Pediatric clinic launches health education program Published Feb. 5, 2009 By Capt. Jennifer Behan 90th Medical Group F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. -- The 90th Medical Group, Pediatric Clinic, in collaboration with staff at the Health and Wellness Center, announces a new program called Sweet Choices, for parents and caregivers of young adolescent girls. Sweet Choices uses many of the contents of the BodyWorks program. BodyWorks, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health, focuses on helping girls ages 9 to 13 and their families create healthier lifestyles. In developing the BodyWorks program, the Office on Women's Health found many girls skip breakfast, have non-nutritious lunches and don't eat dinner with their families. Girls spend about three hours a day watching television, playing video games, using the computer and talking on the telephone. According to the study, many girls expressed a desire to have their parents be stronger role models for fitness. They wanted their parents to set boundaries for unhealthy eating habits and sedentary activities and to engage the entire family in increasing physical activity. The BodyWorks program, therefore, focuses on parents as role models and provides them with the tools and support they need to create healthy lifestyles for their children. Parents who enroll in the BodyWorks program will receive a BodyWorks toolkit and will attend regular group meetings to help maintain behavior change. The toolkit serves as a guide to creating an overall health lifestyle and includes a video on healthy shopping and cooking strategies, a recipe book, food and fitness journals, a weekly meal planner refrigerator magnet and more. "Our goals are to decrease risks associated with obesity, to improve self-esteem, and to emphasize long term incorporation of these strategies to promote lifelong health for our military children," said Mary Anne Kiel from her 2008 American Academy of Pediatrics Grant, which will help fund this program. "We believe that healthy girls become healthy women," said Jonelle Rowe, senior medical advisor for adolescent women's health at OWH. "BodyWorks teaches parents to be role models for their daughters and encourages them to establish better eating and activity habits for their families." For more information on the Sweet Choices program, call Capt. Jennifer Behan at 773-4080 or Cheryl Mair at 773-3977.