Ohio Kids Discover It's Fun 2B Fit
By Melissa Matta, editor at ADVANCE nursing magazine
Sept. 9, 2009
Overweight and obesity is a health problem that affects 15 percent of children and teens in the U.S. Today, there are 3 times as many children and teens who are overweight as there were 20 years ago.
Aultman Hospital, Canton, OH, has created Fun 2B Fit, a family-centered program to help parents and adolescents learn a healthier lifestyle.
"The goal of Fun 2B Fit is to learn good nutrition, increase fitness and increase self-esteem," said Jennifer Justus, RN, director, Aultman Weight Management. "And it's all in a fun, interactive atmosphere with a travel-themed journey toward health and wellness."
The 10-week educational program is for children ages 11-14 (grades 5-8) and their parents.
Weight Management
Founded more than 15 years ago, Aultman Weight Management has helped more than 2,000 people lose weight using three approaches, based on weight, lifestyle and needs. The program, which deals primarily with the adult population, launched Fun 2B Fit this year to reach adolescents in Stark County.
Having researched similar programs and after a trial on its employees and their children, Justus helped establish the program utilizing a registered dietitian, athletic trainers and a child-life specialist.
"Nutrition and fitness assessments are taken at the beginning of the program," said Justus. "Our dietitian and athletic trainers will go over what the kids are eating and how much, if any, exercise they are getting to get a baseline. This information is used in developing individualized plans for the children and their families."
The team meets with the kids once a week for 1 1/2 hours establishing nutrition, exercise and self-esteem goals.
The Program
Weekly lessons focus on a variety of themes, which also involve the parents. "Every week we choose a state, recipe, snack related to that state and physical activity to help inspire the kids," said Justus. "One of our goals is to make healthy choices more appealing and we're able to do this with our themes and fun activities."
One week the team focused on California, reviewing the importance of eating enough fruits and vegetables. The athletic trainer took the kids swimming for the exercise component. When the team did Texas, they focused on the meat group and put the kids through a "boot camp," introducing them to different weight machines.
The team uses a "Think Your Drink" class to talk about the benefits of drinking no- and low-calorie beverages over sweetened drinks.
"We'll review their beverage consumption," said Justus, "looking at things like drinking whole milk, skim milk or no milk at all. When it comes to class time, the registered dietitian talks about the drinks they intake, listing the beverages on a board and asking the kids to checkmark the healthy ones. This is key because there's a disparity in what the kids think is healthy versus what's not healthy. Many think energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster are fine but those are packed with sugar. The dietitian goes over how to read a label, encouraging the kids to choose water first or to make other wise choices like 100-percent fruit juice. We've actually had the most success getting kids to switch from higher-calorie drinks to just water."
The program also encourages kids and parents to pack lunch over buying school lunches because most school lunches are packed with simple carbohydrates, said Justus. Realizing packing a lunch isn't always convenient, the dietitian will review school lunches with parents and suggest places where the kids can supplement the hot meal with a fruit or vegetable they bring from home.
Another assignment for the kids is to grocery shop with their parents to make healthy choices. "We ask them to read labels on food items they want to pick and what they know they should be eating," said Justus. "For example, many of the kids want to pick Lucky Charms over Cheerios, but they know Cheerios has less sugar and is lower in fat. This is an exercise where the kids get to put into practice what they've learned in class."
The kids keep a food record of everything they're eating during the program. The team reviews the journal, encouraging them to eat a balanced diet. Fun 2B Fit is using the Traffic Light Diet, which works by color-coding foods. Foods that are placed in the green category, like apples and potatoes, can help with weight loss and are to be eaten freely. Foods in the yellow category, like apple juice and mashed potatoes, should be eaten with caution. Foods placed in the red category, apple pie and french fires, should only be eaten occasionally as a special indulgence.
When it comes to the exercise component, the team encourages the families to get moving together. "We also use Wii Fit exercises to send the message video games are OK but families should choose ones that get them moving," said Justus. "By the end of the program, the goal is to increase the activity time and decrease the screen time [TV and computer]."
Making a Difference Early
Getting the message of healthy living to this age group is key, said Justus. "The adolescent age group can be very challenging. They're making a lot of their own choices at this age, which includes what to eat and what games to play. If we can make a difference at this age, we can help them into adulthood.
"The kids we work with are really smart, but it's the home environment that fuels the choices they make. Our goal is to make healthy foods available to the kids and the parents as well," she said.
One family Justus worked with ate out 4-5 nights a week, and both parents had weight issues. While the family was still going out for meals by the end of the Fun 2B Fit program, they were sharing entrees and making better choices. "For us, this was a small victory that made a big difference to the family's health," she said. "The goal of our program is not necessarily weight loss but education and behavior change."
