Pioneering Texan program helps keep kids safe

Three months before turning 4, Noe Moreno had outgrown training pants but still needed them. The Alice, Texas, youngster weighed in at 85 pounds and wiggled into boys’ size 14-16 slacks with elastic waistbands.

He gobbled down potato chip snacks, ate fast foods daily, and consumed three or four cans of sugary soft drinks plus Kool-Aid and sweetened iced tea. He gorged himself, often choking and vomiting when he tried to romp with the other children in day care.

Five months later, Noe had dropped 18 pounds, fit into size 10-12 jeans, eagerly reached for vegetables, and sipped only diet drinks and water. Toilet training was no longer an issue; his self-esteem and energy had rocketed.

His mother, Mary Lou Jimenez, credits a pioneering program for obese children called S.A.F.E.—an easy-to-remember acronym reminding families to Skip sugary drinks, Alter snack habits, Forget fast foods, and Exercise daily.

Stephen W. Ponder, MD, medical director of The Children’s Diabetes & Endocrine Center of South Texas at Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi, devised S.A.F.E. after seeing an increase in pediatric type 2 diabetes. Almost all his patients were overweight before first grade. Many, like Noe, were obese as toddlers.

Not born fat
Noe started ballooning at age 1 after Ms. Jimenez divorced. While she worked as a waitress, her mother stoked Noe each morning with four over-easy eggs, sausage, and tortillas.

“She fed him and fed him and fed him,” Ms. Jimenez says, admitting she didn’t worry about his weight until a S.A.F.E. endocrinologist alerted her to the dangers, particularly with a family history of diabetes.

Now she focuses on smaller servings, more water, and healthier food choices for the whole family, including Noe’s two older siblings. By spring, Noe was still heavier than
other youngsters his age and height but dedicated to staying the course.
When asked, he pipes up, “Diet soda, please.”