A recent article in the Journal of Sports Psychology in Action recently outlined two efforts to develop regimens to help overweight youth achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
In 2009, a team of five doctors and three psychologists, all specialists in weight management, developed a seven-step model. They concluded that the four-stage model wasted too much time (three to six months) in educating and assessing the problem, instead of getting down to the job of actively helping children manage their weights.
The seven steps are: (1) medical evaluation; (2) education of parents; (3) environmental changes, such as removing TVs and computers out of a child's bedroom; (4) support groups, such as Weight Watchers, (5) cognitive behavioral therapy; (6) immersion programs such as therapeutic boarding schools or summer camps for overweight children; (7) surgery.
In 2010 the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality recommended that doctors refer obese children and their families to "comprehensive moderate to high intensity programs that include dietary, physical activity, and behavioral counseling components." These interventions should include more than 25 hours of contact with the child and/or family.
Both panels concluded that education about diet and exercise is valuable, but not as effective as behavioral counseling.
Labels: weight loss
Posted By: Jane St. Clair
