Using the green light to fight an epidemic!

Wow! It sure feels like forever since I have written (haha like a week I think!) Welcome back to school and welcome back to reality... that's for sure! I hope everyone had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving break! I loved having a week off to do nothing and spend time with family! Oh, and how could I forget EATING! This Thanksgiving was quite memorable, marking my first vegetarian holiday and might I add there is some room for improvement for what I cook next year! My parents were nothing short of surprised when I decided to actually stick to my vegetarian beliefs for Thanksgiving day... the turkey being my FAVORITE part of the day. But, I must say, I never knew you could get a food baby from just eating so many veggies (well and dessert ;) ). Even though I was able to spend a lot of time with family, go black Friday shopping and well, GOT A NEW CAR... I cant say that I am not happy to be back, I miss being on my routine everyday and well you know... only 3 weeks left of this semester. STOKED! It feels like I have 7,657,634,763 things to do this week, cant stress though, I know I will get them done!


I thought I would start off with something quick and short! Not get into your brains too much this morning! I read this on NPR this morning and thought it was pretty awesome!

Fighting an Epidemic

I cant tell you how much it breaks my heart to see an overweight child, and with the number growing higher and higher everyday I cant help but wonder when something will be done. Well, here is one program heading in the right direction-- The Packard Pediatric Program. How hard is it for parents to tell their 7-year-old that they are overweight? Or approaching obesity? Could develop Type 2 Diabetes? This is just one of parents issues, how do you tell them, or do just approach it in another way?

Children enrolled in this program are of the highest percentile of BMI and have most likely enrolled in this program because of a frightful pediatrician. Meeting once a month, the parents and child will go over BMI, height, weight, ups they have had along with the accompanying downs, and their food journal.

"The program is designed around a traffic light system. Soda and cookies are reds. Other foods are yellows or greens. Reds aren't banned, but kids do set goals for bringing down how many they eat each month. They keep track of what they eat in a journal — the snacks after soccer practice, the pizza at school."

In the article we meet an 11-year-old by the name of Gabriel... "self confessed burrito lover". In the time that he has been in the program, his red lights have decreased from 90 to 30 a month! The program tries to implement small lifestyle changes-- never using the word diet. This way the children learn how to gradually cut back and learn things that will help them the rest of their life. "You're really signing up for six months of learning how to improve your eating and exercise habits for your lifetime," she says. "It's not a diet that you're on and then you're off at the end of the six months. This will give you the tools to continue to make changes for your lifetime." Children are also asked to journal their activity levels, anything from walking to playing soccer. This helps with the exercise aspect of the program. 


Parents are strongly urged to make this a family-change which helps with self-image issues. Issues with self-image are always possible, but strongly avoided in the program. A very conscious child could go to the extreme of an eating disorder.


With a success rate of about 80% since 1999 (children who actually finished the program), the program continues to grow. I love the idea of this program and similar programs can be found nationwide. What are your thoughts? Here is the link to the program if you want more information!

About 3 weeks left boys and girls, lets get through it so we can make it home for the holidays!

Happy Monday!