Brenner Children’s Hospital Opens Pediatric Obesity Program
From BestHealth, February 2008
Brenner Children’s Hospital has opened the region’s first comprehensive pediatric obesity program. Called Brenner FIT (Families in Training), it offers a year-long, intensive treatment program for children aged 2-18 who are morbidly obese, as well as community education.
Obesity expert and pediatric gastroenterologist Joseph Skelton, M.D., heads the program, which includes medical care, research and community outreach. “Brenner FIT provides comprehensive, holistic, family-centered medical treatment for morbidly obese patients,” he said.
Brenner FIT offers community education classes at the BestHealth® resource center for children who are overweight but do not meet the requirements for the intensive, year-long medical program. The program works with families to identify key habits to change and then helps them restructure their lives to promote physical fitness, healthy eating habits and overall wellness.
Skelton’s team is also part of the Collaborative to Strengthen Families and Neighborhoods, a partnership between Brenner and the YWCA. This program engages the community in developing and testing solutions for important child health issues such as childhood obesity.
Children are referred to the year-long Brenner FIT program by their physicians. Participants are obese, with a body mass index greater than the 95th percentile for age and gender, and have an associated medical condition. Skelton consults with Brenner pediatric specialists to treat patients’ high cholesterol, diabetes, sleep apnea and other obesity-related diseases. His team includes a behavioral specialist, physical therapist, dietitian and nurse case manager.
Skelton is working with Brenner pediatric surgeons to develop North Carolina’s first adolescent bariatric surgery program, expected to begin this summer. Surgery may be an option for morbidly obese teens who, despite active participation in Brenner FIT for 4-6 months, are not improving their weight or their health.