From the category archives:

Childhood obesity

How would you support a child trying to live healthier?

by Tripp Underwood on February 3, 2012

Daivd Ludwig, MD, MPH

Every month the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) publishes an article called Clinical Crossroads, where a patient case is presented and medical professionals are invited to share their thoughts on how they might treat that person. A few weeks later the case is presented again, this time with commentary from an expert who specializes in the medical condition profiled in the article.

The most recent Clinical Crossroads was written by David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital. Ludwig’s case focuses around Ms K, a 14 year-old girl struggling to lose weight.

Unlike typical medical case studies that focus on diagnosis and treatment of acute illness, Clinical Crossroads often takes into account the ethical, emotional and economic issues related to the patient’s health and treatment. All three of these elements figure heavily in Ms K’s story, making it ideal for the Clinical Crossroads treatment.

But as Ludwig himself would tell you, overcoming childhood obesity isn’t just the job of pediatricians and their patients; parents play a vital role in helping children achieve and maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle too. With that in mind, we are presenting Dr. Ludwig’s Clinical Crossroads piece to you on Thriving and asking for your input as parents.

Given the following situation, what are some ways Ms K and her parents could work as a team to help her live healthier? If you were her mother or father, what would you do to support her efforts?

Ms K is an obese 14-year-old girl who is struggling with weight loss. She lives in the greater metropolitan Boston area. Ms K began to gain weight at age 8 years. Over the past 7 years, her weight has gone up by 20 to 30 lb annually … She reports trying various weight loss programs but either she did not follow through or they did not work. She has never lost more than 5 lb with any focused effort. Full story »

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Desperate measures

by Claire McCarthy on January 10, 2012

Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Take a look at her blog archive and follow her on Twitter @drClaire.

Have you seen the anti-childhood obesity ads from Georgia?

With 40% of the kids in Georgia overweight or obese (only Mississippi is worse), health advocates decided that it was time for “a wake-up call.” So the Strong4Life campaign and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta have released print and TV ads with obese kids and slogans like “It’s hard to be a little girl when you’re not.”

Ouch. I mean, really. Imagine being on a playground and having some kid point at you and say, “You look like the fat girl on TV!” What were they thinking?

Actually, I get what they were thinking. It’s a desperate-times-call-for-desperate-measures thing. Full story »

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Step up to the plate

by Tripp Underwood on January 4, 2012

The New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital recently hosted a symposium for nutritionists, medical professionals and community leaders to discuss the USDA’s current dietary guidelines and new MyPlate icon. Here’s a brief video recapping this exciting meeting of these respected and nutritionally-sound minds:

To learn more about the symposium, which featured award winning chef and famed restaurateur Jody Adams, Sam Kass, assistant White House chef and senior policy advisory for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House, and a host of other important speakers, check out this blog chronicling the whole talk. If you’d like to learn more about childhood obesity or talk to one of our experts, please contact the obesity prevention center.

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Children’s makes the Top Doc list

by Tripp Underwood on December 14, 2011

Boston Magazine recently released its 2011 Top Doc list, made up of the best 650 physicians in the Hub. Seeing as Boston is home to some of the greatest medical minds on the planet, the list reads like a prestigious who’s-who roster of talent; a medical dream team spanning every aspect of treatment, from surgery to research and innovation.

Broken into 57 different specialties, doctors included on the list are voted for by fellow medical professionals, meaning that the Top Docs have not only gained the respect of the public and media, but of their peers as well.

Children’s Hospital Boston is proud to announce that over 10 percent of the entire list was made up of our staff, many of whom will be familiar to Thriving readers.

David Ludwig, MD, PhD

As director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital, David Ludwig, MD, PhD, is a respected leader in childhood obesity research and prevention, as well as a regular Thriving contributor and interviewee. In a recent post Ludwig explains why he supports legislation that would restrict the amount of junk food available through public assistance programs. For more blogs on Dr. Ludwig’s work, click here.

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In 2004 Children’s Chief of Cardiac Surgery, Pedro del Nido, MD, was the first person to use the da Vinci surgical robot to fix a defect in a child’s heart, using child-sized tools of his own design. Read about another family whose child was also saved by Dr. del Nido’s surgical expertise and steady hands.

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Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH

Mininder Kocher, MD, MPH, associate director of Children’s Division of Sports Medicine, helps many young athletes work through their sports related injuries. Most recently Dr. Kocher and one of his patients was featured on ABC World News, a segment that included a guest appearance by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.

