Clinic teaches youths, their families how to combat obesity


Aug. 25--Through an Oklahoma State University program, Theresa Skinner and her 14-year-old daughter, Kiera, have learned that it takes the whole family to help a child lose weight.

"It's a family thing," Skinner said. "We can't have her eating low-calorie food and we have Krispy Kremes."

The single mother and her 17-year-old twins, who don't have weight issues, are all exercising and eating healthier foods to support Kiera.

"We did it because we wanted her to be successful," Skinner said.

The OSU Physicians Houston Parke clinic, 635 W. 11th St., has opened a Family Health and Nutrition Clinic. It is aimed at helping children and teenagers achieve a healthy weight and lead healthier lives, said Dr. Colony Fugate, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the OSU Health Sciences Center.

"To my knowledge, we're the only clinic of our kind in Oklahoma," she said. "Technically we serve the individual child, but our education and focus is on the family."

The program takes a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach, bringing in everyone from dietitians to clinical psychologists to help children and their families make better dietary and lifestyle choices, Fugate said.

Once a child enters the no-cost, six-week program, they may exercise at an area YMCA, and adult caregivers get nutritional education at OSU Extension Service offices, she said.

To qualify, a child must be between the ages of 2 and 18, have a body mass index greater than the 85th percentile,

and be referred by a physician. There are no income qualifications.

The program began in October and has a waiting list of more than 80 patients, Fugate said.

"We just happen to serve a lot of lower-income clients," she said. "It's really hard to define why, but there does seem to be a correlation between weight and socioeconomic status."

Often, Fugate said, low-income people live in areas that aren't safe for outdoor exercise and have no gyms. They also often live in so-called food deserts, referring to areas with few grocery stores that stock healthy fruit and vegetables.

A lack of transportation makes it difficult to get to grocery stores farther away. And healthier foods generally cost more than less-healthy, processed foods.

"We are teaching families they can still eat healthy and not spend a fortune," Fugate said.

She said the program is tailored to each child.

"We find what the barriers are in their life preventing exercise," such as financial, safety or even psychological barriers, she said.

Then the staff works to break down those barriers, Fugate said.

"There's usually an option," she said. "It's just that parents are not aware and feel overwhelmed."

Kiera has lost 8 pounds and is continuing her quest, said Skinner, who also has lost weight.

OSU's team and the tools she gained to help her daughter were invaluable, she said.

"I have heart disease and diabetes on both sides of the family," Skinner said. Kiera "really can change her lifestyle to avoid these things."

Kiera's self-esteem is a delicate balance, her mother said.

"It takes only one word to break her self-confidence," she said. "But now that Kiera sees a difference in the way her clothes fit, she has a little bit more self-esteem."
State obesity rates

--Oklahoma's adult obesity rate is the sixth-highest in the country -- after Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana.

--The percentage of obese adults in Oklahoma is 30.6 percent, up from 29.5 percent last year.

--Oklahoma ranks in the top among states with the highest rates of diabetes and hypertension.

Source: 2010 "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future" report by Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Kim Archer 581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com

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