For patients

For whom?

PositiveOverWeight is for all severe overweight children from under 18, their parents or caregivers and their families. If your child is overweight, you’re not sure what the cause is, and your concerned but don’t know how best to deal with it, then you’ve come to the right place.

You can best contact us through a referral from your GP (huisarts) or youth healthcare doctor (jeugdarts).

How we view overweight

Severe overweight is a chronic illness, but one where children often do not feel sick. And we’d like to keep it that way. And as far as we’re concerned, overweight children don’t belong in a hospital. In fact, we naturally want to avoid exposing our children to hospitals unless necessary.

Overweight is so much more than simply eating less and exercising more. Often a number of different factors play a role in its development. This requires a closely coordinated approach from multiple disciplines that have expertise in caring for overweight children. A strong and healthy relationship between the parents and the child is central to the approach of all the independent healthcare professionals with whom we work.

It's not just due to your child.

Being overweight is a common social problem. Our society is full of incentives that make it incredibly difficult for a child to maintain a healthy weight. No child chooses to be overweight. It just seems to happen to the child, and by extension, also to you as a parent.

There is always a solution.

Especially during childhood there is still much to be gained. Children are still very flexible.
They can break old behavior patterns and learn new habits much more easily than adults. And physical problems are usually reversible at this age. In addition, the problems of childhood overweight and obesity are by no means always of a medical nature.

You are not alone.

Parents often have the feeling that they are failing when their child is overweight. It is a complex problem, which often creeps up on you and can be daunting to solve on your own, but with the right specialist knowledge and attention, it can be done. We are here for you and your child, to help you towards a healthy future.

How PositiveOverWeight works

Our goal at PositiveOverWeight is to provide your child (and you as parents or caregivers) with the best, most appropriate healthcare and support. Read on to see how we do that:

Listening to your situation ONE time, and providing ONE clear action plan

At PositiveOverWeight, we have access to a broad network of people specialized in treating people with weight problems, all working under a shared vision. The pediatrician is in control and coordinates the treatment process. As a medical specialist, she is uniquely qualified to chart the specific problems that your child may face along the way, overseeing that the appropriate follow-up is being provided.

The necessary attention

Because we spend more time during our appointments with you, we have a better understanding of what your goals and desires are for the future. And if you have a question, or run into any sort of problem along the way, you can always reach out to us.

Not in the hospital

Especially when it comes to care for (young) children, we strive to provide that care, as far as possible, outside the hospital. Fully in line with our philosophy at The Pediatric Practice, of which PositiveOverWeight is a part.

What is overweight?

We say a child is overweight when their weight is too high in relation to their height, also taking into account age and sex. This is usually expressed as a BMI (Body Mass Index). Unlike in adults, there are different cut-off values (by age and sex) that determine whether a child has a normal weight, is overweight, or is severely overweight. Obesity is another term for severe overweight. In the Netherlands, 13% of the children are considered overweight, and almost 3% are severely overweight.

If it’s not clear what is causing the overweight condition in the child, and if there is no work being done to address it, then it’s very likely the child will continue to struggle with weight and health problems as an adult.

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Girl

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Weight (kg):

Healthcare offering

The first appointment is all about getting acquainted. There is enough time to listen to your story, and especially to discuss what goals you hope to achieve. It is therefore important that as many people as possible who are involved in the upbringing of your child are present so we can get a good picture of your child and the family in which he or she is brought up.

We’ll do a physical examination and, if necessary, plan blood tests. The results and treatment plan will be discussed with you. If necessary, the pediatrician will treat any health problems. Under the guidance of the pediatrician and dieticians in our network, you and your child can get started. How long it will take is completely dependent on what your goal is. Our experience shows that taking small steps forward increases the chance of lasting success.

PositiveOverWeight is a part of the healthcare offering at The Pediatric Practice.
Read more about The Pediatric Practice here.

No acute care

PositiveOverWeight does not provide acute healthcare. For emergency problems, your general practitioner (huisarts) will direct you to one of the nearby hospitals.

Lab work

For laboratory testing and X-rays, we use OLVG-East.

Make or change an appointment

To make an appointment, you’ll need a referral letter from your general practitioner (huisarts) or youth healthcare doctor (jeugdarts).

Go to make or change an appointment

Repeat recipes

You can request a repeat prescription in your patient portal. During your first visit you should have received login details for the patient portal. You don’t get a confirmation-mail of your request.
Always request repeat prescriptions well in advance. You can pick up the prescription at your pharmacy after 48 hours (working days).
If you no longer have an appointment scheduled at The Pediatric Practice, you can request a repeat prescription from your general practitioner (huisarts).

Reimbursements

If you have a referral letter from your general practitioner (huisarts) or youth healthcare doctor (jeugdarts), then the care provided by the pediatrician is always covered under your basic insurance. For children, there is no deductible or co-pay required, so all costs for your visits are always completely covered.