Are Childhood Obesity Programs Making the Grade?

by Joy Keller

Making News:

Programs that target childhood obesity are popping up everywhere in America, but are they effective? According to initial findings from Shaping America’s Youth, there are contradictions between the steps medical experts say are necessary and what is actually happening.

The project, which is a nationwide initiative to identify and centralize information on what is being done to reverse overweight and inactivity trends among children and adolescents, surveyed more than 1,300 organizations. The results were announced by David McCarron, MD, president of the Academic Network in Portland, Oregon, during the Institute of Food Technologists’ Annual Meeting & Food Expo in July. He revealed that while experts tout family involvement as key to reducing childhood obesity, only 8% of the programs involve other family members. The survey also found that 80% of the programs are directed at children above age 6—long after health habits have been established, in McCarron’s opinion.

“Most of the programs are based on providing educational material rather than helping make active structural changes in the child’s environment,” he said in a press release. “The programs are not tying back into children’s lives—they are talking rather than making changes.”