Who We Are
Generation Health Clinic is a family-centred healthy living clinic for children and teens aged 6-17 living with obesity or living with overweight and specific complications.
What We Offer
A team of physicians, dietitians, and mental health professionals provide medical, nutrition, and mental health assessment and care.
Our allied health team provides individual appointments and topic-focused group education sessions to build foundational knowledge and skills to establish a balanced approach to nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being, sleep and screen use. The family physical activity group program led by exercise specialists provides opportunities for enjoyable physical activity in a supportive setting.
Select locations offer culturally adapted care at select locations for families of South Asian and Chinese descent.
Our Approach
We tailor our approach to the unique needs of the pediatric population to support growth and development.
We work with families to make healthy living changes that are meaningful to them.
Our Framework
Generation Health Clinic incorporates evidence-based, current best practices guided by Canadian nutrition and physical activity recommendations and medical and psychological standards.
Our research team collaborates with academic partners to contribute to the pediatric literature and knowledge base for supporting children and teens in making healthy living changes to improve health outcomes and reduce obesity-related complications.
Generation Health Clinic Goals
Generation Health Clinic is not a dieting or weight loss program. Our goal is to support the child’s overall health and development by:
- improving physical health, emotional health and quality of life;
- supporting families;
- promoting functioning; and
- setting the stage for healthy living in adulthood.
Generation Health Clinic Outcomes
Generation Health Clinic participants report changes in the following areas:
Nutrition
| Mental Health
| Physical Activity
|
Sleep Hygiene
| Screen
| Supporting and Sustaining Change
|
FAQ for Health Professionals
Our interdisciplinary team consists of physicians, licensed dietitians, and mental health professionals (which may include a Licensed Psychologist, Registered Social Worker, or Clinical Counsellor). During the initial intake appointment, Our team will meet with your patient and their family for a comprehensive medical, psychosocial, nutrition, and healthy living assessment. In collaboration with your patient and their family, we will develop an individualized care plan to guide the healthy living support they will receive from our allied health team. We may also refer to appropriate specialists or community resources when indicated.
While each family’s journey through the clinic is unique, families may be enrolled in Generation Health Clinic from several months to up to two years. We provide a discharge report with recommendations for follow-up to ensure continuity of care for your patients. After discharge, we welcome re-referral if your patient continues to meet eligibility criteria.
Our clinic goal is to improve the physical, metabolic, and emotional health of the child/teen and to reduce their risk of chronic disease. This is achieved by supporting healthy living changes within the family. Past evaluations of our program show changes in the following:
- increase in physical activity and vegetable intake
- decrease in sedentary behaviour, recreational screen time, sugary drink consumption, processed foods, and/or packaged meals
- reduction in BMI z-score and fasting insulin
- improvement in physical health, psychosocial health, self-concept scores, anxiety scores, and total quality of life scores
Weight loss is not an expected clinic outcome. Rather, Generation Health Clinic helps support a gradual return to healthy growth trajectories.
Our clinic team utilizes the Body Mass Index as a screening tool for excess adiposity, but it is not the only tool used to guide care. A comprehensive assessment is conducted with other measures collected (bloodwork, quality of life and mental health measures) to identify all possible factors that contribute to a child’s health. The team also uses the Edmonton Obesity Staging System – Pediatric as part of assessment to quantify the severity of complications and determine a care plan that is tailored to each child’s unique needs.
It was a great program which we enjoyed a lot as a family and learned enough to start a healthy and balanced life.
