Background
A staggering 1-in-4 Australian children are overweight or obese, placing Australia’s youngest generation at an increased risk of living a life dominated by chronic disease. With a high risk of obesity escalation into adulthood and extremely poor attendance rates at outpatient obesity clinics, the need for appropriate community-based and family-centred childhood obesity clinical services, is highly evident.
Methods
The Healthy Kids Club is a community-based, multidisciplinary paediatric weight management service delivered by the Good Start Program. The Model of Care underpinning the service promotes the delivery of family-centred and evidence-based care, supporting children from ethnically diverse and low socioeconomic backgrounds in Logan, to live a healthy lifestyle and reduce obesogenic behaviours. The multidisciplinary team including a Multicultural Health Worker, Dietitian, Clinical Nurse Consultant and Physiotherapist, deliver collaborative, holistic and tailored care. Practical strategies including home visits, telehealth, cooking sessions and family workouts, effectively address nutrition, physical activity, sleep, screen time and family-connectedness.
Results
Addressing stigma, considering the family’s stage of change and tailoring education to an appropriate literacy level, creates a supportive environment inducive of positive health behaviour change. Increasing service access, family engagement and dynamic care delivery helps to improve patient health outcomes and ultimately contribute to mitigating the obesity epidemic. With failed to attend appointment rates as low as 5%, strong engagement has equated in the maintenance or reduction of body mass index among 60% of children attending the service.
Conclusion
The Model of Care elucidates the integral factors underpinning successful childhood obesity management, minimising the barriers of traditional care. With high potential for translation and contextualisation to additional locations and priority populations, this approach holds outstanding reach, impact and sustainability to successfully address the childhood obesity epidemic. Ultimately, decreasing the prevalence of chronic disease among Queensland’s priority population groups, significantly tackling health inequity for future generations.