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Join Us in Celebrating
Healthy Weight Week
January 18-24, 2004
Healthy Weight Week is a time to celebrate healthy
lifestyles that last a lifetime and
prevent eating and weight problems. Eat well, live actively,
and feel good
about yourself and others. It’s a welcome change from the dieting
and bingeing that typically begin the New Year!
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Jan. 18-24 -- Healthy Weight Week
Jan. 20, Tuesday -- Rid the World of Fad Diets & Gimmicks Day
14th Annual Slim Chance Awards Announced
Jan. 22,
Thursday -- Women’s Healthy Weight Day
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ON
THIS PAGE HANDOUTS
AND POSTERS AWARDS -
Under construction WEIGHT LOSS FRAUD AND FADS
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For Release: December 17, 2003
Lose Weight with these Products? Slim Chance!
cop 15th Annual Slim Chance Awards
Do you overeat because your "Chi" is misaligned? Want to lose weight fast by sweeping magnets across your accupressure points to restore proper flow? Or maybe you’d rather stock up on pills that contain the possibly deadly ingredient ephedra, before your state outlaws it?
These are just a few of the weight loss schemes highlighted by Frances Berg, coordinator of the weight loss abuse task force for the National Council Against Health Fraud, in announcing the 15th annual Slim Chance Awards. "There are countless products out there that promise quick weight loss with no effort," she says. "Most of them are total scams that make your wallet thinner, but not your body."
It’s not just adults who fall prey to these scams. "We’ve been seeing an increasing number of children and adolescents, especially teenage girls, trying all sorts of weight loss products," says Berg. "This is especially disturbing because many of these products can be harmful to your health, and anything that is harmful to an adult’s body is even more so to a child’s."
Berg’s organization, the Healthy Weight Network, started the Slim Chance Awards 15 years ago as a reaction to the glut of unsafe products on the market. They’re part of the lead-up to "Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day" during Healthy Weight Week, which falls from January 18 to 24.
"We want to help people to move their focus forward from this constant struggle with unsafe and ineffective weight loss to improving their health in positive ways," says Berg.
Here are the 15th Annual Slim Chance Awards from the "worst" of last year’s crop:
Worst product: Metabadrine
Cashing in on the fact that state laws are shutting out ephedra, and major manufacturers have pulled it from their weight loss products, the makers of Metabadrine tell customers to hurry – California is one more state banning ephedra, and even Congress may step in.
"Ephedra is not a dirty word here. We have had to change the name of our products and the color of our labels because of lawsuits from major companies… We copied the Xenadrine with Ephedra formula! … Metabadrine has the same ingredients, same quality, giving the same results." And of course never before did pills produce weight loss of the "extraordinary magnitude" of those replaced. "This is potent stuff so head the warnings!!… Do not exceed four capsules a day." The company, Gorilla Vitamins, also sells HCAMAX and MatabaLITE, both containing ephedra.
Texas was first to ban ephedra-laced diet pills, followed by Florida and Illinois, sparked by the death of an Illinois 16-year-old football player who died of a heart attack after using the diet supplement. A national ban is urged by the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, and athletic groups such as the NBA, NFL, and the International Olympic Committee.
Worst Claims: Body Solutions Evening
Weight Loss FormulaBody Solutions peddled their product by employing 678 popular, trusted radio personalities and disk jockeys on 755 U.S. radio stations, testifying to their own weight loss and promising listeners in both English and Spanish they would lose as much as 40 pounds a month permanently without exercise, diet or limiting high calorie foods. Furthermore, like the irresponsible disk jockeys, they’d lose weight while they slept.
The Federal Trade Commission spent two years investigating, found the company’s so-called research "fatally flawed," and brought suit. They finally reached an agreement that the company, Mark Nutritionals, based in San Antonio, Texas, would drop the term "weight loss" from the name Body Solutions Evening Weight Loss Formula and stop making deceptive claims.
An estimated 1.5 million people shelled out $190 million in three years for the $39.95 to $60 bottles of strawberry-flavored formula. Customers were demanding refunds but couldn’t get their money back. Lawyers for angry customers are seeking more than $190 million. Fittingly, perhaps, radio networks whose personalities pitched the product are out $37 million in unpaid bills. Prompted by this debacle, FTC recently released guidelines to warn the media about carrying ads that promise more than they can deliver. However, several Texas station managers said they see nothing unethical about their weight-loss testimonials.
FTC reached a $1 million settlement in December. The company filed for bankruptcy protection but continued to operate through 2003, suggesting their agreement with FTC is just a reorganization effort, "part of our commitment to lead the industry by example."
