed to love me but wouldn’t accept me as I was…

I was swallowing my secrets and making my body expand and explode.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body,” Harper, 2017
Source: “The Boldness of Roxane Gay’s Hunger,” TheAtlantic.com, 06/13/17
Source: “Towerlight News,” TheTowerlight.com, 10/09/17
Source: “Roxane Gay’s ‘Hunger’ a worthy, perhaps necessary, read for medical journalist,” HealthJournalism.org, 02/18/19
Image by Eva Blue/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 9

The current topic has morphed from professionals talking with patients to parents talking with children. The previous post discussed some of the suggestions made by Natasha Hinde, Parents editor at HuffPost U.K., who had gathered ideas from professional sources. The ideas are simple, but might not be easy.

How is a grownup supposed to transmit to children the notion that eating a variety of foods containing essential vitamins and minerals is important? How is an adult expected to convey the concept that it is necessary to move the body around, put some stress on it, and make a few demands of it?

The sophisticated humor of the real estate market holds that only three factors matter — location, location, and location. Here is a new maxim: In the realm of parenting, only three things matter — example, example, and example. One of Hinde’s suggestions is,

Try and make sure your child sees you eating a range of foods and being active yourself.

At the same time, you’ll be setting an example not only for the kids but for other family members and friends, who may develop similar aspirations toward becoming exemplary mature role models. Keep in mind that an unadorned example is much more powerful than any attempt to beef up an example with authoritarianism.

Especially in the earliest years, children absorb and reflect what they see the adults doing, without giving it any thought. It is not even necessary to say, “You must eat vegetables because I do.” In fact, it is not advised, because when kids get to the age of thinking about stuff, a parent is likely to hear some version of, “Why do I have to do something just because you do it?” Or even, “Get lost, I don’t have to do anything just because you do it.” But the power of a silent, unspoken example is very difficult for even the most surly adolescent to wage war against.

Positivity

The best advice is to frame everything positively. It’s good to eat vegetables — not because they keep the extra pounds away, but because you become strong and healthy. It’s good to take the dog for a walk — not because it will prevent you from getting fat, but because your body will perform every one of its functions better.

This idea might take some study, and could be a lot of fun:

Talk to your child about what they see online, on social media and TV — explain that lighting, make-up and photo-editing is used to make people look different from how they are in real life.

Then, there are several items of advice that should be universal. If we teach them that “everyone deserves respect, whatever their body size, shape or ability,” our children will have no reason to feel anxious that we might condemn them for their body size, shape, or ability. Some things are easy to suggest but hard to do, and one of them is keeping our lips zipped when a morbidly obese person shows up on the scene, whether in real life or in media. We don’t have to say, “What is she wearing, an army surplus tent?” We can exert self-control and continue to set a good example.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “How To Talk To Kids About Body Weight (Without Making It A Big Deal,” HuffingtonPost.co.uk, 05/29/23
Image by Cambodia4kids.org/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 8

The previous post referenced author Roxane Gay, who by medical definition is considered to be “super morbidly obese,” but who prefers to call herself “fat.” She is highly critical of both the medical community’s treatment of extremely large people, and what she perceives as a public health “hysteria” over the “obesity epidemic.”

Still, it causes questions about how it feels to be someone who is, in the eyes of medical practitioners, even more dangerously overweight. Does patient-first language actually make that much of a difference? Rather than “super-super morbidly obese person,” is “person with super-super morbid obesity” really more acceptable?

Gentle suggestions

For HuffingtonPost.com, Natasha Hinde discussed the difficulty of being a parent in the obesity-language dilemma. The key concepts are to introduce these discussions gradually and casually. Don’t make a big deal out of it. You want your kid to absorb and remember this as enlightenment, not torture. Hopefully, a child will feel that it is okay to talk about weight and to ask questions. The main goal is to boost their sense of self-esteem and well-being.

And it’s not as if you are introducing a new topic that has never been explored before. The writer says,

[C]hances are they’ll be hearing about weight from lots of other places anyway, whether that’s school, TV or online. So at least by having these conversations yourself, you can help them see that what they hear about weight is not always right.

