There is no weigh-in, noted Dr. Richter. Instead, “we talk about health and small changes for a healthy lifestyle. That's the emphasis—not weight but health.”
While the program for families is free, it does require a commitment of 1 night a week (1.5–2 hours) for 10 weeks. “It's a big time commitment,” said Dr. Richter. The program has struggled not only with getting families to sign up but also to complete it.
There is also a big time commitment for physicians who train to be trainers. “We ask that the folks who come in as trainers commit to providing a certain number—at least one—of training opportunities in their community. We've also had many of the trainers train other trainers,” said Dr. Jones. To date, there are almost 800 trainers who have gone through the program.
While the focus has always been on the family, once the program was out in the field, parents started pointing out that they had boys at home with poor eating and exercise habits. In response to this, the office developed a set of materials aimed at boys that is now in the final stages of review, said Dr. Jones.
The Office of Women's Health is currently evaluating the program nationally to determine if it can help parents and caregivers make and maintain behavior changes. The evaluation will specifically assess the impact of the program on the awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and practices of parents and adolescent girls regarding physical activity and healthy eating. The results should be available later this year.