Scientists publish guidelines for conversing with children about overweight, obesity
Parents, caregivers and health care professionals are increasingly concerned about childhood obesity. Compounding their concern are fears of inadvertently provoking disordered eating, such as unhelpful dieting, when discussing a child s weight status (i.e. normal weight, overweight or obese).
Given the complexity of these concerns, major health advocacy groups have independently published guidelines for having conversations with children about weight status – all at the fingertips of parents, caregivers and health care professionals with a quick internet search.
To help sort it all out, researchers from the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University systematically reviewed numerous independently published guidelines for having conversations with children about weight status to analyze their content, consistency, actionab
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IMAGE: The table shows the nine different topic domains identified in the guidelines, examples of how they appeared and a percentage of how often they appeared. view more
Credit: Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science at Drexel University
Parents, caregivers and health care professionals are increasingly concerned about childhood obesity. Compounding their concern are fears of inadvertently provoking disordered eating, such as unhelpful dieting, when discussing a child’s weight status (i.e. normal weight, overweight or obese). Given the complexity of these concerns, major health advocacy groups have independently published guidelines for having conversations with children about weight status – all at the fingertips of parents, caregivers and health care professionals with a quick internet search.
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Creating healthy habits, like increasing physical activity and improving eating habits, can be difficult to maintain long term, especially without accountability. Research from the Center for Weight, Eating and Lifestyle Science (WELL Center) in the College of Arts and Sciences at Drexel University suggests that health counselors having access to self-monitored health data would improve a person s weight loss maintenance.
Researchers studied 87 adult participants in a 12-month weight loss program. For the entire study participants were asked to complete three self-monitoring activities daily - wear a Fitbit fitness tracker, weigh themselves on a wireless scale and log their food intake in a smartphone app.