YWM2013

Ready to SHINE with OAC at YWM2014

The time has come to SHINE with OAC (the Obesity Action Coalition) andYWM2014 people are heading to Orlando for the third annual Your Weight Matters national convention. It’s the largest and only meeting of its kind that connects a vibrant community of people affected by obesity with evidence-based strategies for health and quality of life.

On Tuesday, the OAC staff packed themselves and everything for the meeting into a truck and headed out to Orlando, just as many people started checking in for their flights to the meeting from all over the country.

OAC Staff Heading Out to YWM2014

Advance registrations for this year’s meeting have already set a new record, with the total approaching 500 as this goes to press. Some of the world’s most highly regarded experts on obesity will be speaking at the meeting, including:

  • Arya Sharma, MD, PhD, FRCPC, on alternatives to measuring health in pounds alone
  • James O. Hill, PhD, on behaviors for successful weight maintenance
  • James Levine, MD, PhD, on burning calories through activities other than exercise
  • Mark S. Gold, MD, on food addiction
  • Stephen Cook, MD, on childhood obesity
  • Michelle May, MD, on mindfulness
  • And more than we can fully describe here

Ten years ago, just before the OAC was formed, no voice for people affected by obesity existed and advocates found it hard to believe that building a vibrant community to support and advocate for people with obesity would even be possible. Legislators turned a deaf ear, saying no constituency existed for this disease.

Today we have that vibrant community and it’s growing. You can join us in Orlando starting Thursday and see it for yourself. And if you can’t attend, you can tune in to the OAC YouTube channel here to follow the meeting, including live streams on Friday at 11:15am and Saturday at 9:15am EDT. You can follow the meeting on Twitter with the hashtag #YWM2014 and on Facebook here.

Retired NFL player James Thornton at YWM2013, photograph © Obesity Action Coalition

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