Help Stop Fat Bullying - Start With Children!

Bullying and stigmatization of people with obesity happens, sadly, at all ages.  One of the most impactful things we can do is teach our children about the harms of bullying, so that this generation grows up understanding that stigmatization of any kind is hurtful and wrong.  
Today's post is dedicated to the children's book project, Pom Pom - A Flightless Bully Tale, by Linnie Von Sky (daughter of Dr Arya Sharma and a key member of the Canadian Obesity Network family).  It's about a slightly rotund penguin called Pomeroy Paulus Jr III.

Like any boy his age he's busy trying to impress 'the birds', namely one bird: Pia. Pomeroy dreams of a pair of orange swim trunks; the ones that Pete, Pucker and Piper own. The same ones Pia said she loved. There's just one little hiccup. The antAmart doesn't carry his size. 

Stay tuned to learn how mom helps Pomeroy get his orange swim trunks, see that Macaroni penguins are not made of mac'n'cheese, and watch Pia save the day when she puts bullies in their place. 

By supporting Linnie's publication dream, Linnie writes:

♥  You'll help us stand up against bullies and lend your voice to someone so big that his voice has become small: Fat jokes are not funny and they hurt!

♥  You'll allow us to produce (illustrate, edit, scan, post produce, book design & print in Canada) every part of Pom Pom - A Flightless Bully Tale 

♥ You'll own a copy of the book you helped us publish (and maybe even your own custom antarctic character)

♥  You'll help fund Rebecca's 2nd year of Art School. By paying Rebecca (21) real market value for her art work we were able to fund her first year of Art School with Our Canadian Love Story (Linnie's 1st book) without her having to bag groceries. How cool is that?

Click here to join Linnie's campaign against fat bullying - she's already a third of the way to her goal!

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Lose It Right - Book Review!

I've had the great pleasure of reading James Fell's new book, Lose It Right, and let me tell you, it's a great read!

The book is written by James Fell, a Calgarian fitness journalist, MBA, columnist for Chatelaine and the LA Times, amongst a long list of achievements.  He has written a very pragmatic, well researched, and entertaining approach to weight management and leading a healthy life.  He truly walks the walk, enjoying a permanent (and impressive!) healthy lifestyle after struggling with his weight in the past.

The book goes through three Stages:

Stage I: Learning why we as a society, and as individuals, struggle with our weight.  From portion sizes, stress, and external food cues, to understanding the dopamine reward pathway in our brain that reinforces rewarding behaviors, James runs the gamut to help us explore the diverse elements that may be contributing to each individual's weight struggle.


Stage II: Preparation for changing your lifestyle, from changing how you view food, to goal setting, and how to manage practical aspects of lifestyle change.


Stage III is the Doing part of the book - James' actual how-to's of morphing your lifestyle into a healthy one.

You can read an excerpt from his book here.

What I really love is that this book is all about not just doing a lifestyle plan, but becoming that lifestyle.    James' plan has an emphasis on exercise - while exercise is important, it's not for everyone, or at least it is more for some people than for others.  Also, it's important to speak with your doctor before you embark on a new exercise routine, to ensure it is safe for you to do so.

But regardless of the details of how you embark on a healthier lifestyle:

"Losing It Right is about changing who you are.  It is not a list of actions, but rather someone you become."

And finally, my very favorite quote:   "Don't just do this.  BE this."

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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McDonald's or Twinkies for Weight Loss??

The media loves to lather attention on stories of people who lose weight by controversial means.  And who better to draw attention to than those who do it by eating nothing but fast food or junk food?! It's the ultimate sexy paradox.

There's the teacher who has recently been heralded for his 37 pound weight loss eating nothing but McDonald's for three months.  And then there's the nutrition professor who dropped 30 pounds in 8 weeks eating Twinkies.  

Well, I for one am not lovin' it.

I agree that these 'diets' prove the point that weight loss is achieved when calories in is less than calories out.  I also think it is quite cool that the teacher used this opportunity to teach his students about how to read and interpret restaurant nutritional information - this is an important skill in navigating our toxic societal obesity terrain.

However, these headline 'diets' put out a lot of wrong messages as well.  First of all, successful weight management is about permanent lifestyle change, not temporary diets.  How about if we follow these guys up over the next few years and see what happened to their weight after they stopped their temporary diets?

