Kaiser Permanente And Discovery Health Work To Fight Childhood Obesity

by Heather McLaughlin

Kaiser Permanente and Discovery Health recently announced an initiative to fight against childhood obesity. They have developed an educational program called “Healthy Steps to Treating Childhood Obesity” geared towards physicians and healthcare providers to help educate them about preventing and treating overweight children.

“Childhood obesity is a multifaceted issue that requires a network of support from families, clinicians and entire communities,” said Philip Wu M.D., Pediatric Clinical Lead for Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute’s Weight Management Initiative. “Our goal in creating this program is to disseminate evidence-based recommendations to clinicians, who
can then encourage families to start making environmental and lifestyle changes to improve the total health of their children.”

“Discovery Health CME was pleased to work with Kaiser on this critical issue facing America’s children. With our premiere just days after the new, aggressive childhood obesity guidelines were published in Pediatrics, the timing couldn’t be better to provide health care providers the information they need in a succinct, engaging format,” according to John Whyte, MD,
MPH, Vice President for Continuing Medical Education at Discovery Health.

This program is scheduled to air on Discovery Health Channel December 16 at 9 a.m.
ET/PT. It will also be played several times throughout 2008.

Highlights of the program include:

— Recommendations to prevent obesity in children, including age-appropriate physical activity and recommendations for a healthy diet.
– New weight classifications for at-risk or overweight children including recommended screening procedures and appropriate medical tests for the onset of conditions like diabetes and glucose intolerance.
– Recommendations for individualized counseling techniques with sensitivities to cultural values or stigma.
– Behavior modification strategies that emphasize the level of family involvement as a key indicator of success.

Be sure not to miss this program to learn more about childhood obesity and what you can do to prevent it in your own family.