Healthy Lombard Members Share Research at CLOCC

Healthy Lombard Members Nicole Lynne Klinkhamer from ProActive Kids and Dr. Elizabeth Moxley from DePaul University teamed up  to present findings from her ProActive Kids early intervention program at the CLOCC (Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children) Winter Quarterly Meeting poster session, held in Chicago on Thursday December 7^th.

Nicole is the Executive Director and co-founder of ProActive Kids, a program that was developed to combat childhood obesity during the critical ages of development, by providing cost-free comprehensive health to children in the greater Chicagoland area. Recently graduates from the Nursing Program at DePaul University, Sarah Donnelly and Jennifer Marie Dykhuizen, recognized obesity as one of the most prevalent diseases affecting the pediatric population and became interested in the work of ProActive Kids.

Working closely with Nicole along with Dr. Moxley at DePaul they were able to review and analyze data, receiving consultation from DePaul statistician Dr. Habtzghi. Original data obtained between 2010-2017 at 21 ProActive Kid’s program sites involving 884 youth between the ages of 8 to 14 years in Chicago was analyzed.

The findings demonstrated improvements in BMI, weight, body fat and fat mass in several counties, although tabulated data according to age and county of residence revealed the most significant decreases were in fat mass and overall body weight in DuPage and Cook Counties. Weight gain in children may be due to dietary and exercise habits, socioeconomic status, or ethnic background. The initiatives of ProActive Kids’ provide insight into successful strategies to address this current ongoing health issue.

Future interventions aimed at managing childhood weight to prevent obesity are also warranted.