Children’s Obesity Action Team (COAT)

Obesity is a health problem that affects 15% of children and teens in the United States. Today there are three times as many obese children and teens as there were 20 years ago.

A group of health-care professionals, the Children’s Obesity Action Team (COAT), has worked to increase awareness, provide education and resources, pursue innovative research and lead action to decrease childhood obesity since 2002.

COAT is based at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. We are proud to have team members with backgrounds in many different medical and health specialties — we are a multidisciplinary team. In 2006, COAT was recognized by the National Initiative of Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ) as one of the top six national programs addressing childhood obesity.

Our team works to offer the best approaches to the prevention, identification and management of childhood obesity. Through a close relationship with Children’s subspecialty clinics and the Child Health Institute, we provide integrated care for families within our hospital and collaborative research programs. Learn more about us.

COAT is committed to:

• Working with individuals, families, clinical settings, schools and the community to prevent, identify and manage childhood obesity.
• Collaborating with community partners to promote healthy eating and active living for all children, especially those with chronic conditions and special needs, to improve overall health outcomes.
• Providing interdisciplinary weight management care through our clinical services.
• Encouraging children and teens to develop appetite and mood self-regulation in order to help them create a more positive relationship with food and their bodies.
• Performing research to learn more about the success of obesity prevention and treatment efforts.
• Partnering with other national experts to improve the care of children who are overweight and obese.