In 2023, children aged 10-17 years old in South Carolina had an obesity rate of 20.6%, giving it the 6th highest rate in the nation. Rebecca Saul is a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner who has seen the gravity of this statistic firsthand. Working in an adolescent medicine clinic in the Prisma Health System in Greenville, South Carolina, Rebecca has a passion for teaching her patients about a healthier lifestyle. Back in 2021, while looking for practical resources to help her patients learn about eating healthier, she came across the Dr. Yum Project. She remembers looking at the “Meal-o-Matic,” one of their free tools that helps families create customized recipes with ingredients they have on hand, and was hooked. As a pediatrician and founder of the Dr. Yum Project, I was thrilled when Rebecca called me to say that her patients loved using the free resources, and that The Meal-o-Matic was the tool she introduced to kids when she wanted her patients to get excited about cooking.

With childhood obesity statistics reaching an all-time high, in 2023 the American Academy of Pediatrics released the first guidelines on the management of childhood obesity in fifteen years. One of the important recommendations is for pediatricians to offer “Intensive Health Behavior and Lifestyle Treatment” to all patients with BMIs that qualify them as overweight or obese. Pediatricians, already overburdened with sick visits and well-child care, were now tasked with teaching healthy lifestyle behaviors on an intensive and regular schedule of 26 contact hours over the span of 3-12 months. With many obesity specialty clinics overwhelmed, no specific pediatric training in this field, and few programs available, pediatricians were wondering how to fulfill this new guideline. I quickly saw the need and got to work on Touchpoints, a complete program for pediatric providers, organizing some of the tools that Rebecca was already using from the Dr. Yum Project resources, into weight-neutral, family-centered health topics, and accompanied by a set of corresponding handouts, scripts, and videos.

Six months ago, Rebecca was still using many of the nutrition resources from the Dr. Yum Project and learned about our new Touchpoints program, released in late 2023. She was excited to check out the program and signed up right away. Rebecca said, “Touchpoints made it so easy. I can pick topics from the core curriculum, and I can do the nutritional intake to see what additional topics could help patients more specifically. The program gives me handouts with family-friendly visuals that I can print, and it helps me keep track of what I have done with each family.”

Rebecca also reported how much the patients have enjoyed Touchpoints. One of those patients is a 13-year-old named Gavin, who was told earlier this year by a subspecialist that many of his medical problems were related to him being overweight. After the visit, Gavin and his mom were devastated by this physician’s assessment and reported back to their pediatrician to find out what to do. From there, he was referred to Rebecca’s adolescent clinic which was already seeing an increasing number of patients using Touchpoints for lifestyle management. For the past four months, he has been seeing Rebecca to help go through some of the program’s topics, like how to get more movement into his day. Normally a very cautious eater, he has enjoyed using Meal-o-Matic and the module on “Trying New Foods” to expand his palate. The family is learning to use the Meal Planner to get organized, and like many families Rebecca sees, they are enjoying reporting back to her on the homework assignments that are part of the program. Gavin told Rebecca he wants to spread awareness about the program so it can help more kids like him in a positive way.

The program has been so successful that Rebecca is now getting referrals from across the state and has a waiting list for over six months. More and more of her schedule is filled with patients needing lifestyle guidance to address weight status. Her health system has responded by pairing Rebecca’s expertise with a registered dietician, Tara Barr, RD. Together they can see more adolescent patients to better meet the demand.

When asked what Rebecca would tell other pediatric providers about her experience with Touchpoints, she said the program has been easy to implement with dependable insurance reimbursements making it a smart business decision for her health system. Personally, Rebecca has enjoyed being a part of the program and seeing her patients succeed in their health goals. Her family has even enjoyed some of the recipes on doctoryum.org like “Avocado Mac and Cheese,” and her personal favorite Meal-o-Matic meal, “Curry in a Hurry!” Even the medical students she teaches are having fun learning to make meals using the Dr. Yum Project resources.

If you are a provider and want to learn more about becoming a Dr. Yum Project Partner and using the Touchpoints program, visit touchpoints.doctoryum.org.