Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute awards Rush $230,000 for childhood obesity prevention

Obesity is one of the greatest health risks for children in the United States and, unfortunately, it’s on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of obese children in America has tripled since 1980. To help Rush University Medical Center more effectively address this preventable threat, The Otho S.A. Sprague Memorial Institute has awarded Rush University Medical Center a $230,000 grant to support a first-of-its-kind childhood obesity project at Rush.

Rush plans to use the grant to pilot an 18-month test program, “A Combined Biomedical and Psychosocial Approach to Weight Management,” led by Cathy Lynn Joyce, MD, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team, families with children whose weights are rising above the ideal body weight will be assisted in their goal of preventing childhood obesity.

The program will help physicians to better understand the complicated factors that lead to childhood obesity and to develop a concrete protocol for effective behavioral change focusing on the child and their family. Rush is the first medical center to implement a formalized program utilizing an interdisciplinary team of health care professionals coupled with direct family involvement.

“In many health care settings, involvement of the family is implied, but not supported. Our goal is to provide assessments, interventions and tools for both the child and family,” Joyce said.