Insights from Webinar Wednesday: Dr. Joe Malone on Women's Health and the Real Impacts of Contraception

Dr. Joe’s story is one of God’s perfect timing and redirection. In the mid-1990s, he was in the fitness industry in Brentwood, a wealthier suburb of Nashville, feeling discouraged by the sheer number of people suffering from lifestyle-related illnesses. There were so few like him to help. Tragically, a gentleman he had befriended—a club member—had a heart attack. Dr. Joe performed chest compressions while a nurse member gave mouth-to-mouth for about 25-30 minutes, but the man didn’t make it. He turned cold and colors no human should—purple, green. It shook Dr. Joe to consider leaving the health and fitness field.

But God had other plans. Out of nowhere came an opportunity to teach at Middle Tennessee State University in their Health and Human Performance department for a master’s degree. Providentially, around the same time, he discovered maternal imprinting (also known by other names). Research shows that when young women marry first and then have children, their body’s health state profoundly affects the child’s lifelong health. In malnourished areas, babies under 5 1/2 pounds often have built-in defects. In our world, where many struggle with weight, babies over 11 1/2 pounds can face issues, too. Babies form from the mother’s muscles, bone, and fat—so optimizing her health means better outcomes for her and at least two future children!

This shifted his focus from one-on-one to generational impact. Someone suggested a Ph.D., and he pursued it, interviewing 32 college women in-depth for an hour and a half each. He created a women’s personal conditioning class, popular with sorority women. A sorority president even invited him to their house for sessions with resistance bands and nutrition advice.

Amid his Ph.D. work (around 2011-2015), the hookup culture’s destructiveness stood out most. It was everywhere, leaving young women distraught, anxious, depressed, and even self-harming. He asked his committee to pivot his research, as it felt more urgent than the physical health-baby link. They agreed—no one else was tackling it.

From 2005 to 2017, he ruffled feathers, especially from the Women’s and Gender Studies department. During campus lectures, they’d show animosity. One accused him of “medicalizing” obesity, claiming nothing’s wrong with it. He responded frankly: He could cite thousands of studies showing obesity harms young women’s health and their children’s, worsening with age.

It culminated in cancellation in early 2017. He prayed, “God, I’ve got a Ph.D. and a nearly finished book, but no job—what now?” By Valentine’s Day 2017 (how fitting!), he had his first speaking engagement. He’s spoken ever since. God provided income from prior professions, sparing devastation like if they’d had young kids at home. This freed him to study deeply, and what he shared is from that research—fascinating and practical for counseling the young women we serve.