Kaiser, Discovery Channel Launch TV Program to Fight Childhood Obesity

While childhood obesity continues to be a growing epidemic, Kaiser Permanente and Discovery Health's Continuing Medical Education (CME) program have joined together to launch a program designed to educate healthcare workers on the treatment and prevention of childhood obesity. The program is entitled "Health Steps to Treating Childhood Obesity" and is funded through an unrestricted educational grant from Kaiser Permanente.

The program will air on December 16^th at 9 a.m. ET on Discovery Health, and subsequently through 2008. It was co-developed by Discovery Health CME and a team of Kaiser Permanente Pediatric experts. "Our goal in creating this program is to disseminate evidence-based recommendations to clinicians, who can then encourage families to start making environmental and lifestyle changes to improve the total health of their children," said Philip Wu M.D., Pediatric Clinical Lead for Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute's Weight Management Initiative.

The program will include recommendations for a healthy diet and activities for children to prevent obesity. Also, new weight classification will be revealed for at-risk and overweight children. The program also includes recommendations for medical tests and screening processes for diabetes and glucose intolerance, diseases linked to obesity. Recommendations for personal counseling techniques concerning the stigma and cultural values of being overweight will be highlighted as well. Lastly, behavior modification strategies will be stressed.

These include not only the child, but also suggest family involvement, a key element to success. "With our premiere just days after the new, aggressive childhood obesity guidelines were published in Pediatrics, the timing couldn't be better to provide health care providers the information they need in a succinct, engaging format," according to John Whyte, MD, MPH, Vice President for Continuing Medical Education at Discovery Health. (PRNewswire).