Advisory Board Programming Comments
The National Childhood Obesity Foundation® (
®) is proud to present below unsolicited endorsements of its planned 
® Programming and 
SM Health Curriculum for pre-K, K-6, and their parents, and expecting parents. The endorsements cited below emanate from the ® Advisory Board whose membership comprises medical, nutritional and physiological researchers, practicing pediatricians, child and teen psychologists, professional nutritional healthcare providers, grammar school health teachers, and other highly skilled and trained professionals involved with the complex subjects of nutrition, physical fitness, and obesity in children and teens.
"I am very excited about the prospects of the ® ® Health Education Programs receiving adequate funding to initiate these needed health care programs. From my many years in the practice of pediatrics, I have seen first hand the rise in childhood obesity with its devastating effects on individuals, families, and the community. Obesity prevention should be the highest priority as treatment can be very difficult, and prevention must start with our youngest children. I highly recommend the ® health education programming as an annual scientific and ecological oriented approach to reduce the incidence of obesity among our nation's children and adult populations".
Heide Woo, M.D., FAAP,
UCLA Medical Center, West Los Angeles Pediatrics, Los Angeles, CA
"Overweight and obese children place significant health, social and economic costs on governments of all levels, communities, schools, families, and caregivers. The® ® Health Education Programs represent an innovative and comprehensive response to reaching a growing population of obese children and parents annually with a current, continuous, actionable health message centered on nutrition and physical activity. These programs will be scientific and ecologically grounded, and shall reach into the very communities and lives of those most affected by this growing epidemic across the country. I am excited about the prospect for ® to make a real difference."
Douglas Levin,
Director, Education Policy, Cable in the Classroom, Washington, DC
"I am very enthusiastic about the® ® Health Education programs. However, these programs need funding if they are to be implemented and suceed. As a pediatrician who has a large diabetes practice, I have seen young children affected by "adult" diseases associated with obesity. As an internist, I assist people daily in dealing with the complications of obesity, medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea and others. This program has the power to address these issues before they become problematic. If given the appropriate support, the ® program can reach into American communities, across socioeconomic classes and deliver a method of behavioral and nutritional change that can affect families in a positive fashion."
Alicia Diaz-Thomas, M.D., MPH,
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, Tulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
"I am proud to support the work of®, through its planned health care programming that aims to assist children and their families conquer the problem of childhood obesity. ®'s strategy for partnerships with schools, families and other professional organizations in order to change food habits and increase exercise will be an important part of the continuing war on obesity and overweight issues in childhood. The ® approach shall involve the broadest coalition of individuals who care about children, and it is this format that will help lead to greater success as we as a society attempt to modify daily food habits and decreases in activity."
Lynne L. Levitsky, M.D.,
Chief, Pediatric Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
"I am very excited about the® ® Health Education programs. In our pediatric practice, I see first-hand the growing epidemic of obesity in children and how it affects the individual, the family and the community. Children and their families need the education, tools, and support to make the changes necessary to improve their health and their futures. I highly recommend the N.C.O.F. Health Education programming as an annual scientific and ecologically oriented approach to reduce the incidence of obesity in our nation."
Mona Griffis, RD, LDN,
Registered Dietitian, Pediatric Endocrinology, Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC
"I firmly believe the totality of® ® programs and especially the T.H.I.N.K Curriculum are an imaginative approach for touching the very lives of these obese children and parents with an annual current, comprehensive, continuous, and centered nutrition and physical activity health message. These ® programs will reach into the very communities and lives of those most affected by this growing epidemic on a national scale."
Thomas Morley, M.Ed.,
Health & Fitness Teacher, Mesa Elementary School, Meza, AZ
"What I like most about the® ® programming approach is that it is empowering for children and teens. It doesn't use a "nutrition quiz" approach or a "don't eat this or that approach." Part of what it encourages is changing Mindless Eating -- changing the environment for our children to be less Mindless and more Mindful. This is where I think the key to reversing childhood obesity lies."
