When our interview started, the slim Dr. Elaine Rosen confessed she was hungry and then proceeded to buy a snack. As the founder of the California Center for Healthy Living in Encino, her choice of food’yogurt with fruit and a glass of water’was not a surprise. ‘Eating should be one of life’s greatest pleasures, but too often it is filled with tension and misinformation,’ said Rosen, the mother of four children (19, 16, 14 and 11). ‘We have grown up with a diet mentality that foods are ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ We are so conflicted that we don’t know how to raise children around food.’ Rosen’s works with youngsters’ weight-related issues at the Center and at Dr. David Geller’s pediatric practice at 910 Via de la Paz. She has treated children as young as two for obesity. ‘Whenever a parent has concerns or tension over food, that’s justification enough to come in,’ Rosen said, noting that about one third of all Americans are overweight and half of those are considered obese. Although she started in general pediatrics because it was an easy fit with her own children, Rosen always knew she wanted to specialize. From 1998 to 2008, she worked on developing a program to deal with obesity, which was becoming increasingly prevalent in pediatrics. In 2009, she opened her Center for families and children that have food and weight issues. In addition to Rosen, the family works with a team that includes a nutritionist, a food consultant, a fitness trainer and an occupational therapist. Rosen’s work has extended from dealing with the overweight to prevention, and helping with eating disorders, which can have an impact on the whole family. For example, a thin mom with a small frame, who may have unresolved eating issues, marries a larger man, and then they have an average-sized daughter. The mom constantly worries that the daughter is fat, creating a situation rife with conflict. Another eating problem may occur with ‘goldfish kids,’ children who are constantly fed small snacks in the car as parents travel from location to location. As a result, those children may never know when they are actually hungry. Rosen also works with the highly picky eater, like the teenager who eats only white rice and bread, feels that she can’t function socially at a party and needs help in learning to eat other foods. When asked why Americans are becoming increasingly obese, Rosen lists three main reasons: 1) highly processed foods and the increasing reliance on high fructose corn syrups in foods, 2) large portion size and 3) technology, which has caused Americans to become increasingly sedentary. When she assesses a patient, Rosen considers genetics, lifestyle, emotional states and habits and medical causes, which may be related to endrocrines. She tries to help people become more aware of when they eat’are they actually hungry or are they eating out of boredom or using food like a kind of drug to cope with feelings? Rosen strongly supports the family meal. ‘It is a priority,’ she said. ‘I talk to some people who don’t even have a dining room table. You need to teach kids basic eating and lifestyle habits around food, so that they don’t fall into the ‘police mentality’ or diet state that tells you what you can and can’t do. ‘Once you get in a whole diet cycle, you set yourself up for disordered eating,’ said Rosen, who admits she enjoys sweets and that nothing should be off limits, but rather eaten in balance and moderation. Each meal should have a fruit or vegetable, protein and a grain. For example, a breakfast might be cereal, nuts, milk and strawberries, plus a protein, which keeps you full longer. What about the teenagers who skip breakfast? Not a good idea, but Rosen notes that some teens do feel nausea in the morning, and in that case she recommends that they take the food and eat it at school during nutrition break. When asked if there’s a way to cure the nation’s obesity epidemic, Rosen said it will have to come through public policy changes, such as soda taxes, more physical education in schools, better access to safe playgrounds and increased fruit and vegetables in the diet. The flip side to the coin, according to Rosen, is that ‘The pressure to be thin has never been greater. For women the ideal size is a zero, and many don’t realize those images in magazines are Photoshopped and digitally altered, which can also set up eating issues.’ Call (310) 454-4466 or visit: californiachl.com.
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