KidzPower—Combatting Obesity in Children
(November/December 2003)
By Stacie Goldstein, CSW, Child Protection Coordinator, Elmhurst Hospital Center
Obesity in children has reached epic proportions. According to recent studies,
one in five children aged 6 to 11 is considered overweight, an increase of more
than 50% from the last two decades. Studies show that the most effective ways
to combat this problem are by teaching healthy eating habits and incorporating
physical activity into a daily routine. Since healthy lifestyles are established
in the first phases of childhood, efforts to prevent obesity should begin early.
Out of these concerns, grew the idea for KidzPower, a family wellness program
designed to meet the educational, psychological and social needs of the pediatric
population and families worried about issues related to unhealthy lifestyles,
at Elmhurst Hospital Center. The Associate Director of Social Work for Maternal
and Child Health was asked by the Medical Director of Pediatrics to design a
program that would address the needs of this particular population. The plan
was to develop a program to engage children and their families in the process
of changing their lifestyles to incorporate healthy eating and exercise. The
objective was to heighten the awareness of the role that food plays in the lives
of children and help them learn to make proper healthy choices for themselves
and hopefully learn to manage weight issues more successfully as they grow older.
KidzPower is a short-term psycho-educational group. The group is activity oriented
and focuses on topics of nutrition, food labeling, exercise, self-esteem building,
and meal planning. Games, drawings, and journals are used to illustrate various
concepts. All activities are child friendly, fun and informative. The goal is
to combine art, play and physical activity to help children, integrate new concepts
about food. Each group lasts for 8 sessions and consists of between 6 to 20
children.
Parent participation is also incorporated into this process. The parent group
is designed as an opportunity for parents to discuss issues about food and find
potential solutions for engaging their children in the process of eating healthy
and the benefits of participating in a regular exercise program. This group
offers parents both educational information and emotional support.
The children’s groups are led primarily by social workers with the support
of child life specialists. The social workers, with experience in child development,
provide expertise in group dynamics and psychosocial assessments, the child
life specialists, with experience in child development and art therapy, provide
expertise in age appropriate activity planning and the understanding of alternative
communications through artistic expression. The parents’ group is also
led by a social worker with experience in group dynamics and supportive counseling.
The children’ and parents’ groups offer a safe and nurturing environment
for thoughts, feelings and concerns over lifestyle patterns to be expressed
and addressed.
One parent session in particular illustrated not only the need for these types
of programs in the community, but also the value of offering a place for parents
to openly discuss their concerns for their children. In this group, as in many
of the group sessions, discussions focused on the frustrations and anxieties
parents feel over not being able to control food portions and the health of
their children. Turning to the social worker one mother asked “What more
can I do?” and proceeded to break down in tears. While the social worker
allowed the mother to express her feelings, the other group members immediately
engaged with the mother not only about the need to express her feelings, but
empathized with her and shared their own frustrating experiences.
Through KidzPower, parents and children have learned that they are not alone
in their struggles and frustrations with lifestyle issues. KidzPower has proven
to be a successful and innovative approach to addressing childhood obesity and
offering
productive educational solutions for families.