For the Health of Our Children--Clinic Based Treatment of Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity is a major public health problem in the U.S. Currently approximately one in three children is considered overweight or obese. Most overweight children grow to become overweight adults. It is unclear how effective pediatricians and other primary care physicians can be in assisting overweight children to normalize their body weight. Expert guidelines have been established, but are currently untested. This study will randomize overweight and obese children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old to either the recommended treatment guidelines or a control (non-intervention) group. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability (a) to recruit overweight children between the ages of 4 and 8 years old (b) to remeasure the children three months after enrollment and (c) to reduce childhood obesity via implementation of the recommended treatment guidelines.