Center for Healthy Weight Media Coverage

Packard Children's Expert Discusses Dangers of Excessive Screen Time
July 1, 2013
Thomas Robinson , MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, has key tips for parents looking to trade screen time for summer fun. And they’re tips you can use in any season.

Margaret Lavin: The bedroom is no place for media devices
San Mateo County Times
August 8, 2013
A new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University indicates that third-graders with televisions in their bedrooms perform significantly more poorly on standardized tests than their peers without.

$12.7 million grant for study of childhood obesity treatment
September 15, 2010
In a new effort to combat childhood obesity, the National Institutes of Health has announced that researchers at Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford have been awarded a $12.7-million, seven-year grant to design a pediatric weight-control program that could be used across the country.

Pediatric weight control program (video, Windows Media Player)
Today Show, NBC Nightly News, numerous local NBC news affiliates
December 5, 2007
Cindy Zedeck, MA, program manager of the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program, was interviewed by NBC News regarding the program and its success. A PPWCP participant was also profiled.
 
Old McDonald’s has a hold on kids’ taste buds, Stanford/Packard study finds (video, Windows Media Player)
CBS-5
August 6, 2007
A study led by Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, showed that even young children are swayed by brand preference. When the study asked kids to sample two identical foods from McDonald's, children in the study preferred the taste of the version branded with the restaurant's familiar "Golden Arches" to one extracted from unmarked paper packaging. This story was covered by numerous local, national and international media outlets.
 
Teen drops 107 pounds after gastric bypass surgery (video, Windows Media Player)
Marianne Favro, NBC-11
July 17, 2007
Kylie Crovo had bariatric surgery when she weighed 256 pounds. Nine months later, she was down to 107 pounds and was free of obesity-related health problems. Kylie discusses the lifelong lifestyle changes she has made to maintain a healthy weight.
 
Obese children miss more school days
Washington Post, US News & World Report, Health Day, Grand Junction Sentinel (Grand Junction, CO)
August 24, 2007
Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, provided comment in this story regarding how obesity prevention programs could help improve school attendance in addition to reducing weight-related health risks.
 
Are nutrition programs effective?
San Angelo Standard Times (San Angelo, Texas)
July 8, 2007
Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, provided comment in this article about a recent study that found that nutrition education programs don’t have much of an impact on obesity rates.
 
Life-changing surgery for obese girl
ABC-7
March 9, 2007
Chelsey weighed 456 pounds when she had bariatric surgery in December 2005. In March 2007, Chelsey weighed 265 pounds and had her sights set on continuing to lose weight and toward earning a college degree.
 
Doctors, families team up against obesity
Contra Costa Times, Alameda Times Star, Contra Costa Times, Fremont Argus, San Mateo County Times and Tri-Valley Herald
February 2007
Joel Killen, MD, professor and a member of the Center for Healthy Weight team, provided comment regarding how quick intervention is needed to halt the childhood obesity epidemic.
 
Harkin news conference on childhood physical inactivity
February 13, 2007
Stanford University School of Medicine researchers William Haskell, PhD, and Wesley Alles, PhD, participated in a Washington, D.C., news conference with U.S. Senator Thomas Harkin, D-Iowa, on physical inactivity and obesity in the nation’s youth. Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, and Larry Hammer, MD, served as local experts on the topic of pediatric overweight and obesity.
 
Kids learn to 'red light' bad food   
NPR, WLRN (Miami), WFYI (Indianapolis)
November 2, 2007
Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, and Cindy Zedeck, program director of the Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program (PPWCP), were featured in an NPR segment discussing the anniversary and success of PPWCP. 
 
Snack food producers to provide more nutritious foods to schools
New York Times, The Gainesville Sun, Times Daily
October 6, 2006
Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, provided comment regarding the recent announcement by the country’s largest snack food producers that they would start providing more nutritious foods to schools to replace sugary, fat-laden products in vending machines and cafeterias.
 
Pediatric Weight Control Program celebrates 10th anniversary
Press Release
September 5, 2006
In the past decade, more than 350 kids between the ages of 8 and 15 have graduated from the family-based, behavioral program, and with unprecedented success. Cindy Zedeck, program director, provided comment.
 
School nutrition is activists' passion
San Francisco Chronicle
August 28, 2006
Maria Mosquera, MD, senior resident at Packard Children's, was one of four Bay Area newsmakers profiled in this feature on kids and nutrition. Dr. Mosquera and senior resident Heather Iezza spent her summer in East Palo Alto conducting focus groups and classes on nutrition and exercise with Head Start parents.
 
Baby fat: When to rejoice, when to worry   
CBSNews.com, MSNBC.com, Baltimore Sun, Contra Costa Times, Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, New York Times, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Times
August 1, 2006
Thomas Robinson, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Healthy Weight, provided comment on the lifestyle patterns that can change a healthy chubby baby into an unhealthy obese adult.
 
Fighting obesity through the power of parents
Palo Alto Weekly
July 28, 2006
Lisa Chamberlain, MD, MPH, director of advocacy at the Center for Healthy Weight, and Janine Bishop, director of pediatric advocacy at Stanford, provided comment regarding Healthy Weight, Healthy Futures, a six-month-long education program designed for parents in East Palo Alto on how to prevent obesity in kids. 
 
More obese patients turn to ‘last resort’ surgery
U.S. News & World Report
March 27, 2006
Craig Albanese, MD, chief of pediatric general surgery at Packard Children’s, provided comment in this article about the growing popularity of gastric bypass surgery.