If you have made it this far, congratulations! You are now done with the childhood obesity course. If at any point you would like a relatively quick recap, consider looking at the condensed version of the course.
This course has covered:
- preconception considerations for childhood obesity, including genetic influences, weight status, and lifestyle factors
- pregnancy considerations for childhood obesity, including nutrition, weight status, and other factors
- infancy and toddler considerations for childhood obesity, including what to feed, how to feed, growth evaluation, and more
- childhood and adolescent considerations for childhood obesity, including physiologic and psychological health considerations, growth assessment, nutritional advice, and other lifestyle advice
This course has hopefully served as a useful summary of the various lines of evidence in the published literature discussing the contributing factors and potential non-pharmacologic/non-surgical strategies for childhood obesity prevention and treatment. After reading through the course and looking back for clarification, if anything is unclear then send me an email and I will try to address your concern and update the course if indicated. This also applies if you feel I have left out any pertinent topics or publications; I did not follow a specific blueprint while creating this course and thus it is certainly possible that I have missed something relevant.
It is important to understand that while I have attempted to provide a fair overview of the literature, there is still much that we do not understand, and individuals cases may not follow the average results that are typically reported, so all of the information here will not necessarily be applicable to all children. Additionally, I have not discussed underlying genetic conditions that may contribute to obesity in some individuals.
In regards to what to do with the information in this course; if you are working with a child with obesity (either your own or through someone else), hopefully you will feel better equipped to provide support and to help determine troubleshooting strategies if no tangible progress is being made. Much of the information in this course is very relevant for obesity prevention and this is something you can apply at any time to help aid children in gr
owing healthily.
Lastly, if after reading all of this you feel I could have included additional helpful information, whether it be examples, additional strategies, how to address specific situations or challenges, etc, please send me an email and I will update the course accordingly. I want this to be as helpful as possible and am happy to make alterations to improve the overall quality.
Thank you for your time, and good luck!