Seeking Nutritional Help for My 7 Year Old Stepson

Call St. Louis Children's Hospital or search Volunteer for health on the internet. St. Louis Children's will have nurses available to talk to you and would be a great resource of any good programs in the area. Volunteer for health is the research program through Washington University and they may have a research program for overweight kids. You just fill out a questionnaire about your stepson and you can search any active research studies that are out there vfh.wustl.edu. Good luck.

M. in Ballwin
I do work for Wash U at Children's Hospital but not in Nutrition

There's a program in Ellisville called PEDS (pediatric educational dietician services). It's run by a woman, Barb Linneman, who's a registered dietician. She's great at working with parents and kids on nutritional programs. I don't have the number, but I know it's in the phone book-we've used them for my son.

I would ask the school for some program suggestions...then maybe you can find something they recommend...sometimes that is helpful when presenting it to the other parent...if that doesn't pan out try calling your pediatrician.

Fitness Magazine has started a monthly section on family fitness with ideas on how to be active as a family. I don't know of a specific program, but I would probably make some kind of game out of it. One thing that might help is letting him pick out a kids' cookbook with healthy stuff in it and letting him pick out and cook things from it with you. I learned with my stepsons that including them in the cooking makes eating less of a battle. Good luck!
T.

It's so great that you care so much for your stepson and he has a wonderful role model in his life. I am absolutely no expert on this, but over and over, I see that the more active a boy is (not watching TV, going out for bike riding, etc.)the more weight he can lose. I know that right now this awful heat is making it more difficult for your stepson to get out, but perhaps you can enroll him in some activities at the YMCA, JCCA, Boy's Club, etc. that would get him moving? I don't know if transportation would be an issue, since you don't have custody of him, but if his mother were to agree, perhaps you could help out to get him out and be active.

I would look into the hospital programs here for nutrition...I know that Saint Louis Children's Hospital has had some successful programs, and someone there could direct you to the proper resources.

Also, your support while he's not with you would probably do wonders. He's probably lonely and would appreciate a call during the week from you on a regular basis.

Good luck to you!

Washington University School of Medicine has a study for overweight children where they set them up with a dietician, give them lifestyle advice, monitor their weight loss, etc. I don't know what the age restrictions are for it or when the available appointment times are (probably not on the weekends). I've only seen the flyer in the pediatricians office. This may not be what you were looking for.

I would also suggest speaking with your sons pediatrician. He is probably already aware of a weight issue and will have access to, or information on, more programs that you could implement to help your child learn more healthy lifestyle choices. Good luck!