Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #108299

Anita Keneipp, MS¹, Anel Campos¹, Nancy Wongvipat, MPH², and Jennifer Nuovo, MD³. (1) State Funded Programs/Health Education Department, Health Net of California, Inc., 1055 E.Colorado Blvd. #300, Pasadena, CA 91105, 626 683 6488, anita.keneipp@health.net, (2) State Health Programs, Health Education Department, Health Net of California, Inc., 1055 E. Colorado Blvd. Suite 300, Pasadena, CA 91106, (3) Regional Medical Director State Health Programs, Health Net of California Inc., 11791 Foundation Place, Building D, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670

In 2004, Health Net launched its Weight Management - Be in Charge! SM program to address the escalating rates of overweight children. The program targets Health Net's 10-20 year old Medi-Cal and Healthy Families members. For overweight members whose BMI falls on or above the 95th percentile, a group-level intervention is offered through the Weight Watchers® Program. Mandatory parental participation is required for children 15 years and under. Providers have a significant role in impacting behavior change in overweight patients. Identifying patients who are overweight can be offered brief counseling interventions. Referrals to the Weight Watchers® Program can then be made after the provider assessment of the child's BMI. Research has shown the most effective behavioral intervention programs have certain components that result in successful long-term weight loss such as: parent involvement; frequent meetings; and group format. Evaluation measures, such as weight change, participation rates and self reported data comprising of lifestyle changes (changes in exercise, serving sizes, fruits/vegetable intake), helpful components of the program and instructor responsiveness has been gathered to evaluate the success and the barriers of the group-level component of the Weight Management – Be in Charge!sm program.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the session participants will be able to

• Describe the challenges and opportunities of utilizing a standardized group based weight management program.
• List the process improvements made to address participation rates.
• Assess the feasibility of a group-level intervention approach to implementing a childhood obesity program in their settings.

Keywords: Weight Management, Children and Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.