Child Wellness Clinic

At Seattle Children’s, your family has a full team of experts behind you that are specially trained to work with children. Our facilities and equipment also reflect this kid-friendly, family-centered approach.

Your input is essential. Children who are most successful in the program are those who have support from family members. We will learn about your goals and needs, and we will work with you and your child to meet them.

Our team recognizes that many factors contribute to your child’s growth and weight gain. We provide counseling and support tailored to the needs of your child and your family.

To improve the care of children and families, we have participated with national organizations, such as the National Institute for Children’s Health Quality and the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). This includes CHA’s FOCUS on a Fitter Future initiative, which is a multidisciplinary collaborative that studies clinical pediatric weight management programs.

Since 2014 we have been a participating site in a multicenter national study, called the Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry (POWER). The registry collects clinical data from pediatric weight management programs around the United States to create a database to inform research on the most effective components of weight management programs for years to come. Your family will be invited to participate in this project if you are interested.

We will look at all the aspects of your child’s health and wellness. Your child must be present for these first visits. They may go to a supervised play area when sensitive topics are discussed. Learn what to expect and how to prepare for the Child Wellness Clinic visit (PDF) (Spanish).

These assessments may include:

• Medical assessment: We review your child’s and family’s medical history. We will look at your child’s height, weight, blood pressure and physical examination. We may also order blood work to look for any medical conditions like diabetes, liver disease, thyroid issues and cholesterol abnormalities.
• Nutrition assessment: We will discuss your child’s early feeding development, current food intake, eating behaviors and family interactions around food and eating. 
• Fitness assessment: We will evaluate your child’s daily activity level and help with goal setting. We will discuss ways to help your child enjoy physical activities and feel more confident.
• Social work assessment: We will discuss your family, home life and your child’s social and emotional health.

We occasionally offer group classes focused on nutrition, family meals, emotional well-being and/or family physical activity.

Individual visits are often scheduled with a registered dietitian and 1 or more other team members. This may include a medical provider, fitness specialist or social worker. We typically recommend seeing your child 1 to 2 times a month for about 6 months and then ongoing as needed based on your child’s goals. 

During the individual visits, we will work with you and your child to create a plan to help your child improve their long-term health and quality of life. We will discuss nutrition, family meals, emotional well-being and family physical activity.  

Making changes in family eating habits and activity behaviors can take time. We provide ongoing support after the 6-month program to help you meet and maintain health goals and help with challenges you may face.