User:Nurs313upenn/Traffic Light Diet

Traffic Light Diets new article content ...

This is a traffic Light Diet:

History:
Developed in the 1970’s by Leonard Epstein, PhD, who was the chief of the division of behavioral medicine in the department of pediatrics at the University of Buffalo, New York. Dr. Epstein’s focus was the treatment and management of overweight and obesity in children, and he postulated that making an easy to follow system that families could do together, children would be more likely to lose weight. The theory of the diet is that if we divide food into three groups - Green for low-calorie, yellow for moderate-calories, and red for high-calories, we can simplify what is necessary to eat healthily. This directly correlates with traffic lights, hence the name. Green foods mean go-ahead, eat all you want, while yellow feeds mean slow down and watch how many you eat, and then red means stop and do not eat too many. By doing this, Dr. Epstein hoped to create a successful diet by involving both parents and children that was easy to follow and effective.

Because of the successes of the system, many other pediatricians and nutritionists are adapting their regimens to follow Dr. Epstein’s approach. Dr. Lillian Sonnenberg at Harvard-Affiliated Massachusetts General Health system added this system to their cafeterias early on, and expanded on Dr. Epsteins research by finding that putting green food items at eye-level in refrigerators increased their purchase even more.