Most Outrageous: Himalayan Diet BreakthroughHalf-page ads in newspapers across the country hype the Himalayan Diet Breakthrough as triggering a "chemical switch that controls your weight." Supposedly the ultra-fast acting formula combines a miracle mineral from the Himalayan Mountains with 7 other highly-unusual, hard-to-find ingredients in a synergistic way that makes each even more effective at producing high speed weight loss. Top fashion models are said to lose "53 pounds in just 47 days!"
Outrageous claims include: Burns off more fat than running 98 miles per week! Incredibly effective. Safe, rapid and dramatic weight loss. Permanent weight loss made easy. Stokes your body’s fat burning furnace. Destroys fat. Flushed right out of your body! Promotes the burn-off of body fat and prevents it from being stored. Reduce cravings for sugar and fatty foods. Natural and so safe. Lifetime guarantee…double-your-money-back!
Like similar scams, this one sets up a toll free number and post office box for orders, and offers a money-back guarantee, which usually proves worthless. Then the money pours in from vulnerable customers throughout the country – perhaps more than the $1.1 million clocked by the FTC in a similar newspaper advertisement scheme. People may think their newspaper has reviewed and found the ad trustworthy, and would not defraud its readers. Not true. Some newspapers are left with unpaid bills when the promoter disappears with the cash – or ships it to an off shore bank. The Himalayan Diet Breakthrough is sold by AVS Marketing of Thomson, Illinois.
Worst Gimmick: MagnaSlimCombining the unproven theories of magnetic therapy and accupressure, MagnaSlim is a "breakthrough in weight loss technology" that is said to control appetite and reduce stress and anxiety eating when worn at the wrist. Acupressure has been a favorite gimmick of weight loss promoters for years, usually zeroing in on a jazzy item that presses on so-called appetite centers on ears or wrists. Earrings or adhesives press beads, seeds or other hard substances against these points. Or patches are soaked with herbal potions and attached in snake-oil-on-a-band-aid fashion. What’s new here is that MagnaSlim contains "5 Proprietary blended magnets," along with a "magnetized solution," that supposedly gives relief from hunger cravings. The magnetic field is claimed to penetrate every cell, realigning incorrectly positioned ions within the cells. Proper flow of "Chi" is restored by massage or heat at acupuncture points, which "polarizes Chi energy." Also sold as Magna 1.
The Slim Chance awards, sponsored by Healthy Weight Network and the National Council Against Health Fraud, are selected from nominations by health professionals and consumers and reflect the opinion of the panel making the judgments. The Council warns that since the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, pushed through by nutritional supplement dealers and their sponsors in Congress, diet supplements are no longer classified as drugs, reducing the FDA’s control over them.
Berg, whose new book Underage and Overweight includes a 7-point plan for raising healthy weight children, offers this advice to parents who fear their child may be trying to lose weight using dangerous weight loss products. "The key to raising a healthy weight child is leading by example," she says. "Instead of focusing on weight loss, which might lead the child to such drastic measures as trying these potentially deadly products, try to model healthy eating habits and an active lifestyle."
MEDIA: To arrange an interview with Frances (Francie) Berg call 701-567-2646, or email [email protected] (subject line: Slim Chance – interview)
FRANCES BERG is an internationally known authority on weight and eating. She is a licensed nutritionist, family wellness specialist, and adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine, and author of 11 books. Her new book UNDERAGE AND OVERWEIGHT: America’s Childhood Obesity Crisis – What Every Family Needs to Know explores the complex issues of weight and eating, and includes a 7-step plan for raising healthy-weight children.
9th annual Healthy Weight Week,
Jan. 19-25
Glamour magazine and
"Hairspray"
honored for portrayal of women
Healthy Weight Week
honors size diversity,
health and well-being at your natural size
By the third week in January diets
are dumped, quack pills set aside, rebound binges are over, and reasonable
people are looking for healthy ways to get their lives back on
track. They can find this by celebrating Healthy Weight Week, January
19-25, with activities that promote long-term healthy lifestyle
habits and prevent eating and weight problems.
"Healthy Weight Week is a time to say ‘I’m okay, you’re okay.’
Let’s stop dieting and yo-yoing weight, and move on to good health
at our natural sizes," says Francie M. Berg, a licensed nutritionist,
adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine,
and chair of the event.
Hospitals, health centers and educational groups across the
country observe Healthy Weight Week by encouraging an active lifestyle
and healthy eating in mall displays, health fairs, seminars, recreational
events, radio and TV shows, and internet chat lines.