Even when it’s right, it might make zero impression. You can tell them they might get diabetes or high blood pressure, but since when have children been attuned to worries about future illness? They don’t even care about what happens five minutes from now, when they have climbed to the roof and are about ready to jump off it.

Hinde recommends a suggestion list from experts at the British Dietetic Association and the University of Bath. They point out that if you criticize anyone’s weight, even your own, kids will assume that you are also condemning their extra pounds.

When you greet a relative or acquaintance, avoid weight-related comments, even those that seem positive, like “You’ve dropped a few pounds!” Even if you know it’s what the adult wants to hear, too bad — just leave the subject alone. You don’t want kids to get the message that weight matters so much, it’s the first and foremost thing on everybody’s (or anybody’s) mind.

(To be continued …)

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “Roxane Gay’s ‘Hunger’ a worthy, perhaps necessary, read for medical journalists,” HealthJournalism.org, 02/18/19
Source: “How To Talk To Kids About Body Weight (Without Making It A Big Deal),” HuffingtonPost.co.uk, 05/29/23
Image by Maxime De Ruyck/CC BY 2.0

Obesity and Language, Part 7

In ancient Latin, “super” meant above, over, on top of, or beyond — pretty much the same as the German “uber” or the recent American slang usage of “extra.” In itself, “super” does not connote positivity or negativity, but only intensifies the adjective it is there to modify. “Grandpa is super-nice today” or “Grandpa is super-grouchy today” — it works either way. Super can also become part of a noun. There are super-heroes, and super-villains.

But in contemporary America, some people have a lot of trouble with the word. One of them is Roxane Gay, who in 2017 published a book titled Hunger. The author is a 6’3″ woman whose weight once topped out at 577 pounds, and who seems to have usually hovered around 500 lbs. Her book included such anecdotes as what might happen on an errand run:

At the grocery store people make commentary on what’s in your cart. They’ll take food out of your cart.

Random members of the public will also offer unsolicited advice, like suggestions to get some exercise, as if it were an exotic concept to which she had never been exposed. Writer Derek Hawkins tells us how, in the course of standard promotional activities, Gay was a guest on a podcast called Mamamia.

As part of the introductory material, creative director Mia Freedman shared with listeners the kind of questions that enter the mind of a show producer who strives to be a good host. Would the elevator be able to handle the job of bringing the guest upstairs? Will the distance from the elevator to the studio be too far for her to walk? Is there a chair on the premises that is both comfortable and adequate for the task?

Wrong move

In acquainting her audience with the sort of obstacles that the guest encountered daily, Freedman meant to contribute to the general theme of the interview. But Gay went public with her reaction of being appalled, and described the situation as “disgusting and shameful.”

By way of introduction, the interviewer described the author by the official medical term, “super morbidly obese.” Some people are offended by the phrase, which is legit medical diagnostic language. But it gets even worse.

The incident caused a degree of furor because, among other things, the interviewer had expressed doubt that there could be a classification beyond super morbidly obese. But there is, actually, an additional category called “super super morbidly obese.” Yes, two “supers.”

The World Health Organization defines adult obesity as a BMI ≥30 kg/m2. However, recent spikes in the disease have prompted additional classifications, including severe obesity as a BMI ≥40 kg/m2, super obesity as a BMI ≥50 kg/m2, and super-super obesity as a BMI ≥60 kg/m2.

Aside from the many problems of everyday life and health, super-super obese surgical patients are more challenging to oxygenate, ventilate, monitor, and anesthetize properly during the procedure. They are more prone to experience postoperative complications, and more difficult to appropriately prescribe pain medication for. All this is difficult but impossible. Experts say,

Although individual facilities worldwide vary in strategy, a major consideration should be utilizing this affordable technology in these higher risk patients as a best practice standard.

Your responses and feedback are welcome!

Source: “ What That Roxane Gay Controversy Says About Taking Up Space As A Fat Woman,” Refinery29.com, 06/13/17
Source: “Roxane Gay blasts women’s website’s ‘cruel and humiliating remarks about her size,” WashingtonPost.com, 06/14/23
Source: “The patient with obesity and super-super obesity: Perioperative anesthetic considerations,” NIH.gov, 06/20/22

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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