Secondly, weight management is about addressing the underlying contributors to the weight struggle - from the emotional relationship with food, to the home environment, to stress in the work place, and so on.  No discussion of these issues with these guys as far as I can see.

And I don't think I need to say that from a nutritional perspective, neither of these diets are recommended.

So how about we focus on the stories of people who make appropriate, healthy, permanent lifestyle changes and enjoy sustained weight loss as a consequence?  I'd love to hear your stories - send them in!

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2014

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Mythbusting Garcinia cambogia

There are a kajillion substances, herbs, and naturopathic remedies that are all over the internet, purporting their magical abilities to cause weight loss, but which do not have evidence to support that they actually work.  You can add Garcinia canbogia to this list.

Garcinia cambogia extract comes from a type of tamarind tree native to Asia.  In addition to being available as an extract, it is also an ingredient in Hydroxycut, which has been associated with cases of liver toxicity.  Now that Dr Oz has been throwing his weight behind Garcinia, it's getting more attention than ever before.  (More on my thoughts re Dr Oz here.)

We can put to rest the controversy behind Garcinia simply by looking at the science.  A randomized controlled trial was conducted long ago, back in 1998, showing that Garcinia cambogia failed to produce significant weight loss compared to placebo.

Friends, today's blog is short and not so sweet: Garcinia cambogia has been proven NOT to work, and it may be harmful.

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2013

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Sochi Subway Squats!

A little Friday Fun.  Check it out - as part of a campaign to make Russians healthier, and also to promote the Sochi Olympic Winter Games, the Moscow Metro is offering metro tickets for 30 squats (instead of the usual price of 30 rubles).  I love it!!

Thanks to both Mark and Erin for the double heads' up on this awesome campaign.

Have a great weekend!

Follow me on twitter: @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2013

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Taking On Dr Oz And His 15 Superfoods

My colleague Dr Yoni Freedhoff pointed out a great article on his blog this week, speaking out against Dr Oz and his health claims. The article is written by pharmacist Scott Gavura, who started his own blog in response to frustrations with the growing use of pseudoscientific products and practices - in other words, use of (usually expensive) supplements and products for betterment of health that do not actually have any substantial science to support their use.

Scott goes on to do a reality check on all 15 items on Dr Oz's list of Superfoods, from raspberry ketones to green tea to chia, acknowledging the benefits of some of these substances, but also pointing out where data are lacking, and where there may also be some potential harms.

Scott echoes my own concerns about Dr Oz:

What frustrates me the most about Dr. Oz is that he should know better. He’s a heart surgeon, (who continues to treat patients), an academic, and a research scientist, with literally hundreds of publications to his name. He has gone through the peer review process more times than most health professionals. There is little reason to expect, based on his pre-television history, that he’d be willing to build a platform to offer demonstrably bad health advice. And that’s a shame, because with a show in 118 countries that reaches over 3 million viewers in the USA alone, it could be a powerful tool for providing good health information to those seeking it. And more often than not, that opportunity is squandered.

Out of respect for a colleague, I think, our profession has been quiet about Dr Oz for too long.  However, more and more, we are seeing all manner of health care professionals speak out about his inappropriate use of his title as a physician to tout supplements and substances that do not have scientific evidence behind them, and in some cases (such as in the case of the HCG diet) could do harm (read here about the potential harms of HCG).  

The sad reality is that the voice of medical bloggers speaking out against these practices is diminutive in comparison with Dr Oz's capital backing and marketing power.

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2013

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A Horrifying National Post Article - Dr Sue's Radio Interview on Obesity Stigma

I was asked to interview on the Kingkade & Kelly radio talk show this week, in response to a recent article in the National Post.  The article, titled (brace yourself) 'Fat acceptance is not the answer to obesity', states that (AND I QUOTE):

"Doctors rightly resent spending time and expertise helping people whose health problems are self-inflicted"

and 

"health professionals who judge their patients are doing them a favour"

Really??  REALLY??  The National Post should be categorically ashamed of themselves for publication of such complete and utter trash.  I had a mouthful of things to say about this topic (as I'm sure you can imagine) - check out the recorded interview here!

I welcome your comments.

Follow me on twitter! @drsuepedersen

www.drsue.ca © 2013

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