News Flash - Dancing Veggies Don’t Work!

I've said this before but now that we have a study it's official. Dancing veggies, and fruit, don't make a dent in childhood obesity.

According to the Highlights Section of HealthDay, the Associated Press recently looked at 57 federally funded nutrition programs and discovered that a whopping 4 impacted how kids ate. That's 7% of those studies for those of you with a fondness for stats.

The AP noted three major obstacles to success for the other 53 programs:

Parents If parents don't practice proper nutrition, most times their children won't, either.

Poverty Less healthful food -- especially fast food -- is cheaper and more often eaten by poor children, the researchers found.

Advertising Not one of the almost 9,000 television ads for food products aimed at children between ages 8 and 12 in the study promoted fruits or vegetables.

This is the 24th post I've written about childhood obesity since January 07 alone. I can assure you it won't be the last. We have to keep talking and keep driving the message home the we have to help our kids maintain a healthy weight throughout life.

I have a theory that overweight kids know they are overweight but because they are kids they do a good job compartmentalizing. And, they figure if mom and dad don't say anything, all must be ok. As pediatricians, we attempt to bring the issue up when we can and hope it's well received. I've found that even in a sick visit, a family struggling with weight issues is often happy for a tip if the topic is raised sensitively.

My approach is to review weight as I would any vital sign such as temperature and keep it objective. Even though people come to me for sick visits, if a weight is done, then it becomes fair game to discuss, even if briefly. I tell parents and kids that feeding bodies is like fueling a car. You'd never put mud in a car - wouldn't get too far! Weight tells us if a body is getting fueled right and moved the right amount, and that goes for weight too high or too low. You look at the weight and adjust accordingly. And, let me tell you, kids get this and parents love that I'm not putting judgments on anyone like "you're fat" or "you're eating too much". This is an approach that works, that kids can get, and that parents can use without getting into territory that is scary for them and overwhelming.

But, all I can do is plant the seed. The next step is up to Mom and Dad to execute with their pediatrician and perhaps a personal trainer. I'll talk about that soon but there is some evidence that personal trainers and kids go well together even at young ages and for childhood obesity.

Hey, I have an idea! How about we replace the dancing veggies with dancing kids eating veggies?! Now, that may be a campaign that kids and adults can relate to and in their own homes!

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