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Kelly, self-conscious and shy, glances at the gym floor and tugs at her shirt. Already changing with adolescence, her 10-year-old form is larger than most—and her peers don’t let her forget it, not for a minute. Kelly walks along and glances at the group of boys about to call her another name. “I don’t let it bother me,” she mumbles.
It bothers Dr. Jonathan Fanburg. The Ellsworth pediatrician is one of the founders of the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative (MYOC), a group of physicians, psychologists, nutritionists, and educators who are out to provide practical help to the more than one-third of Maine children who are overweight.
Childhood obesity and its potentially devastating medical and psychological effects have become a national crusade. Cable news delivers alarming stories, health magazines present staggering statistics, doctors and educators outline the negative effects, and parents try their best. But trying isn’t enough.
Physicians like Fanburg and Dr. Bob Holmberg of Husson Pediatrics in Bangor were inundated with concerns from frustrated parents. They found that the traditional office visit just wasn’t enough to address the issue and realized that to affect change, MYOC would have to involve parents, schools, medical professionals, and the community. “It can’t be solved one patient at time,” Holmberg says. “It takes all-out community-based warfare.”
One Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative solution, called 5210, has proven so effective it may soon be adopted nationally. The 5210 plan is based on five vegetables and fruits, two hours of television or video games, one hour of exercise, and zero sodas or fruit juices for each child daily. The plan, easy to use and easy to remember, was created to encourage children to take ownership in the process. “I’ve seen some kids follow 5210 and they’ve gotten to a healthy weight,” says Fanburg, MYOC’s chair. Fanburg notes that some patients have seen as much as a 10 pound loss in three months. “We have one year data showing significant efficacy.”
While encouraged by the initial success of 5210, the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative knows the state’s children will not become healthy overnight. Holmberg, along with his colleagues, finds far-reaching roots to the epidemic. One cause, says Holmberg, is financial. “For those that are more financially strapped, obesity hits harder.” With fitness and nutrition, poorer families are at a disadvantage—healthy food costs more and gym memberships are rarely free. “A Big Mac meal is easy to grab and cheap, but it takes practically a marathon to burn it off.”
Another striking factor, both physicians say, is parental health and involvement. Simply, if your parents are fat, you are more likely to be fat. And, while genetics may make maintaining a healthy weight more difficult for some of us, gaining weight is something most humans can do quickly and efficiently. “From an evolutionary and metabolic standpoint, it’s so much easier for us to put on weight than lose it,” Holmberg says. Just an extra 300 calories a day, he notes (about the amount in a large chocolate chip cookie), adds up to an extra 30 pounds in a year.
MYOC is one of many forces at work trying to help young people make better health choices. The national Go, Slow, and Whoa program, used at Bangor area schools, makes kids more aware of the impact of their food choices. It also allows parents to monitor school lunches and administrators to steer improvements over time. Here, a lunch food is labeled with either a green, yellow, or red sticker (veggies would get a green “go” sticker; cookies might get a red “whoa” sticker). School administrators can monitor sales, and, with the advent of the card swipe system adopted by most schools, parents can monitor their child’s eating habits. If a student has purchased too many “reds,” they may be prompted to make a healthier choice.
While some may argue that the system has a big brother component, the Go, Slow, and Whoa program has not only resulted in kids making better choices—it has actually improved lunch sales, overall. According to Paul Butler, principal of Fairmount School in Bangor, data shows lunch sales at participating schools often increase significantly as healthier options are introduced. “If you offer healthy options,” Butler says, “students will take them.”
Butler, who serves as chair to Fairmount’s wellness council, advocates more exercise and notes a program used in Bangor’s fourth grade class. The Book Walk and Talk program, for instance, has students read a book and then discuss it—while walking. “You’ve got to do it in a way that won’t sacrifice instructional time,” Butler says.
Bangor’s Vine Street School is encouraging its 350 students to be more active through a book called Games for You and Me. The book was created by students, with help from professional authors, illustrators, and a local publishing firm. It details outside and inside games focusing on physical play. The publication, according to Principal Tim McCluskey, is helping students incorporate more physical activity into their days. “The children have created a resource for themselves when they have nothing to do.”
One important but often ignored component of childhood obesity is addressing negative stereotypes. It’s something Dr. Holmberg is passionate about. “The idea that obese people are gluttonous with no self-control is a false and unfair idea.” One of his central messages is teaching everyone, “it’s really not about the size of your body, but the healthiness of your lifestyle.”
It’s a message that children like Kelly deserve to hear.
