In 2003, after finishing her residency at CHOC and working with kids at Orangewood Children’s home, Dr. Patricia Riba started her career as a pediatrician at Huntington Beach Community Clinic. “Day after day, I kept seeing obese children come into the clinic. These kids were dealing with all the physical and social issues that come with being overweight, from diabetes and health issues to trouble in school and poor self-esteem.” When Dr. Riba couldn’t find a standardized treatment for these children, she rolled up her sleeves and set about creating a program that would help.
Meeting a Critical Need
Dr. Riba found that the barriers to a healthy lifestyle were complex, with factors ranging from families living in unstable housing conditions with no refrigerator or pots and pans to underlying family issues of alcoholism and neglect. Responding to this great need, she created the Children’s Wellness Program which includes key components of prevention and treatment. With funding from the Children and Families Commission, the program was able to expand to provide greater outreach and services for young children.
Prevention and Treatment go Hand-in-Hand
Today, Dr. Riba and a multi-disciplinary team of experts are making a difference for Orange county children who are overweight, obese, have diabetes, or are at risk for these conditions. In addition to Dr. Riba, the Children’s Wellness Program includes a nutritionist, psychologist, social worker, and case manager.
Dr. Riba and her team travel throughout Orange County educating pediatricians, parents, caregivers and young children about healthy lifestyles, nutrition and exercise through “grand rounds,” school programs, library and community programs. They diagnose children who are overweight, have diabetes or failure to thrive, and develop individual treatment plans for them and their families.
One of the primary goals of the program is developing a healthy feeding relationship between the parent or caregiver and their child. “After working with very young children-beginning as early as infants-I was hooked,” says Dr. Riba. “Feeding patterns are being formed from birth. Children are learning whether parents will recognize their cues about hunger or fullness, and early on can develop either healthy eating habits, or food insecurity or hoarding patterns.” Children who learn poor eating habits are more likely to become overweight, have future eating disorders, poor body image and low self-esteem. The good news is that recent evaluation makes the case that the Children’s Wellness Program is working. It has been operating independently for nearly two years, and a full year of data is recently available.
Promising Results
Children and families who received treatment through the Children’s Wellness Program treatment reduced their weight and BMI scores. This reduction in weight was enough, in many cases, so that the participating children are no longer considered obese. Sixty-three percent of children who participated in the program from July 2008, to July 2009, showed an overall decrease in BMI. Further, 3% of the children in the overweight and obese category at their initial clinical visit reduced their weight by 10% or more.
With these promising results, the Children’s Wellness Program is gearing up to help even more families develop healthy lifestyles. In the near future, the program will move its headquarters to the new YMCA Wellness Center in Santa Ana, with the ultimate goal of providing obesity and diabetes prevention and treatment countywide and beyond.
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