KURBO HEALTH
Preventing and Fighting Childhood Obesity
In America, 1 out of 3 children are obese or overweight, and between the years of 2011-2014, nearly 12.7 million children and adolescents aged 2-19 years were considered overweight. 80% of overweight adolescents grow up to be obese adults and are, therefore, more at risk for health problems such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, several types of cancer and osteoarthritis. Furthermore, overweight five-year-olds have a tenfold increased risk of becoming obese adults compared to five-year-olds that are considered to be of a normal weight.
Economically, a National Business Group on Health report on claims data shows that the annual health care expenses for an obese child is $3,547 compared to $1,346 for a normal weight child, and a greater percentage of obese children receive treatment for a variety of health conditions compared to non-obese children. Even more shocking, claims data shows a child with type II diabetes is $10,789 in annual health care expenses. In total, health cost for employers exceeds $14 billion annually.
Childhood Obesity Data
“The State of Obesity” data indicates 14.8% of children 10-17-years are obese, ranking Michigan as 24th (of 51) on the childhood obesity scale. See the counties within a 6-county sub region ranking the highest.
Interested in viewing more data about children's health in the MiHIA Region?
(Compared to MI State Value)
With 1/3 of all children in the United States overweight or obese, there is a need for a cost effective solution that effectively helps children reduce, and maintain, their weight and BMI by teaching them to how to make healthier food choices, proper portion sizes and control, and food and activity tracking
Preventing Childhood Obesity in the Region
MiHIA is implementing the Kurbo Health program. The virtual intervention will address long-term health outcomes and reduce impact of obesity and diabetes in children (ages 5-19 years) and their families in central Michigan through one of the most effective and well-researched programs for children, the “Traffic Light Diet”.
About Kurbo Health: This mobile engagement platform and personalized coaching services will teach children healthy eating and exercise habits to achieve weight loss and BMI reduction. The program is licensed from the Stanford Packard Pediatric Weight Control Program, is structured around color based food tracking and utilizes Dr. Leonard Epstein’s “Traffic Light Diet” system. The proven system helps children to categorize foods into reds, yellows, and greens which teaches them to understand their food choices and gradually decrease the number of unhealthy foods over time.
The program will enable children and their families to achieve weight reduction, improved BMI, maintaining the positive improvements, have higher levels of self-confidence and self-esteem, improved feelings of self-control, more physically active lifestyle, and reduced conflict between children and parents over food and exercise.
The MiHIA Kurbo Health program is available, free of charge, for children aged 5-19 who live in the following counties: Bay, Clare, Gladwin, Isabella, Midland, and Saginaw.
To register, visit www.kurbo.com/mihia