Decoding Obesity

I had Amelia Sherry on my show some time back and we talked about disordered eating and how to prevent children from developing that. Well, since I am talking about childhood obesity this month, we thought it might be good to talk about how to raise a child in a larger body.

Last week, we discussed the prevalence of obesity in children as well as how to determine whether your child has overweight or obesity. Today we continue our conversation with Dr. Leigh M. Ettinger around the impacts of obesity that these children are facing and what we can do to prevent this from causing more risks.

Are you concerned about your child’s weight? The obesity epidemic is growing at an alarming rate. Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC sex-specific BMI-for-age growth charts.

Dr. Leigh M. Ettinger’s nearly 17 years as a pediatric nephrologist at Hackensack University Medical Center in Northern New Jersey, he saw more and more of his patients struggling with obesity. He joins me as we discuss this very topic in depth.

Ever wondered whether these online weight loss programs actually deliver what they promise? Dr. Heather Hammerstedt, who is an Emergency Medicine physician and the founder of Wholist joins me to discuss the reality of online weight loss programs. We discuss what to look for in a program before you join.

Obesity is a complex disease and people with obesity all have their unique experiences with obesity, how they dealt with it, and if they have lost weight, how they have managed to keep it off.

We’ve had a number of patients who shared their own weight loss journey but this time, I wanted to bring in a perspective of a physician to also speak about how treating obesity is not a cookie-cutter approach for every patient.

Despite the many medical advances happening in today’s day and age, there are still very few who acknowledge obesity as a disease. Hopefully, this episode will help you understand that managing obesity is not only about weight loss but overall metabolic health. We will also discuss how to choose a weight loss clinic right for you and what to expect from a good weight loss clinic.

Most people struggling with obesity have difficulty changing their habits because they have been struggling with weight all their lives. However, there comes a time in someone’s life when you decide it is time to do something about your weight. 

In this episode, I chat with Jennifer Espinosa Goswami, who has suffered morbid obesity while growing up and yet managed to drop 100 pounds in one year. Her story is inspiring and proof that anyone can make healthy changes to their lifestyle at any age. Listen in to find out how she did it – and how you can, too!

Is there any difference between people who lose weight and are able to keep it off compared to those who lose weight only to gain it all back? It was with this question in mind that the National Weight Control Registry was formed.

In this episode, we’re going to discuss significant findings from the National Weight Control Registry and then we’ll take a deeper dive into some of the studies on the data from the National Weight Control Registry.

You’ve seen them everywhere, the little “healthy” labels that are on the package of so many foods that we buy. But are they really healthy? Or do companies use these tricks to get us to spend more money?

Find out what the marketing industry doesn’t want you to know about these 'health halos' as I’m joined once again by my guest Prajakta Apte.

We all have seen them, but how does one interpret all the numbers on the food labels? What do they really mean for our health? 

Prajakta Apte, a registered dietician, joins me on this episode to decode the nutrition labels on the back of the food packaging and helps us understand what to look for on a nutrition label.