Sadly, childhood obesity is inextricably connected with bias, stigma, discrimination, blaming, and shaming. “Obesophobia” is an actual word. It is an intense and abnormal fear of weight gain that might be caused by family influence or a distorted self- …

The latest candidates for childhood obesity villains in the media are chubby cartoon characters such as Homer Simpson and Peppa Pig. Homer Simpson is perhaps over-familiar, but childless people might not be cognizant of the 5-year-old little British gi …

The ability to think rationally and the ability to rationalize are quite different. Rational thinking starts with observing the world, before drawing conclusions about it. Conversely, rationalization starts with conclusions that a person has already co …

We already had racism, faith-based bigotry, and several other varieties of divisive doctrines. Wasn’t that enough to deal with? Apparently not, because now fat-shaming has become a “thing.” One of the weird aspects of this type of prejudice is that obe …

One of the most popular fatlogic tropes is the genetic theory. It is true that a certain amount of obesity is genetically determined. However, this is often seen as a poor excuse—not only by people who have no weight problem, but by formerly obese peop …

Shouldn’t every person have the right to feel good about herself or himself? One of the great paradoxical tenets of the psychological health profession is that change must be preceded by self-acceptance. You have to be okay with yourself as you are bef …

Recently, to the astonishment of some and the relief of others, the gigantic Reddit website permanently banned five forums, or subreddits, of which two were devoted to fat-shaming. One of them, r/HamPlanetHatred, had only about 3,000 members while the …

Childhood Obesity News has been discussing how, for some time now, people have been referring to obesity as “the new normal.” This normalization is related to the growth of the “Goldilocks Syndrome.” The term has more than one meaning, but in the conte …

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.” That saying has been around since before the year 1500. Such proverbs live so long in the human consciousness because they are adaptable to many situations. For instance, a paraphrase could be, “In …

We are familiar with the idea that in the United States, children of color are more susceptible to forces, including their own genetic makeup, that cause childhood obesity. There is another demographic whose vulnerability has nothing to do with race: t …

Childhood Obesity News has been looking back at some of the attempts to curb obesity by making it more expensive, a tactic that seems to have had success with smoking. There are obvious differences between the two behaviors. Nicotine is a substance tha …

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 …

Childhood Obesity News  has been speculating about whether such cultural phenomena as the plus-size fashion industry are, overall, beneficial or detrimental to society. Journalist Ellen King wrote about someone who is probably very uncomfortable in the …

That is a trick question, because fat acceptance has always had a platform, so there is no need to ask. A more useful question would be, “Is it okay that acceptance is tolerated? How much acceptance should be extended, and in what ways?” Maybe all airp …

Welcome to Childhood Obesity News, the blog of Dr. Robert Pretlow. This site explores the many physical, social, political, and personal effects of the global childhood obesity crisis. We look at new research that points toward addictive eating behavio …

Health at Every Size is not an organization, but a concept and a movement. There are, however, organizations that promote size tolerance, whether healthy or not. One is the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, for which Joanne Ikeda speaks: …

Regard de Kurt Ehrmann In olden times, crusaders ransacked a continent looking for the Holy Grail, and alchemists competed to rediscover the Philosophers’ Stone that could turn base metals into gold. In more recent centuries, humankind has labored to f …

Last week was pretty much Coca-Cola week at Childhood Obesity News, culminating in a partial list of our previous posts on the topic. Still, interesting events remain to be mentioned. In the autumn of 2014, Claire Suddath and Duane Stanford wrote for B …

Coca-Cola just might be the single corporation most mentioned by Childhood Obesity News, which can hardly keep up with the never-ending flow of bad behavior manifested by the world’s most hated beverage manufacturer. Coca-Cola’s flagship product, of co …

Following the activities of Coca-Cola can be a fascinating pastime. Even if the company’s antics don’t show up on one’s radar immediately, looking back on the corporation’s woefully misguided application of its expertise is just as much fun. That is, i …

Last time, Childhood Obesity News discussed how becoming accustomed to sugar-sweetened beverages at a young age is associated with a constellation of behaviors, like proceeding to consume even more SSBs than kids who didn’t start so young, watching mor …

Photographer Zac Zellers says, “Coca-cola discreetly delivers some coke to our school cafeteria in the humblest of ways.” The U.S. government first contributed to the rise of childhood obesity by tinkering with the rules surrounding sugar production an …

[montage of junk food]This site covers the social, political, economic, and health impacts of childhood obesity. A common thread that runs through our site is the exploration of food addition. Food addiction remains a controversial topic; many are in d …

According to the latest figures, 52 percent of pet dogs in America are overweight or obese: about 43 million dogs. The cat statistics are even worse—an estimated 57 percent of cats, or 55 million animals, are overweight or obese. There has been an alar …

Slender women are preferred by many as “the face” of a company Recently, Childhood Obesity News looked at one of the many reasons to help children maintain normal weight. Researchers have presented convincing evidence that obese boys will grow up to ea …

Childhood Obesity News has been looking at how large corporations and small companies try to keep their employees healthy. No doubt this effort is partly for altruistic reasons, but the economic reality is that insurance costs a lot, and the more the i …

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. …

Childhood Obesity News has mentioned before that the young people taking part in the pilot studies of the W8Loss2Go smartphone app are strangely unexpressive about their unhappiness. This is puzzling because Weigh2Rock, Dr. Pretlow’s immensely helpful …

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 …