by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
A one-of-a-kind weight management program for children and teens that opened in Jacksonville three years ago is continuing to grow, and the children are the ones getting smaller.
That-A-Weigh Kids is a weight management program for overweight children and teens. Dr. Wendy Sapolsky opened That-A-Weigh Kids in January 2005 and serves as the organization’s president. Since then they have expanded into two other locations around Jacksonville. They also have been selling a license to use their successful weight management program to people all over the country.
Heidi Katzin, vice president and managing partner, said when Sapolsky began doing research, she found there wasn’t a program like the one she was planning to develop.
“It was a two year process to finish all of the research and to come up with a unique nutrition plan,” said Katzin. “There wasn’t a prototype for this — it’s one-of-a-kind.”
That-A-Weigh Kids has already helped 350 overweight children in Northeast Florida. Katzin said they have an 85 percent success rate and 100 percent of the children reach their goal weights.
“We are very proud of the children,” she said. “They are all very motivated.”
The program and nutrition plan, developed by a dietitian and Sapolsky — who is a pediatrician — is based on the USDA Food Guide Pyramid and the American Academy of Pediatric’s guidelines for nutrition and growth in children.
Katzin said a physician often refers their patient to That-A-Weigh Kids because of the proven results. However, a child doesn’t need a physician’s recommendation to do the program.
Overweight children and teens ages 5-18 have their weight monitored on a weekly basis. They also attend one class per week with their parents, that touches on three major areas: nutrition, activities and social/personal issues. On average, the children and teens usually lose about 1-2 lbs per week.
“We talk about staying active and getting back to the basics,” said Katzin.
She pointed out that being active doesn’t mean a child has to join a football team or take gymnastics. It is as simple as riding a bike, jumping rope or playing catch.
The nutrition plan the children and their parents follow is very realistic, she said.
“It’s not ‘no more cookies or cake’,” she said. “It’s all about balancing what they eat.
“The hardest part is getting picky eaters to eat a variety of food.”
Katkin wants the kids to learn to appreciate and enjoy food instead of just eating for the sake of eating.
“We want to retrain their palettes,” she added.
The program allows the children and teens to eat three meals a day and two snacks. During the class, Katzin, who also teaches the classes, encourages the family members to be supportive. She said this weight management program often turns into a family project.
Many of the children and teens will eventually lose around 30-40 pounds. But recently they had a 17-year-old girl go through the program and she lost 85 pounds in two years.
Because of its success rate, the program has begun expanding around the country.
“We have been selling the licensing rights to the food plan,” said Katzin. “There is no competition out there, but we are so in need of programs like this because obesity in American children continues to grow.”
She said at least one-third of American children are over- weight, one-third are at risk. So together, two-thirds of American children need help.
“There are no lack of clients,” said Katzin.
Some of the problems with today’s families that Katzin has seen are all very easy to fix.
“Many families don’t sit down together for dinner and they will pick up fast food because it is quick and easy,” she said. “There are a lot of dual working families, so time is a factor.
“We teach them to prepare meals ahead of time.”
She has had families come to her and say they have fat free or sugar free everything at their home, but the kids are still gaining weight.
“It is all about portion size,” said Katzin.
Depending on the amount of weight a child or teen needs to lose, they can be in the program for as little as six months or as long as 2-3 years.
“It depends on the child, their growth patterns, age and how much they need to lose,” she said. “Every 12 weeks we do height checks because a person’s Body Mass Index (BMI) can change when they start to get taller.”
That-A-Weigh Kids holds classes at three different locations around Jacksonville. The company’s “home base” is in Mandarin at 3617 Crown Point Rd. Its two other locations are at Diamond Baseball on Southside Boulevard and at Jacksonville Beach Elementary School.
For more information about That-A-Weigh Kids, please call 288-7373 or visit www.thataweighkids.com.