Doctor's Orders: Get Moving to Get Fit
Katie Neal started to worry when her daughter was 3. Ja’Niyah Neal had put on 6 pounds in a month’s time. She weighed 50 pounds, and her mother knew she needed to do something about it.
Ja’Niyah was 10 pounds heavier than most kids her age. Her pediatrician said there was good reason to worry. Her cholesterol was high. The family had a history of diabetes. And Ja’Niyah would face lifelong health problems if they didn’t turn things around.
But her doctor also said it was a fixable problem. He offered the same solution doctors have always given for losing weight: diet and exercise. He referred Ja’Niyah to the HeatlhWorks! program. The nationally recognized program is part of the Center for Better Health and Nutrition at Cincinnati Children’s and teaches families a team approach to healthy living.
“The program helped her realize how to be healthy and exercise as a part of everyday life,” Ja’Niyah’s mom says. “Now she wants to show people how to exercise."
Beating Obesity
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate 16 percent of children and teens in the United States are overweight – about three times the percentage 30 years ago. That’s one of the reasons Cincinnati Children’s is making treatment of obesity and its complications a priority.
The most successful patients have families like Ja’Niyah’s who embrace the idea of making healthier choices, says Barb Lattin, a registered dietician at Cincinnati Children’s Liberty Campus.
“Children mimic their parents,” Lattin says. “We are the role models. The more we can be active with them, the more we can eat a healthy diet around them, that’s what they are going to copy.”
Portion Control
Ja’Niyah’s dedication is rubbing off on the whole family, her mom says. They’re eating more fruits and vegetables and limiting soda, juice and chocolate milk. They aim for two snacks a day that are no more than 100 calories each.
“It’s about portion control,” Katie Neal says. “We’ve all lost weight.”
Ja’Niyah is now an active 5½-year-old who takes ballet and karate classes and counts peas among her favorite foods. The 4-foot-1 kindergartener weighs 73 pounds, and while she’s still bigger and taller than most kids her age, she’s healthier. She has improved her body mass index – the measurement of choice for determining a child’s healthy weight.
Ja’Niyah now knows what’s good for her. She helps choose what she eats. And she looks forward to going out to play.
“I like doing exercise,” she says. “It makes you feel good.”
Programs like the one Ja’Niyah is in will soon be available all over Greater Cincinnati. Cincinnati Children’s is opening Better Health and Nutrition clinics at Liberty Campus, Anderson and Harrison, followed by Northern Kentucky, Fairfield and Mason.
