Comment on Vogue Article

Someone showed me the April issue of Vogue with the article written by a mom who discusses her daughters’ weight struggles. It fascinated me because I have worked with so many families like this and she used a stoplight method to help her daughter lose weight.

I have been teaching kids and their parents how to control their weight using a stoplight based curriculum for 10 years. Though we use a similar categorization of foods, the program I teach seems different than the one described in the magazine. 

We emphasize health and teaching families the tools they need to establish healthy habits that last a lifetime. We very rarely discuss weight.

Most of kids that come to us have been measured at above the 95 percentile in BMI (85% for kids with co-morbidities), but the goal is to empower kids and give them the tools and confidence they need to make healthy choices, not to go on a diet. We discuss the scale as simply one of several measurement tools to measure BMI (Body Mass Index) and we discuss BMI as a tool used to measure health. We look at trends over time and we strongly discouraging getting on the scale more than once a week. The definition of success that we discuss with the families is for kids to maintain their weight as they grow, resulting in a declining, healthier BMI.

As in the article, all foods are categorized as Red, Yellow or Green Light foods but the foods in our program are categorized differently than the program discussed in the article. Foods with high nutritional value and very low calorie density like vegetables and water, are Green Light foods. Foods that have a more moderate calorie density but still have high nutritional value such as fruits, lean proteins, whole grains and lowfat dairy products are Yellow Light foods. Red Light foods have little or no nutritional value and are high in fat, sugar and calorie density. 

The goal is for kids to reduce the number of Red Lights eaten while increasing the number of Green Lights and keeping and eye on the portions of those Yellow Lights. In addition, we talk to the kids about the importance of exercise and they actively try to exercise more. We also discuss why we eat when we are not hungry, why skipping meals is unhealthy, how to fuel our body in a healthful way so we can be successful in school, sports and other activities that we enjoy.

One difference that I noticed between the program that I teach and the one described in the article is that we also teach kids to avoid foods that have no nutritional value, even if they are fat-free. We call these habit foods. For example, we prefer that kids learn to find a healthier substitute to cream cheese than non-fat cream cheese because non-fat cream cheese has no nutritional value. We suggest healthy substitutions like unsweetened applesauce on whole grain bread with some cinnamon. Or a whole grain tortilla or English muffin with light mozzarella cheese melted on top. 

Rather than restricting foods, the focus is on making healthier choices.

There are things we need to teach the kids, but parents play a huge role in this process as well. I spend a great deal of time with the parents discussing how to best support their kids in a positive way. This includes discussions on how to be a good role model and how to set appropriate limits around food. Spending 6 months with families allows me to get to know them, their habits and their relationships. It allows families to make mistakes and learn the most important tool of all, how to get back on track!

Introduction: I Have Many Nicknames

I have a lot of nicknames; "the food police", "the stoplight lady", "the boss" but my favorite is "health goddess". 

Clearly some are more complementary than others but you get the idea. For the past 10 years I have been a weight loss coach for kids and their parents with a leading hospital and university in the San Francisco Bay Area. I became involved in this area of public health during graduate school which was also when I had the first of my three daughters. I became very concerned with how to provide her with healthy foods and to make sure she was developing good behaviors.

After I graduated with a master’s degree in public health, I got a job teaching a six-month behavior change program that supports parents and overweight kids with their efforts to reduce their BMI and subsequently risk factors for a number of health issues through the adoption and practice of healthier eating and exercise habits. 

Being a part of this program and having a positive impact on kids and their families has been incredibly rewarding. Looking back at the first classes I taught, I realize that 10 years ago was really the beginning of the childhood obesity epidemic. Research studies and statistics were just being published that demonstrated the rapidly increasing number of overweight kids but it is clear that the issue on how to best support these kids was not fully understood.

For several years I have wanted to share my experience but it has only been recently that I have felt ready to do so. This blog is an effort to share what I have learned after 10 years of working with and supporting families in their pursuit of healthier lifestyles. Through my experiences, I hope to help many more families that may not be able to participate in a program like the one I have the privilege to teach.