William Sears (physician)
William Penton Sears (born December 9, 1939) is an American pediatrician and the author or co-author of parenting books. He has been a guest on various television talkshows, where he goes by the name Dr. Bill. Sears is a proponent of the attachment parenting philosophy.
Life and career
Sears was born in Alton, Illinois, the son of Lucille and Willard Sears, an engineer.[1]
Sears completed medical residencies at Children's Hospital Boston and the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. In 2004, he was an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of California, Irvine.[2]
He is a medical and parenting consultant for BabyTalk and Parenting magazines and the pediatrician on the website Parenting.com.[3] According to his biography, Sears has been a guest on more than 100 television shows including: 20/20, Donahue, Good Morning America, Oprah Winfrey, CBS This Morning, CNN, Today Show and Dateline.
Sears and his wife Martha, a registered nurse, have eight children. Three of the children have also become doctors: Jim (the oldest) (one of The Doctors), Bob (second oldest), and Peter.
Sears and his family members are distributors and spokespersons for Juice Plus dietary supplements, which Sears promotes on his website.[4] National Safety Associates (NSA), the company that markets Juice Plus, used testimonials from Bill Sears in advertisements promoting Juice Plus Gummies. In April 2005, the Better Business Bureau's National Advertising Division deemed that the ads misleadingly implied "that the Gummies are low in sugar and are a nutritional alternative to fruits and vegetables". As a result, NSA "promised to modify its ads" and stop calling Gummies “the next best thing to fruits and vegetables.”[5]
Sears operates a "health coach" certification website, The Dr. Sears Wellness Institute.[6]
As of 2009, Sears lives in San Clemente, California, and operates a private medical practice (Sears Family Pediatrics) in Capistrano Beach, California with his sons.[7]
Selected works
- Nighttime Parenting (1985)
- The Baby Book (1993)
- The Discipline Book (1995)
- SIDS: A Parent's Guide to Understanding and Preventing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (1996)
- The Complete Book of Christian Parenting and Child Care: A Medical and Moral Guide to Raising Happy Healthy Children (1997)
- The Attachment Parenting Book (2001)
- The Successful Child: What Parents Can Do to Help Kids Turn Out Well (2002)
- The Premature Baby Book: Everything You Need to Know About Your Premature Baby from Birth to Age One (2004)
- The Healthiest Kid In The Neighborhood (2006)
- The Pregnancy Book
- The Birth Book
- Parenting the Fussy Baby
- The A.D.D. Book
- The Breastfeeding Book
- The Family Nutrition Book
References
- Contemporary Authors: A Bio-bibliographical Guide to Current Writers in Fiction, General Non-fiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures, Television and Other Fields, Volumes 9-12, p. 371
- FOXNews.com – Asthma Out of Control in America's Kids – Health News
- AskDrSears.com - Dr. Bill
- AskDrSears.com - Juice Plus+®
- "How product testimonials bend the rules". Archived from the original on July 21, 2006. Retrieved October 15, 2006.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Consumer Reports, January 2006
- "About Us | Dr. Sears Wellness Institute". Dr. Sears Wellness Institute. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
- Meet the Doctors – Dr. James Sears