Parents and physicians can find materials and tips on the 5210 program at www.mcph.org/major_activities/keepme healthy.htm.
It bothers Dr. Jonathan Fanburg. The Ellsworth pediatrician is one of the founders of the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative (MYOC), a group of physicians, psychologists, nutritionists, and educators who are out to provide practical help to the more than one-third of Maine children who are overweight.
Childhood obesity and its potentially devastating medical and psychological effects have become a national crusade. Cable news delivers alarming stories, health magazines present staggering statistics, doctors and educators outline the negative effects, and parents try their best. But trying isn’t enough.
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Physicians like Fanburg and Dr. Bob Holmberg of Husson Pediatrics in Bangor were inundated with concerns from frustrated parents. They found that the traditional office visit just wasn’t enough to address the issue and realized that to affect change, MYOC would have to involve parents, schools, medical professionals, and the community. “It can’t be solved one patient at time,” Holmberg says. “It takes all-out community-based warfare.”
One Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative solution, called 5210, has proven so effective it may soon be adopted nationally. The 5210 plan is based on five vegetables and fruits, two hours of television or video games, one hour of exercise, and zero sodas or fruit juices for each child daily. The plan, easy to use and easy to remember, was created to encourage children to take ownership in the process. “I’ve seen some kids follow 5210 and they’ve gotten to a healthy weight,” says Fanburg, MYOC’s chair. Fanburg notes that some patients have seen as much as a 10 pound loss in three months. “We have one year data showing significant efficacy.”
While encouraged by the initial success of 5210, the Maine Youth Overweight Collaborative knows the state’s children will not become healthy overnight. Holmberg, along with his colleagues, finds far-reaching roots to the epidemic. One cause, says Holmberg, is financial. “For those that are more financially strapped, obesity hits harder.” With fitness and nutrition, poorer families are at a disadvantage—healthy food costs more and gym memberships are rarely free. “A Big Mac meal is easy to grab and cheap, but it takes practically a marathon to burn it off.”
Another striking factor, both physicians say, is parental health and involvement. Simply, if your parents are fat, you are more likely to be fat. And, while genetics may make maintaining a healthy weight more difficult for some of us, gaining weight is something most humans can do quickly and efficiently. “From an evolutionary and metabolic standpoint, it’s so much easier for us to put on weight than lose it,” Holmberg says. Just an extra 300 calories a day, he notes (about the amount in a large chocolate chip cookie), adds up to an extra 30 pounds in a year.
MYOC is one of many forces at work trying to help young people make better health choices. The national Go, Slow, and Whoa program, used at Bangor area schools, makes kids more aware of the impact of their food choices. It also allows parents to monitor school lunches and administrators to steer improvements over time. Here, a lunch food is labeled with either a green, yellow, or red sticker (veggies would get a green “go” sticker; cookies might get a red “whoa” sticker). School administrators can monitor sales, and, with the advent of the card swipe system adopted by most schools, parents can monitor their child’s eating habits. If a student has purchased too many “reds,” they may be prompted to make a healthier choice.
While some may argue that the system has a big brother component, the Go, Slow, and Whoa program has not only resulted in kids making better choices—it has actually improved lunch sales, overall. According to Paul Butler, principal of Fairmount School in Bangor, data shows lunch sales at participating schools often increase significantly as healthier options are introduced. “If you offer healthy options,” Butler says, “students will take them.”
Butler, who serves as chair to Fairmount’s wellness council, advocates more exercise and notes a program used in Bangor’s fourth grade class. The Book Walk and Talk program, for instance, has students read a book and then discuss it—while walking. “You’ve got to do it in a way that won’t sacrifice instructional time,” Butler says.
Bangor’s Vine Street School is encouraging its 350 students to be more active through a book called Games for You and Me. The book was created by students, with help from professional authors, illustrators, and a local publishing firm. It details outside and inside games focusing on physical play. The publication, according to Principal Tim McCluskey, is helping students incorporate more physical activity into their days. “The children have created a resource for themselves when they have nothing to do.”
One important but often ignored component of childhood obesity is addressing negative stereotypes. It’s something Dr. Holmberg is passionate about. “The idea that obese people are gluttonous with no self-control is a false and unfair idea.” One of his central messages is teaching everyone, “it’s really not about the size of your body, but the healthiness of your lifestyle.”
It’s a message that children like Kelly deserve to hear.
Parents and physicians can find materials and tips on the 5210 program at www.mcph.org/major_activities/keepme healthy.htm.