"We want to shift our national focus to health and wellness,"
Berg explains. "This includes acceptance, respect, and an appreciation
of diversity. It’s time to move on from the war so many Americans
are waging with themselves using ineffective and dangerous weight
loss methods. The obsession with thinness is causing tragic problems
for both children and adults."
The week features two sets of awards. The Women’s Diversity Awards
honor businesses that portray an appreciation of size diversity,
confirming that beauty, health and strength come in all sizes. The
Year 2003 honorees are:
- Best TV/ stage show – "Hairspray." The vibrant five-foot star of the Broadway smash-hit musical Hairspray, Marissa Jaret Winokur, touches sell-out audiences night after night in this lively show about doing what you believe in, whatever your age, size or ethnicity.
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Best Catalog – Girlfriends LA. Here is fashion and fit for all sizes, modeled by girls of different sizes and shapes. It’s a revolutionary idea – sizes from XS to 4XL, all in one catalog.
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Best magazine – Glamour. Again, revolutionary. Glamour is breaking the fashion mold by including photos of women with curves, larger hips and even stomachs. No advice on dieting or hiding the body with shapeless clothes in sight.
The 14th annual Slim Chance Awards
are given on Tuesday, "Rid the World of Fad Diets and Gimmicks Day"
to spotlight the widespread quackery in the weight loss industry.
Here are the four "worst" diet products and services of the past
year.
- Worst Product – Gorayeb Hypnosis Seminars. Self-styled hypnotist books his seminars into hotels across the country. Only $39 to attend, but expect a hard sell for overpriced hypnosis tapes and pills.
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Worst Gadget – L’Patch. More "Snake-oil on a Band-Aid," this diet patch is billed as an advanced appetite suppressant and metabolism booster. Advertised on email spam.
- Worst Claim – Ultimate HGH 1000. Cure-all results claimed for Human Growth Hormone "stimulant." Among them are body fat loss, flat tummy, wrinkle reduction, trim thighs, erased cellulite, increased energy, muscle strength, memory, emotional stability.
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Most Outrageous – Nutramerica’s Trim Spa. Two page newspaper ads flooded the country with before and after photos, testimonials and weight loss claims. But disclaimers in tiny type admit that paid models were used, weight loss results are not typical, and the ephedrine ingredient can cause serious adverse effects.
In December the Food and Drug Administration announced new efforts
to encourage dietary supplement firms to use truthful, science-based
advertising. More Trim-Spa-type disclaimers and mystery ingredients
may result. Slim Chance Awards are given by Healthy Weight Network
and the National Council Against Health Fraud’s Task Force on Weight
Loss Abuse.
"We urge health professionals and consumers to take action
against fraud and quackery, and teach others how to protect themselves
from it. Weight loss quackery exploits vulnerable children and
adults, and claims its victims in death and injury," says Berg. She is
National Coordinator of the NCAHF Task Force on Weight Loss
Abuse, and author of the upcoming book "Underage and Overweight:
America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic – What Every Parent Needs to
Know."
For more information, see "How to Identify Weight Loss Fraud,"
and other information on website www.healthyweight.net or contact
Healthy Weight Network. For evaluation of other questionable products
and services, see www.quackwatch.com and www.ncahf.org. Consumer
handouts and poster materials are available on Healthy Weight Network
website (click on Healthy Weight Week).
The year's "worst" weight loss products
and services
The 14th Annual Slim Chance
Awards
Want a little miracle thigh cream
to remove cellulite from that hip? A pill to turn your fat to
muscle? Sorry. It’s a slim chance that today’s offerings will ever
help you or anyone else. They are designed only for profit.
The Slim Chance Awards spotlight these kinds of dubious miracles.
Each year they affirm the sad fact that there’s no end in sight
for weight loss quackery and fraud, get-rich-quick schemes, and
con artists bent on deceiving vulnerable people. Instead, with the
openness of the internet, there’s even more marketing pressure and
more scams than ever before.
Nominated from the previous year’s promotions by health professionals
and consumers, the Slim Chance awards are presented annually the
third week in January during Healthy Weight Week, sponsored by
Healthy Weight Network and the National Council Against Health
Fraud’s Task Force on Weight Loss Abuse.
Here are the dubious winners of the 14th annual Slim Chance Awards,
the "worst" of the crop from the past year. These four represent a
vast offering of questionable weight loss products currently being
heavily advertised, often illegally, on the internet, by mail,
on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines.
