A fun, practical, affordable way to help overweight kids? My
friend and colleague, Dana Weintraub, MD, from the Division of
General Pediatrics at Stanford University School of Medicine and
the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, led a team that studied
the effect of an after school soccer team on weight. The results
of SPORT (the Stanford Sports to Prevent Obesity Randomized
Trial) were published in the March 2008 Archives of Pediatrics
and Adolescent Medicine. Treatment for weight issues is not
available for all kids. When it is, the treatment is often
expensive, difficult, not very fun, and meets with limited
success. Dr. Weintraub, determined to make a difference
especially for disadvantaged kids, designed an innovative study
that I hope will change what we do nationwide. The kids in the
SPORT study were low-income, overweight 4th and 5th graders from
ethnic minorities. Half of the kids were randomly assigned to a
supportive soccer team for overweight kids, and given shin
guards, uniforms, and water bottle