Brian Wansink, Ph.D.,
Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
"As a practicing psychologist in Massachusetts and throughout my years of work at and with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission/Disability Determination Services, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating negative health consequences of childhood obesity on self-esteem and self-image. As a medical (psychological) consultant working as a reviewer of claims for disability under the Social Security Administration's Disability Program, I have gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the social consequences and stigmatization of youth who suffer from obesity and severe over weight issues. I very much applaud®'s mission and vision strategy, and future attempts through their multi-faceted two-phased ® programming to address the epidemic of childhood obesity."
John Burke, Ph.D.,
Licensed Psychologist, Certified Health Provider Diplomate, American Board of Psychological Specialties, Medical Psychology and DisabilityEvaluation, Boston, MA
"I'm very excited about the potential® ® Health Education Programs will have on childhood and adolescent obesity. For children with genetic hypercholesterolemia and other metabolic risk factors, obesity can be devastating. Primary prevention for premature cardiovascular disease for children and adolescents with genetic dyslipidemias is eating a healthy diet and getting daily physical activity. Parents, teachers, and health care providers are in great need for more resources such as those proposed by ® to help them in the struggle against childhood obesity."
Suzanne Kordesh, MPH, RD,
Pediatric Lipid Clinic Coordinator, Genetics Department, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA
"The® ® Health Education programs are an innovative, grass-roots initiativethat focuses on our nation's children to educate and promote good nutrition and physical activity-helping to encourage healthful lifestyles at an early age. National as well as global concerns about obesity with the impact on long-term health have inspired researchers to consider how efficacious, sustainable changes might be incorporated within our children's daily lives to maintain proper energy balance. I am very delighted to be joining nationally recognized academic, industry, medical research, and government leaders through the efforts of future ® ® programming to help address the obesity imperative for our children."
Carla L. Kuestan, Ph.D.,
Principal, TIAX, LLC, Cambridge, MA
"The message is clear. We as health care professionals can not sit back and continue to apply our standard treatment to the children we see daily in our practices. It has become evident to this practitioner that taking soda machines and whole-milk dispensers out of our schools is not the answer to this growing epidemic of obesity. Future® ® programming will address the components of this complex problem including family involvement, nutrition, physical activity, and most importantly the behavioral approach to continue the new and improved learned behaviors. Furthermore, ® programs can be duplicated as part of children's daily routines once adapted. I am more than excited to be a part of something that will be functional, adaptive, user friendly, and practical. I look forward to being a value added contributor to the ® programming in the near future."
Joy A. Armillay, Ed.D., RD, LDN, Private Health Care Practitioner, Scranton/Wilkes-Barrie, PA
"I am excited by the prospects of the the®® Health Education Programs to receive adequate funding to initiate these much needed health programs. These programs, which are centered on proper nutrition and physical activity, have the promise of reaching children at risk for obesity on a national level. As a pediatric endocrinologist whose research interest lies in childhood obesity, I encounter chronic co-morbidities associated with obesity on a daily basis, including: diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancers, sleep apnea and others. The ® national health education programming has the promise of effectively helping many children who are at risk for obesity."
Andrea M. Haqq, M.D., FAAP, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Endocrine Division, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
"The epidemic of pediatric obesity is one of the most significant public health issues affecting us today. Without an effective national response to this urgent problem, many of our youth will go on to develop serious health problems which will place additional burdens on our already stressed health care system. The planned programming strategy of® will help to curb the adverse impacts on children's health by raising awareness of this important issue and by providing effective tools to children and their families to promote healthier lifestyles. I'm very pleased to support the efforts of ® to help reverse this growing health care crisis."
Alan Delamater, Ph.D. ,
Professor, Pediatrics and Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL
"I am truly excited about the potential that the® ® Health Education Programs offer our nation's children. I am in total agreement with the philosophy that it is essential to start nutritional education and implementation of healthy eating habits early in life. From my many years in the practice of pediatric gastroenterology , I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of obesity on individuals, families, and the community resulting in several chronic diseases associated with obesity namely diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, some cancers, and sleep apnea. Obesity is the cause of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ("fatty liver", NASH) possibly leading to liver cirrhosis and the need for a liver transplant. Poor eating habits and obesity are the primary culprits of irritable bowel syndrome and reflux disease. In the pediatric population obesity is the route cause of many psychological issues. I highly recommend the ® health education programming as an annual scientific and ecological oriented approach for reducing the incidence of obesity among our nation's children and adult populations."
