Did you know that in the United States today, one out of every three children is either overweight or obese?! And of those children, 80% will go on to be overweight adults by the age of 25. Shocking statistics! In late March I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Joanna Dolgoff, a pediatrician who is dedicating herself to doing something about this epidemic. She’s created a program, Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh, to help combat childhood obesity.
Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh is a traffic-light based nutrition plan in which all foods have been divided into red light, yellow light, and green light categories. Simply enter your child’s height and weight and the computer calculates how many green or yellow light foods should be eaten at each meal and snack. Each child also gets two red light foods each week to enjoy! What I like about this program is that it’s not a typical diet where you’re restricted from eating certain foods. This program teaches children what foods are the healthiest and what an appropriate serving size is, but nothing is off limits. This in turn helps them learn about the normal give-and-take of healthy eating, where they can go to a party and have a piece of cake and ice cream (red light foods), and then focus on making healthier choices the rest of the week. It reminds me of the Weight Watchers program, but without the incessant counting of points!
Membership in the Online Weight Management Program includes:
- A program plan. Each child should eat three meals and two snacks. Based on your child’s BMI, age, and gender, the plan will delineate exactly how many colors should be eaten at each meal and snack. Certain foods are unlimited, so there is always something to snack on!
- Database access. Over 1200 foods have been divided into red light, yellow light, and green light categories. Simply type in the name of the food your child wishes to eat and the appropriate color and serving size will be displayed.
- Weekly nutrition lessons. There’s a twelve week curriculum of nutrition lessons that will help you and your child learn how to make healthier lifestyle choices.
- BMI tracker. Record your child’s weekly weight and the BMI tracker will calculate your child’s new BMI percentile so you can see how it drops each week!
- Sample menus. Updated weekly, you can look to these for ideas of what your child should eat.
- Recipe ideas. You can find healthy, low-fat twists on traditional family meals and children’s favorites.
- Weekly email newsletters. Nutrition and exercise tips directly into your inbox.
- Message boards. Get support from other parents with children on the program. Your children can also use the boards to make new friends going through similar experiences. You can also post your questions here, to get advice from fellow members, from Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh Nutritionist, Lori, or from Dr. Dolgoff, herself.
A one month membership to the online program costs $24.95, and if you sign up for several months in advance you get a discount. To learn exactly what is included in the membership, visit Dr. Weigh for a detailed explanation and sample menus.
Giveaway is closed.
Dr. Dolgoff has allowed me to give away a one month membership to one of my readers! Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh has a 96% weight loss success rate, so this is a great opportunity to check out this wonderful online program. The winner will be able to go online, enter his or her child’s information, and be able to start using the program right away!
To enter, just visit DrWeigh.com and come back and leave a comment telling me why you’d like to try this program.
For extra entries:
- Blog about this giveaway, linking back to this post and to the Dr. Weigh website.
- Subscribe to my feed (or let me know if you already do).
- Grab my button and link to me in your sidebar or blog roll.
Please leave a separate comment for each entry and leave a valid email address or blog URL in your comment. US entries only. This contest ends at 11:59 pm EST on May 4th, 2009. Winner will be chosen at random, and has 3 days to claim their prize.
If you prefer one-on-one attention, and live on the East Coast, Dr. Dolgoff has an office in Roslyn, New York, where she develops personalized nutrition and exercise plans for her patients, based on a medical evaluation and a measurement of their resting metabolic rate. Next month, the Dr. Dolgoff’s Weigh Personalized Program will be available in the Big Apple, when she opens her Manhattan office! Dr. Dolgoff also has a blog where she writes about new studies on child obesity and gives tips for parents on how to feed their kids, and you can follow her on Twitter for even more great tips!
I would like to enter the contest to try Dr Dolgoff’ diet plan . I have a 10 yr old girl who is very unhappy with her weight. She doesn’t eat a lot of junk food, and never drinks sugary drinks/soda. She is built totally different than her brother and sister who are both thin. They can eat just about anyrthing, and never gain. It breaks my heart to see her wish so much that she was like them. I think she would feel so much better about herself, even with just a 10 or so pound weight loss. As a parent I just don’t know how to begin. It would be so great to win a month trial, as money is tight right now. At the same time, if I like the program, I will find a way financially to help my daughter in any way I possibly can. I only want the best for her, and to see her confident, and happy with herself.
love to try it for my niece she needs help
have a niece who might be able to learn and use this
Interesting product. Being a teacher, there are so many children that could benefit from something like this.
I would like to try this program because it sounds very useful!
I signed up for Dr. Weigh’s weekly newsletter.
I subscribed to your feed.
Nice post..Try to steer children for healthy eating by giving them variety of fruits so that they could change their taste. The best way to promote healthy eating for children is to involve them in shopping. If your children have selected something then he will show interest in eating it. Drinking plenty of water is also very important for children.