The Trim KidsInter-disciplinary, Multi-level Weight Management Program is an interactive childhood weight management intervention that combines medical supervision and guidance, nutrition education and dietary counseling, promotion of physical activity and structured exercise, and family behavioral modification. The program was developed by faculty at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Department of Pediatrics and School of Public Health and program results have been published extensively in scientific journals and textbooks, and featured in mainstream media outlets like USA today, Wall Street Journal, Good Morning America, 48 hours and Oprah. The Trim Kids program is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as a Research Tested Intervention Program and has been acknowledged by the U. S. Surgeon General for its community dissemination in YMCA centers in Louisiana.
Trim Kids, which is available in a book written specifically to parents of overweight and obese youth, has been adopted by YMCA facilities nationwide in their multi-component counseling interventions. Please see the link to view one of many Trim Kids performance sites: YMCA of Northwest Louisiana, Camp Forbing.
In addition, Bissonet Plaza Elementary School in East Jefferson Parish has been selected as a site for the CDC-funded Healthy Communities Project. The Department of Health and Hospitals Chronic Disease Unit and The Center for Minority Health & Health Disparities Research and Education at Xavier University of New Orleans have partnered with several stakeholders to implement a multi-level approach that addresses childhood obesity among students of Bissonet Plaza. Students in the fourth and fifth grades who are obese, overweight, or at risk for becoming overweight will be invited with their parents to participate in Trim Kids at the Riverside YMCA. The project will also focus on implementing policy, behavioral, and environmental changes in the school, after-school, community, and home settings. Researchers at Xavier feel that this comprehensive approach will result in significant improvement in the health status of students.
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