Empowering Children and Families to Lead Healthier Lifestyles [Podcast Series]

• [:53] Dr. Bantham introduces her guest, Teresa Earle

  • Teresa Earle, Co-Founder of the MEND Foundation and the Healthy Weight Partnership.  

  • Teresa is also the head of marketing and sales for the Healthy Weight Partnership. 

• [1:08] Vision for MEND and the Healthy Weight Partnership

  • “We know that there are about one-third, or 45 million, of U.S. children who currently have overweight or obesity and we know that the weight management industry is worth $59 billion give or take, but families still don’t really have solutions that are easily accessible, affordable, personalized and, most importantly, effective”

  • “It is not a diet or a weight loss program, but health and wellness, a way of life for the entire family, for life.”

• [2:58] Accessibility and affordability of programming

  • “When I say accessible, I mean, we don’t want there to be barriers because of money, time, place, socioeconomic or racial status to families joining programs like MEND.”

  • “The advent of the use of technology is definitely going to help...bring programs like this to many more kids and their families.”

• [4:45] Importance of evidence-based programming

  • “Science and facts really matter to us so that children and their families get the most effective treatment and programs that only enhance their lives and don’t do any harm or risk failure.”

  • “It is incredibly important that we deliver something proven to work...we don’t ever want to set these families up for failure, we want them to succeed or they will never do it again.”

• [6:16] Delivery in clinical and community settings 

  • “If we can’t bring all of the clinic to the community here, then working with clinics is perhaps a faster way to get these programs out to families that really need them.”

  • “Prevention and treatment need to work hand in hand in communities for those communities to succeed in their quest to help people with obesity and overweight.”

• [11:08] Framing health promotion/disease prevention with cost effectiveness

  • “I think what really helps is to frame the discussion about investments and costs around the subsequent disease state that comes from obesity and overweight.”

  • “I think we have to be more clear about linking the targeted prevention programs with the prevention they create for longer term chronic disease.”

• [12:38] Working with children versus the whole family unit

  • “We provide the children and their families with the information they need to change those behaviors that are creating the context for unhealthfulness.”

  • “We do it by helping the child or children become the agents of change in their families so that they gain the knowledge and the tools to help them live healthier forever.”

• [14:02] Empowering families to improve their health

  • “We provide them with information that is easy to understand at the level that they are at, both in terms of nutrition, exercise or physical activity, goals, rewards.”

  • “It is done in a way that the children in particular can understand the information, process it, and make decisions themselves about what they will eat, when they will exercise.”

• [16:17] Lessons learned from programming

  • “To make sure that the people leading the program have all the tools that they need when they start out.”

  • “That ability to flex and be appropriate to communities where they are at in the cycle of wanting to do this for their children and families.”

• [19:21] A-ha moments 

  • “Groups that are cohesive and supportive, I would say lovingly guided with expert information, really help people to step up and begin to share what they have been going through.”

  • “Every parent wants to do well for their child, this is a given...and to sit in a room where there are other people validating maybe for the first time ever what you are feeling, that is powerful.”

• [21:45] Social support in behavior change

  • “None of these families is having to make this journey of this depth alone.”

  • “They come, they sit down, they get practical information and a lot of support from their peers.” 

• [23:05] Role of partnerships in developing, designing, executing programs

  • “We work with a variety across the board of different entities, organizations, and people who help make these programs work in their communities.”

  • “We talk about what does it take to implement prevention programs in communities and the hub spoke and wheel models and how everyone has a part to play.”

• [24:58] Creating policy around early interventions

  • “Making in second nature that programs like this are paid for and available to everyone no matter where you come from.”

  • “They understand at a local level best what their kids need, what the rhythm of their communities are.”

• [28:54] Impact of COVID on vision and work

  • “That may make the jump to technology really being able to facilitate behavior change in groups much more easy than it might have been prior.”

  • “We could actually out of this tragedy provide programs like MEND to even more people through a variety of methods.”