From Philly and the Pa. suburbs to South Jersey and Delaware, what would you like WHYY News to cover? Confronting the drivers of weight gain and poor diet needs to happen as early as possible, they say – during childhood and regularly in adulthood. But talking about weight, eating habits and obesity treatment options requires sensitivity, patience and the absence of judgement, said Dr. Samantha Flanagan, a family medicine practitioner and obesity specialist at Temple University. “People tell me things like, ‘I had a doctor tell me everything is because of my weight, and they’re not going to do X, Y, or Z because I need to lose weight,’” Flanagan said. “And then I’ve had patients tell me that they just don’t want to be shamed about their weight.