Battle Of The Bulge
Two experts rally to fight the pandemic of childhood obesity.
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
"I see so much
diabetes, it's really
scary," according
family practitioner
Dr. Paul Ehrmann
who says even n(
parents should he
aware of the dangers
of childhood obesity.
T
wo athletic 50-somethings are
teaming up to tackle childhood
obesity.
Health psychologist Dr. Keith Levick,
Ph.D., and family practitioner Dr. Paul
Ehrmann, D.O., recently pooled their
experience and programs to launch the
Family Health Institute in Farmington
Hills.
"This is a partnership;' Levick says.
"The two programs have come together!"
Besides being aware of each other's
work, "We played ball together and
our kids played ball together;' says
Ehrmann, 56, a West Bloomfield resi-
dent.
"I grew up as a big kid. I struggled. I
know the battle says Levick, 58.
Other children nicknamed him "floss"
after the bulky floss Cartwright in the
long-running Bonanza TV series. Later,
he became simply "Horse
"Fortunately, I was an athlete and
could hide behind it," says Levick, who
played football for Southfield High
School and later for Bowling Green State
University in Ohio.
So his interest in overweight kids is
highly personal.
A Winding Road
Levick got his doctorate in counseling
at Wayne State University in Detroit,
writing his dissertation on obesity.
He founded the Center for Childhood
Weight Management (CCWM) for
obese children in 1986. At that time, he
worked individually and through com-
munity education, sports clubs and doc-
tors offices on weight management.
"I was blazing the trails;' Levick says,
although his career path then veered
to business management training and
coaching. Now he's resurrecting his pro-
gram, he says, as "childhood obesity has
become a pandemic."
Ehrmann, a family care physician in
Royal Oak who is on staff at Beaumont
and St. John's Hospital Systems, played
baseball and basketball at Oak Park
High. "I was fortunate enough to burn
off what I ate he says.
A graduate of Michigan State
University's College of Osteopathic
Medicine, Ehrmann's advocacy for pre-
ventive medicine took a more specific
direction when he became aware of the
children's obesity problem.
Dr. Richard Carmona, M.D., U.S.
surgeon general in the Bush admin-
istration, testified to a congressional
committee in 2003 about the need for
increased physical activity, healthier
eating habits and improved health lit-
eracy among children.
Ehrmann gave local legs to Carmona's
words by setting up the Children's
Health Initiative Program (CHIP), an
elementary-school-based, grassroots
healthy living program geared toward
families. It won a Michigan Steps Up
Recognition Award.
"TVs are getting
thinner and were
getting wider," says
health psychologist
Dr. Keith Levick, who
was ahead of the game
in the battle against
childhood obesity.
Outreach Begins
Just as they urge kids to get off their
couches and out from behind their
computers, Levick and Ehrmann are
heading out to local communities to run
eight-week programs for children of all
ages and their families and to work with
school districts that commit to improv-
ing student health.
Starting this month, they will be in
community centers in Troy, Novi and
Romulus running classes for children
of all ages and sizes along with their
parents. The sessions focus on learn-
ing to become smart eaters, making
Numbers That
Tell The Story
• One out of four American children
and one of three in Michigan is
obese.
• Children today expend half as
many calories compared to children
40 years ago.
• Thirty-six percent of children have
high cholesterol levels.
• Twenty percent of 4-year-olds are
obese.
• By the age of 3, American children
have fatty deposits in their aorta. By
adolescence, deposits are found in
their coronary arteries.
• An overweight preschooler has a
25 percent chance of becoming an
overweight adult. An overweight
adolescent has an 80 percent
chance of becoming an overweight
adult.
• Twenty-five percent of 6-12-year-
old boys can't do a pull up nor can
55 percent of girls.
• The average American child
spends 48 hours per week watching,
reading, listening to and playing with
various forms of media.
• Less than 12 percent of either par-
ent spends an hour a week engaged
in some form of recreational activity
with their child.
• A non-obese 7-year-old has only
an 11 percent chance of becoming
an obese adult whereas an obese 7-
year-old has a 41 percent chance.
• An obese adolescent has an 80
percent chance of becoming an
obese adult.
— Compiled by Family Health Institute,
Farmington Hills
Battle Of The Bulge on page 44
February 4 2010
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