Agnieszka Pluta M.D., Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Pediatric Gastronterology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
"I am looking forward to working with my® Advisory Board colleagues during the development and implementation phases of the ® ® health education programming. From my many years of teaching grades 3-6 health and science classes, I firmly believe these planned ® programs will enhance the quality and delivery of current health care knowledge to the very parents and children who need it most. ®'s health care programming strategy is to reach into every community across the U.S. to help reduce this growing crisis. From my perspective this national approach espoused by ® is exactly what we need to combat this major health epidemic."
Nancy DelPrato, M.Ed.,
4th Grade Health & Sceince Teacher, Cumberland Grammer School, Cumberland, RI
"The importance of the efforts of the® ® programs cannot be overstated. The growing problems related to childhood obesity are well
documented and alarming. We have an obligation to the current and future generations of children to address these issues at a national level to stem this growing crisis. We see this problem every day in our nearly 2000 child care centers nationwide, and it will take a concerted effort by educators and health practitioners in partnership with families to promote healthy lifestyles beginning with our youngest children. I am proud to work with the ® in concert with a broad base of individuals who are passionate about the welfare of children and thoughtful as to how best to promote long lasting behavioral changes."
Elanna S. Yalow, Ph.D., M.B.A.
President and Chief Operating Officer, KinderCare Learning Centers, Portland, OR
"®'s ® Program involves schools and teaches children, from a very young age, that there are alternatives to unhealthy choices. I strongly
believe that this will empower children to make smart decisions about their overall health. If we can get adequate resources out to schools and families, then we will decrease the number of children affected by obesity related illnesses. As a teacher, I have seen the effects obesity has on children, both emotionally and physically. I am excited for these imaginative and positive approaches to winning this battle."
Kerry Goltsov
3rd Grade Teacher, St. Christopher School, Nashua, NH
"Childhood obesity is a major risk factor for many of the "lifestyle" diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular dysfunction and cancer. Overweight and obese individuals need the kinds of programs offered by® to provide a framework for behavioral change. As an exercise physiologist, I know the impact of an active lifestyle in reducing disease risk, even against a background of obesity and overweight. I am pleased to see that physical activity is a core element of the ®'s intervention strategy. I am delighted to support the ® initiatives in addressing this health epidemic."
Earl Noble; Ph.D.,
Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
® ® Health Education Programs receiving adequate funding to initiate these needed health care programs. From my many years in the practice of pediatrics, I have seen first hand the rise in childhood obesity with its devastating effects on individuals, families, and the community. Obesity prevention should be the highest priority as treatment can be very difficult, and prevention must start with our youngest children. I highly recommend the ® health education programming as an annual scientific and ecological oriented approach to reduce the incidence of obesity among our nation's children and adult populations".
Heide Woo, M.D., FAAP,
UCLA Medical Center, West Los Angeles Pediatrics, Los Angeles, CA
"Overweight and obese children place significant health, social and economic costs on governments of all levels, communities, schools, families, and caregivers. The
® ® Health Education Programs represent an innovative and comprehensive response to reaching a growing population of obese children and parents annually with a current, continuous, actionable health message centered on nutrition and physical activity. These programs will be scientific and ecologically grounded, and shall reach into the very communities and lives of those most affected by this growing epidemic across the country. I am excited about the prospect for ® to make a real difference."Douglas Levin,
Director, Education Policy, Cable in the Classroom, Washington, DC
"I am very enthusiastic about the
® ® Health Education programs. However, these programs need funding if they are to be implemented and suceed. As a pediatrician who has a large diabetes practice, I have seen young children affected by "adult" diseases associated with obesity. As an internist, I assist people daily in dealing with the complications of obesity, medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia, sleep apnea and others. This program has the power to address these issues before they become problematic. If given the appropriate support, the ® program can reach into American communities, across socioeconomic classes and deliver a method of behavioral and nutritional change that can affect families in a positive fashion." Alicia Diaz-Thomas, M.D., MPH,
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, Tulane School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA
"I am proud to support the work of
