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Healthcare Professionals & Facilities

Information geared to special needs of healthcare professionals and facilities

Clinical Resources/Adults - Clinical Management/Children - Patient Information

Clinical Resources/Adults

Aim for a Healthy Weight Primary Care Provider Education Kit
Available through the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute's online catalog, this kit contains items a health care professional would need to start an effective weight management program in an office or clinic. Based on the latest scientific evidence on the treatment of overweight patients, the items in the kit include reference cards, measurers, profile sheets, food preparation tips and other information.

Clinical Guidelines on Identification, Evaluation, Treatment
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, in cooperation with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, released these federal guidelines on the identification, evaluation, and treatment of overweight and obesity. Included are an executive summary of the report, practical guides, a body mass index calculator, and Obesity Guidelines for Palm OS ®.

Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2000
This colorful booklet from the USDA is a comprehensive guide to proper food selection, which includes a calculator to determine a healthy weight and information on how to achieve it.

Food and Nutrition Information Center
This is the website for the Food and Nutrition Information Center, which is located at the National Agricultural Library as part of the USDA and the Agricultural Research Service. It is also supported by a cooperative agreement with the University of Maryland. The site includes information on dietary supplements, food composition, the Food Guide Pyramid, and other nutrition-related topics.

Lifestyle Management of Adult Obesity
This series of articles making up a case study was prepared by individuals from the School of Health Professions and School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, and is offered as 2.0 Continuing Education Units from the university.

USDA Nutrient Data Lab
This site is maintained by the Agricultural Research Service, USDA and offers data sets prepared by its Nutrient Data Laboratory. It includes a list of food composition and nutrition resource links, measurement conversion tables, and articles prepared by the lab's staff. There is also a paper on how the USDA has been compiling food composition data for 110 years.

USDA Nutrient Data Lab/PDA
This site is for downloading the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 15 for use on Palm OS ® operating system of handheld personal digital assistants (PDAs).

Clinical Management/Children

Clinical Growth Charts
This site, maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, offers clinical growth charts as well as related computer programs, reports and links. Among the tools available are interactive training modules.

Government Reports
Include Info On Childhood Obesity
Government reports found at the USDA's Food and Nutrition Information Center include studies on obesity such as "Prevalence of Overweight Among Children and Adolescents: United State, 1999," "Childhood Obesity: A Lifelong Threat to Health," and "Overweight Children, Is Parental Knowledge a Factor?".

Guidelines for Childhood Obesity Prevention Programs
Developed by the Weight Realities Division of the Society for Nutrition Education, this four-page document contains guidelines for obesity prevention programs to encourage a health-centered, rather than weight-centered, approach that focuses on the whole child -physically, mentally and socially.

Treatment of Overweight Children and Adolescents
Numerous papers from health practitioners on the topic of overweight children are found here. All have been published by Pediatrics, a publication of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Abstracts, full texts and pdf versions are offered.

Patient Information

American Cancer Society
This home site for the ACS often features articles on exercise and a healthy diet, both of which are valid topics for obesity studies.

American Diabetes Association
Since the road to obesity and the road to diabetes is often a parallel road, much of the information offered to diabetics also serves as good advice on avoiding obesity.

American Dietetic Association
The American Dietetic Association provides information and tips on maintaining a healthy diet. Included is a "Find a Dietitian" service.

American Heart Association
The American Heart Association offers tips on healthy meal planning, cooking and exercise programs since part of maintaining a healthy heart is avoiding obesity. Patient education material as well as information for researchers is available.

Eat 5 A Day
Sponsored by the American Cancer Society, this website offers various programs geared to promoting the 5 A Day concept of eating five or more fruits and vegetables a day to prevent cancer and promote better health. Recipes, multimedia materials and tips are included in the offerings.

Food Guide Pyramids
The USDA offers information on the Food Guide Pyramids, related graphics, and educational tools. Also, included are links to other food pyramid guides such as those for special ethnic groups and other special audiences.

North American Association for the Study of Obesity
Calling itself "a scientific voice on obesity," this site offers medical education, obesity facts and statistics, treatment resources, research funding information, and job postings. NAASO expects to be offering CME courses and virtual seminars in early 2003.