Texas Children’s hosts U.S. News summit on childhood obesity
For the past two years, Texas Children’s has made combatting obesity in our patient population a central focus – and one of the organization’s top quality objectives.
As part of that commitment, Texas Children’s hosted the nation’s top medical experts, hospital executives, pediatricians and community health leaders for the U.S. News & World Report “Combatting Childhood Obesity” summit this past summer.
The summit – which was also sponsored by Texas Children’s – was part of U.S. News’ two-year initiative to address the nation’s most urgent public health priorities. These include obesity, which has reached crisis level: One in five children in the United States is affected, and nearly one-third are overweight. The purpose of the summit was to raise awareness around childhood obesity and to bring experts together to discuss ways to potentially solve the problem.
“Obesity drives significant health outcomes in our patients, so it was extremely important for us to include this in our FY19 and FY20 quality goals,” said Dr. Heidi Schwarzwald, chief medical officer of Pediatrics for Texas Children’s Health Plan. “By collaborating across the system, and using the electronic medical record, we can continue to provide children and their families with supportive resources and guidance to combat childhood obesity.”
Obesity is one of the biggest drivers of preventable chronic diseases, and in childhood it can lead to high blood pressure and cholesterol, increased risk of type 2 diabetes, asthma, sleep apnea, and joint problems, not to mention psychological ramifications such as anxiety and depression. The estimated annual cost of health care spending directly related to obesity is $149 billion.
Texas Children’s has seen the effects of obesity firsthand: Around 22,000 children 18 years old or younger who are seen at Texas Children’s are obese, and 8,000 are 5 years or younger.
To directly address the challenge of obesity, as well as some of the underlying causes – such as poverty and food insecurity – Texas Children’s included a system-wide body mass index (BMI) goal as part of our Fiscal Year 2019 care quality objectives. The target was to record BMI for 85 percent of the patient population, ages 2 to 19. In addition to recording BMI, a target was set to refer or implement counseling and/or education for more than 40 percent of patients with BMI greater than the 85th percentile.
Texas Children’s accomplished both of these goals, and our sights are already set on success in 2020.