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Testimonials

Neel D. Patel MD, FAAP – Medical Director. Fair Oaks Children’s Clinic, San Mateo Medical Center

“Vilma and her team make an important connection with children and families who want to become more healthy. They help families identify their challenges and then work closely with them to make changes step-by-step. Vilma is a leader in this area and we are fortunate to have her teach SHAPEDWON sessions in our clinic. By empowering and motivating our patients and families, including the use of the electronic Patient Health Information Tracking System (ePHITS) reports, we are able to help children move towards healthy adulthood and significantly decrease their risk for chronic diseases.”

Dr. Marisol Munoz-Kiehne, Ph.D. – Nuestros Niños

“Vilma Andari is on Nuestros Niños radio show’s “great guests” list, for she’s truly an expert on matters related to nutrition for health. She shares the reliable and practical knowledge gained through years of training and practice generously and clearly with our listeners. Vilma is an effective communicator in English and Spanish, who inspires us all to get healthier!

Ivette Carrasco-Moctezuma – HEAL Instructor & Program Community Outreach Liaison, The Heal Project

“I had the pleasure of meeting Vilma 1-year ago, when my client’s children were referred to Vilma for the SHAPEDOWN Program by their pediatrician. I was automatically impressed by Vilma’s professionalism. I appreciated the sensitivity and understanding she used while explaining the goals and objectives of the program. Even though my client’s children did not follow through the program, Vilma encouraged them to give SHAPEDOWN another try when they were ready. After observing Vilma with the SHAPEDOWN Program, I felt Vilma could be a great resource for our schools and our community. We are very excited to have Vilma as a guest speaker for our very first Nutrition Workshop in our school. We wish Vilma the very best and we hope her passion to make a difference in our Latino/Hispanic communities, schools, and families are noticed.”

Anonymous Community Partner, Bay Area

“Working with Vilma for the last five years has been a great experience. Her expertise in nutrition has allowed us to work closely on educating the Latino community about the importance of healthy eating to improve or prevent cardiovascular diseases. As an expert in her field, Vilma always dedicates herself to her work. She is especially committed to helping communities and individuals learn healthy habits. She’s professional, well liked, extremely knowledgeable in her field, dependable, and capable of working with people of all ages. I highly recommend her.

Among the many projects we’ve embarked on, I most closely work with Vilma to help children reduce their risk for obesity. Her manner of style with kids is encouraging, fun and educational. I often see children following her advice to exercise more and drink less soda.”

4th and 5th Grade Student Thank You Cards

Students were taught three in-classroom sessions on heart health through a program with the AHA, taught by Vilma

    Vilma is very active in the community working with various schools and companies to teach the value of healthy living. Below is a sample of some of her work in action as she presents during school assemblies and conducts in-classroom sessions. Among other things, she teaches the value of reading labels, avoiding bad ingredients such as saturated fats and high fructose corn syrup, and incorporating a variety of COLORs in diet.

As lead for the implementation of the first ever Spanish version of the nationally-acclaimed childhood obesity education program, Vilma has years of experience working with children and their families. These are just some of her experiences and patient success stories…

Vilma Andari“SHAPEDOWN is about creating a culture of healthy living among Hispanic families and building healthy mindsets. It is a FAMILY affair, because children, adolescents and parents become empowered to make positive lifestyle changes. They learn to shift their unhealthy eating and low physical activity habits to focus on leading a healthier lifestyle. Everyone has benefited, not just the referred patient.

Parents play a central role in influencing and shaping their children and adolescents’ lives by promoting self-confidence toward eating behaviors, physical activity, and self regulation, and ultimately body weight composition!”— Vilma Andari, NHF President

“I recommend Spanish SHAPEDOWN, because it’s an exciting program that will help you understand the portions of food and the healthy way to keep your body fit. I really enjoyed being in this program, because I learned a lot of things.”

—17-year-old SHAPEDOWN participant
She enhanced her fitness level while also decreasing her BMI by -4.7% and BMI Percentile by -1.5%

“NO Junk food! More veggies and fruits. Think about your health! Ask your parents if any family members have health problems. Do you really want to have to follow their footsteps? I for sure didn’t, this was my motivation. Self Control!“

—Cassandra, 18-year-old participant
She decreased her BMI by -12.0% and BMI percentile by -5.5%


SHAPEDWON Patient: Ximena, 10 years Old

Ximena’s pediatrician sent her to a SHAPEDOWN after a period of rapid weight gain. Once her appointment was arranged, Claudia and Ximena took the first step to change their behaviors through action! Without transportation, they walked on a cold fall afternoon two miles to meet with me for their first appointment. From that point on, Claudia and Ximena began their journey to change their lifestyle pattern with simple suggestions.

Ximena focused on eating a lot of “free”-foods and light-foods and making sure that half of her plate includes fruits and vegetables – she was always proud to show her weekly veggie and fruit tracking sheet with the other group participants. She and her mother read labels in the supermarket before purchasing or eating a food product and checking for adequate fiber, fats, and no or low added sugars. She drinks water instead of soda or other sweetened drinks, and she self-regulates candy or other non-nutrient dense treats. Being Active became a priority for Ximena and Claudia as they learned the importance to maintaining energy balance. They now understand the mantra: “Work off more calories than you eat”!
Ximena decreased her BMI by -12.2%, decreased her BMI Percentile by -7.7% and was able to improve her overall fitness scores.

SHAPEDWON Patient: Tomas, 11 years Old

Motivated to make healthy lifestyle changes, Alicia and Tomas teamed up to change their eating habits to live healthy! From the first intervention to the end of the program, behavioral changes began. Portions decreased, and they said “no thanks” to all refined grains–especially pastas which are among the family favorites. They started reading nutritional facts from food labels in the supermarket and checking for adequate fiber and no or low added sugars. They drank water instead of soda or other sweetened drinks, and they focused on making fifty percent of their plate comprised of vegetable and fruits. Being active became a priority for both of them!

Alicia states that this was something they wanted to do and were extremely motivated to get done–the program empowered them to make it happen. She even noted that Tomy started helping in the kitchen to prepare salads and other healthy meals and often he reminds his mother about portion control.
Tomas decreased his BMI by -10.7%, decreased his BMI Percentile by -1.7%, and was able to improve his fitness level and scores. Alicia is 19 pounds lighter too.

Body Silhouette Activity

This activity is conducted as part of the SHAPEDOWN program and focuses on reinforcing a positive self-image. The point of the activity is to get the patients to think about what they like about themselves and a couple of things they could improve (both internal, glucose levels and cholesterol, and external, stomach, legs, arms ) and to show this artistically through self drawings. By identifying what they would like to improve, patients are guided on how to take action and actually modify unfavorable body parts, such as by incorporating more exercise into their day-to-day routine. “Most obese kids tend to dislike their bodies, hence this creative exercise. It also gives them a visual idea about their body shape,” says Vilma, MS.