SATURDAY, Aug. 11, 2001 (HealthDayNews) -- Childhood obesity rates seem to be expanding as quickly as kids' waistlines. But one experimental program has found a way to curb the appetites of overweight youngsters and improve their fitness levels, too.
Kids participating in a nutrition and activity program at a Los Angeles pediatric diabetes center cut their average monthly weight gain by more than half, a new study says.
Researchers followed 83 overweight children, ranging in age from 8 to 16, as they progressed through the eight-week "Kids N Fitness" program, offered by Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and the University of Southern California.
The program included lessons about healthy eating as well as good exercise habits and involved the kids' parents as well.
By the end of the program, the children were gaining slightly less than ½ pound a month on average, down from an average gain of 2.6 pounds each month.
The average normal weight gain for a child in that age range is about 1 pound a month.
"These kids had been gaining more than twice the expected amount of a growing child," says Marsha D. MacKenzie, director of the Endocrine and Obesity Nutrition Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
"So the reduction was considered a very significant outcome," she says. Details of the findings were presented at a recent meeting of the American Diabetes Association.
MacKenzie says the program, which is continuing, involves much more than coming to a class and receiving lessons about nutrition.
"They learn some very core nutritional principles, like the food guide pyramid," she says. "And we teach them to read the labels on products, to count the fat. We take them to the grocery store and have scavenger hunts, we compare the food information and look at things like how the stores place food for marketing."
Also, the kids receive about 30 minutes of exercise each session.
Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, agrees that weight management in children should focus on reducing the amount of weight gain, rather than reducing the amount they weigh.
"The primary goal with a child who is overweight would be to reduce further weight gain or maintain current weight," Sass says. "If you can maintain current weight and the child goes through a growth spurt, you may end up having the child within normal weight range."
"In addition, any kind of weight-loss program with restrictive intake has the potential to have adverse effects in children," she says. "One could be that the child could have trouble concentrating, and [that] could affect their functioning in classes."
"And if it's a very low-calorie diet, it could interfere with growth and development," Sass adds. "Potential behavior problems can also occur because, when people are underfed, they typically report experiencing moodiness and irritability."
A good way to start controlling a child's weight is simply to note what he or she is eating, Sass says.
"One of the main things you would want to do would be to assess the overall food intake," she says. "You may find a significant source of calories that are not needed by the child, so the goal would be to reduce those calories but not eliminate the calories they do need for growth and development."
The percentage of overweight American youngsters has almost doubled in the last 20 years. Today, an estimated 30 percent of children are too heavy, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.
What to Do:
For more information on obesity in children, visit the American Heart Association or the National Institute of Health online.
