What This Book Is NOT
This is not a book about dieting. It’s about starvation.
Starvation is a strange phenomenon to feature so prominently in the 21st century in the wealthiest nation on the planet, but there is no other word for the culture of weight consciousness and weight loss that pervades every corner of our daily lives.
Starvation is the silent culprit. It’s the skeletal models defining our concepts of beauty in magazines, movies, and media. It’s the fat-free, carb-free, keto, zero-calorie choices on the supermarket shelves. It’s the rise in eating disorders among pre-pubescent children and the increase of diabetes and pre-diabetes in our adolescents.
What This Book Is NOT
There are hundreds of diet books on the self-help shelves of every brick-and-mortar bookstore or bookselling website. The American weight-loss industry grosses $71 billion in revenue every year. Forty-nine percent of adults report being on a diet the previous year. And all the while, the percentage of adults who are overweight or obese continues to increase (currently at 73%). Even our children are not immune from this trend: 41% of them fall into one of these two categories as well. These statistics cost a fortune in obesity-related health care and broken, despairing lives. And it’s getting worse, not better.
This is not a coincidence. There is no logical way that using words like “sinful” to talk about eating certain foods, idolizing ultra-thin images, and applauding fat-to-thin celebrity stories the way our grandparents glorified rags-to-riches tales could not be related to the fact that we are growing increasingly obese. We are getting fatter, not despite the fact that we are encouraged to eat less, but because of it.
Americans are starving themselves, dieting more, yet still weighing more. We have indeed become a “starvation nation.
What This Book Is
So, if this is not a self-help diet book, what is it? It’s a concise, readable look at the shocking news that our very attitudes, social mores, popular culture, and even misdirected aspects of our increasing attention to health are sabotaging our hopes and dreams of living fit, energetic lifestyles. Whole segments of our population have forced themselves into at-risk eating behaviors, setting up situations where even dieters with the best-intentions are doomed to failure.
MEET THE AUTHORS
Richard R. Terry, DO, MBA
Dr. Richard Terry is a highly accomplished family physician and esteemed Professor of Family Medicine at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM). He holds board certification in family medicine and is renowned as the founding Dean of LECOM at Elmira, the first and sole medical school in the Southern Tier of New York. Presently, Dr. Terry assumes the vital roles of Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at LECOM at Elmira and Chief Academic Officer of the LECOM Consortium for Academic Excellence (LCAE).
With an impressive tenure spanning more than two decades, Dr. Terry possesses extensive expertise in medical education. He frequently delivers lectures on a wide range of educational and health-related topics, both at regional and national levels. His exceptional teaching abilities have garnered national recognition, and his exemplary practice in treating weight management conditions extends over 25 years. As an osteopathic physician, Dr. Terry strongly advocates for holistic approaches and lifestyle management strategies to enhance the overall well-being of patients. Moreover, he is deeply committed to educating the next generation of osteopathic physicians, imparting invaluable knowledge and skills to shape their future practices.
Helen E. Battisti, PhD, RDN
Dr. Battisti is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN) and a health promotion specialist. She maintains a consulting business working with athletes, individuals and organizations looking to improve their performance, health and productivity through enhanced nutrition.
Helen was a full-time Assistant Professor at Marywood University in the department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Athletic Training and Exercise Science, Scranton, Pennsylvania, as well as a clinical RDN with Endwell Family Physicians, Endwell, New York for over 30 years. She was the lead RDN at a research site that investigated the Wegovy medication for the treatment of obesity. She has numerous publications reflecting her ongoing commitment to helping better understand obesity, the causes, and solutions. She continues to share her knowledge through presentations and training.
Dr. Battisti holds a certificate in pediatric and adult weight management from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In addition to working in the area of health and weight management, she has personally experienced the challenges having been obese as a teenager and maintaining her weight throughout her adult life.
Francis L. Battisti, PhD, MSW
Dr. Battisti is a nationally recognized speaker on topics of health enhancement, conflict resolution, resilience, and Appreciative Inquiry. Having been a psychotherapist, his keen appreciation for the uniqueness of individuals allows him the opportunity to share with the client’s journey. He has presented to audiences throughout the United States, Mexico, and Colombia.
His research focuses on families and new methodologies for health enhancement. His unique area of inquiry includes the relationship of children and their fathers.
He is a Professor of Psychology Emeritus, a Distinguished Professor with the State University of New York and the past Executive Vice
President and Chief Academic Officer of SUNY Broome Community College. He has been admitted to the State University of New York
Distinguished Professor Academy. He is the author of Checchino: A Father and Son Journey Toward Dusk.