Bottom line: Weight loss quackery exploits people with false
hopes, and claims its victims in death and injury. These products
don’t work and can be dangerous.
Worst product – Gorayeb Hypnosis Seminars
A self-styled hypnotist, Ron Gorayeb and his therapist/marketer
employees travel the United States, booking his seminar into hotel
rooms and advertising in local media. "Guaranteed results…. You
will lose the weight you want without dieting, without hunger and without
cravings. … The hypnosis is designed to eliminate negative eating
habits, such as impulsive/compulsive eating, addiction to sweets
and late night snacking. ... You will be in a relaxed, pleasant
state of concentrated hypnosis that directly affects your subconscious
and conscious minds."
Audacious claims of the past are toned down a bit since 1994 when
the Federal Trade Commission charged Gorayeb with false and misleading
claims, and obtained a cease and desist agreement from him. Undaunted,
he bounced back stronger than ever and now claims to have given
his weight loss seminar to over 275,000 people in two decades.
(He also has a smoking cessation seminar.)
At entrance fees of $39 that’s nearly $11 million. But it’s
only the beginning. Hooking the mark into buying more is the code
of the hustler. In this case, neither ads nor website mention other
items. Likely it’s more profitable to wait until attendees are in
that "relaxed, pleasant" hypnotic state before insisting on their need
for the overpriced hypnosis tape power packs ($155 to $275) and
supplement pills ($30 to $80).
Hard-sell techniques are used to push more products at "discounted"
but higher prices, reports an Illinois customer who wrote a check
for $200. She was reassured by the absolute, iron-clad guarantee
promising full refund. But later, when she wanted to return the
product, due to a rash, itching and swelling, she was refused. Her money
was returned when she wrote a letter threatening exposure.
Worst Gadget – L’Patch
We haven’t seen the last – or probably the worst – of "Snake-oil
on a Band-Aid," which quack watchers liken to "putting nothing on
no place," but here’s the latest. L’Patch is billed as an advanced
appetite suppressant and metabolism booster. According to internet
ads, this diet patch carries a triple threat: "helps lessen hunger
pangs, jump-starts your metabolism, increases your body’s ability
to burn fat."
Directions call for sticking a patch on the wrist or arm once
a day. Claims are that the herbal formula is not a drug, just
"medication" that is "absorbed immediately into the skin … goes straight
into the bloodstream where it goes to work at once, and will keep
on working for up to 12 hours." No "starvation diets" or "difficult
and dangerous exercise" [dangerous?]. Testimonials claim weight
losses of 20 pounds in the first month. L’Patch is advertised in
email spam and on a website.
Worst Claim – Ultimate HGH 1000
HGH (Human Growth Hormone) ads are big on the internet today,
advertised by supplement dealers as a technique newly made available,
although this scheme, too, has been around for years. The ads
for Ultimate HGH 1000 make it sound like a cure-all. It’s touted
not just for improvements in "body fat loss," but also "wrinkle
reduction, energy level, muscle strength, emotional stability."
With this product, you can look forward to "a flat tummy, more
energy, trim thighs, erase cellulite, lose those wrinkles, tighter skin,
sleep better, more lean muscle, sexual potency, increased memory."
What’s more, you’ll "look and feel 20 years younger."
The ads explain that HGH is produced by the pituitary gland,
but after age 25 to 30, HGH levels diminish up to 80 percent, associated
with aging. "The Ultimate HGH 1000 capsules stimulate the pituitary
gland to produce and distribute youthful levels of HGH … it increases
your metabolism [and] causes your body to burn fat while you sleep!"
Cost is $79.95 for just one month. Two similar HGH ads recently
distributed by email spam are Natural-Force and BioSlim Plus.
Most outrageous – Trim Spa
The most outrageous promotion of the year has to be the newspaper
ad plastered across two full pages in numerous newspapers across
the country in October for Nutramerica’s Trim Spa "High-Speed"
weight loss pill that "forces fat to leave your body!" The two-page
ad consists mostly of testimonials and before and after photos,
in which it’s doubtful the same people are pictured, since the "after’s"
appear to be models and are quite unlike the "before’s" who seem
ordinary people in slouched poses.
The pill contains three mysterious ingredients and mysterious ways
of fighting fat with "thermogenic (fat destroying) influences," none
of which are clearly explained. Weight loss testimonials claim 39
pounds in 11 weeks, 46 pounds in 3 months, and totals of 63, 85,
and 100 pounds.
