1. Help children improve their eating and exercise habits
   
   
2. Create a balanced diet based on recommended servings from USDA’s Food Pyramid
   
   
3. Help each PPWCP child maintain or gradually lose weight (no more than one pound per week while the child is still growing). This will reduce the child’s level of overweight.

Program Components

1. How to Eat Healthier
   The first phase of the program helps create a balanced diet that limits unhealthy foods. Children record everything they eat and drink in a journal during the program. Recording what they eat and drink allows children to examine their eating habits. Children can then determine what they can change to create a healthier, balanced diet. Parents are strongly encouraged to record their own eating habits as well.
    
   Children and parents will be asked to set weekly goals to limit the number of unhealthy foods they eat. They will also have short assignments to complete before each session. Regular attendance at the weekly sessions by both parents and children is critical for success in this program. 
   
   
2. Physical Activity
   The second phase of the program focuses on exercise habits and how families can incorporate more physical activity into their daily lives.
   
   
3. Individual Sessions
   Every 6-7 weeks, each family meets individually with behavior coaches for a 30 minute session to discuss progress as well as support for any specific obstacles or concerns.
   
   
4. Maintenance
   Finally, the maintenance phase of the program helps families practice and reinforce the healthy skills they have learned. It also helps in dealing with difficult situations (e.g., family gatherings, holidays, parties). The last 10 sessions of the program alternate between maintenance skills and physical activity sessions.

Group Session Format

1. During the first 30 minutes, each family is privately weighed and measured. They receive feedback about their progress in changing or maintaining habits over the past week. 
   
   
2. In the second 30 minutes, children and parents divide into separate groups. They discuss specific child and parent experiences and problem-solving techniques. 
   
   
3. In the last 30 minutes, parents and children meet together in a large group. They identify obstacles and develop solutions to reach their weekly goals.

Evaluating Progress

• Weekly weight measurements
• Monthly height measurements
• Recorded changes in eating and exercise habits