Dr. Patricia Ronald Riba is a childhood obesity specialist and author in Orange County, CA. She is the founder and Medical Director for Serving Kids Hope (formerly Dr. Riba’s Health Club), a community-based organization designed to prevent and treat nutrition-related health problems in children aged 0 to 18 years and their families. SKHope offers a variety of programs and services at multiple sites throughout Orange County. Dr. Riba and her multidisciplinary team reach over 4,000 underserved families through individualized patient care plans, community and provider education and training, school-based programs, and Parent-Child Feeding Interaction Therapy. Dr. Riba attended Boston University School of Medicine and completed her residency in general pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Prior to her current position, Dr. Patricia worked as a Pediatrician for Orangewood/Juvenal Hall, Doctors of Children in Irvine, CCHC/AltaMed in Huntington Beach, and as an obesity consultant for the Latino Health Access Obesity Program. In 2008, Dr. Patricia received the “Healthy Smiles: Hero of Oral Health Award.” She was also recently honored as an “Agent of Change” by the Children & Families Commission of Orange County and received an “Excellence in Philanthropy Award” from the Orange County Community Foundation. She has written an article for Contemporary Pediatrics and her work has been featured in the Orange County Register and the Huntington Beach Wave. In addition, she has appeared on KDOC and KOCE as a childhood obesity expert.
Dr. Patricia’s program is increasingly being recognized throughout Orange County as a promising approach to nutrition-related disorders including diabetes prevention, obesity, Failure to Thrive, and feeding dynamic issues in children 0-5 years of age. She recently wrote a parenting guidebook, Fit Kids Revolution, on treating/preventing childhood obesity and creating a healthy home with Jon Gabriel of The Gabriel Method.
