A hospital in Sydney, Australia, is studying weight-loss for adolescents (13-16 year olds).

They have a program called “Loozit” and is run by the Westmead Children’s Hospital (this is the link http://www.chw.edu.au/kids/loozit/).

They have what I think is a great approach. They invite the kids to turn up after school “for a snack and a chat” with other kids the same age once a week for eight weeks. They can also attend re-unions after the eight weeks (once a term for two years).

The program is more wholistic than just calories counting. It involves:

  • “building self-esteem,
  • setting goals,
  • fun ways to become more active,
  • healthy eating,
  • take away,
  • and stress management.”

The people running the program hope to build healthy habits in adolescence before the usual bad habits have the chance to take hold. The kids are also taught how to ‘decode’ menus - so that they can suss out how much fat is in the food.

It’s clear that lots of thought has gone into this program. It is miles ahead of those dreadful “reality” shows where children are shamed and humiliated. The purpose is to build new habits because short-term weight loss is rarely retained. (Altering your weight means altering your lifestyle, a short-term effort can’t be maintained long-term. It is better to take small and easy steps so that the process feels good - not that you are punishing yourself.)

If only there were more programs like this for adults!

Enquiries about the program to loozit@chw.edu.au