Age Ranges: 8-to-12 & 13-to-19
Children’s Specialized Hospital, Mountainside has offered the Shapedown Program since 2004. This program, which targets all overweight youth, began in response to alarming statistics on the percentage of children and adolescents considered overweight. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of youth ages 6 to 19 are considered overweight.
Participants at Children’s Specialized must cover their own registration costs. The cost can be spread over the 10 weeks and staff will supply documentation should the family wish to submit it to their insurance company. The remaining program costs are funded by the hospital. The staff plans to apply for grants and hopes to be able to offer scholarships for those unable to pay. There is no restriction on county of residence.
Shapedown is taught by a team including a physical therapist, nurse, dietician and psychologist. Additional time with a psychologist is available to families needing further counseling. Like Shapedown at RWJH, the program at Children’s Specialized has three main focuses: increasing activity, developing healthy eating habits, and improving family communication skills. The term “activity” is preferred over “exercise” as the latter often has negative connotations to children. Staff stresses that the program is not a dieting program but rather a weight management program that seeks to deal with the causes of excess weight. The program recognizes that family involvement is necessary to success. At least one parent is required to attend all classes in the 10-week session in order for their child to participate in the program.
Program staff promotes Shapedown by placing ads in local newspapers and sending letters to school nurses. They recently developed a flier that will be sent out to the Mountainside community. Area physicians and hospital departments also provide referrals. The program is offered to both 8- to 12- year olds and 13- to 18- year olds depending on the needs of the registrants. Each session is limited to 10 families. The staff allows hesitant participants to try the first class with no commitment. Every student who began the program this way has completed the entire session. Staff attempts to engage youth by creating fun activities to be undertaken during each class. The kids often plan them. The variety of activities allows staff to demonstrate the fun and diverse opportunities for being physically active.
Results
Staff has begun collecting data on program outcomes and should be ready to report results by 2007. Staff stresses the importance of follow-up contact with the families. Simply collecting first and last class data does not show long-term success. Staff cites existing studies on other Shapedown programs as evidence of the program’s potential. Children’s Specialized is confident about the benefits of the program and is considering offering an advanced session for those who have completed the initial Shapedown Program.
Children’s Specialized emphasizes the need for programs such as Shapedown in our society. Communities are increasingly aware of the high cost of obesity-related illnesses and the importance of early intervention. Successful programs, like Shapedown, provide comprehensive approaches to combat childhood obesity. Changes must be made in nutrition, physical activity level and family communication. The fact that many children today do not engage in spontaneous outdoor play, along with the popularity of sedentary activities, are cited as contributors to the increasing problem of excess weight among children.
Lessons Learned
While sessions are offered for both 8- to 12-year olds and 13- to 18-year olds, program staff feels that early intervention is often more successful. Once a child reaches puberty, it is usually more difficult to modify behaviors. Nevertheless, offering the program to adolescents is important as overweight adolescents are at increased risk of becoming overweight and obese adults.
Staff stresses that Shapedown is not simply a diet program, but instead addresses underlying issues by modifying behaviors to develop healthy weight management skills. Recognizing that such changes take time and continued support, staff may soon offer a continuation or advanced session upon completion of the current Shapedown program. As mentioned above, sessions with a psychologist are available to families needing support outside of the regular Shapedown classes.
Family commitment, although crucial to success, can be difficult to obtain. Parents may not be willing or able to commit to all 10 class sessions and children may not want to participate at all. Persuading families to come to the first class can be the biggest hurdle. This is demonstrated by the fact, as noted above, that 100 percent of hesitant families who try the first class end up committing to the entire session.
The hospital’s suburban location in Mountainside can be perceived as a problem as there are fewer families from which to draw as there would be in an urban setting. However, this can also been seen as an advantage as most families in the area are able to afford the program fees. Staff is currently looking into funding opportunities in hopes of developing a scholarship fund so that additional families may benefit from participating in Shapedown.
Strengths
Innovative Ideas
Resources
www.shapedown.com
Offers information on starting a program and the required training sessions and also sells program workbooks and manuals
www.childrens-specialized.org
Website of Children’s Specialized Hospital
Contact
Children’s Specialized Hospital – Mountainside
150 New Providence Road
Mountainside, New Jersey 07092-2590
Phone: (908)-301-5415
(888) CHILDREN (1-888-244-5373) ext. 5415
Fax: (908) 301-5576
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2005, December 7). Overweight and Obesity: Home. Retrieved February 7, 2006 from http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/.
Eisenberg, M.E., Neumark-Sztainer, D. & M. Story. (2003). Associations of Weight Based Teasing and Emotional Well-being Among Adolescents. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 157, 8: 733-738.
Ogden, C.L.., Flegal, K. M., Carroll, M.D., & C.L. Johnson. (2002). Prevalence and Trends in Overweight Among US Children and Adolescents, 1999-2000. Journal of the American Medical Association. 288, 14: 1728-1732.
RWJH Hamilton Center for Health and Wellness. (2006). Shapedown Statistics: September 2005 – December 2005. [Unpublished data].
Segal, K. T. Holmes, Hollenbeck, C.B., & A. Chasson. (2004). The effectiveness of the Shapedown program, a family-based weight control program for children and adolescents. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 104, supplement 2: 32.
Sothern, M., Hunter, S., Suskind, R.M., Brown, E.R., Udall, J., & U. Blecker. (1999). Motivating the obese child to move: the role of structured exercise in pediatric weight management. Southern Medical Journal, 92, 6, 577-584.
Sothern, M., Schumacher, H., von Almen, T., Carlisle, L.K., & J. Udall. (2002). Committed to Kids: An integrated, 4-level team approach to weight management in adolescents. Journal of the American Dietary Association, 102, S81-S85.
Sothern, M., von Almen, T., Schumacher, H., Suskind, R.M., & U. Blecker. (1999). A multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of childhood obesity. Delaware Medical Journal, 71, 6, 255-261.
Thomas-Dobersen, D. A., Butler-Simon, N. & M. Fleshner, (1993). Evaluation of a weight management intervention program in adolescents with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 93, 5: 535-540.
