Reduce Child Obesity

Reduce Child Obesity: A Guide to Using The Kid's Choice Program in School and at Home provides school leaders with a practical guide for applying the Kid's Choice Program (KCP), which is a school-based program to promote healthy behaviors and reduce the risk of child obesity. The KCP Guide may also be used by health researchers to document the program's effectiveness. The KCP was researched with 1000+ school-age children and documented to be easy-to-use, low in cost (at $2 per child per month), and effective for increasing weight management behaviors in children (eating fruits and vegetables, choosing low-fat and low-sugar drinks, exercising daily). Research also documents that the KCP improves weight status in overweight children (for intervention) and normal-weight children (for prevention). Additionally, the program improves diets of children who are picky eaters. The KCP can be delivered by small teams of 2-4 volunteers (such as parents) after five minutes of training. It uses simple procedures (children wear nametags, "stars" punched in nametags when children choose healthy behaviors, weekly Reward Days let children trade "stars" for small prizes). The KCP is well-accepted by children, parents, and school staff. For more information on the KCP, please visit kidschoiceprogram.org.
About the Author: Helen Hendy, PhD, is a research psychologist with over twenty years of experience evaluating school programs to improve children's healthy behaviors. She is a professor of psychology at Penn State University, Schuylkill Campus, with over twenty publications on children's feeding behavior and research awards from the Society of Behavioral Medicine. Keith Williams, PhD, BCBA is a psychologist and behavior analyst with over 20 years' experience in the treatment of children's feeding problems. He is the Director of the Feeding Program at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Professor of Pediatrics at the Penn State College of Medicine. He has over forty articles and one book related to children's feeding problems. Thomas Camise, MEd, is the retired Elementary School Principal and Director of Special Education for Schuylkill Haven Area School District, Pennsylvania and now is School Administrator for a private school in Pennsylvania. Of his forty years in the field of education, thirty-four years were in administrative capacities, and he has published seven articles on the effectiveness of the Kid's Choice Program.