Word: childrene
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...child and instilling shame instead of empowering him or her to get healthy. And doctors worry about turning off Mom and Dad as well. "Every parent feels guilty that their child has a weight problem," says David Ludwig, the director of the Optimal Weight for Life Program at Children's Hospital Boston and the author of the kids'-weight-management book Ending the Food Fight: Guide Your Child to a Healthy Weight in a Fast Food/Fake Food World. Kids aren't the ones buying family groceries, after all, and parents often struggle with being overweight themselves...
Ludwig gives parents tips on how to work with their kids, not against them, by reinforcing good habits instead of punishing bad ones. He tells pediatricians to relay a "message of hope" when they talk to families with overweight children. Obesity is not destiny, and in fact, because kids are still growing, they may have an easier time getting back to a healthy weight than adults do. "Most of the time, we're not talking about kids losing weight. Most of the time, we're talking about kids maintaining their weight while their height catches up," says Michigan's Davis...
What's clear is that childhood obesity cannot be solved in a single doctor's visit. Ludwig sometimes spends several sessions with a patient at his Boston clinic before coming up with a concrete plan - and persuading the child to cooperate. "Many children come in at first unwilling to talk about the problem. They feel so embarrassed," Ludwig says. But when change comes, it can make a huge difference. "With just the smallest tangible results, a sense of empowerment can grow," Ludwig says. "The child may go from denying a problem exists and fighting their parents' efforts tooth and nail...
...rehabilitation of troubled teens has long been a contentious issue, pitting the individual needs of problem children and families against a system that does not typically give social workers adequate tools or resources to help. Often, the treatment of difficult or drug-using teens occurs en masse - in residential homes, for example - but instead of scaring kids straight, the group experience tends to glamorize delinquency and drug use. (Read "Teens Behaving Badly...
...nation's 55 million children prepare for a new school year, the foremost question on many parents' and school administrators' minds is, How will we protect our students from swine flu? Some education officials anticipate that each of the country's 100,000 public schools and thousands of private schools may have to close at some point between now and next summer to stem the tide of the H1N1 pandemic...