If the patient’s obesity is medically correctable, that is a contraindication, otherwise known as a reason not to choose surgery.

The WHO estimates that by the year 2025 there will be 70 million obese or overweight children age 5 and younger worldwide.

Inspired by the approaching MLK holiday, we examine the effect of culture on the obesity stats of different ethnic groups.

Society seems to extend an ironclad promise that if teens lose weight they will feel better about themselves, which is not valid in many or even most cases.

To observe the upcoming holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Childhood Obesity News is looking back at issues connected with ethnicity and race.

Where obesity is concerned, non-white Americans are under a disadvantage, part of which consists of the fact that many are economically disadvantaged.

This particular rabbit hole connects the world’s water supply with the astonishing audacity and relentless greed of Big Soda.

The Big Soda industry is not content to offer soda as an alternate choice to water, it wants to replace it entirely, also contributing to water insecurity.

Research proves again and again that the extra calories from sugary drinks increase the risk of childhood obesity.

Many people agree that childhood obesity is a social justice issue, and should be addressed by policy makers, the education system, and parents. But how?

What part of the world consumes the relative highest amount of sugar-sweetened beverages? The Caribbean.

Among other disreputable acts, the Coca-Cola Company has been accused of co-opting and corrupting the music industry.

A worldwide pattern is becoming apparent, including in the U.S., where the Big Soda industry has manipulated public health policy for its benefit.

The preoccupation with long-term effects of artificial flavor enhancers, voiced by concerned health professionals, is justified for many reasons.

Why should we avoid food additives? It is pretty clear that some, if not all, of them affect the body in ways that enable obesity.

Artificially-sweetened beverages are just as awful as sugar-sweetened beverages in their own way.

Can we just stipulate that are sweeteners (and especially the artificial ones) all harmful, and move on to actually making some kind of difference?

Here at Childhood Obesity News, it is Santa’s waist circumference that grabs our attention. When did he last have a checkup?

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is a modifiable risk factor, otherwise known as “a thing we can do something about.”

The Coca-Cola Company has a history of quite pushy behavior in regard to the federal government, resulting in what critics describe as a very cozy relationship.

There’s pushback against Coke and its arrogant corporate ways, including the “Holidays Are Coming” truck that the company wishes to make a cherished tradition.

The late Dr. Billi Gordon saw the importance of admitting painful truths about the double-edged sword of food abundance during the holiday.

By the time adolescence rolls around obesity is established. So, when it comes to sustaining weight loss over the long term, who is able to succeed?

A body-focused repetitive behavior, stress-induced eating may become compulsive overeating and lead to obesity.

Another installment in the series about stratagems to avoid body-focused repetitive behaviors by substituting with less harmful displacement activities.

If displacement activity is the basis of addictions, including eating addiction, how might we treat this?

Are displacement activities similar to, or even the same as, addictions? And can they be treated with anti-addiction methods?

The body-focused repetitive behavior, or BFRB, is a displacement activity that carries a heavy penalty, namely, obesity.

Displacement behavior in animals may become compulsive and destructive, like the excessive grooming of the fur in response to stress or social isolation.

Displacement activity, universal in the animal kingdom, stems from situations of major opposing or thwarted behavioral drives, e.g. fight or flight.