User:Dorkl/Dr. Ian Smith

Dr. Ian Smith is an American physician, author, journalist and health activist. He is best known for his national health initiative, The 50 Million Pound Challenge, which he created in an effort to combat America’s obesity epidemic.

Smith is currently the medical/diet expert on VH1’s Celebrity Fit Club, a medical contributor on the nationally syndicated Rachael Ray and has appeared on or filed reports for various other broadcasts including TODAY, WNBC’s Today in New York, The View, Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper 360, The Tyra Banks Show and The Doctors.

He is also the host of HealthWatch with Dr. Ian Smith, a nationally syndicated daily news feature heard on American Urban Radio Networks.

He resides in New York City.

The 50 Million Pound Challenge
The 50 Million Pound Challenge is a free national health initiative that encourages Americans to come together to lose weight and live longer, healthier lives.

Smith created the free web-based program in response to the staggering number of overweight and obese Americans. Two-thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese and are in danger of developing life-threatening conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease as a result.

The website provides free information about healthy living and online tools such as a weight tracker, meal plan, journal and activity tracker to members who register on the site. 

Since the program’s launch in April 2007, more than 1.6 million Americans have joined the program and lost more than 5.2 million pounds.

Books
Smith has written seven books including the #1 New York Times Best Seller The Fat Smash Diet, the #1 New York Times Best Seller The Extreme Fat Smash Diet, the New York Times Bestseller The 4 Day Diet, the critically acclaimed The Blackbird Papers (2005 BCALA fiction Honor Book Award winner), Dr. Ian Smith's Guide to Medical Websites, and The Take-Control Diet.

His seventh book, Happy, will be published by St. Martin’s Press in April 2010.

Education
Smith, a native of Danbury, Connecticut, graduated from Immaculate High School (Danbury), received a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College, and a master’s in science education from Columbia University.

He attended Dartmouth Medical School, but completed the last two years of his medical education and graduated from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.