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‘Weight Doesn’t Measure Health in Any Way, Shape or Form’
Dr. Yoni Freedhoff on obesity, weight loss, and the need to end post-traumatic dieting disorder
As sometimes happens to visitors in Las Vegas, Dr. Yoni Freedhoff got hooked then decided to stake it all on a feeling.
Freedhoff, then a physician splitting time between a family practice and rehab hospital, was eager to visit Vegas, and a conference on obesity provided him the opportunity. Despite having no interest in gambling (“I don’t even put a nickel in the nickel slots,” he says), the Toronto native hit a jackpot of sorts in Sin City: “I enjoyed the conference so much,” Freedhoff says, “that I continued my learning and ended up becoming the third physician in Canada certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine.” At the time, Freedhoff was frustrated at his inability to give people guidance on lifestyle and weight management — issues he was confronted with daily, but were not taught to him in medical school or during his residency. Freedhoff went on to found the Bariatric Medical Institute in Ottawa in 2004.
As he began to speak out publicly about the myths surrounding diet and weight-loss, he began to ruffle feathers. When he was disinvited from giving a talk on nutritional policy for the Ontario Medical Association at the…