But in tiny, tiny, almost unreadable type at the bottom come the
disclaimers: Results not typical. This product has ephedrine group
alkaloids and may cause serious adverse effects. Not for sale to persons
17 years of age or younger in Texas. Models have been compensated
for photos.
This promotion recalls the 1989 full-page weight loss tea ads
placed in 105 prominent U.S. newspapers, including the LA Times and
Washington Post, by Australian Peter Foster, who bilked consumers
on three continents. (Yes, the same Peter Foster now back in England
and recently linked in a minor scandal to the wife of Prime Minister
Tony Blair.)
The FBI at that time intercepted a quarter of a million dollars in
a few days, which they returned to customers, and the newspapers
lost close to $600,000 for unpaid ads. Since the newspaper editors
knew full well that the ads defrauded their readers, it was hard
to muster sympathy when they were left holding the bag. Questions
for today: Do ads get paid this time? Or should newspapers be held
responsible for what they print and pay a fine themselves?
The Slim Chance Awards were selected from weight loss products
and services nominated by health professionals and consumers, and
reflect the opinion of the panel making the judgments. For more
information, see "How to Identify Weight Loss Fraud," and other information
on website <www.healthyweight.net>. For evaluation of other
questionable products and services, see <www.quackwatch.com>
and <www.ncahf.org>.
"Hairspray," Girlfriends LA catalog,
and Glamour magazine honored
Healthy Weight Week Women’s
Diversity Awards
Are you alarmed
at the media’s continuing depiction of women as extremely thin,
submissive, self-absorbed in how they look? Women who appear to
be objects? Here’s a way to send a message to corporate America,
by supporting companies that break that mold.
Healthy Weight Week Women’s Diversity Awards honor businesses
that show appreciation for the diversity of women, and confirm that
health, beauty and strength come in all sizes.
The 10th annual Healthy Weight Week is celebrated January
19 to 25, 2003 – annually the third week in January – as a welcome
antidote to the dieting and bingeing that typically begin the new
year. People are encouraged to avoid the usual New Year’s weight
loss resolution, and instead take steps to develop healthy lifestyle
habits that last a lifetime.
Women’s Healthy Weight Day, January 23, is designated as a
time to protest media pressure to force women into a single mold.
It’s a time to celebrate the diversity of real women, and to help
them shift focus from weight loss to being healthy at the size they
are. Sponsored by Healthy Weight Network, the awards were selected
from businesses nominated by health professionals and consumers,
and reflect the opinion of the panel making the judgments.
Here are this year’s winners of the Women’s Diversity Awards.
Best TV/ stage show – "Hairspray."
The vibrant five-foot star of the Broadway smash-hit musical
Hairspray, Marissa Jaret Winokur, as Tracy, touches sell-out audiences
night after night when she realizes her dream to get on the television
dance show she loves, despite her mother’s admonition, "No way
at your size!" The musical, replete with big 1960s hairdo’s and
generous use of hairspray, is about reaching your own potential. It’s
doing what you believe in, without limitation, not putting your
life on hold. As a lively teen who dances her way into her dream guy’s
heart, Tracy not only gets on the show, she moves mountains by opening
up that show to people of varied sizes, ages and ethnicity.
Jaret’s outstanding singing voice and dynamic personality
got her this starring role, which she handles so well. Her performance
is freeing and unrestrictive, about living actively, having fun,
not obsessing about food, no matter what your size.
Unlike other actresses Jaret says she never worries about
her weight, eats what she likes, "even chocolate – like a human."
She has a message for teens: "I want to tell every insecure 16-year-old
that there’s a bigger, better world out there than high school."
At one point in the show, asked by the costumer what she wants
to wear, Tracy replies matter of factly, "Find the cute clothes
you’d bring for the skinny girl and just get them for me in large."
Best Catalog – Girlfriends LA
Popular, youthful styles are featured in the Girlfriends catalog.
But more important, here’s fashion and fit for all sizes, modeled
by girls of various sizes. A girl can expect to buy the clothes she wants
in her own size.
The editor explains, "Due to popular demand, we now feature
all of our items in junior sizes up to size 25 or 3XL. Many of
our styles are available up to size 29 or 4XL." Sizes range from XS (bust
31") to 4XL (bust 56"). Girls sizes, 10 through14, are also included,
described as generally shorter than Junior sizes.
"We take great pride, and great care, to make sure that everything
in our catalog fits you perfectly. No matter which styles you
pick, and which size you select, every garment will fit you correctly.
Most important of all, each size fits the same in every style!"
