Founder and Child Obesity Expert

Karla Lester, M.D. is a pediatrician, board-certified obesity medicine physician, and certified life and weight coach with decades of experience helping children and adolescents with obesity.

My innovative approach:

“I bring all of my expertise to the table to help children and teens achieve positive metabolic health outcomes, so they enter young adulthood without the burden of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes."

“If we keep applying the same BMI-focused diet culture approach, we will continue to fail.”

Currently Licensed in 15 States
Arizona | Colorado | Georgia | Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Kansas | Michigan | Minnesota | Nebraska | Ohio | Texas | Utah | Wisconsin | Wyoming

Who is it for?

Metabolic Telehealth is for children, starting at age 5 years, adolescents, and young adults up to age 21 years struggling with overweight or obesity and/or chronic diseases like prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, PCOS, NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease), and metabolic syndrome.

Want a compassionate approach?

Here’s what you’ll get:

• Assessment of health conditions, behaviors and obstacles
• Treatment plan including nutrition, physical activity, health behaviors and medication
• Ongoing coaching and accessibility to create and sustain healthy habits

How does it work?

You will get access to the OnPatient Portal with instructions and a link to your first telehealth session, a 50 minute specialty consultation with Dr. Karla Lester. You will also get access to twice monthly zoom coaching calls and the Health Yourself digital course.

After the first visit, follow-up telehealth visits are monthly for 25 minutes. As long as you continue with monthly follow-up visits you will have continued access to coaching sessions.

Monthly follow-up visits and coaching session participation are required for continued medication (GLP-1 agonist) refills and management.

Medication check-ins are also available as needed if you have questions or concerns about medications or have a new related health concern.

A Patient's Experience

"As a parent, it was really tough to see my daughter struggle with excess weight, comorbidities and unhealthy body image. I felt helpless and unsure of how to address these issues. I tried multiple approaches, but nothing seemed to work. Our pediatrician advised us to exercise more and watch portions. We tried personal training, psychotherapy, sports and diets. We felt more disheartened each time we tried a new approach with limited or no results.

We are so grateful to have found Dr. Karla. She has taught us that obesity isn’t just about calories in and calories out. We’ve learned about insulin resistance and hormones, how we can choose our thoughts and create healthy habits. I’ve learned how to be supportive of my daughter and empower her to make her own choices. After years of struggles we couldn't be more excited to be on this journey of healthier living together. My daughter's self esteem has improved, her health has improved and our relationship is better than ever thanks to all we've learned from Dr Karla."

-Mom of 14 year-old teen patient with insulin resistance