Topic: Obesity, Nutrition/Diet, Physical Activity, Sedentary Behavior
Target Population: Adolescents, Middle Childhood, Parents
Sector: Community-Based, Medical Setting, School-Based
This program is for youth who are 8 to 16 years old with a body mass index at or above the 85th percentile and are able to participate in vigorous physical activity and their parents.
Kids N Fitness©, a community-, school-, or medical setting-based, weight-management program, intends to prevent and reduce complications of childhood obesity by providing participants with nutrition education, opportunities to be physically active, motivation, and support.
A pretest/posttest study was conducted in youth who participated in the program. At the conclusion of the 12-week program, significant decreases in body mass index (BMI), BMI z-scores, rate of change in BMI z-scores, weight, leptin, systolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and 2-hour postprandial glucose levels were observed when compared to pre-study measures of these outcomes.
The Kids N Fitness program intends to reduce weight gain in youth by promoting healthy eating habits, encouraging youth to increase their physical activity behavior, and teaching youth positive lifestyle behaviors for weight management. The program includes interactive nutrition lessons, grocery store tours, healthy-cooking tips, health-related goal setting, personalized feedback, weekly incentives, opportunities for physical activity, and parent seminars. Curriculum topics include the following:
All participants choose a personalized exercise or nutrition goal to work towards throughout the program. Participants also use a Kids N Fitness log book to record their dietary consumption three times throughout the program and fill out an exercise activity sheet twice throughout the program.
The program was developed at the Los Angeles Children’s Hospital in 2000. The program was tested in 109 youth from 2002 to 2004. The extent to which the program has been used since then is unknown.
The program is often delivered by physicians, dietitians, and social workers but can also be implemented by health educators and teachers. The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides 8 hours of training and instructor manuals. Please use details in the Contact section for more information.
Considerations for implementing this program include understanding that the program has been offered in hospitals but can also be implemented in schools or other community-based settings; locating space to hold program sessions and accommodate exercise activities; understanding that youth and parents are expected to participate in the program; and realizing the program uses the Food Pyramid, and this nutritional content is currently out of date.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing Kids N Fitness, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you! Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
The program consists of 6-weekly 90-minute sessions.
To implement this program, licensure is necessary and available from Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Please call 1-323-361-8245, email bmanzanarez@chla.usc.edu or use details in the Contact section to learn more.
To move Kids N Fitness to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation with a strong study design and demonstrating sustained effects lasting at least one year from the beginning of the program or at least six months from program completion must be conducted.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program. Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact Kids N Fitness by mail 4650 Sunset Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90027, phone 1-323-361-8245, or visit https://www.chla.org/about-childrens-hospital-los-angeles/contact-us
https://www.chla.org/kids-n-fitness and Manzanarez et al. (2020)
Dreimane, D., Safani, D., MacKenzie, M., Halvorson, M., Braun, S., Conrad, B., & Kaufman, F. (2007). Feasibility of a hospital-based, family-centered intervention to reduce weight gain in overweight children and adolescents. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 75(2), 159-168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2006.05.017
Monzavi, R., Dreimane, D., Geffner, M. E., Braun, S., Conrad, B., Klier, M., & Kaufman, F. R. (2006). Improvement in risk factors for metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance in overweight youth who are treated with lifestyle intervention. Pediatrics, 117, e1111-e1118.
Lipton-Inga, M., Manzanarez, B., Vidmar, A. P., Garcia, S., Fink, C., Iverson, E., & Geffner, M. E. (2022). Kids N Fitness Junior: Outcomes of an evidence-based adapted weight management program for children ages three-seven years. Childhood Obesity, 18(1), 56-66. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2021.0090
Manzanarez, B., Garcia, S., Iverson, E., Lipton-Inga, M. R., & Blaine, K. (2021). Lessons in adapting a family-based nutrition program for children with autism. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 53(12), 1038-1047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneb.2021.09.003
Manzanarez, B., Lopez, K., Lipton-Inga, M., Fink, C., Radzik, M., Buxton, R., ... Vidmar, A. P. (2020). Kids N Fitness: A group-based pediatric weight management curriculum adapted for a clinical care model. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health Care, 5(1).
Vidmar, A. P., Salvy, S. J., Wee, C. P., Pretlow, R., Fox, D. S., Yee, J. K., … Mittelman, S. D. (2023). An addiction‐based digital weight loss intervention: A multi‐centre randomized controlled trial. Pediatric Obesity, 18(3), e12990-n/a. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12990
Kovanlikaya, A., Mittelman, S., Ward, A., Geffner, M., Dorey, F., & Gilsanz. (2005). Obesity and fat quantification in lean tissues using three-point Dixon MR imaging. Pediatric Radiology, 35(6), 601-607. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-005-1413-y
Wright, K., Giger, J. N., Norris, K., & Suro, Z. (2013). Impact of a nurse-directed, coordinated school health program to enhance physical activity behaviors and reduce body mass index among minority children: A parallel-group, randomized control trial. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 50(6), 727-737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2012.09.004
Wright, K., Norris, K., Newman Giger, J., & Suro, Z. (2012). Improving healthy dietary behaviors, nutrition knowledge, and self-efficacy among underserved school children with parent and community involvement. Childhood Obesity, 8(4), 347-356. https://doi.org/10.1089/chi.2012.0045
Wright, K., & Suro, Z. (2014). Using community-academic partnerships and a comprehensive school-based program to decrease health disparities in activity in school-aged children. Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, 42(2), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/10852352.2014.881185
