Here are some tips that can help providers, parents, and children manage a patient’s weight loss treatments:

• Reward successful change: Children and families should develop low-cost, practical, and non-food-based rewards for successful weight management behaviors. Examples include fun outings with friends and families, books, toys, or other related items. 

• Conduct regular check-ins: Frequent check-ins from providers via phone and weekly visits offer a chance to identify successes with both children and their families. This type of interaction helps to increase motivation. 

• Encourage family-based support: Research shows that the most successful intervention for childhood obesity embraces a family treatment model. This means that the entire family should adopt healthy lifestyle and behavioral changes rather than focusing only on an individual child.