Advisory Board Bios

As a practicing pediatric nutritionist and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, Dr. Keith Ayoob is often asked to speak on nutrition issues that affect children. Based in New York City, he has appeared in over 800 interviews locally and nationally on television, radio, the Internet and in print, commenting on timely nutrition issues and dispelling myths and misconceptions about nutrition and health.  He is also the author of  “The Uncle Sam Diet,” based on the 2005 US Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Having worked for many years in the arena of weight management, Dr. Ayoob has spoken considerably against fad dieting. In February of 2000 Dr. Ayoob representing the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, appeared as a panelist along with several authors of best-selling diet books at USDA’s Great Nutrition Debate. Dr. Ayoob’s comments about the lack of scientific backing for most fad diets received considerable attention and led to numerous requests for his practical yet science-based advice. In addition, a recent television debate about the marketing of diet pills to children sparked the interest of Congress and an invitation to testify about false nutrition and health claims. He also recently joined the Food Advertising Advisory Panel of the National Advertising Review Board.

Dr. Ayoob has also worked for many years with children with special health care needs, including those with HIV. Dr. Ayoob has co-authored ADA’s position paper on nutrition in the care of persons with HIV, and most recently, ADA’s position paper on food and nutrition misinformation, which appeared in the February 2002 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. His current research focuses on obesity in inner-city children.

Dr. Ayoob holds doctoral and master’s degrees in human nutrition and nutrition education from Columbia University in New York City and an undergraduate degree in nutrition science from the University of California at Davis.