Sunday, August 27, 2006 · Last updated 5:53 p.m. PT
Controlling childhood obesity becomes one family's priority
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
POST FALLS, Idaho -- What should be a routine checkup for her kids is always a little more stressful for Celise Harris.
It's not vaccinations, blood tests or blood-pressure checks that worry her, however - it's the moment her young son gets on the scale.
Six-year-old Cody already has a weight problem that his family and his doctor are eager to fix before it leads to other health problems. A tall boy with chubby cheeks and a roll around his middle, Cody is sometimes mistaken for a hefty kid of 9 or 10. Born two weeks early at 10 1/2 pounds, at last year's checkup he was tipping the scale at 108.
This year, it's good news: Cody only gained 4 pounds for the year, down a little from the average kindergartner's gain of 5 pounds, The Spokesman-Review reported.
That's as good as a loss, his mother figured, and the doctor agreed, high-fiving mother and son.
Like any 6-year-old, Cody is happy about the attention though he doesn't understand the worry about his weight. At 112 pounds and 4 feet 2 1/2-inches, he weighs as much as an average eighth-grader.
His mom, overwhelmed, reached for a tissue.
"We had a good year," she said softly, wiping her eyes. "We had a good year."
National health experts say childhood obesity is an epidemic that encompasses nearly one in three American kids. In the past three years, the percentage of 6- to 11-year-olds has tripled in the highest weight category reported by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Celise Harris and her husband, Wayne, worry that they've got a shrinking window of time to save their boy from a lifetime of obesity.
"If we don't address it right now, he's going to be a 350-pound adult," Wayne Harris said.
The family has struggled to control Cody's diet and exercise habits.
There's nothing easy about helping a heavy child lose weight or even just not gain any, they said. It's a daily effort that requires unrelenting attention, constant patience and a determination to buck social pressures that help keep kids fat.
Though Cody was a big baby, so was his older sister Ciera. Nine pounds at birth, she has grown into a petite child. At first the Harrises thought Cody would do the same.
But the infant, who nursed for four months and then began draining dry his bottles of formula, grew more rapidly than anyone expected.
"When you think your baby is hungry, your instinct is to feed him," the mother said.
Cody's pediatrician, Dr. Duane Craddock in Coeur d'Alene, became concerned when the boy was 18 months old. He broached the subject gently with the Harrises.
"You try to be articulate about how you talk about it," he says. "You don't use 'fat.' You don't use derogatory terms."
Wayne and Celise Harris understood.
"When Cody was 2, we were concerned," recalls Wayne. "By the time he was 3, it was my number one priority."
A battery of medical tests showed no reason for Cody's rapid gains, the pediatrician said. There's nothing wrong with Cody's endocrine or other systems, no apparent problem with his metabolic functions.
"There is not an identifiable medical illness for Cody," Craddock says. "His system is just really geared to making fat."
So the Harrises started the sometimes frustrating process of changing their family's lifestyle.
"You have to balance your caloric expenditure and your caloric intake," Wayne Harris said. "I felt he was eating way too much."
Celise Harris, a stay-at-home mom who monitors the children's activities and meals, felt it was more complicated than that.
"Even I have a hard time eating just fruit for a snack," she said. Cody's attraction to food and his reaction to hunger always have been extreme, she said. Since he was tiny, Cody has expressed hunger pangs with tears and tantrums.
Celise Harris monitors every morsel Cody eats. She aims for five small meals of about 300 calories each.
"Today for lunch he had half a sandwich, four strawberries, four carrots and pickles," she said. "I am certainly aware of everything that goes into his mouth."
But she doesn't ban snacks. The pantry has floor-to-ceiling shelves stocked with Wheat Thins, Cheetos and Quaker Chewy Granola Bars, along with peanut butter, soups and cereal.
"I'm realistic," she says. "I try to do carrots and fruits for snacks, but sometimes kids need something else."
The family also makes an effort to stay active. Cody is signed up for five sports between now and Christmas: flag football, golf, basketball, karate and swimming.
Craddock said the family has to adopt a realistic attitude about Cody's future. Though the doctor was encouraged by Cody's recent visit, he believes the boy's combination of genetics and temperament could easily lead to lifelong obesity.
"I'm guardedly optimistic that we're going to slow his weight gain down," the doctor said. "It's a tribute to them as a family. The hard part is, this is such a long road."
The Harrises say it's a road they have no choice but to take.
"We only have a window of opportunity here to get results," Wayne Harris said. "We're going to fix this. I'd never forgive myself for not taking care of it while I had the opportunity."
Childhood Obesity
Linear Mode
