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Dr. Ian Smith
Medical Correspondent
It's not that the diets fail. It's that people fail the diets, because they don't have that discipline. They don't have that support.
Q: There are so many diet books out there. What makes "The Take-Control Diet" different?
Most diet books don't talk about the psychology of weight loss. The inability to put your mind in the right place to fight one of the biggest battles of your life means that your body will not be able to go into the right place.
My book starts off in chapter one talking about the mental warfare that you have to get ready for when trying to lose weight. Number two, most of the diet books do not talk about exercise. They give you a food program.
Q: Is it maligned neglect on the part of parents to let their kids get so big at such young ages, when they know it's going to be a problem?
I'm gonna be a little stronger than you. I'm gonna say it's almost criminal. It is ridiculous and it is a shame that children, young kids, are the size that they are now. And there are a lot of people to blame, but a large part of that rests with the parents.
Q: As bad as obesity is in America across the board, why is it especially bad with people of color?
It is; and a lot of it has to do with the history of our food. A lot of it is cultural in a sense that we eat certain types of foods, a lot of fried foods, a lot of foods that are cheap and easy to access. And another problem, which people don't like to talk about, is if you look at the areas where fast food chains and delis with bad foods, and high in calories and sugar. If you look at the geographical positioning of these places, a lot of minority and inner city communities have these bad places, these bad food sources, right near them.
Dr. Ian Smith is an award-winning medical correspondent for NBC News and a contributor to the Today show. He's also a columnist for Men's Health and author of several books, including The Blackbird Papers, his first foray into fiction, and The Take-Control Diet.
Related Episodes
Recommended Web Sites
The American Academy of Family Physicians site offers information on the power of healthy choices.
The Harvard School of Public Health "Healthy Weight" site explains the difference between what to eat and how much you eat..
The American Dietetic Association's Nutrition Fact Sheets cover a wide range of topics, including nutrition facts and healthy eating tips and recipes.
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Published: September 15, 2005
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