Childhood obesity has become a growing concern within our community, posing serious health risks and long-term consequences for affected youth. With limited access to structured programs that promote healthy habits, many families struggle to find the support they need to encourage physical activity and balanced nutrition.
In response to this critical gap, we launched a dedicated program designed to educate, engage, and empower children and their families to make healthier lifestyle choices. This initiative aims to create lasting change by providing resources, guidance and activities tailored to foster overall well-being. Kylee Bennett, manager, Community Well-Being, Parkview Health, and Katie Fulk, MA, RDN, LD, community outreach dietitian, explain the many benefits of the FitKids360 program.
“One of the things our team noticed years ago was there was a gap in our community when it comes to treatment opportunities for children struggling with obesity,” Kylee said. “FitKids is one program that has been adopted by Parkview to positively impact our obesity rates in Northeast Indiana.”
Katie reiterated the crucial role of the program. “There is such value in programs that focus on preventative measures because that means kiddos can live a life without chronic illness. If they have the knowledge to create behavior change that nourishes their bodies, we can prevent chronic illness such as obesity, which leads to type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.”
Availability
"Many families face barriers to healthcare and healthy living which can greatly impact their ability to implement preventative health measures or manage a chronic illness,” Kylee said. One major success factor of the FitKids360 program is that it’s accessible. “This program addresses these barriers and ensures that all children, regardless of their background, can benefit from the program.”
“A lot of our chronic illnesses can be prevented with nutrition interventions, but not everyone has the same access,” Katie added. For this reason, the instructors make the information applicable and easy to understand, so that participants can adopt the strategies. “FitKids empowers participants to adopt healthier behaviors. This approach helps bridge the gap in health disparities and promotes greater health and well-being for all involved."
Additional benefits
In addition to the physical benefits of a program like FitKids360, it has positive implications for youth mental health. “We see a lot of children, unfortunately, bullied because of their size,” Kylee said. “As a mom, it's so easy to think I did this. Because there's such a negative connotation, it’s difficult to have any sort of conversation around it.” The mission of FitKids is to create healthier communities, one ‘FitKid’ at a time by helping to encourage and support healthy lifestyle habits for families. “They're here because they want to make positive, lasting changes.”
A long-term mission
Over the years, the scope of the program has swelled. “We started very small, working with a few providers at Parkview. It’s grown significantly. Any provider within Parkview can refer, but now we're working with external partners as well. Families can self-refer. Schools can refer. So, it fits into our larger community.”
The instructors, many of whom are Parkview experts, use a written curriculum. They focus on different lessons in nutrition, movement and behavioral health each week.
“All of our food relationships are really unique,” Katie said. “My job is to figure out what their food relationship is and see if we can make it a positive one.”
“We’re helping them so that they don't have to go in and see the doctor as frequently,” Kylee said. “Or so that they're not on as many medications. We bring all components of well-being together and provide this education for a healthier lifestyle that is sustainable.”
It’s a long-term mission. “I don't want to provide something that they can do for a week because they’ll eat every single day for the rest of their lives,” Katie said. “I want them to live their healthiest life.”
Working with younger kids offers the chance to intervene earlier and instill healthy habits that can lead to prevention of chronic disease and other setbacks later.
“These kids can determine what our obesity rates look like in the next five, 10, 20 years,” Katie said. The ripple these instructors are creating is a great example of the power of offering the right tools at the right time.
To learn more about FitKids360, fill out this form.
