The CDC-Coke Scandal, Continued

November 11, 2016
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We keep learning about Dr. Michael Pratt, a senior CDC official whose coziness with the soft drink industry violates many a comfort level.

The CDC-Coke Scandal

November 10, 2016
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A few unseemly ties have been uncovered between the Coca-Cola Company and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Psychology, Place, Tradition, and Coke

November 9, 2016
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In Brazil, Coca-Cola agreed not to sell sugar-sweetened beverages inside school buildings, to kids under 12. But what does it really mean?

Web Series, Film, Video, and a Scholarly Journal

November 8, 2016
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Childhood Obesity News looks at the recent efforts in the media to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic.

The Childhood Obesity Solution?

November 4, 2016
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What kinds of family-wide intervention strategies might help to lower the risk of obesity in high-risk children? Addressing maternal depression is one.

Pet Obesity and a Certain Amount of Weirdness

October 28, 2016
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Co-dependency takes many forms. Pets can become morbidly obese, but they can also recover if given the opportunity for a new lease on life.

The United Kingdom’s Ongoing Obesity Struggle

October 24, 2016
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According to the UK’s National Health Service, junk food and sugar-sweetened beverages would kill 53,000 and cost nearly $8 billion yearly.

Obesity in the United Kingdom

October 21, 2016
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In the UK, the National Health Service announced that one in every 34 urgent care admissions was due to overweight or obesity.

Mindfulness Is for Kids

October 19, 2016
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Mindfulness training could be more useful for children than for adults because their brains still have plasticity.

What Can Mindfulness Do, Exactly?

October 18, 2016
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When it comes to eating, mindfulness can protect us against inner urges by teaching us how to evaluate and reinterpret scrambled messages.

Coke in Colombia

October 6, 2016
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In Colombia, right-wing paramilitary groups serve as private armies to protect the interests of Coca-Cola and other corporate entities.

Coke in Australia

October 5, 2016
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Exploitation of the disadvantaged in countries with struggling economies inspires a deep dislike of Coca-Cola and its gang of sugar pushers.

Coke in South Africa

October 4, 2016
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Coca-Cola loves to invest in emerging markets, and it’s in the middle of a 10-year plan calling for $17 billion worth of investment in the African continent.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages on the World Stage

October 3, 2016
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A recent CSPI report says soda manufacturers invest “heavily to boost consumption in low- and middle-income countries.”

Rankled by Rankings

September 30, 2016
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A Duke University study shows that each obese child will incur about $20,000 worth of lifetime costs for health problems related to obesity.

The Pesticides Inside Us

September 29, 2016
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After a study found 287 industrial chemicals in the umbilical cords of the U.S.-born babies the idea of obesogenic POPs was taken seriously.

Chemicals and States of Mind

September 26, 2016
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Studies have found that women afflicted with anorexia nervosa possess fewer total gut bacteria, especially of particular varieties.

Stress, the Immune System, and the Microbiome

September 23, 2016
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Do abnormalities in the gut influence the brain, or do abnormalities in the brain influence the gut?

The Mental-Emotional Dots

September 22, 2016
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Why do people compulsively overeat? How does it compensate for the disappointments of life? Is binge eating a behavioral addiction?

Mood, Happiness, Obesity, and Resistant Starch

September 21, 2016
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When the wrong populations of bacteria get out of control they can stir up depression and anxiety disorders. What is going on down there?

Early Inklings of the Gut-Brain Axis

September 20, 2016
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How could the microscopic creatures in our gastrointestinal tract impact our mental and emotional health? Studies show they do.

Tracking the United Kingdom

September 19, 2016
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This post continues to follow the progress of efforts to end child obesity in the United Kingdom.

Sweets and Tax in the United Kingdom

September 14, 2016
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With a childhood obesity rate of up to 40 percent in the United Kingdom, the struggle against obesity has been ferocious and divisive.

Propaganda Wars — Coke and Advertising

September 9, 2016
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There’s a backlash against the beverage industry and sugar-sweetened beverages, and Coca-Cola advertising in particular.

Coke, CSPI, Truth, and Lies

September 8, 2016
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Coca-Cola ads and commercials are usually met with harsh criticism from the industry anti-obesity advocates, who speak against the soda giant.

Painful and Funny Things About McDonald’s

September 7, 2016
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McDonald’s is known for its obesity-promoting corporate brainwashing techniques aimed at its customers, including kids.

McDonald’s Follies

September 6, 2016
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Unwilling to be identified as childhood obesity villains, some McDonald’s allies (including Disney) have been abandoning ship.

McDonald’s and Resistance, Kind Of

September 2, 2016
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Almost one-third of children’s hospitals are embracing fast-food outlets on their premises. What’s in it for the kids?

Comedians Take On Fat-Shaming

September 1, 2016
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Standup comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura engage in a mock feud and good-natured mutual fat-shaming, spurring fan reactions.

Fizzy Drink Peddlers at Their Worst

August 30, 2016
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Some studies claim that diet soda has no connection with excess weight and that low-calorie sweeteners may be better than water — but who is funding them?

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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