Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Monday 2 SepteMber 2019
As with adults, no easy way to address weight with children

Dr. Sarah Hampl, a pediatri-
cian specializing in weight
management at Children’s
Mercy Hospital in Kansas
City, Missouri, said it can
be an easy way to under-
stand a complicated topic.
Experts say the system can
help adults eat better as
well.
But Kaitlin Reid, a registered
dietitian at UCLA, said it’s
a way of classifying foods
as good and bad, which
should be avoided. Seeing
any foods as bad might re-
sult in feeling guilty when-
ever eating them.
WHAT TO AVOID
When Tomlinson was 11 or
12, he was taken to a doc-
tor who gave him diet pills.
Few health professionals
would do that today, and
there’s broad agreement
on other mistakes to avoid.
Using the word “diet,”
for example, could imply
there’s something wrong
with the child, and that the
changes are short-term.
In this Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 file photo, kids eat lunch at an elementary school in Paducah, Ky. Trying to scare children by
Associated Press warning them about po-
By CANDICE CHOI Childhood obesity often for achieving a healthy counted his lifelong strug- tential medical problems
AP Food & Health Writer leads to adult obesity, and weight, regardless of age. gle with weight in “The El- isn’t helpful either.
NEW YORK (AP) — Red, yel- to higher risk for conditions But when it comes to ad- ephant in the Room.” And if parents are making
low, green. It’s a system for including heart disease, dressing the topic with chil- MAKING CHANGES broader lifestyle changes,
conveying the healthful- cancer and diabetes. dren, pediatricians and di- Any adjustments to meals they shouldn’t feel the
ness of foods, and at the Getting kids to eat well etitians say there are best and activities should in- need to intervene or scold
center of a debate about and exercise is crucial, but practices to consider. volve the entire family, so every time a child reaches
how to approach weight figuring out how to do that TALKING IT OUT children don’t feel singled for a sweet.
loss for children. effectively is extremely dif- Parents may feel a con- out. This is tied to the be- “Guilt and blame are
This month, the company ficult — and sensitive. For versation is not necessary, lief that the most powerful not good motivators for
formerly known as Weight some, the app was a re- particularly with younger way to help a child change change,” said Stephen
Watchers provoked a minder of bad childhood children, and that they their behavior is by setting Pont, associate professor
backlash when it intro- experiences around weight can alter behavior by mak- an example. of pediatrics at the Univer-
duced a food tracking app and shame, in public and ing lifestyle changes. But Framing changes in a posi- sity of Texas Dell Medical
for children as young as 8. at home. experts say a talk can be tive light is also key, Walsh School.
The app uses a well-known “I don’t think we appreci- constructive, especially if said, whether that’s sug- By the same token, experts
traffic-light system to clas- ate the bias and stigma the changes are going to gesting new recipes to try say parents should avoid
sify foods, giving children that families struggling be noticeable. together or asking about making negative com-
a weekly limit of 42 “reds,” with weight face,” said Dr. The key is to approach the activities they might be in- ments about their own
which include steak, pea- Stephanie Walsh, medi- subject with kindness and terested in. bodies.
nut butter and chips. cal director of Children’s caring, and avoid blam- “Keep things upbeat,” she Regardless of whether
Obesity is a growing public Healthcare of Atlanta. ing any of the child’s be- said. parents see noticeable
health issue that nobody is That can make it even haviors. Children should Then there is the matter of changes right away, Pont
sure how to fix, and around more stressful for parents also understand that any giving guidance on foods. said, there are long-term
one in five children in the worried about their chil- changes would be intend- Parents might not like the benefits of instilling healthi-
U.S. is considered obese, up dren’s health, she said. ed to make them feel bet- idea of directing children er habits in children.q
from one in seven in 2000. There is no easy answer ter, and not about how to a dieting company’s
they look. app, especially since it
As uncomfortable as ad- gives older children the
dressing the issue may option to “upgrade” to a
seem, failure to do so may coaching service that costs
make a child feel worse $69 a month.
if they’re being teased The company that now
at school or feeling bad calls itself WW says the
about themselves. app is based on Stanford
“In some ways, just to get Children’s Health’s Weight
it out there may be sort of Control Program, but views
a relief,” said Tommy Tom- vary on the traffic-light sys-
linson, an author who re- tem.