Teaching Families to Keep Their Children S.A.F.E. From Obesity

Abstract

The word “diet” carries negative connotations in the minds of adults and especially children. Currently, 62% of men and 71% of women are dieting despite this having little to no effect on our current obesity trend.1 The focus by providers has gradually begun to shift from placing patients on diets to discussing healthy lifestyle choices. In the busy clinic setting, it can be extremely difficult for practitioners to find the time to address the overwhelming and time-consuming issue of pediatric obesity. The message delivered to families must be both practical and brief. For this reason, we developed the “S.A.F.E.” message to focus, in an efficient and effective manner, on four major nutritional blind spots related to obesity. One approach to both preventing and treating childhood obesity is to identify practical solutions that yield measurable changes in a child's weight. We have created a simple acronym that any practitioner can use to prompt discussion of common reasons for excess weight gain in children and adolescents. The acronym—S.A.F.E.—stands for S oft drinks or sugary beverages, A ftermeal snacks, F ast foods, and E xercise (Figure 1). Although there are other possible interventions, current research would support these as first-line topics to explore and address specifically with families. Soft drinks (sugary drinks), whether in the form of sweetened carbonated beverages, juice drinks, sweetened tea, or sport drinks, are a primary source of excess calories in the diets of most children.2 Beverages now contribute 17–18% of the energy in the diets of young children.3 Because these are discreet forms of excess caloric intake and are easily recognized by children and families, clinicians should make a concerted effort to influence their consumption. American teenagers drink more carbonated soft drinks than water. A recent report quantified the energy imbalance responsible for the increase in …