®, through its planned health care programming that aims to assist children and their families conquer the problem of childhood obesity. ®'s strategy for partnerships with schools, families and other professional organizations in order to change food habits and increase exercise will be an important part of the continuing war on obesity and overweight issues in childhood. The ® approach shall involve the broadest coalition of individuals who care about children, and it is this format that will help lead to greater success as we as a society attempt to modify daily food habits and decreases in activity." Lynne L. Levitsky, M.D.,
Chief, Pediatric Endocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
"I am very excited about the
® ® Health Education programs. In our pediatric practice, I see first-hand the growing epidemic of obesity in children and how it affects the individual, the family and the community. Children and their families need the education, tools, and support to make the changes necessary to improve their health and their futures. I highly recommend the N.C.O.F. Health Education programming as an annual scientific and ecologically oriented approach to reduce the incidence of obesity in our nation."Mona Griffis, RD, LDN,
Registered Dietitian, Pediatric Endocrinology, Duke Medical Center, Durham, NC
"I firmly believe the totality of
® ® programs and especially the T.H.I.N.K Curriculum are an imaginative approach for touching the very lives of these obese children and parents with an annual current, comprehensive, continuous, and centered nutrition and physical activity health message. These ® programs will reach into the very communities and lives of those most affected by this growing epidemic on a national scale." Thomas Morley, M.Ed.,
Health & Fitness Teacher, Mesa Elementary School, Meza, AZ
"What I like most about the
® ® programming approach is that it is empowering for children and teens. It doesn't use a "nutrition quiz" approach or a "don't eat this or that approach." Part of what it encourages is changing Mindless Eating -- changing the environment for our children to be less Mindless and more Mindful. This is where I think the key to reversing childhood obesity lies." Brian Wansink, Ph.D.,
Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
"As a practicing psychologist in Massachusetts and throughout my years of work at and with the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission/Disability Determination Services, I have witnessed first-hand the devastating negative health consequences of childhood obesity on self-esteem and self-image. As a medical (psychological) consultant working as a reviewer of claims for disability under the Social Security Administration's Disability Program, I have gained a greater appreciation and understanding of the social consequences and stigmatization of youth who suffer from obesity and severe over weight issues. I very much applaud
®'s mission and vision strategy, and future attempts through their multi-faceted two-phased ® programming to address the epidemic of childhood obesity."John Burke, Ph.D.,
Licensed Psychologist, Certified Health Provider Diplomate, American Board of Psychological Specialties, Medical Psychology and DisabilityEvaluation, Boston, MA
"I'm very excited about the potential
® ® Health Education Programs will have on childhood and adolescent obesity. For children with genetic hypercholesterolemia and other metabolic risk factors, obesity can be devastating. Primary prevention for premature cardiovascular disease for children and adolescents with genetic dyslipidemias is eating a healthy diet and getting daily physical activity. Parents, teachers, and health care providers are in great need for more resources such as those proposed by ® to help them in the struggle against childhood obesity." Suzanne Kordesh, MPH, RD,
Pediatric Lipid Clinic Coordinator, Genetics Department, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA
"The
® ® Health Education programs are an innovative, grass-roots initiativethat focuses on our nation's children to educate and promote good nutrition and physical activity-helping to encourage healthful lifestyles at an early age. National as well as global concerns about obesity with the impact on long-term health have inspired researchers to consider how efficacious, sustainable changes might be incorporated within our children's daily lives to maintain proper energy balance. I am very delighted to be joining nationally recognized academic, industry, medical research, and government leaders through the efforts of future ® ® programming to help address the obesity imperative for our children."Carla L. Kuestan, Ph.D.,
Principal, TIAX, LLC, Cambridge, MA
"The message is clear. We as health care professionals can not sit back and continue to apply our standard treatment to the children we see daily in our practices. It has become evident to this practitioner that taking soda machines and whole-milk dispensers out of our schools is not the answer to this growing epidemic of obesity. Future
® ® programming will address the components of this complex problem including family involvement, nutrition, physical activity, and most importantly the behavioral approach to continue the new and improved learned behaviors. Furthermore, ® programs can be duplicated as part of children's daily routines once adapted. I am more than excited to be a part of something that will be functional, adaptive, user friendly, and practical. I look forward to being a value added contributor to the ® programming in the near future."Joy A. Armillay, Ed.D., RD, LDN, Private Health Care Practitioner, Scranton/Wilkes-Barrie, PA
"I am excited by the prospects of the the
