Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 94 MARCH 2018 PHOTOGRAPH BY SHUTTERSTOCK Boston Children's at Peabody has had an impact on the well-being of area children that goes beyond the organization's walls and into the community. By Jeff Harder KID FRIENDLY e four-year-old boy was in trouble. He was severely obese. He still drank from a bottle. He was prone to throwing tantrums when his parents denied him junk food. But that changed after Sharon Weston intervened. Weston, a clinical dietitian at Boston Children's at Peabody, is in charge of Optimal Weight for Life (OWL), the hospital's after- school program devoted to helping obese children and their families develop healthy diet and exercise habits. After two years of monthly one-hour meetings attended by the boy and his parents, everything turned around. e boy's body mass index fell within a normal range, he stopped drinking from a bottle, his outbursts ceased, and he joyfully ate a variety of healthful foods. Just as important, his parents followed suit, role-modeling good eating habits and building grocery lists around an abundance of fruits and vegetables instead of sugary calorie bombs. "e entire family took to heart the messages we were teaching them," Weston says. / I N D E P T H / The hospital's programs are devoted to healthy living outside of the oce. Boston Children's at Peabody, a xture since 1995, has quietly engaged in a slate of outreach eorts throughout the North Shore. Whether through nutrition and exercise counseling, bullying prevention, partnering with local schools, or hosting the annual Winter Wonderland—a holiday open house that drew an audience of more than 600 last year, along with 82 volunteers from local businesses—the organization has had an impact on the well-being of area children (and their families) that goes beyond those who walk through their doors at 10 Centennial Drive in Peabody. "ey go all out to love people in the community—not just their patients," says Bonnie Merriam, a Danvers resident who attended the most recent Winter Wonder- land event with her four children, three of whom have visited Boston Children's at Peabody as patients. "ey've done a great job of making kids feel special, especially at the holiday event." Boston Children's at Peabody, one of the hospital's ve main campuses in the Commonwealth, is a 40,000-square-foot facility housing an array of radiology, ultrasound, MRI, and X-ray technology, as well as more than 100 healthcare providers, most of whom split their time between Peabody and the agship facility on Long- wood Avenue in Boston. "A family might come in from Danvers for an appointment, and the next patient in line is somebody who came from Kuwait or the Virgin Islands," says Nicolas D'Onofrio, administrator at the Peabody campus. "We see that all the time at [the hospital on] Longwood, but to see it here in Peabody brings it into perspective: Families will travel anywhere they need to for their kids' care, and what a blessing and a gift for North Shore families to have it so close to home. ey can come here, right o the highway, and get world-class patient- and family-centered care." In recent years, Boston Children's at Peabody has branched into other communities across the North Shore. e clinic has helped sta the student health center at Peabody High School, leading to a partnership with the