Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D. and Conning the World
by
Michael Applebaum, MD, JD, FCLM

Really, this has got to stop.

Is Kelly Brownell without integrity?

Kelly is acclaimed as the originator of the LEARN diet [i] and an anti-junk food advocate. [ii]  He has apparently been an advocate of the so-called "Twinkie Tax." [iii]

Here is a picture of Kelly and the accompanying blurb from the LEARN diet website:

Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D.

  Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., is an internationally recognized expert on weight management. He received training at Purdue University, Rutgers University, and Brown University. After serving on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine for 13 years, he joined the faculty at Yale University, where he is Professor and Chairman of Psychology, Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health, and Director of the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders. Dr. Brownell served six years as Master of Silliman College at Yale. He has written 13 books and more than 200 research papers and book chapters and holds appointments on 10 editorial boards.

Dr. Brownell has received awards from the American Psychological Association and the New York Academy of Sciences and has been awarded research grants from the National Institutes of Health, the MacArthur Foundation, and the National Institute of Mental Health. He has been the President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association, and the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. He has been an advisor to the U.S. Navy, American Airlines, Johnson & Johnson and other organizations.

Dr. Brownell has appeared on the Today Show, Good Morning America, Nightline, Nova and 20/20, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, Glamour, Redbook, Family Circle, Vogue, and other publications.

From: http://www.thelifestylecompany.com/wloss/wm10thed.asp

accessed May 06, 2007

At least the LEARN website got one thing right. He is a silly man.

Here is his current picture from the Yale University website:

From: http://www.yale.edu/psychology/FacInfo/Brownell.html

accessed May 06, 2007

See any differences?

Perhaps these will help.

Here is an April 2006 picture:

From: http://aolsvc.timeforkids.kol.aol.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1187241,00.html

This is an article from April 30, 2006

accessed May 06, 2007

  Here is a 2004 picture of Kelly:

From: http://www.med.yale.edu/eph/alumni/album.html

"Kelly Brownell, keynote speaker at 2004 Alumni Day, speaking about 'Obesity: The Shape of Things to Come'”

accessed May 06, 2007

Somewhere along the line, you should be appreciating that this guy:

He is like the Barry Sears, Phil McGraw and Art Agatston of academia.

Do the media call him on this?

Nope.

Instead, they award him.

Here is a June 2006 picture from when he received a Time magazine "100 most influential people in the world" for 2006 recognition (what was Time thinking?):

From: http://www.yale.edu/opa/eline/2006/200606.html

"Brownell cited as one of world's
'100 most influential people'

Kelly Brownell, chair of the Department of Psychology and director of the new Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, has long been at the center of national and international debates on the relationship of unhealthy foods and childhood obesity.

Time Magazine recognized his role in raising public awareness about this issue by including Brownell as one of the "100 most influential people in the world" for 2006. The listing was in Time's May 1 issue.

Describing Brownell as 'one of the leaders in the fight against childhood obesity,' the Time story says the Yale professor 'has helped set the U.S. agenda by calling for a ban on sweetened-cereal ads aimed at kids and a tax on high-fat, low-nutrition food, with the revenue earmarked for children's nutrition. (sic)

'With health-care costs rising faster than even gas prices, obesity is a health crisis that could cripple our country for generations to come unless significant changes are made,' the article added."

accessed May 06, 2007

 

There is something very, very wrong at Yale. 

There is something very, very wrong with the media.

There is something very, very wrong with Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D.



[i] http://www.thelifestylecompany.com/wloss/wm10thed.asp

[ii] http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/09/02/ED139862.DTL

[iii] http://www.consumerfreedom.com/article_detail.cfm/article/167. As an FYI, I do not in general agree with consumerfreedom.com.