A nutritionally based school program for control of eating in obese children

The effects of procedures designed to regulate food intake were evaluated for six low socioeconomic level obese black children in a Head Start Center during breakfast and lunch meals. Techniques to change food intake involved increasing prelunch activity level implemented in a withdrawal design and improved food selection according to broad nutritional standards implemented across breakfast and lunch in a multiple baseline fashion. The eating treatment was then withdrawn and reimplemented across the settings. During the eating treatment, foods available to the children were placed in three categories (red, yellow, and green) according to whether the children should decrease, maintain, or increase intake of these foods. Children were given red, yellow, or green stars after each meal if they ate amounts of food appropriate to the nutritional criteria. The stars could be exchanged for inexpensive toys. Results indicated a decrease in caloric intake as a function of either increasing activity or eating regulation procedures. However, changes in food selection were only observed during the eating regulation procedures.