Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

As the childhood obesity becomes a national issue, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital is actively working on the prevention and treatment of it by proceeding ICAAN program (Intervention for Childhood and Adolescent obesity via Activity and Nutrition).

In October last year, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital signed an MOU on management of extremely obese children and teens with Gyeonggi Provincial Office and Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education. The program received wide publicity, and the number of participants in Gyeonggi Province is on the rise. In the same month, Prof. Kyung Hee Park of Family Medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital received a commendation for contributing to the citizens’ health improvements of public healthcare. Prof. Park is in charge of research of the ICAAN program, who has devoted to the patient care and management of obese patients.

In order to solve the obesity problem, ICAAN provides several options. Participants in the program get physical checkup, blood test, evaluation on daily habit, nutrition analysis, physical fitness test, and evaluation on behavior. After the evaluation process, participants get one on one professional consultation. Regular monitoring on activity level using smart devices derives changes in their behavior. Children and their parents can join the group instruction and share their knowhow to each other. Parents of the participants can also get health risk factor assessment for free.

ICAAN is a free two-year program for which anyone with severe obesity between the ages of 9 and 13 can apply. More information can be found at www.icaan.co.kr.

By Chul Kwon, Int’l Cooperation Team, HUMC (chris@hallym.or.kr)