David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD is a pediatrician and endocrinologist at Children’s Hospital, Boston. He holds the position of Professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Professor in Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Ludwig is founding director of the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) program, described by Child Magazine as one of the most comprehensive pediatric obesity clinics in the country. He recently founded the New Balance Obesity Prevention Center, a resource for parents, children, healthcare providers and others who are dedicated to combating childhood obesity. Since the early 1990s, he has provided medical care for several thousand overweight children and their families.

Dr. Ludwig's research focuses on how food affects hormones, metabolism and body weight regulation. In particular, he has been developing a novel “low glycemic” diet (i.e., one that decreases the surge in blood sugar after meals) for the treatment of obesity and prevention of type 2 diabetes. He has published over 100 articles in medical or scientific journals including Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. His research is supported by major grants from the National Institutes of Health and from philanthropic foundations.

Described as an “obesity warrior” by Time Magazine, Dr. Ludwig has fought for fundamental policy changes to restrict food advertising directed at young children, improve quality of school nutrition programs and increase insurance reimbursement for obesity prevention and treatment programs. He has appeared frequently in the national media, including New York Times, Time Magazine, National Public Radio, Pubic Broadcasting System, Dateline NBC and The Today Show.

Q & A with Dr. Ludwig