PAWTUCKET, RI — Local families have a new way to help their children manage their weight and improve their fitness. Memorial Hospital has launched its Youth Fitness & Weight Management program (Youth Fit) with the help of a $40,000 BlueAngel Community Health Grant from Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island.

This medically supervised program addresses the serious problem of childhood obesity. Youth Fit is led by Marjorie Nasin, MD, director of Memorial’s Pediatric Primary Care Center and board-certified pediatrician with a focus on childhood fitness and weight management.

(Learn more by watching a video clip of Dr. Nasin discussing the new program.)


“We applaud Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island for enabling us to help families in our community deal with childhood obesity, which has become a major health crisis,” Dr. Nasin said. “At a time when many families are facing economic hardships, it is increasingly important to invest in community health.”

Up to 200 children from Pawtucket, Central Falls and Providence will be invited to participate in the program's first year. Through medical evaluations and a family-based approach of gradual lifestyle changes, families will have access to resources to help their children develop good fitness and nutrition habits to become healthy now and to maintain their good health into adulthood.

The Youth Fit program includes a membership at the Boys & Girls Club of Pawtucket, which will encourage participating children and their families to increase their physical activity. Additionally, Dr. Nasin, as the physician to the Pawtucket school system, will provide twice-yearly height and weight screenings for all children in grades 1 to 10.

Children may be referred to the Youth Fit program by a primary care provider, a school nurse or by parents. For more information, please call (401) 729-2582.