Program takes aim at obese kids, diabetes

ST. LOUIS — Two years ago, Jazmyne Robinson was 14 and carrying 230 pounds on her 5-foot-2 frame.

Her menstrual cycles were irregular, she was urinating constantly and by the time she arrived home from school each day, she was exhausted and her head would be pounding.

"I would make myself some cheese fries, then go to bed until about 6 or 7," Jazmyne said.

Her doctor ordered blood tests during a routine checkup. That's when she learned she had Type 2 diabetes.

Today, Jazmyne, 16, of Ferguson, Mo., is 50 pounds lighter, no longer has headaches and has enough energy to run, rather than walk, laps during softball practice. She also tests her blood twice a day and takes Metformin to control her blood sugar levels.

As for the cheese fries? They're not a staple of her diet anymore.

The dramatic changes began gradually when Jazmyne and her mother, Angel Allen, 38, signed up for a study at Washington University looking at the role families play in helping kids with Type 2 diabetes lose weight and, more importantly, keep it off.

"It's easier to get people to make the initial changes and harder to get them to keep with them. We're trying to figure out the best way to get them to make permanent lifestyle changes," said Denise Wilfley, director of the Weight Management and Eating Disorders Program at Washington University.

Results of the diabetes study have been so promising that Wilfley has begun a similar study called COMPASS, or Comprehensive Maintenance Program to Achieve Sustained Success, with non-diabetic children. She's looking for 120 local children, ages 7 to 11, who have a BMI greater than 85th percentile for their age and at least one overweight parent or guardian.

Finding such children shouldn't be a problem. According to Wilfley, 37 percent of U.S. children ages 7 to 11 are overweight or obese, and about 68,000 of them live in the St. Louis area.