A size chart is included [on the website, anyway], along with
detailed instructions on how to measure oneself. For sizes that
don’t fit the chart, easy explanations are given to help determine
the correct size. "Girlfriends LA makes all our clothes to fit exactly
the way they are described in our sizing scale. We do not know how
other stores measure and fit their clothes, so we cannot tell you
that our size 7 will fit the same as someone else's. For this very reason,
we ask that you measure your body to compare it to the measurements
on our chart."
The catalog features clothing from tops, tanks and tees, to
pants, skirts, jackets and dresses. It includes accessories, such as
shoes, hats and jewelry. Discoutned items on website.
Girlfriends LA, 730 E Church Street, Suite 19, Martinsville,
VA 24112-5055
(1-800-579-4352) www.gfla.com.
Best magazine – Glamour.
For several years the editors of Glamour have been moving
forward with a more empowering view on body image issues than other
women’s magazines, although they seldom revealed it in pictures.
Now they are breaking out of the fashion mold in surprising ways,
showing women with curves, some with larger hips, and even stomachs,
shaping a new 21st century model of body beauty and diversity.
"Women of all sizes can be beautiful," editor-in-chief Cindi
Leive told readers in May. "We hope you like seeing women of different,
healthy weights in Glamour. All gorgeous. All unique. Like all
of us."
Here are truly amazing before-and-after shots. For example,
the before photo of a larger gal in boxy cover-up is followed
by an after photo in which she wears youthful body-hugging clothes
– no suggestion here to camouflage her body. A swim suit layout
features some plus sizes, and before and after tips to help diverse
readers enjoy and appreciate their true shape, not hide or change
it. No summer dieting plan in sight. Then there’s the story on breast
implants. A young actress is depicted in full form, and afterwards,
with the implants removed. "I want people to see me for who I really
am. I want to learn to love every part of me without apology," she
explains.
"Americans are more accepting of their bodies than before,"
says Gunnar Peterson personal trainer to stars in an interview.
"More and more women are saying, ‘This is how I am – this is my body, and
frankly, I like it,’ "
In the November issue are four colorful pages on the risks
of smoking, titled How to Save Your Life, astonishing in a time
when so many women’s magazines are supported by cigarette ads. Glamour
editor Alison Brower says they have received hundreds of grateful
letters from readers in response to the new body-friendly content.
TO ARRANGE AN INTERVIEW WITH:
Frances (Francie) M. Berg, M.S
call 701-567-2646
email http://www.healthyweight.net/mail%20to:%[email protected]
Healthy Weight Network
402 S. 14th Street; Hettinger, ND 58639
(701-567-2646; fax 701-567-2602)
website www.healthyweight.net
Francie M. Berg
An internationally known authority on weight and eating, Francie
Berg is the founder, former editor and publisher of Healthy Weight
Journal, and author of 10 books. She has reported the scientific
research on weight issues to health professionals and educators worldwide
for 18 years, emphasizing the realities of weight loss treatment.
Berg is a licensed nutritionist, family wellness specialist, and
adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine.
Her master’s degree is from the University of Minnesota.
She can discuss the ways our culture fails teenage girls and
boys (demanding extreme thinness, appearance perfection, sexual
vulnerability), how to fight size oppression, and what’s wrong with the
typical doctor’s advice to lose weight. Berg encourages the health
at any size approach, which embraces living actively, eating well,
and feeling good about oneself and others regardless of weight.
As national coordinator of the Task Force on Weight Loss Abuse
for the National Council Against Health Fraud, Berg can demonstrate
many weight loss gadgets from her extensive collection and explain
the bizarre methods Americans are using to lose weight.
Francie Berg has been a guest on national television, including
Oprah, Lezza, and Inside Edition, and presents seminars at national
and international health conferences.
Her new book is "Underage and Overweight:
America’s Childhood Obesity Epidemic – What Every Parent Needs
to Know," to be published in the spring by Hatherleigh Press, New
York.
Berg’s previous two books on weight issues, "Women Afraid
to Eat: Breaking Free in Today’s Weight-Obsessed World" and "Children
and Teens Afraid to Eat: Helping Youth in Today’s Weight-Obsessed
World" challenge the culture’s powerful pressures to be thin, and
give clear guidelines on how to move ahead toward health and well-being
at any size. Both are highly recommended by health and nutrition
professionals.
Healthy Weight Network, 402 S. 14th St., Hettinger, ND 58639
(701-567-2646; fax 701-567-2602) email http://www.healthyweight.net/mail%20to:%[email protected];
website www.healthyweight.net
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