Nationwide Children’s Hospital has been a national leader in fighting childhood obesity through The Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition, which offers patients and families a comprehensive approach to weight management in children, including programs for both prevention and treatment. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, one in three children in the United States is overweight or obese.
“With obesity levels in the United States at all-time highs, this is a significant issue in our country. Our goal at the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition is to create ways to promote healthy weight for families and children,” said Ihuoma Eneli, MD, MS, associate director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s.
The following resources are available to media, patients and families who are looking for ways to address healthy eating and weight management this month and in the future:
- Parent resources for managing obesity: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/managing-obesity
- General healthy weight and nutrition resources: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/healthy-weight-and-nutrition-resources
- Motivation Minute videos: http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/motivation-minute
- For more information about the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s, visit www.NationwideChildrens.org/HealthyWeight.
About Nationwide Children’s Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition
The Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is engaged in wide-ranging childhood obesity initiatives including participation in the national Children’s Hospital Association obesity focus group, the Ohio Healthy Weight Outcomes Coalition and the “Collaborate for Healthy Weight” nationwide initiative led by the National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The Center offers a comprehensive approach to weight management with programs for prevention and treatment of overweight children, ranging from community-based intervention and physician private practices to intensive multidisciplinary lifestyle programs, medical assessment clinics and bariatric surgery. In addition, Nationwide Children’s has collaborated with Columbus Public Health on an “ACHIEVE” grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to enhance local communities’ abilities to develop and implement policy, systems and environment change strategies to prevent or manage health-risk factors focusing on pregnancy through birth to five years. The hospital was also one of the first businesses in the state to be awarded the Healthy Ohio Breastfeeding Friendly Employer Award by the Ohio Department of Health.