Christine Ferguson
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Christine Ferguson is Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance (www.stopobesityalliance.org) and Research Professor at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.

Professionally and personally, Christine has fought the obesity battle and knows the stigma surrounding this medical condition firsthand. She grew up playing varsity sports in a highly competitive environment and was in terrific shape before joining the work force.

As her weight climbed, she found herself more than 100 pounds overweight as the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health in Massachusetts under Governor Mitt Romney. After numerous failed attempts at weight loss programs and struggling with the conflict of needing to be a role model for healthy living, Ms. Ferguson had bariatric surgery that helped her successfully lose more than 125 pounds and tremendously improve her health and fitness.

Christine has also run the Rhode Island Department of Human Services and served as counsel and deputy chief of staff to the late U.S. Senator John H. Chafee (R-RI). Among her many accolades is recognition as one of the Most Influential Health Policymakers by Faulkner & Gray Healthcare and one of the top 25 Most Influential Working Mothers by Working Mothers Magazine.

Blog Entries by Christine Ferguson

Giving Obesity Equal Weight in the Health Care System

Posted September 22, 2011 | 09/22/11 11:53 AM ET

There's a lot of talk now about the essential health benefits package. What is it, what will it cover and, at its core, how do you define what is truly "essential." Is what is essential for one person, essential for another? What's more, how we will balance the need to...

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Too Overweight for Medical Care?

Posted June 10, 2011 | 06/10/11 02:44 PM ET

Recently, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported that several area ob-gyn doctors are refusing to accept overweight women who are otherwise healthy as their patients. In defending their decision, the doctors cite concerns about potential complications in care, risk of malpractice suits and medical equipment that is not...

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Shifting Focus: From Body Image to Health Consciousness

Posted June 4, 2010 | 06/04/10 09:00 AM ET

I was flabbergasted recently when it was reported that Lane Bryant, the plus-sized apparel company, encountered resistance from several news media outlets when trying to debut an ad campaign for a new lingerie collection. Apparently, some stations declined to air the ads during certain timeslots because of the...

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Why the Biggest Loser Won't Help Solve the Obesity Problem

Posted May 27, 2010 | 05/27/10 12:12 PM ET

More than a dozen weeks into season nine of the mega-reality show The Biggest Loser and it is still drawing upwards of seven million viewers per episode. Some say the program has produced the most drama of any other season, with new twists, turns and, lest we forget, a set...

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