Medical Family Therapy Meets Childhood Obesity

Abstract

The dissertation is a compilation of two journal articles. The first article is a literature review that addresses integrated care for childhood obesity with consideration for clinical, operational, and financial practices. The purpose of the first article is to explore the evolution of pediatric care for children who are overweight by addressing: 1) terms, recent expert recommendations, 2) a structure for synthesizing clinical, operational, and financial practices, and 3) recommendations that bridge medical and other healthcare options for pediatric overweight patients and their families. The second article is an exploration of longitudinal systemic experiences of childhood obesity with children and their families who participated in research at the Pediatric Healthy Weight Research and Treatment Center. The purpose of this article is to identify changes in outcomes from initial visits at the PHWRTC to follow-up visits. In addition, we explored variables associated with or predictive of the variability in changes from the initial visits to follow-up visits. Outcomes for children and caregivers included: quality of life, depression, and relative body mass index.