Fit Families Program Improves Self-Perception in Children.
To determine the impact of the Fit Families youth weight management program on self-perception of participants.



Fit Families was delivered through Cooperative Extension and provided education to overweight and obese children and their families on healthful eating and physical activity along with building self-esteem and social competence. At the beginning and end of the 7-week program, a convenience sample of 46 youth completed the Self-Perception Profile for Children questionnaire to evaluate changes in self-perception.



Youth had improved self-perception in the areas of athletic competence (P = .04) and physical appearance (P = .007) after participating in Fit Families.



Fit Families provides a holistic approach to weight management that promotes positive self-perception, which may decrease the burden of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem obese youth face.
Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences, Utah State University, Salt Lake City, UT. Electronic address: martha.archuleta@usu.edu.
Martha
M
Archuleta
Department of Economics, Applied Statistics and International Business, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.
Dawn
D
VanLeeuwen
Food and Nutrition Services, Memorial Medical Center, Las Cruces, NM.
Carol
C
Turner
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D010290:Parents; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D012649:Self Concept
childhood obesity; childhood overweight; family intervention; nutrition education; self-perception