With a focus on behavior-change counseling, this turnkey kit features strategies, counseling plans and client educational materials specifically designed for registered dietitian nutritionists and other health care providers working with youths ages 2 to 18 classified as overweight or obese, and their parent and caregivers.

The Counselors' Guide includes updated Pediatric Weight Management Evidence-Based Nutrition Practice Guidelines and addresses various behavior-change strategies, including goal setting, contracting, reinforcement, self-monitoring, stimulus control, cognitive restructuring and relapse prevention. Two counseling approaches are featured: the Transtheoretical Model (TTM), also known as Stages of Change (SOC), and Motivational Interviewing.

The client education materials include 53 fact sheets and worksheets, and a tracking tool that can be printed on demand or downloaded to electronic devices and used when counseling overweight or obese youth and their families. These materials may be used in a variety of settings, such as outpatient clinics, private practice and group weight-management programs.