®® Health Education Programs to receive adequate funding to initiate these much needed health programs. These programs, which are centered on proper nutrition and physical activity, have the promise of reaching children at risk for obesity on a national level. As a pediatric endocrinologist whose research interest lies in childhood obesity, I encounter chronic co-morbidities associated with obesity on a daily basis, including: diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, cancers, sleep apnea and others. The ® national health education programming has the promise of effectively helping many children who are at risk for obesity." Andrea M. Haqq, M.D., FAAP, Assistant Professor, Pediatric Endocrine Division, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
"The epidemic of pediatric obesity is one of the most significant public health issues affecting us today. Without an effective national response to this urgent problem, many of our youth will go on to develop serious health problems which will place additional burdens on our already stressed health care system. The planned programming strategy of
® will help to curb the adverse impacts on children's health by raising awareness of this important issue and by providing effective tools to children and their families to promote healthier lifestyles. I'm very pleased to support the efforts of ® to help reverse this growing health care crisis."Alan Delamater, Ph.D. ,
Professor, Pediatrics and Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, FL
"I am truly excited about the potential that the
® ® Health Education Programs offer our nation's children. I am in total agreement with the philosophy that it is essential to start nutritional education and implementation of healthy eating habits early in life. From my many years in the practice of pediatric gastroenterology , I have seen first-hand the devastating effects of obesity on individuals, families, and the community resulting in several chronic diseases associated with obesity namely diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, some cancers, and sleep apnea. Obesity is the cause of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis ("fatty liver", NASH) possibly leading to liver cirrhosis and the need for a liver transplant. Poor eating habits and obesity are the primary culprits of irritable bowel syndrome and reflux disease. In the pediatric population obesity is the route cause of many psychological issues. I highly recommend the ® health education programming as an annual scientific and ecological oriented approach for reducing the incidence of obesity among our nation's children and adult populations."Agnieszka Pluta M.D., Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics and Pediatric Gastronterology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.
"I am looking forward to working with my
® Advisory Board colleagues during the development and implementation phases of the ® ® health education programming. From my many years of teaching grades 3-6 health and science classes, I firmly believe these planned ® programs will enhance the quality and delivery of current health care knowledge to the very parents and children who need it most. ®'s health care programming strategy is to reach into every community across the U.S. to help reduce this growing crisis. From my perspective this national approach espoused by ® is exactly what we need to combat this major health epidemic."Nancy DelPrato, M.Ed.,
4th Grade Health & Sceince Teacher, Cumberland Grammer School, Cumberland, RI
"The importance of the efforts of the
® ® programs cannot be overstated. The growing problems related to childhood obesity are well
documented and alarming. We have an obligation to the current and future generations of children to address these issues at a national level to stem this growing crisis. We see this problem every day in our nearly 2000 child care centers nationwide, and it will take a concerted effort by educators and health practitioners in partnership with families to promote healthy lifestyles beginning with our youngest children. I am proud to work with the ® in concert with a broad base of individuals who are passionate about the welfare of children and thoughtful as to how best to promote long lasting behavioral changes."
Elanna S. Yalow, Ph.D., M.B.A.
President and Chief Operating Officer, KinderCare Learning Centers, Portland, OR
"
®'s ® Program involves schools and teaches children, from a very young age, that there are alternatives to unhealthy choices. I strongly
believe that this will empower children to make smart decisions about their overall health. If we can get adequate resources out to schools and families, then we will decrease the number of children affected by obesity related illnesses. As a teacher, I have seen the effects obesity has on children, both emotionally and physically. I am excited for these imaginative and positive approaches to winning this battle."
Kerry Goltsov
3rd Grade Teacher, St. Christopher School, Nashua, NH
"Childhood obesity is a major risk factor for many of the "lifestyle" diseases, including diabetes, cardiovascular dysfunction and cancer. Overweight and obese individuals need the kinds of programs offered by
® to provide a framework for behavioral change. As an exercise physiologist, I know the impact of an active lifestyle in reducing disease risk, even against a background of obesity and overweight. I am pleased to see that physical activity is a core element of the ®'s intervention strategy. I am delighted to support the ® initiatives in addressing this health epidemic."
Earl Noble; Ph.D.,
Professor, Department of Kinesiology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada