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 		What's New
As seen in CityBusiness, February 1997

Center helps children make a commitment to healthy living

BY ERIKA UNTERSEHER HAHNE

About 11 million children between the ages of six and 17 are overweight, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services in 1990. Plenty of Louisiana children reared on the state's rich cuisine fall into that category. A children's weight loss program at Louisiana State University Medical Center (LSUMC), Committed to Kids Pediatric Weight Management, is gaining international recognition for helping children lose weight and keep it off.

The 10-year-old program is the brainchild of Dr. Robert M. Suskind, chairman of pediatrics and director of the Weight Management Program at LSUMC. Three years ago the program's staff, which includes a medical director, an exercise physiologist, a registered dietician, a behavior modification specialist and a registered nurse, developed a turnkey version that could be used in other cities. LSUMC has since started two satellite programs in Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Other programs recently have begun in the Netherlands and Thailand.

Dr. Uwe Blecker, the program's medical director, says it's the combination of diet, exercise, medical supervision and behavior modification that makes Committed to Kids work where other weight loss programs fail.

The Illinois Department of Public Health has contracted with six Chicago-area YMCAs to use a form of Committed to Kids to target inner-city children. Results are not yet available for the first phase of the Chicago program, which began last spring. But Jeff Sunderlin, program administrator with the health department's physical activity and exercise section, says he has seen a marked drop in the depression, anxiety and the lack of self-confidence that often plague overweight children.

"What LSU has put together is good stuff," he says. "It's not just an ivory-tower, look-good university approach; they actually got out there and found a way to deal with this disease." Sunderlin says that the program works best with alterations to make it fit each city that adopts it. "How they do this in Baton Rouge and how they do it in the Windy City can be two different approaches," he says. "We have to deal with a lot of urban issues here, like gangs and the lack of parental involvement."

The program consists of four phases, based on how far a child is above his or her ideal body weight. Children who are mildly or moderately obese attend the sessions for one year. Severely obese children, those double their ideal body weight or more, remain enrolled for two years.

More than 500 children have been through the local Committed to Kids since it began. It touts an overall, long-term success rate of 75%. Ninety-five percent of the children who enter the program keep the weight off for 10 weeks, says Melinda S. Sothern, the program's director and exercise physiologist. The other LSUMC programs throughout the state claim similar results. Children and their families meet once a week in the evening at a church in Uptown New Orleans. Having the meetings there helps keep costs down, Sothern says.

At each meeting, children weigh in and have their vital signs taken. Their weekly diet and exercise logs are then reviewed and discussed. An optional weight call follows, in which children stand up and give their ages, how much weight they lost in the past week and their overall weight loss since beginning the program. Next come discussions on behavior modification and nutrition and exercises. Books and videos on each of the phases of the program supplement the weekly sessions.

"A child who is heavily overweight cannot do the same exercises as a mildly overweight child, so there are different videos for different levels of obesity," says Blecker.

At least one parent or grandparent is required to accompany each child to the meetings. Successful weight loss depends on involvement of the entire family, Blecker says. "If the parents have a bottle of Diet Coke for the (overweight) kids next to a bottle of real Coke for the rest of the family, that's not going to work."

Trainer Mackie Shilstone, director of the Sports Performance Program at Kenner Regional Medical Center, says the program helps obese children by giving them goals. "I think it's an excellent program," says Shilstone. "It helps to ease the child back into the game of life." Shilstone plans to work with LSUMC to open a sports performance and wellness institute this spring where entire families can work together to get fit.

Suskind promotes Committed to Kids internationally at seminars and presentations. Sothern sends brochures to pediatricians and anyone else who requests information. Brochures also go to local pediatricians interested in referring patients to the program. Sothern maintains a database on the progress of all the sites.

It takes about six months to put together a Committed to Kids program, Blecker says. The cost depends on the amount of work involved, the extent of training needed, possible travel expenses and how many staff members are involved.

Participation in Committed to Kids is covered by most insurance companies because it is medically supervised, Sothern says. Parents have to pay the initial non-refundable registration fee of $350. Sothern is accepting applications now for the next program, which starts in April.

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