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David Hunter, MD, PhD

David Hunter, MD, PhD, Ophthalmologist-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital Boston’s Department of Ophthalmology has spent years helping young people see better. In this recent blog post, Dr. Hunter weighs in on new research that indicates that the amount of time a toddler spends outside could have a direct, positive relationship on his developing eyesight. Full story »

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Preventing heart disease in kids: how can we doctors do better?

by Claire McCarthy on November 22, 2011

Dr. Claire McCarthy is a primary care physician and the Medical Communications Editor at Children’s Hospital Boston. Take a look at her blog archive and follow her on Twitter @drClaire.

Claire McCarthy, MD

A week or so ago, the American Academy of Pediatrics came out with a report entitled “Integrated Guidelines for Cardiovascular Health and Risk Reduction in Children and Adolescents.” It’s a 44-page report full of evidence-based recommendations for preventing kids from getting heart disease when they grow up.

I wasn’t going to write about it. After all, it seems like everyone’s eyes glaze over when I talk to them about diet and exercise; why should I waste the time writing something people likely won’t read? And even if they read it, chances are they won’t follow the recommendations. I know I sound cynical, but that comes from years of talking to families about healthy habits with really minimal results. Full story »

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Children’s hosts expert panel to discuss USDA dietary recommendations

by Tripp Underwood on November 21, 2011

This was my breakfast last Friday.

As a black coffee and dry toast kind of guy, I have to admit I was skeptical when I first laid eyes on the plate. Roasted red peppers, kale sautéed in garlic and olive oil, black beans, cheese and smoked salmon isn’t exactly my traditional 8 AM fare.

But after a few bites I was sold; at some point it seems my tastes had changed without me knowing, which I was about to learn was a very good thing.

“When it comes to food, it’s OK to break the rules,” said award winning chef and famed restaurateur Jody Adams, as she addressed a packed house of nutritionists, medical professionals and community leaders who gathered at Children’s Hospital Boston to discuss the USDA’s current dietary guidelines and new MyPlate icon.

“In fact, if we are going to be successful in our mission to reduce and prevent childhood obesity in this country, more than a few rules are going to have to be broken. We need to change the way we think about a lot of foods,” she said.

Adams, along with Sam Kass, assistant White House chef and senior policy advisory for Healthy Food Initiatives at the White House, spoke Friday morning at Step Up to the Plate, a panel discussion hosted by the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center Boston Children’s Hospital. In addition to Kass and Adams, the panel included Boston Public Health Commission Director Barbara Ferrer PhD, MPH, MEd , Cara Ebbeling, PhD, Associate Director of Research and Training at the Center and Eric Rimm, ScD, Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition at Harvard; each bringing a unique vision about how the USDA’s dietary guidelines can be utilized to help American kids eat and live better.

As a recognized leader in the fight against childhood obesity, Center director David Ludwig, MD, PhD, was the esteemed host of the event, but the real star of the show was MyPlate, the color-coded icon that recently replaced the Food Pyramid as the government’s visual representation of a balanced diet. Full story »

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Can playing outside improve eyesight?

by Tripp Underwood on November 11, 2011

How big a role does sun light paly in strengthening young eyes?

As a kid, my mother was always shooing my brother and me outside to play. ‘Get outdoors and get some fresh air’ was more than a suggestion in the Underwood household—it was a parental mandate. The forced backyard time didn’t do much for my budding videogame skills, but it’s possible that it did wonders for my eyes.

Studies recently presented at a American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting suggests that kids who spend more time outdoors are less likely to suffer from myopia, also known as nearsightedness. Could playing outside really improve eyesight in kids?

For years outdoor play has been celebrated as a free and effective weapon in the war against childhood obesity, but it rarely gets much press as an eyesight enhancer. But according to a new analysis of eight eye health studies, which pools data on more than 10,400 children, there is a correlation between people who spend less time in the sun and nearsightedness. Full story »

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Children’s and the New Balance Foundation take on childhood obesity

by Tripp Underwood on November 9, 2011

David Ludwig, MD, PhD

David Ludwig, MD, PhD, director of the New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center and the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) Program at Children’s Hospital Boston, was recently featured in the annual medical issue of the Boston Globe Magazine. Ludwig was profiled for his leadership role in the war on childhood obesity.

“Ludwig, who holds a chair in pediatric endocrinology at Harvard and directs the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) program at Children’s Hospital, is arguably the nation’s leading crusader in the battle against childhood obesity. With nearly a third of US children and teens overweight, and fully 17 percent obese, Ludwig believes this battle is one we cannot afford to lose.”

(For the full article click here, subscription required.) Full story »

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