It is estimated that as many as one in three children in this country is overweight, which may lead to obesity as an adult. Last month, specialists at University of Iowa Children's Hospital launched an obesity treatment program for children. Stacy McConkey, MD, a pediatrician and the medical director of the UI Children's Hospital disabilities and development program, talks more about the obesity treatment program:
What ages of children are eligible to join the obesity program?
It's aimed at ages six to 12.
Are children referred to the obesity program or how do they qualify?
You can be referred by your physician or parents can call in themselves. To qualify, children must have a BMI, or a body mass index, of greater than the 95 th percentile. That's a measurement that we take that uses both the child's weight and the height in a calculation. Your local physician can tell you if your child would qualify.
What will the children learn or do as part of the program?
We're teaching both children and parents about nutrition and the value of physical exercise. We work with parents helping them resolve some of the behavioral issues that sometimes surround food and getting children active and exercising.
It's a 12-week program in which they participate in weekly classes that are led by our nutritionist and psychologist, as well as a physical therapist and medical residents who work with both the parents and the children.
I understand there will also be an in-home visit within the program. Could you explain what that is and why it is important?
The in-home visit consists of three visits by one of our social work graduate students under the guidance of our psychologists working with the program. The graduate students go into the homes and help the parents apply some of the things that they're learning in the program. We hope that being able to individualize some of the issues of each family and focusing on areas that families might struggle with individually will help lead to better success with the program.
How many weeks will the program run?
It is a 12 week long program right now.
How many times each year do you plan to teach/run this obesity program?
We hope to run them consecutively. Eventually, with more training, we may offer them more frequently and in different locations. They're currently run through the schools.
If someone wanted to learn more about the program, who would they call or get in contact with?
Contact Kim Turner, a triage nurses at the Center for Disabilities and Development, at 319-356-8705. She takes applications and helps parents figure out if their children qualify for the program. |
